Thy Kingdom Come
Matthew 7:12-27
Have you ever prayed to get something that you thought you wanted more than anything else? Maybe you’ve pondered how much happier your life would be if you could have a certain item, or maybe be in a relationship with a certain person. Maybe you’ve stayed awake at night thinking how fulfilled you’d feel if you had the object of your heart’s desire. Now picture a time when you actually got what you wanted. Have you ever been sorry that you got what you asked for? I remember when I was a little boy. All my friends seemed to have exotic animals like snakes and iguanas. I decided that I needed a turtle. For days, I asked my parents if I could have a pet turtle. Well, one day my dad came home with a cardboard box, and inside was a little painted turtle. Now you’d think I would have picked it up and taken it for a walk, or played with it, or fed it, or something. The moment I laid eyes on that creepy-looking, hard shelled menace, I started screaming in fear. The day before I begged and pleaded for that turtle, and the moment I finally got it I was terrified. My father let the turtle go near the brook in our back yard, and I cried all night long.
I got thinking about prayer and the lives of lottery winners. Have you ever bought a lottery ticket and prayed to God that this be your moment to win a life-changing amount of money. Did you ever think that your life might change for the worse of you win? Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery twice, to the sum of $5.4 million. Today the money is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer. Adams says, "I won the American dream but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall. It's called rock bottom. Everybody wanted my money. Everybody had their hand out . . . . I wish I had the chance to do it all over again. I'd be much smarter about it now," Adams lost her money at the slot machines in Atlantic City. You think, “That wouldn’t happen to me. But, for many people, sudden money can cause disaster. Winners worry about robberies after spotting strangers gawking at their homes. Calls get screened to weed out lawyers, financial advisers and car dealers with sales pitches. And family, friends and strangers beg for cash to fix their problems. One Southeastern family won $4.2 million in the early '90s. They bought a huge house and succumbed to repeated family requests for help in paying off debts. The house, cars and relatives ate the whole pot. Eleven years later, the couple is divorcing, the house is sold and they have to split what is left of the lottery proceeds. The wife got a very small house. The husband has moved in with the kids. Even the life insurance they bought was cashed in. The lottery was not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
When we pray, we don’t think about the consequences of our requests. Some of us desire to be more like Jesus, but we aren’t so sure when it means taking up our cross and following him. Some of us want to be more loving, but we forget that it means reaching out to the unlovable and loving our enemies. Another example is when we pray the words, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.” We mumble those words every week in church, but do we think about the crucial impact tat these words can have on our lives? What does it really mean to ask God for the kingdom of heaven to come to earth?
We might as well start with some clarity about just what God’s Kingdom is. Jesus talked about God’s Kingdom a lot. In fact, Jesus began his public ministry by saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17). Jesus wasn’t talking about forming an earthly empire. Jesus proclaimed his sovereignty in the hearts of God's people (John 18:36). God’s kingdom could only be entered by making a 180-degree turn from the old life -- believing in Jesus’ words and following his example. The Kingdom of God is not a stagnant concept. It was established by Christ, and continues to grow until Christ returns. The Kingdom of God is here at this moment in the Church, in the hearts and lives of those who are true followers of Christ. The true kingdom has always been made up of those in whose heart Christ dwells through faith.
Nothing can compare with being part of God’s rule on earth. The problem is that when something is desirable, we often want all the benefits without having to put in any effort. It’s that genie in the lamp syndrome. We fantasize about how great life would be if God would simply answer our wishes without us having to do any of the work to achieve our goal. Jesus recognized this problem in his own day. There were teachers who wanted all the benefits of God’s kingdom. They wanted to be able to claim God’s love and salvation. They wanted to call themselves Christians, but they didn’t want to do what it took to align their lives with Jesus’ teachings. Jesus says that these people are going to stand before him one day and cry out, “Lord, Lord,” as if it’s a secret password into the Kingdom. They’ll say, “Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God sponsored projects had everyone talking.” You’d expect that Jesus would say, “Great work. You’re in.” However, Jesus surprises these fakers. He says, “Yeah, that’s all fine. You did a bunch of great things, but you never took the time to know me. All you did was use my name to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit.” Their words are impressive but their words don’t match their actions. On the outside, they look and sounded like respectable Christians. On the inside, something is missing.
We can’t pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” without also praying, “Thy will be done.” We are actually asking God to increase the kingdom through our obedience to God’s will. I heard a story about a farmer who noticed a sign by the local airport that said: Experience the thrill of flying. The farmer thought to himself, “Tomorrow is my wife's birthday. I’d love for her to experience the thrill of flying.” The pilot went into the airport and found a pilot who would take the couple on a plane ride. He owned a small open cockpit plane that would certainly give the farmer’s wife a thrill, but the price was too high. The farmer bartered with the pilot for a long time. Finally, the pilot agreed to lower the price on one condition: the farmer and his wife had to promise not to say a single word during the entire flight. One word spoken aloud, however small, would increase the price to the pilot’s original fee. The farmer’s determination to give his wife the thrill of flying was only surpassed by his determination to spend as little money as possible, so he agreed. The next morning the three of them took off. The pilot knew if he did a few dips and turns the couple would soon speak. With that in mind he dropped, turned, climbed, dived, and even did a few loops. Not a sound was uttered from the couple. Not a scream. Not even a whimper. Just silence. As they were landing the pilot was amazed at his passengers’ determination. He said, “I can't believe you didn’t say something up there. I guess you win.” The old farmer shouted back, “Well, you almost won. I sure felt like hollerin’ when my wife fell out.”
The old farmer was determined to get what he wanted on his own terms. We can be a lot like that. We let pride and stubbornness get in the way of doing what is right. We say, “Jesus, we hear you calling, but we’re determined to do it our own way. Just tell us where we need to end up, and we’ll draw our own map. We'll consider your advice, though, and if we think it’s any good, we might just follow your suggestions.” It sounds so silly, doesn’t it? Is this how you’re supposed to approach the God of the universe? We think we can dictate the terms of our obedience to God. God has already drawn up the terms, and his expectation is always obedience. Jesus says, “You follow me! I'll do the leading.” The Gospels repeatedly insist that the members of Christ’s Kingdom are those who obey him. It does no good to hail Jesus saying, “Lord, Lord,” to honor God’s name in doctrine, hymn, and prayer, if you don’t match your life up to your words.
If we are going to pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” then we need to be willing to be led where Christ leads us.
Growing number of people who are sensing some inconsistency between what we proclaim and how we live. Let’s call them conflicted idealists. They have a vision of making he world a better place, but they can only see the destination without any idea of a route. I talk to people who are looking for another way to live life—those who want to shout the gospel with their lives, but aren’t sure what to do. How do you live as a responsible Christian in the world? How do we bring the values of God’s Kingdom to bear in our personal lives, our families, and our culture? They ask, “What is the cost of obedience?” They want to see their prayers in action, but realize that the work is hard and the cost is great. They also realize that doing nothing is more costly.
I want to begin astudy group of people who struggle with these issues as I do. I'm thinking of a group that will meet once a month to reflect on issues like simplicity, social justice, humane living, and spiritual activism. We will study, share, experiment with living out our values and ideals, and then share what did and didn't work with the group. If you are interested in being part of this Simplicity Study Group, please let me know.
The Kingdom of God is where Jesus Christ is. And Jesus Christ lingers in the darkest places in the world. Jesus sits with the lonely and dejected. He holds the isolated and depressed. He grieves with those who suffer loss. He understands the plight of the homeless and the refugees. The Kingdom of God appears precisely at the place where there is blindness, leprosy, lameness, and death. This is what makes obedience so difficult. We are called to follow Christ, but Jesus stands with those whom we typically don’t associate. He is loving them with unconditional acceptance, and calling us to demonstrate God’s kingdom by doing the same.
We can have great programs and smooth words. We can stand before Jesus and say, “Lord, Lord, wasn’t I a deacon, or a trustee, or a Sunday School teacher, a minister? Didn’t I give my money, and get involved in the community? Didn’t I try to be a good-natured Christian? Didn’t I put a Christian fish, a yellow ribbon and an American flag on the back bumper of my car?” There’s nothing wrong with any of these positions in themselves, but the Kingdom of God is more than having titles on a resume. It’s following Christ to the places where no one else wants to go, and loving others with clear words and meaningful actions. We don’t do it or to win a popularity contest. We don’t do it to gain the admiration of others. Like the women at McDonald’s we need to be obedient so that God may work through us to give another person hope.
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.” What challenging words. I’m not going to pretend that the values of Christ’s kingdom are easy to uphold. Obedience is hard. I struggle with it every day of my life. Each new day presents itself with new opportunities, new choices. I will have contact with a dozen people, and every word that comes out of my mouth is coupled with a choice to be there for me or to be there for someone else. I need to decide, will I do what I want, or what Jesus wants? Will I serve God or myself today? And to be honest, many times I choose myself. Sometimes I’m more comfortable following my own way and feeding my own desires. Maybe it’s the same with you. May God save us from just talking about all the impressive Christian things we do if it is at the expense of actually meeting Christ and the people he chooses to associate with.
Sources:
"8 lottery winners who lost their millions at http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/8lotteryWinnersWhoLostTheirMillions.aspx
Jim Davis, “The Nature of Christ's Kingdom,” www.sermoncentral.com
Eugene Peterson, The Message (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1993),21. 2
John Bright, The Kingdom of God (New York: Abingdon, 1953), 218, 219, 220, 223.
Russell Metcalf, "Entering the Kingdom," www.sermoncentral.com
Helmut Thielicke, Our Heavenly Father (New York: Harper& Brothers, 1960),60,61. 5
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Sermon for January 7, 2007
The Lord’s Prayer: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Matthew 6:5-9
Have you ever noticed that the biggest impact is often made with the fewest words. For example, the Lord’s Prayer has 66 words, and it is the model for all Christian prayer. The Gettysburg address has 286 words and it’s considered one of the most eloquent documents of American history. The Declaration of Independence has only 1322 words. The United States Government Regulations on the Sale of Cabbage as 26,911 words. Think about it.
When it comes to prayer, Jesus says do not babble, thinking that if we say just the right words, and a lot of them, then God will answer our prayers. Sometimes the biggest impact is made with the fewest words. However, for many of us the problem is not our long prayers. I think the problem is that we don’t pray much at all. In the hurry of our lives, it is hard to quiet down and spend time in silent reflection and adoration of God. Sometimes we become restless and agitated. The duty of prayer loses its importance in our lives. We need to pray more than ever before, yet in our business it does not become a priority. So, how is your prayer life this morning?
Quite often, people tell me that they don’t know how to pray. They don’t have the right words. They don’t know where to go to learn the language of prayer. Jesus addresses this problem in today’s Scripture reading. When the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, he responds by teaching them a prayer that we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It could also be called the model prayer or the disciple’s prayer. I don’t think that Jesus intended his prayer to be a ritual of meaningless repetition. Jesus taught this prayer as a guide or a model rather then a prescribed set of words that need to be repeated exactly. Over the next few weeks we are going to examine the Lord’s Prayer in detail and look to this model prayer for some ideas on how our own prayer lives can be revitalized.
Jesus begins his model prayer with the words, “Our Father in Heaven.” Jesus has only uttered a few short words and we are already in a storm of controversy. Isn’t this word Father just another patriarchal concept alleging that God is a male and not a female deity? It’s important to realize that the God of the Bible incorporates and transcends our sexual categories. We have many male images of God, but we also have female images of God. In Isaiah God suckles Israel like a nursing mother. Jesus says to Jerusalem, “How often I would have gathered your children...as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” How you choose to address God in prayer is entirely up to you. I really don’t think you will offend God. More than how you address God, here’s what I want to know: Are you secure in God’s love for you? Jesus called God his Abba. It’s an Aramaic word that’s best translated as Daddy. Jesus approached God with that kind of affection. You have to realize, people in Jesus’ day did not think about God as a warm and approachable parent figure. They thought of God more as a king, sitting on a throne on the most majestic mountain in Jerusalem. God was always worshipped, but not always loved. When Jesus starts his prayer with “Daddy!,” he says, “God is ready to listen to you. Draw near.”
I once read about a man named Frank who could not pray. Frank felt like his words thudded against a brick wall. He couldn’t remember God ever answering his prayers. As he reflected, he realized that when he thought of God he saw the face of his earthly father – good and honest but also quiet and shy. Dad was a man who rarely spoke to his children and never told them that he loved them. Frank’s story resonates with some of the comments I hear. Some of the saddest conversations I have are with people who day, “I can’t pray these words, “Our Father” because of the kind of person I had as an earthly father. He belittled me. He didn’t have time for me. He abused me. How do you expect me to pray “Our Father?” When Frank admitted that his earthly father was weak, and that he even failed the family, Frank was able to forgive and accept his dad. This recognition opened up a completely new dimension in his relationship with God. He had more faith to pray because he realized that God did hear him. Frank soon sensed God’s presence and guidance in his life.
Jesus says that God, as our heavenly parent, knows what we need even before we ask. So often we don’t know our deepest needs. How many times have we prayed for foolish things when we need something very different? We are naked, and instead of praying for clothing we pray for comfort. We are imprisoned by passions and sinful desires, and we pray for wall-to-wall carpeting for our cells. Jesus says, “You can talk all you want in your prayers. You can chatter on, and argue, and put on a good show for others. But, not for one second will God be diverted from the one theme in your life from which you keep running. Not for one moment does God lose sight of the real need in your life – the one thing you don’t like to talk about. God knows what you need, and God knows what is good for you. So, be calm and confident. Be at peace and know that as you pray, God knows what’s best.
God knows us, and hears us, and calls us into communion. Prayer is the way we respond to these gifts. When we begin to pray, we don’t inform God about the important matters of our lives. That comes later. First, Jesus encourages us to worship. Jesus modeled this by saying, “Hallowed be Thy name.” “Hallowed” is one of those words that we grow up saying in church, but we never use it in daily conversation. It means to greatly honor, to treat as holy, or to hold set apart with reverence.
When I think about things that are hallowed in our society today, I think about the Declaration of Independence. If you go to the National Archives today, you’ll walk through dimmed lights across a marble hall. There is a hushed silence in the room. At the front, there’s an altar to the Declaration. We are told that every night, the founding documents of our country are lowered into a vault designed to withstand an atomic blast. But do you why the lights are dimmed? It’s because the Declaration of Independence is fading. For the first eighty or so years, the thing wasn’t really taken very seriously. In 1824, somebody wanted to make a copy, so a guy used a technique that stripped much of the ink of the paper. After that, it hung on a wall at the U.S. Patent Office, in full sunlight, dimming it even more. Even today, in many places the ink is gone.
But do you know why we venerate that document today? It’s because of Abraham Lincoln. At the height of the Civil War, when he needed to show that emancipation was a good thing, he decided to take people back to their roots. He reminded them of a single line in the preamble to the declaration: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He had to re-familiarize America people with their own idea of their identity. So, on a cold November morning, on a field at Gettysburg, Lincoln urged the country to take an increased measure of devotion. Those who fought at Gettysburg – living and dead – did so in order to preserve the union that afforded them rights -- That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People began to see the Declaration as important again. Not as a laundry list of demands on a dead king, but a reminder of our relationship to a God who endows us with grace.
So today, we spend millions of dollars to preserve what few drops of ink are left on a now hallowed piece of paper – because they fix our relationship to that which we believe comes from above. If we revere a simple piece of parchment, how much more should we respect the God who formed us out of the dust, and gave us his own blood? We pray that God’s name will be hallowed – respected, revered, and set apart from any other name.
Every single phrase in the Lord’s Prayer can be summed up in one thought. God is God, we are not. There is a Parent / Child Relationship. There is a Heaven / Earth Relationship. There is a Giver / Receiving relationship. But there is not one phrase that says God needs anything from us.
That doesn’t mean we don’t have a role. God does want something from us. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father in heaven,” because God wants our love. Jesus teaches us to pray “Hallowed be thy name,” because God wants our respect.
I heard that Arlington Cemetery does not have enough buglers for all of the funerals that need to be performed. Somebody came up with the idea of a bugle that would play “Taps” automatically. Some folk were, understandably, a bit upset. I mean, if you’re going to do that, why not just bring a stereo and play a CD, right? The military was trying to balance two things. They wanted to give personal attention to the dead, and they wanted to respect the dead with their best.
Our prayers can fall into the same trap. Sometimes, I wish I could just play a recording to make sure all my prayers are said. But where would the love be? And sometimes, my love for God gets so out of hand that I forget God’s holiness. That very balance defines what our prayers should be – a one-on-one relationship that gives and takes. It is a personal thing. It can’t be replaced with a mechanical recitation of words. God uses our words in prayer, but that’s not what God is after. Before anything else, before we even open our mouths, God wants our hearts.
Sources:
E.M. Bounds, "Purpse in Prayer," in The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds.
J. DAvid Hoke, "Beginning in Praise," www.sermoncentral.com.
Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew
Floyd McClung, The Father Heart of God
Helmut Thielicke, Our Heavenly Father
Chalres Allen, The Lord's Prayer, An Interpretation
The Heidelberg Catechism
Matthew 6:5-9
Have you ever noticed that the biggest impact is often made with the fewest words. For example, the Lord’s Prayer has 66 words, and it is the model for all Christian prayer. The Gettysburg address has 286 words and it’s considered one of the most eloquent documents of American history. The Declaration of Independence has only 1322 words. The United States Government Regulations on the Sale of Cabbage as 26,911 words. Think about it.
When it comes to prayer, Jesus says do not babble, thinking that if we say just the right words, and a lot of them, then God will answer our prayers. Sometimes the biggest impact is made with the fewest words. However, for many of us the problem is not our long prayers. I think the problem is that we don’t pray much at all. In the hurry of our lives, it is hard to quiet down and spend time in silent reflection and adoration of God. Sometimes we become restless and agitated. The duty of prayer loses its importance in our lives. We need to pray more than ever before, yet in our business it does not become a priority. So, how is your prayer life this morning?
Quite often, people tell me that they don’t know how to pray. They don’t have the right words. They don’t know where to go to learn the language of prayer. Jesus addresses this problem in today’s Scripture reading. When the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, he responds by teaching them a prayer that we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It could also be called the model prayer or the disciple’s prayer. I don’t think that Jesus intended his prayer to be a ritual of meaningless repetition. Jesus taught this prayer as a guide or a model rather then a prescribed set of words that need to be repeated exactly. Over the next few weeks we are going to examine the Lord’s Prayer in detail and look to this model prayer for some ideas on how our own prayer lives can be revitalized.
Jesus begins his model prayer with the words, “Our Father in Heaven.” Jesus has only uttered a few short words and we are already in a storm of controversy. Isn’t this word Father just another patriarchal concept alleging that God is a male and not a female deity? It’s important to realize that the God of the Bible incorporates and transcends our sexual categories. We have many male images of God, but we also have female images of God. In Isaiah God suckles Israel like a nursing mother. Jesus says to Jerusalem, “How often I would have gathered your children...as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” How you choose to address God in prayer is entirely up to you. I really don’t think you will offend God. More than how you address God, here’s what I want to know: Are you secure in God’s love for you? Jesus called God his Abba. It’s an Aramaic word that’s best translated as Daddy. Jesus approached God with that kind of affection. You have to realize, people in Jesus’ day did not think about God as a warm and approachable parent figure. They thought of God more as a king, sitting on a throne on the most majestic mountain in Jerusalem. God was always worshipped, but not always loved. When Jesus starts his prayer with “Daddy!,” he says, “God is ready to listen to you. Draw near.”
I once read about a man named Frank who could not pray. Frank felt like his words thudded against a brick wall. He couldn’t remember God ever answering his prayers. As he reflected, he realized that when he thought of God he saw the face of his earthly father – good and honest but also quiet and shy. Dad was a man who rarely spoke to his children and never told them that he loved them. Frank’s story resonates with some of the comments I hear. Some of the saddest conversations I have are with people who day, “I can’t pray these words, “Our Father” because of the kind of person I had as an earthly father. He belittled me. He didn’t have time for me. He abused me. How do you expect me to pray “Our Father?” When Frank admitted that his earthly father was weak, and that he even failed the family, Frank was able to forgive and accept his dad. This recognition opened up a completely new dimension in his relationship with God. He had more faith to pray because he realized that God did hear him. Frank soon sensed God’s presence and guidance in his life.
Jesus says that God, as our heavenly parent, knows what we need even before we ask. So often we don’t know our deepest needs. How many times have we prayed for foolish things when we need something very different? We are naked, and instead of praying for clothing we pray for comfort. We are imprisoned by passions and sinful desires, and we pray for wall-to-wall carpeting for our cells. Jesus says, “You can talk all you want in your prayers. You can chatter on, and argue, and put on a good show for others. But, not for one second will God be diverted from the one theme in your life from which you keep running. Not for one moment does God lose sight of the real need in your life – the one thing you don’t like to talk about. God knows what you need, and God knows what is good for you. So, be calm and confident. Be at peace and know that as you pray, God knows what’s best.
God knows us, and hears us, and calls us into communion. Prayer is the way we respond to these gifts. When we begin to pray, we don’t inform God about the important matters of our lives. That comes later. First, Jesus encourages us to worship. Jesus modeled this by saying, “Hallowed be Thy name.” “Hallowed” is one of those words that we grow up saying in church, but we never use it in daily conversation. It means to greatly honor, to treat as holy, or to hold set apart with reverence.
When I think about things that are hallowed in our society today, I think about the Declaration of Independence. If you go to the National Archives today, you’ll walk through dimmed lights across a marble hall. There is a hushed silence in the room. At the front, there’s an altar to the Declaration. We are told that every night, the founding documents of our country are lowered into a vault designed to withstand an atomic blast. But do you why the lights are dimmed? It’s because the Declaration of Independence is fading. For the first eighty or so years, the thing wasn’t really taken very seriously. In 1824, somebody wanted to make a copy, so a guy used a technique that stripped much of the ink of the paper. After that, it hung on a wall at the U.S. Patent Office, in full sunlight, dimming it even more. Even today, in many places the ink is gone.
But do you know why we venerate that document today? It’s because of Abraham Lincoln. At the height of the Civil War, when he needed to show that emancipation was a good thing, he decided to take people back to their roots. He reminded them of a single line in the preamble to the declaration: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He had to re-familiarize America people with their own idea of their identity. So, on a cold November morning, on a field at Gettysburg, Lincoln urged the country to take an increased measure of devotion. Those who fought at Gettysburg – living and dead – did so in order to preserve the union that afforded them rights -- That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People began to see the Declaration as important again. Not as a laundry list of demands on a dead king, but a reminder of our relationship to a God who endows us with grace.
So today, we spend millions of dollars to preserve what few drops of ink are left on a now hallowed piece of paper – because they fix our relationship to that which we believe comes from above. If we revere a simple piece of parchment, how much more should we respect the God who formed us out of the dust, and gave us his own blood? We pray that God’s name will be hallowed – respected, revered, and set apart from any other name.
Every single phrase in the Lord’s Prayer can be summed up in one thought. God is God, we are not. There is a Parent / Child Relationship. There is a Heaven / Earth Relationship. There is a Giver / Receiving relationship. But there is not one phrase that says God needs anything from us.
That doesn’t mean we don’t have a role. God does want something from us. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father in heaven,” because God wants our love. Jesus teaches us to pray “Hallowed be thy name,” because God wants our respect.
I heard that Arlington Cemetery does not have enough buglers for all of the funerals that need to be performed. Somebody came up with the idea of a bugle that would play “Taps” automatically. Some folk were, understandably, a bit upset. I mean, if you’re going to do that, why not just bring a stereo and play a CD, right? The military was trying to balance two things. They wanted to give personal attention to the dead, and they wanted to respect the dead with their best.
Our prayers can fall into the same trap. Sometimes, I wish I could just play a recording to make sure all my prayers are said. But where would the love be? And sometimes, my love for God gets so out of hand that I forget God’s holiness. That very balance defines what our prayers should be – a one-on-one relationship that gives and takes. It is a personal thing. It can’t be replaced with a mechanical recitation of words. God uses our words in prayer, but that’s not what God is after. Before anything else, before we even open our mouths, God wants our hearts.
Sources:
E.M. Bounds, "Purpse in Prayer," in The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds.
J. DAvid Hoke, "Beginning in Praise," www.sermoncentral.com.
Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew
Floyd McClung, The Father Heart of God
Helmut Thielicke, Our Heavenly Father
Chalres Allen, The Lord's Prayer, An Interpretation
The Heidelberg Catechism
Friday, January 5, 2007
Sermon for December 31, 2007
To all five of my faithful readers: Have a wonderful New Year!
Here is a transcription of my latest "Letter from Home" from my Aunt Georgia:
Dear Matt,
It was nice of you to finally write back to me. You know, most people return letters after a few weeks. It’s called good manners. When you write back it shows that you care enough to think of someone else beside yourself, bless your heart. Even though you can’t manage to write a proper note, I hope you and your family had a good Christmas. I bet your kids was excited to unwrap presents. And if history repeats itself, I bet you took a long nap on Christmas day.
I spent Christmas with Willa Broadfoot and her family. I really shouldn’t call them her family. They aren’t blood family. After she left her husband Roddy a few years back, it came out that Roddy had a first wife that he never told Willa about. And didn’t that just crack her yaller! Her name is Nadine. I guess Roddy met her in his old wild-oat-sowin’ days when he worked as a sheepsherder in Texas. Roddy brought Nadine back up to the Ozarks where they set up a home in Chigger Falls, the county seat. Some people think Nadine is about as strange as a three dollar bill. Roddy left her after she claimed to see Santy Claus on a Christmas many years ago. Roddy claimed she was crazy and dangerous and he left her. Truth was, he was cheating on her with Willa, but neither Nadine nor Willa never knew the truth about each other. Well, one day Willa was shopping in Wal-Mart with Roddy, and as they was turning out of the hunting and camping aisle, they ran into Nadine. Nadine started throwing hugs on Roddy, and Willa couldn’t figure why this strange woman was grabbing at her husband in the test-line aisle. I guess it was all a little awkward. Roddy lives by a simple philosophy: Don’t complain, don’t explain, and for sure, don’t never confess! But standing there with Nadine huggin’ on him and Willa lookin’ on in a disapproving sort of way, Roddy realized that he would be better off trying to cross Hell while walkin’ on quicksand. He finally ‘fessed up and blubbered to Willa that Nadine was his ex-wife. If Willa was shocked, she never showed it. Being a woman of good manners, who always thinks of other people first, she invited Nadine over for coffee the next day while Roddy was at work carving walnut bowls in the factory. They got talkin’ about Roddy, and why he left her.
Well, wouldn’t you know, Willa and Nadine really hit it off. Nadine might be crazy, but she sure is fun. Well, Willa and Roddy eventually split, for reasons I won’t get into right now. But Willa and Nadine stayed friends. We’ve all been meetin’ and eatin’ together on Christmas day now for 15 years. I haven’t seen Santy Claus, but we sure have fun, Willa, crazy Nadine, and me. They invite me, the old widow along out of pity.
Christmas day is the best time of year for us. Dinner is always a turkey. The past few years I’ve brought a roast or ham to eat with it. Nadine’s mom and brother come over with her brother’s three kids. Roddy, the common ex-husband has not been welcome for 5 years now because of past hurts and problems, but this year I think Willa and Nadine may be on the verge of getting past all of that. Roddy and his new girlfriend and her kids may be invited to a New Year’s bash to try to mend some old fences. At Christmas we all converged on Willa’s house like the circus coming to town!!! Then the fun starts. We cook all day, with occasional breaks for beer, tea, stories, and general tomfoolery. We feast on turkey, roast beast, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, home made cranberry sauce (the canned stuff just won't do), Nadine’s famous Fig Newton salad, fresh rolls, followed by coffee and at least 2-3 desserts. It's generally ready by mid-afternoon, giving us plenty of time to relax for awhile before we start cleaning up the kitchen. Dress is ALWAYS casual. I wear my pants with the elastic stretch waist so’s not to suffocate after dinner.
There are times I really miss your Uncle Slim and the rest of my blood family, you know, my parents and sister, my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, and my nieces and nephews. So many are gone now. Died or moved away. I’ve had to learn to find another family out here in the country. After dinner, we're all fat, dumb and happy. Willa’s Christmas tree looks beautiful. We dim the lights so’s the room is lit only by the blinking tree lights. Then we listen to Nadine tell the story of how she saw Santy Claus while we all flop out on the floor, couch, chairs, where ever there's room (and there's not much with that many people so we tend to lay/sit real close to each other). She tells it the same every year:
I tried to wake up Roddy, but he was arranged on the bed like he was sleepin’ the sleep of death. Except he was snorin’ so loud, he could raise the dead. So I took matters into my own hands. I grabbed Roddy’s shotgun and went out the back door of the trailer. I looked up at the roof an’ I'll be darned! There was an old fat man and his munchkin friend climbin' into a big ol’ sled that was hooked up to a bunch of elk or caribou or somethin’. I mean, them suckers was a lot bigger than them stuffed ones that I seen at the Bass Pro museum in Springfield, and their antlers was huge. I think one of 'em might-a-been sick, though, cause his nose was all swollen an’ red. An I’ll be darned if didn’t think, “That big guy and his little friend are trying to rob us.” Jes' as I was raisin' the ol' 12-gauge to draw a bead on ‘em, ol' fatso started a hollerin' at his elks -- "On Dancer an' Prancer an' Donna and Quicken," or somethin' like that, anyhow – an’ then they done started flyin' off my roof!!! Now I ain’t no rocket scientist or nothin’, but I’m a educated lady an’ I know that stuff like that just ain’t s’posed to happen. But sure enough, them dudes was a flyin’ away like it was nothin’. It was a purty amazin’ sight, to tell ya’ the truth. With ol’ fatso an’ the munchkin an’ all them elks all flyin’ away there wasn’t nothin’ much else to see, so I done gone back inside to try to figure this whole situation out. I got to cogitatin’ about it over a glass Pepto Bismal on the rocks and fingered it might be best if I jes’ kept my mouth shut about it to Roddy. I mean, I jes’ fingered that he’d tell me I been drinkin’ too much (not that he don't do that a might already). An’ jes’ as I was figurin’ on convincin’ myself that maybe I jes’ had a little too much Pepto to drink an’ that maybe I jes’ imagined the whole thing, I swear I heard ol’ fatso say somethin’ off in the distance – “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” That’s when I couldn’t keep it to myself anymore. So I woke up Roddy and told him what happened. I guess I spooked him, ‘cuz he left a few weeks later, shakin’ his head and tellin’ folks that I ain’t got all my cups in the cupboard, if you know what I mean.
After hearing the story, and belly laughing for a few minutes, nobody wants to move, but eventually we have to clean that darn kitchen!!! Then we all go home with another day of warm memories to hold in our hearts until the next time. That’s Christmas with my Ozark family. Probably more than you wanted to know but you DID ask when you bothered to write me last.
Of course, we always take time to tell the real story of Christmas. The Bible says in the fullness of time Jesus was born into a difficult world. In other words, at just the right time, when God knew best just what we needed, God sent a Son. Pastor Sanford at the Jerico Springs Progressive Church of the Ozarks teaches that the Jewish people was expecting a Messiah –– someone to rescue the people. They was pregnant with hope that someone would step onto the scene to save them from day-and-night persecution and troubles. I guess it wasn’t easy being a Jew in those days. They was subject to Roman authorities. They was always kept a little bit apart and always treated like second class citizens or outcasts. But their faith told them that it was not always going to be like that and God was in the process of saving the people of Israel. The new Messiah, powerful and strong, would send the Romans running away with their tails between their legs
Can’t you just picture this Messiah? I would doubt that anyone had given much thought to the Messiah’s beginning, and if they had it would be like this: The Messiah would come with an army and wipe out the enemies of God. But God thinks and acts in ways that we can’t even imagine. A little baby to be the Messiah! Who knew? A child who would depend on his mother and father for all of his needs, for life itself, for the first several months of life, as all human babies do? A little ankle-biter who could not even be born in a room of a hotel, but in a barn full of animals?
Jesus came to the low folk. He came to plain ol’ ordinary people, like us. I guess that’s why I like to spend Christmas with run-o-the-mill folk like Willa and Nadine. They remind me of God’s grace. Being with them reminds me that when God sent us Jesus, we also gave us a chance to be part of a new family. Being with Willa and Nadine reminds me that God gave us a chance to forgive one another, and celebrate new life together. I don’t always have to be with my blood family, because God has put me in a new family. You see, Matt, baby Jesus is God’s free gift of love. The Savior was born, lived and died, and rose again so that we might be able to go right up to God and call him our Daddy. That same free gift of love claims each of us as God’s own children. Isn’t that amazing? God calls us part of His family. At times this is still too much to understand. So God sends the Holy Spirit to remind that we are children of God. We are part of the new family.
Anyway, you probably know all this. Send my best to your family from their crazy old Auntie in Jerico Springs.
Love,
Aunt Georgia.
Here is a transcription of my latest "Letter from Home" from my Aunt Georgia:
Dear Matt,
It was nice of you to finally write back to me. You know, most people return letters after a few weeks. It’s called good manners. When you write back it shows that you care enough to think of someone else beside yourself, bless your heart. Even though you can’t manage to write a proper note, I hope you and your family had a good Christmas. I bet your kids was excited to unwrap presents. And if history repeats itself, I bet you took a long nap on Christmas day.
I spent Christmas with Willa Broadfoot and her family. I really shouldn’t call them her family. They aren’t blood family. After she left her husband Roddy a few years back, it came out that Roddy had a first wife that he never told Willa about. And didn’t that just crack her yaller! Her name is Nadine. I guess Roddy met her in his old wild-oat-sowin’ days when he worked as a sheepsherder in Texas. Roddy brought Nadine back up to the Ozarks where they set up a home in Chigger Falls, the county seat. Some people think Nadine is about as strange as a three dollar bill. Roddy left her after she claimed to see Santy Claus on a Christmas many years ago. Roddy claimed she was crazy and dangerous and he left her. Truth was, he was cheating on her with Willa, but neither Nadine nor Willa never knew the truth about each other. Well, one day Willa was shopping in Wal-Mart with Roddy, and as they was turning out of the hunting and camping aisle, they ran into Nadine. Nadine started throwing hugs on Roddy, and Willa couldn’t figure why this strange woman was grabbing at her husband in the test-line aisle. I guess it was all a little awkward. Roddy lives by a simple philosophy: Don’t complain, don’t explain, and for sure, don’t never confess! But standing there with Nadine huggin’ on him and Willa lookin’ on in a disapproving sort of way, Roddy realized that he would be better off trying to cross Hell while walkin’ on quicksand. He finally ‘fessed up and blubbered to Willa that Nadine was his ex-wife. If Willa was shocked, she never showed it. Being a woman of good manners, who always thinks of other people first, she invited Nadine over for coffee the next day while Roddy was at work carving walnut bowls in the factory. They got talkin’ about Roddy, and why he left her.
Well, wouldn’t you know, Willa and Nadine really hit it off. Nadine might be crazy, but she sure is fun. Well, Willa and Roddy eventually split, for reasons I won’t get into right now. But Willa and Nadine stayed friends. We’ve all been meetin’ and eatin’ together on Christmas day now for 15 years. I haven’t seen Santy Claus, but we sure have fun, Willa, crazy Nadine, and me. They invite me, the old widow along out of pity.
Christmas day is the best time of year for us. Dinner is always a turkey. The past few years I’ve brought a roast or ham to eat with it. Nadine’s mom and brother come over with her brother’s three kids. Roddy, the common ex-husband has not been welcome for 5 years now because of past hurts and problems, but this year I think Willa and Nadine may be on the verge of getting past all of that. Roddy and his new girlfriend and her kids may be invited to a New Year’s bash to try to mend some old fences. At Christmas we all converged on Willa’s house like the circus coming to town!!! Then the fun starts. We cook all day, with occasional breaks for beer, tea, stories, and general tomfoolery. We feast on turkey, roast beast, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, home made cranberry sauce (the canned stuff just won't do), Nadine’s famous Fig Newton salad, fresh rolls, followed by coffee and at least 2-3 desserts. It's generally ready by mid-afternoon, giving us plenty of time to relax for awhile before we start cleaning up the kitchen. Dress is ALWAYS casual. I wear my pants with the elastic stretch waist so’s not to suffocate after dinner.
There are times I really miss your Uncle Slim and the rest of my blood family, you know, my parents and sister, my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, and my nieces and nephews. So many are gone now. Died or moved away. I’ve had to learn to find another family out here in the country. After dinner, we're all fat, dumb and happy. Willa’s Christmas tree looks beautiful. We dim the lights so’s the room is lit only by the blinking tree lights. Then we listen to Nadine tell the story of how she saw Santy Claus while we all flop out on the floor, couch, chairs, where ever there's room (and there's not much with that many people so we tend to lay/sit real close to each other). She tells it the same every year:
I tried to wake up Roddy, but he was arranged on the bed like he was sleepin’ the sleep of death. Except he was snorin’ so loud, he could raise the dead. So I took matters into my own hands. I grabbed Roddy’s shotgun and went out the back door of the trailer. I looked up at the roof an’ I'll be darned! There was an old fat man and his munchkin friend climbin' into a big ol’ sled that was hooked up to a bunch of elk or caribou or somethin’. I mean, them suckers was a lot bigger than them stuffed ones that I seen at the Bass Pro museum in Springfield, and their antlers was huge. I think one of 'em might-a-been sick, though, cause his nose was all swollen an’ red. An I’ll be darned if didn’t think, “That big guy and his little friend are trying to rob us.” Jes' as I was raisin' the ol' 12-gauge to draw a bead on ‘em, ol' fatso started a hollerin' at his elks -- "On Dancer an' Prancer an' Donna and Quicken," or somethin' like that, anyhow – an’ then they done started flyin' off my roof!!! Now I ain’t no rocket scientist or nothin’, but I’m a educated lady an’ I know that stuff like that just ain’t s’posed to happen. But sure enough, them dudes was a flyin’ away like it was nothin’. It was a purty amazin’ sight, to tell ya’ the truth. With ol’ fatso an’ the munchkin an’ all them elks all flyin’ away there wasn’t nothin’ much else to see, so I done gone back inside to try to figure this whole situation out. I got to cogitatin’ about it over a glass Pepto Bismal on the rocks and fingered it might be best if I jes’ kept my mouth shut about it to Roddy. I mean, I jes’ fingered that he’d tell me I been drinkin’ too much (not that he don't do that a might already). An’ jes’ as I was figurin’ on convincin’ myself that maybe I jes’ had a little too much Pepto to drink an’ that maybe I jes’ imagined the whole thing, I swear I heard ol’ fatso say somethin’ off in the distance – “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” That’s when I couldn’t keep it to myself anymore. So I woke up Roddy and told him what happened. I guess I spooked him, ‘cuz he left a few weeks later, shakin’ his head and tellin’ folks that I ain’t got all my cups in the cupboard, if you know what I mean.
After hearing the story, and belly laughing for a few minutes, nobody wants to move, but eventually we have to clean that darn kitchen!!! Then we all go home with another day of warm memories to hold in our hearts until the next time. That’s Christmas with my Ozark family. Probably more than you wanted to know but you DID ask when you bothered to write me last.
Of course, we always take time to tell the real story of Christmas. The Bible says in the fullness of time Jesus was born into a difficult world. In other words, at just the right time, when God knew best just what we needed, God sent a Son. Pastor Sanford at the Jerico Springs Progressive Church of the Ozarks teaches that the Jewish people was expecting a Messiah –– someone to rescue the people. They was pregnant with hope that someone would step onto the scene to save them from day-and-night persecution and troubles. I guess it wasn’t easy being a Jew in those days. They was subject to Roman authorities. They was always kept a little bit apart and always treated like second class citizens or outcasts. But their faith told them that it was not always going to be like that and God was in the process of saving the people of Israel. The new Messiah, powerful and strong, would send the Romans running away with their tails between their legs
Can’t you just picture this Messiah? I would doubt that anyone had given much thought to the Messiah’s beginning, and if they had it would be like this: The Messiah would come with an army and wipe out the enemies of God. But God thinks and acts in ways that we can’t even imagine. A little baby to be the Messiah! Who knew? A child who would depend on his mother and father for all of his needs, for life itself, for the first several months of life, as all human babies do? A little ankle-biter who could not even be born in a room of a hotel, but in a barn full of animals?
Jesus came to the low folk. He came to plain ol’ ordinary people, like us. I guess that’s why I like to spend Christmas with run-o-the-mill folk like Willa and Nadine. They remind me of God’s grace. Being with them reminds me that when God sent us Jesus, we also gave us a chance to be part of a new family. Being with Willa and Nadine reminds me that God gave us a chance to forgive one another, and celebrate new life together. I don’t always have to be with my blood family, because God has put me in a new family. You see, Matt, baby Jesus is God’s free gift of love. The Savior was born, lived and died, and rose again so that we might be able to go right up to God and call him our Daddy. That same free gift of love claims each of us as God’s own children. Isn’t that amazing? God calls us part of His family. At times this is still too much to understand. So God sends the Holy Spirit to remind that we are children of God. We are part of the new family.
Anyway, you probably know all this. Send my best to your family from their crazy old Auntie in Jerico Springs.
Love,
Aunt Georgia.
Sermon for Christmas Eve
I stole the idea for this sermon from John Shea, "Have A Defiant Christmas, preached at http://www.csec.org/index.htm.
Some Christmas I am going to send out a Christmas card that will look like this. On the cover there will be three images. The first image will be a star brightly shining but it will be surrounded by darkness. The second image will be an evergreen but it will be surrounded by trees without leaves. The third image will be the traditional one, it will be a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, but the child will be surrounded by a ramshackle stable. When you open the card, it will say in big bold print, “Have a Defiant Christmas!”
I assume my friends and family will call me up and say, “Matt, what is this about?” That will give me a chance to explain my insanity.
The first image is a light shining, but shining in the darkness. I love to drive around and look at Christmas lights. When I lived in Western NY, my favorite display was right across the street. In their yard was a plastic light-up nativity scene – the holy baby, Mary and Joseph. Mary and Joseph’s color was faded, but they still did the job, vigilantly watching the Son of God. Their glowing nativity tableau, however, did not have the usual shepherds and wise men. Instead, the manger was flanked by toy soldiers, Rudolph and Santa. They all looked comfortable together, a mix of Christmas symbols whose garishness caused me to chuckle every year.
You know what else I like to do? I’m going to do it tonight – it’s one of my Christmas traditions. I turn off all the lights in the house. The kids are in bed, the presents are wrapped, and there is nothing else to do but turn on the Christmas tree and watch the lights illumine the silent darkness of our home. Christmas is not just about light. It's about light in the darkness. Like the Gospel of John says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can not overcome it.” Light has defiance as part of its character. It pierces the darkness but the darkness cannot overcome it.
The second picture on my Christmas card is an evergreen tree surrounded by lifeless trees. The image evokes a story from the Cherokee tradition called Why Some Trees are Ever Green. In the beginning the Great Mystery gathers all the plants and animals together, and the Great Mystery wants to give a gift to all the plants and the animals, but the Great Mystery does not know what gift to give to which plants and which trees. The trees and plants are gathered together and the Spirit says, “Try to stay up all night for seven nights.” Well the first night the young plants and trees, even if they wanted to, could not fall asleep. They were so excited. On the second night some dozed off. On the third night, in order to keep awake, the plants and trees began talking to one another. On the fourth, fifth and sixth nights, though, many fell asleep, until finally the Great Mystery arrived on the seventh night. The only plants and the only trees that were awake were the spruce, the fir, the holly and the laurel. The Great Mystery said, “What great endurance you have. Because you have stayed awake, I will give you the gift of being ever green, so that even in the dead of winter, when all the other trees have lost their leaves, your brother and sister creatures can look into your leaves and know that life is protected.”
So it is down to this day. In the dead of this season, when all the other trees lose their leaves, the evergreens stay green and stay awake. The evergreens are defiant. They live and they give us a sense of life.
My third Christmas picture is a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. It is an image of love. The child wrapped in swaddling clothes means that the child is loved. The child is not abandoned, but enfolded and taken care of. The child is laid in a manger, a feeding trough, which symbolizes that this beloved child will be food for the world and give his life to all people. It all happens in a world where there is no room for them at the inn -- in a place where there is no hospitality, where they are not welcomed, where there is rejection. There is a defiance to the love of that baby. His is a love that beckons is from a land that lacks hospitality.
Three images: the light shines but it defies the darkness; the tress is green, but it defies the the death of Winter; the child is beloved but He defies a sense of rejection and inhospitality. I thought with these images on the cover of a Christmas card, people would understand the sentiment, “Have a Defiant Christmas.” But I suppose we really don't want a card like that. We want a card that is all light or all greenness or all love, but I do not think it is always the condition we are in when we celebrate Christmas.
There is a lot of darkness, barrenness and inhospitality in our lives. At Christmas time, we have a chance to defy them. The question is, how do we celebrate in a world that is not perfect? What might we have to do to defy them? Perhaps our health is not good. Maybe the ones you love and care for are failing. Perhaps you are waiting for test results over the holidays. Perhaps our finances are not where they should be. We need more money. Who doesn’t at this season? Maybe some of our relationships are difficult and in need of repair. Perhaps our job is not secure. Will we wait until there is all light, till there is all greenness, until there is only love in order to celebrate? Or can we defy that and celebrate in the midst of darkness and barrenness and lack of hospitality?
It seems to me the Christian tradition is powerfully consistent on this. We proclaim that our souls are deeply united to God. If we can get ourselves in tune with our souls, we may find a place where we can defy all that tries to tear us down and destroy us when the circumstances of our lives that are not completely where we want them to be. The problem is we are often not in touch with this deep, interconnectedness to the God.
There was once a German theologian named Meister Eckhart. He once said that each person has a vintage wine cellar but they seldom drink from it. We have to find the wine cellar in order to drink from it. A man once heard this quote and said to me, “I think I know what you were talking about. Let me tell you my story. I was a school teacher and at Christmas the kids always brought me gifts. They brought them in different types of boxes but after a while I was pretty savvy about what the gifts were. There would be a thin handkerchief box. I knew it was a handkerchief box and so instead of opening it, I usually just put it in the closet and then when I needed a handkerchief, I went and got it and opened it up. Well, one time I needed a handkerchief and I went and opened up a thin handkerchief box but there was no handkerchief inside. Inside instead was an antique pocket watch. I had an antique pocket watch all this time but I didn't know it because it was wrapped in a handkerchief box.”
We all carry treasures around like that in our ordinary lives and average bodies. Don’t be fooled. God’s light is in you. By God’s Spirit, you have the greenness of new life. It defies the adverse circumstances of our lives.
I do not know if I will ever send that Christmas card out. Knowing me, I will probably put it off. In the meantime, I leave you with a blessing this Christmas -- one that was written in 1513 by Fra Giovanni. “I salute you and there is nothing I can give which you have not, but there is much while I cannot give it, you may take it. No heaven can come to us unless we find it in our hearts today. So take heaven. No joy can come to us, unless it comes to us in this present moment. Take joy. No peace can come to us, unless we find it right now. Take peace.” And so at Christmas time, I greet you with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.
Some Christmas I am going to send out a Christmas card that will look like this. On the cover there will be three images. The first image will be a star brightly shining but it will be surrounded by darkness. The second image will be an evergreen but it will be surrounded by trees without leaves. The third image will be the traditional one, it will be a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, but the child will be surrounded by a ramshackle stable. When you open the card, it will say in big bold print, “Have a Defiant Christmas!”
I assume my friends and family will call me up and say, “Matt, what is this about?” That will give me a chance to explain my insanity.
The first image is a light shining, but shining in the darkness. I love to drive around and look at Christmas lights. When I lived in Western NY, my favorite display was right across the street. In their yard was a plastic light-up nativity scene – the holy baby, Mary and Joseph. Mary and Joseph’s color was faded, but they still did the job, vigilantly watching the Son of God. Their glowing nativity tableau, however, did not have the usual shepherds and wise men. Instead, the manger was flanked by toy soldiers, Rudolph and Santa. They all looked comfortable together, a mix of Christmas symbols whose garishness caused me to chuckle every year.
You know what else I like to do? I’m going to do it tonight – it’s one of my Christmas traditions. I turn off all the lights in the house. The kids are in bed, the presents are wrapped, and there is nothing else to do but turn on the Christmas tree and watch the lights illumine the silent darkness of our home. Christmas is not just about light. It's about light in the darkness. Like the Gospel of John says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can not overcome it.” Light has defiance as part of its character. It pierces the darkness but the darkness cannot overcome it.
The second picture on my Christmas card is an evergreen tree surrounded by lifeless trees. The image evokes a story from the Cherokee tradition called Why Some Trees are Ever Green. In the beginning the Great Mystery gathers all the plants and animals together, and the Great Mystery wants to give a gift to all the plants and the animals, but the Great Mystery does not know what gift to give to which plants and which trees. The trees and plants are gathered together and the Spirit says, “Try to stay up all night for seven nights.” Well the first night the young plants and trees, even if they wanted to, could not fall asleep. They were so excited. On the second night some dozed off. On the third night, in order to keep awake, the plants and trees began talking to one another. On the fourth, fifth and sixth nights, though, many fell asleep, until finally the Great Mystery arrived on the seventh night. The only plants and the only trees that were awake were the spruce, the fir, the holly and the laurel. The Great Mystery said, “What great endurance you have. Because you have stayed awake, I will give you the gift of being ever green, so that even in the dead of winter, when all the other trees have lost their leaves, your brother and sister creatures can look into your leaves and know that life is protected.”
So it is down to this day. In the dead of this season, when all the other trees lose their leaves, the evergreens stay green and stay awake. The evergreens are defiant. They live and they give us a sense of life.
My third Christmas picture is a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. It is an image of love. The child wrapped in swaddling clothes means that the child is loved. The child is not abandoned, but enfolded and taken care of. The child is laid in a manger, a feeding trough, which symbolizes that this beloved child will be food for the world and give his life to all people. It all happens in a world where there is no room for them at the inn -- in a place where there is no hospitality, where they are not welcomed, where there is rejection. There is a defiance to the love of that baby. His is a love that beckons is from a land that lacks hospitality.
Three images: the light shines but it defies the darkness; the tress is green, but it defies the the death of Winter; the child is beloved but He defies a sense of rejection and inhospitality. I thought with these images on the cover of a Christmas card, people would understand the sentiment, “Have a Defiant Christmas.” But I suppose we really don't want a card like that. We want a card that is all light or all greenness or all love, but I do not think it is always the condition we are in when we celebrate Christmas.
There is a lot of darkness, barrenness and inhospitality in our lives. At Christmas time, we have a chance to defy them. The question is, how do we celebrate in a world that is not perfect? What might we have to do to defy them? Perhaps our health is not good. Maybe the ones you love and care for are failing. Perhaps you are waiting for test results over the holidays. Perhaps our finances are not where they should be. We need more money. Who doesn’t at this season? Maybe some of our relationships are difficult and in need of repair. Perhaps our job is not secure. Will we wait until there is all light, till there is all greenness, until there is only love in order to celebrate? Or can we defy that and celebrate in the midst of darkness and barrenness and lack of hospitality?
It seems to me the Christian tradition is powerfully consistent on this. We proclaim that our souls are deeply united to God. If we can get ourselves in tune with our souls, we may find a place where we can defy all that tries to tear us down and destroy us when the circumstances of our lives that are not completely where we want them to be. The problem is we are often not in touch with this deep, interconnectedness to the God.
There was once a German theologian named Meister Eckhart. He once said that each person has a vintage wine cellar but they seldom drink from it. We have to find the wine cellar in order to drink from it. A man once heard this quote and said to me, “I think I know what you were talking about. Let me tell you my story. I was a school teacher and at Christmas the kids always brought me gifts. They brought them in different types of boxes but after a while I was pretty savvy about what the gifts were. There would be a thin handkerchief box. I knew it was a handkerchief box and so instead of opening it, I usually just put it in the closet and then when I needed a handkerchief, I went and got it and opened it up. Well, one time I needed a handkerchief and I went and opened up a thin handkerchief box but there was no handkerchief inside. Inside instead was an antique pocket watch. I had an antique pocket watch all this time but I didn't know it because it was wrapped in a handkerchief box.”
We all carry treasures around like that in our ordinary lives and average bodies. Don’t be fooled. God’s light is in you. By God’s Spirit, you have the greenness of new life. It defies the adverse circumstances of our lives.
I do not know if I will ever send that Christmas card out. Knowing me, I will probably put it off. In the meantime, I leave you with a blessing this Christmas -- one that was written in 1513 by Fra Giovanni. “I salute you and there is nothing I can give which you have not, but there is much while I cannot give it, you may take it. No heaven can come to us unless we find it in our hearts today. So take heaven. No joy can come to us, unless it comes to us in this present moment. Take joy. No peace can come to us, unless we find it right now. Take peace.” And so at Christmas time, I greet you with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Sermon for Dec. 10, 2006, Advent II
Heralds of Jesus
Luke 3:1-6
We begin in the year 587 BC. If we could time travel to Jerusalem, we would see a city ravaged by war. Babylon, the merciless and dominant military power, has captured the King of Jerusalem and his family. One by one, The conquering army slays King Zedekiah’s sons as he is forced to look on. Men and boys are taken to the sanctuary of the Temple and killed. These moment of terror are the last things King Zedekiah sees before soldiers gouge his eyes out. The king and all of the Jewish survivors are shackled and marched across the desert to Babylon as political prisoners. It’s a lampoon of a victory parade as 15,000 prisoners march away from Jerusalem. Most of them will never see their homes again.
Israel’s prophets warned that their defeat was the punishment for Israel’s sin. The leaders hated justice and honesty, and led the people in the worship of the fertility gods of the other nations. God’s patience had run out. Judgment had come.
We don’t know much about what happened to the people of Israel over the next 70 years of exile in Babylon. We assume that the exiles built houses and farms and blended in with the general population. After generations passed, some forgot about their homeland. Yet, some never forgot Jerusalem. They longed for a day when their punishment would be over and God would bring them back to the Promised Land. One of these people was a prophet. Scholars call him “Second Isaiah.” We don’t know his real name or occupation. We only have his message, preserved in chapters 40-59 in the book of Isaiah. His prophecy begins with words of hope: “ ‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for’” (Is 40:1-2).
God promises comfort. No more harsh words of anger and judgment. Now God promises a time when the exiles will return to their land. God will flatten all obstacles like hills, mountains and valleys. The people of Israel will find safety and security in their relationship with God. When that day comes, all who look to God will find salvation.
The Jews did return to the Promised Land, as the prophet foretold. The Persians came to power, conquered Babylon, and the Jews home. God opened a way through impassible forests, broken rocks, and sandy deserts for his people to return from exile.
500 years later, we read about a wild man living in the desert. His name is John. He might be the kind of person whom we wouldn’t want our kids to hang out with. He lives in the desert no man’s land of the Dead Sea. He wears itchy clothes made from camel’s hair, and eats locusts for lunch. I imagine him with long hair, twisted and matted from neglect. In my mind, John has a grizzly beard, and he smells. As he talks, his eyes wildly stab at his listeners. He is the fulfillment of prophecy, this weirdo in the desert. Luke tells us that God chose John to as a herald or forerunner of Jesus. He is the voice crying out the words of Isaiah, “In the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord.” John preaches repentance and baptism so that all people will be able to recognize the coming salvation that is about to break in upon the world.
John the Baptist’s message is that there is hope in the wilderness. Wilderness is not only found in untamed domains of land. Wilderness is also the bare and threatening place in the hearts of humankind. In the wilderness times of life, we are stripped of comfort and pretense. It is the place where we meet God. I hear John the Baptist saying, “In the barren areas of your life, prepare the way for the coming King. In the frozen muck of your being, in the emptiness that the world has to offer you, get ready to come face-to-face with God’s salvation. The impassable forests of sin are about to be mowed down. The desert areas of dry religion are going to be removed. Everyone now ha a chance to see what God is about to do.”
If we listen, we can still hear the herald call of John today. It says, “Prepare the way for the Lord.” God is going to make a way to enter your life so that you can be transformed by God’s salvation.
We live in a world that needs to know about this saving touch from God. People need to know that there is hope in the wilderness – rescue from spiritual exile. Many of our friends and neighbors suffer in the wilderness areas of life and they need to know that God sends a message of Good News. I’m not just talking about head knowledge about Jesus. I’m sure that most Americans have heard the basics of the Christmas story: the baby, the shepherds, the angels, the manger. But how many hurting people have let the story speak to their souls? How many know that the child born in Bethlehem is also the King of kings and the Lord of lords? The world still needs heralds of Jesus – followers of Christ who go before him to prepare the way.
God can use you a messenger today. The world around you urgently needs men and women who have the courage to say, “No matter what you struggle with God has Good News for you. In the grip of sickness, there can be hope. In the turbulent ride of addiction, there can be peace. In the arbitrary disasters that hit without warning, there can be comfort. For those who go from religion to religion, from spiritual fix to spiritual fix, there is a firm foundation of truth in Jesus the Messiah. In depression, in disappointment, even in death, there is an assurance of new life through Jesus.
I’m not asking you to go to football games wearing John 3:16 placards. I’m not asking you to go knocking on doors or to hand out gospel tracts at the mall. Preparing the way for the Lord is nothing more than finding where people are hurting and offering faith in Christ as a pathway out of the wilderness. It’s all about relationships with one another, and connection with God. What the world needs is people who care enough to make those relationships – people who commit to loving others enough to show them how Jesus can make a positive difference in life. Some will do it like John the Baptist – publicly condemning authorities with brash actions. Others share the news of salvation through gentle words and loving gestures that speak from God’s heart through you. Being a herald means that we reach people where they are, telling them through words and actions that God has a path out of the wilderness. There can be comfort and safety in God’s presence.
Whether you like it or not, your life may be the only Bible some people will ever read. So today, go from here and be Good News. Let your life point to the Truth. Filled with the Holy Spirit, I hope you have the courage to be heralds of Jesus – living and speaking the gospel to a world waiting to see the salvation of God.
Luke 3:1-6
We begin in the year 587 BC. If we could time travel to Jerusalem, we would see a city ravaged by war. Babylon, the merciless and dominant military power, has captured the King of Jerusalem and his family. One by one, The conquering army slays King Zedekiah’s sons as he is forced to look on. Men and boys are taken to the sanctuary of the Temple and killed. These moment of terror are the last things King Zedekiah sees before soldiers gouge his eyes out. The king and all of the Jewish survivors are shackled and marched across the desert to Babylon as political prisoners. It’s a lampoon of a victory parade as 15,000 prisoners march away from Jerusalem. Most of them will never see their homes again.
Israel’s prophets warned that their defeat was the punishment for Israel’s sin. The leaders hated justice and honesty, and led the people in the worship of the fertility gods of the other nations. God’s patience had run out. Judgment had come.
We don’t know much about what happened to the people of Israel over the next 70 years of exile in Babylon. We assume that the exiles built houses and farms and blended in with the general population. After generations passed, some forgot about their homeland. Yet, some never forgot Jerusalem. They longed for a day when their punishment would be over and God would bring them back to the Promised Land. One of these people was a prophet. Scholars call him “Second Isaiah.” We don’t know his real name or occupation. We only have his message, preserved in chapters 40-59 in the book of Isaiah. His prophecy begins with words of hope: “ ‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for’” (Is 40:1-2).
God promises comfort. No more harsh words of anger and judgment. Now God promises a time when the exiles will return to their land. God will flatten all obstacles like hills, mountains and valleys. The people of Israel will find safety and security in their relationship with God. When that day comes, all who look to God will find salvation.
The Jews did return to the Promised Land, as the prophet foretold. The Persians came to power, conquered Babylon, and the Jews home. God opened a way through impassible forests, broken rocks, and sandy deserts for his people to return from exile.
500 years later, we read about a wild man living in the desert. His name is John. He might be the kind of person whom we wouldn’t want our kids to hang out with. He lives in the desert no man’s land of the Dead Sea. He wears itchy clothes made from camel’s hair, and eats locusts for lunch. I imagine him with long hair, twisted and matted from neglect. In my mind, John has a grizzly beard, and he smells. As he talks, his eyes wildly stab at his listeners. He is the fulfillment of prophecy, this weirdo in the desert. Luke tells us that God chose John to as a herald or forerunner of Jesus. He is the voice crying out the words of Isaiah, “In the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord.” John preaches repentance and baptism so that all people will be able to recognize the coming salvation that is about to break in upon the world.
John the Baptist’s message is that there is hope in the wilderness. Wilderness is not only found in untamed domains of land. Wilderness is also the bare and threatening place in the hearts of humankind. In the wilderness times of life, we are stripped of comfort and pretense. It is the place where we meet God. I hear John the Baptist saying, “In the barren areas of your life, prepare the way for the coming King. In the frozen muck of your being, in the emptiness that the world has to offer you, get ready to come face-to-face with God’s salvation. The impassable forests of sin are about to be mowed down. The desert areas of dry religion are going to be removed. Everyone now ha a chance to see what God is about to do.”
If we listen, we can still hear the herald call of John today. It says, “Prepare the way for the Lord.” God is going to make a way to enter your life so that you can be transformed by God’s salvation.
We live in a world that needs to know about this saving touch from God. People need to know that there is hope in the wilderness – rescue from spiritual exile. Many of our friends and neighbors suffer in the wilderness areas of life and they need to know that God sends a message of Good News. I’m not just talking about head knowledge about Jesus. I’m sure that most Americans have heard the basics of the Christmas story: the baby, the shepherds, the angels, the manger. But how many hurting people have let the story speak to their souls? How many know that the child born in Bethlehem is also the King of kings and the Lord of lords? The world still needs heralds of Jesus – followers of Christ who go before him to prepare the way.
God can use you a messenger today. The world around you urgently needs men and women who have the courage to say, “No matter what you struggle with God has Good News for you. In the grip of sickness, there can be hope. In the turbulent ride of addiction, there can be peace. In the arbitrary disasters that hit without warning, there can be comfort. For those who go from religion to religion, from spiritual fix to spiritual fix, there is a firm foundation of truth in Jesus the Messiah. In depression, in disappointment, even in death, there is an assurance of new life through Jesus.
I’m not asking you to go to football games wearing John 3:16 placards. I’m not asking you to go knocking on doors or to hand out gospel tracts at the mall. Preparing the way for the Lord is nothing more than finding where people are hurting and offering faith in Christ as a pathway out of the wilderness. It’s all about relationships with one another, and connection with God. What the world needs is people who care enough to make those relationships – people who commit to loving others enough to show them how Jesus can make a positive difference in life. Some will do it like John the Baptist – publicly condemning authorities with brash actions. Others share the news of salvation through gentle words and loving gestures that speak from God’s heart through you. Being a herald means that we reach people where they are, telling them through words and actions that God has a path out of the wilderness. There can be comfort and safety in God’s presence.
Whether you like it or not, your life may be the only Bible some people will ever read. So today, go from here and be Good News. Let your life point to the Truth. Filled with the Holy Spirit, I hope you have the courage to be heralds of Jesus – living and speaking the gospel to a world waiting to see the salvation of God.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Sermon for December 3, 2005
The Days are Coming
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Luke 21:25-36
As we prepare our hearts for Advent, I invite you to listen to the Christmas Story.
“Once upon a time, a decree went out from Caesar in August that everyone should be taxed so that the deficit would not get too big. Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem. Mary rode on a donkey named Rudolph, who was embarrassed to be seen carrying an unwed mother. He blushed so at the thought that his nose glowed red. Upon arriving at Bethlehem, they could not find a place to stay. (It was, after all, the Christmas season, and the press of tourists was crushing.) As they knocked at the door of the last inn in town, the innkeeper pushed back the shutter and threw up the sash. His figure appeared so nimble and quick. They knew in a moment his name must be Nick. Meanwhile in a field nearby, seven dwarfs who were shepherds were startled to hear a group of angels singing Handel's Messiah. At the end of the concert, they were told to stand up and to go to Bethlehem. So off they marched to the beat of their friend, the little drummer boy. When they arrived at the stable, they met Joseph, Mary, the child and a fat little man made famous in song, Round John Virgin.”
Christian Century magazine published this commentary on the secularization of Christmas in 1986. In the article, the author, Michael Martin, asked, “What if most of what people knew of Christmas was what they heard in Christmas songs and in fables told to children? Worst of all, what if all they knew about the Christmas celebration was how we actually live it?” What might the Christmas story sound like if it were told incorporating all the various myths, misunderstandings and attitudes that in fact saturate our celebration?
The author suggests that we mistake the true meaning of Christmas with the "Celebration of Santa Christ," the "Sweet Baby Syndrome," or, possibly, the "Mercantile Messiah Motif." Santa Christ is the jolly god who lives far, far away, and is only mentioned once a year. Actually, all mature people know that he doesn’t really exist; but he’s a convenient excuse for celebration. The prophet Jeremiah would not approve.
The Sweet Baby Syndrome celebrates the lovable infant in his crib, smiling and cooing. He doesn't make any demands on anyone; he just lies there and looks sweet. He spends most of the year in the closet with all the other Nativity scene supplies. But, once a year, we get him out, dust him off and say, “What a sweet baby.” Of course, we always put him back in the closet when the New Year begins. The prophet Jeremiah would not approve.
The Mercantile Messiah proclaims that Christmas is all about giving. “Christmas is all about giving, so let us sell you something that you can give to somebody else,” say the advertisements. What would Jeremiah say?
The problem with Santa Christ, Sweet Baby and the Mercantile Messiah is that they come and go but they never change anyone. They don’t reveal anything about God. They don’t make demands. Jeremiah longed for a different Savior. The text says, “He shall execute righteousness and judgment in the land.” Jeremiah knew that the people needed to inventory their lives and get rid of everything that did not reveal the true nature of God. He proclaimed a costly coming of the Messiah. God says, “The days are coming, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he will execute righteousness in the Land.”
I invite you to listen to another Scripture reading – This from the mouth of Jesus as told by Luke. His followers ask him about future time of destruction. They want to know what to look for when the end is near. Jesus says, “There will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!”
Stop for a minute with me and think about it. What does it mean when Jesus says to us that there is a day coming when the Son of Man will come to us in a cloud with power and great glory? What can these words mean in the midst of a busy life, a hectic life, a crazy life?
. . . a life where our kids expect to be driven here and there and ask for things that we just can't afford?
. . . a life where our employers expect us to work overtime,
. . . and our clubs, our church, and our sports teams ask for hours we don’t have?
What do these promises about the future mean when we are caught up in trying to do all we can do right here and now in the present - what do they man when we are struggling to live one day at a time - when we are trying to be all things to all to many people? What do they mean when we watch the news or read the paper and discover that senseless horrors continue throughout the world; that crime and starvation and terrorism and war and earthquakes and floods abound and indeed seen to be increasing?
To me they mean that I should rejoice, that I should stand up and watch and pray.
The promise of Christ is that the future is not going to be like the present. On that day, evil will perish and that a new heaven and a new earth will come upon us – a heaven and earth of everlasting peace and justice, joy and love.
Don’t get so caught up in the worries of this life that you are unprepared for the return of the Savior. Jesus reminds us to be alert to the bigger picture. Understand your place in the greater scheme of things. Be on guard.
Let me ask you, what one or two things do you tend to be so focused on that lose your context? What types of situations flood you with worry and cause your stomach to twist in knots, and your mind to lose perspective on the big picture?
When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, I was sure I was going to die a slow death from the fallout of a nuclear war. There were two superpowers: the Soviet Union and the United States. We each had nuclear weapons. We each were held back from launching them by the certain knowledge that the other superpower would launch theirs ... but we knew that couldn't last forever. As children, we asked ourselves whether it would be better to try to survive a nuclear blast, or just be at ground zero during the attack. We decided it would be better to be near the blast, so we wouldn’t live to see the aftermath. When I was in high school, there was a television miniseries called The Day After that gave voice to what most people my age believed would happen before we had the chance to see old age. By mistake or intention, someone launches their weapons, and we launch ours, and the world ends -- fire, followed by ice, with famine and unspeakable global destruction.
Our worries may not be on a global scale. The toughest distractions are the personal ones. For instance, sometimes I become so focused on my work, I tend to lose sight of my place in the big picture. I can spend hours before the computer, and then rush around doing visits and getting ready for meetings and then going to them - that I forget what it is that I am proclaiming. I can miss my family’s joys and what it is God is actually doing all around me.
What about you? Do you ever feel lost in today -- lost in the concerns that this moment brings? Has your life been taken over by one worry or another so that you can’t appreciate what else is going on?
Jesus tells us in not to be distracted by the big issues: warfare, floods, famine, and creation seeming to fall apart. They are only signs that point toward a better future. Jesus also reminds us that personal worries can be more distracting than any civil war halfway around the planet. Those personal events are so dangerous because they are subtle and sneaky. We don't realize what is happening until it is too late. All of a sudden, we're trapped, feeling sorry for ourselves, working so hard, being so focused on one thing, that we miss the bigger picture.
That’s why Jesus tells us to be alert. To watch. To not be so caught up in the everyday things that we fail to look down the road and see the presence of God’s Kingdom with all its hope and promise.
Jeremiah and Jesus tell us about the signs of the coming of the kingdom so that we might ready ourselves for it. A righteous Branch has sprouted from David's line; and he will do what is just and right in the land. Look around you and prepare for Jesus to come. Spend this Advent in prayer and in hope, in righteousness and in love, knowing that as so many of promises of God were fulfilled at the birth of Christ, so too the rest will be fulfilled – to his praise and his glory.
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Luke 21:25-36
As we prepare our hearts for Advent, I invite you to listen to the Christmas Story.
“Once upon a time, a decree went out from Caesar in August that everyone should be taxed so that the deficit would not get too big. Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem. Mary rode on a donkey named Rudolph, who was embarrassed to be seen carrying an unwed mother. He blushed so at the thought that his nose glowed red. Upon arriving at Bethlehem, they could not find a place to stay. (It was, after all, the Christmas season, and the press of tourists was crushing.) As they knocked at the door of the last inn in town, the innkeeper pushed back the shutter and threw up the sash. His figure appeared so nimble and quick. They knew in a moment his name must be Nick. Meanwhile in a field nearby, seven dwarfs who were shepherds were startled to hear a group of angels singing Handel's Messiah. At the end of the concert, they were told to stand up and to go to Bethlehem. So off they marched to the beat of their friend, the little drummer boy. When they arrived at the stable, they met Joseph, Mary, the child and a fat little man made famous in song, Round John Virgin.”
Christian Century magazine published this commentary on the secularization of Christmas in 1986. In the article, the author, Michael Martin, asked, “What if most of what people knew of Christmas was what they heard in Christmas songs and in fables told to children? Worst of all, what if all they knew about the Christmas celebration was how we actually live it?” What might the Christmas story sound like if it were told incorporating all the various myths, misunderstandings and attitudes that in fact saturate our celebration?
The author suggests that we mistake the true meaning of Christmas with the "Celebration of Santa Christ," the "Sweet Baby Syndrome," or, possibly, the "Mercantile Messiah Motif." Santa Christ is the jolly god who lives far, far away, and is only mentioned once a year. Actually, all mature people know that he doesn’t really exist; but he’s a convenient excuse for celebration. The prophet Jeremiah would not approve.
The Sweet Baby Syndrome celebrates the lovable infant in his crib, smiling and cooing. He doesn't make any demands on anyone; he just lies there and looks sweet. He spends most of the year in the closet with all the other Nativity scene supplies. But, once a year, we get him out, dust him off and say, “What a sweet baby.” Of course, we always put him back in the closet when the New Year begins. The prophet Jeremiah would not approve.
The Mercantile Messiah proclaims that Christmas is all about giving. “Christmas is all about giving, so let us sell you something that you can give to somebody else,” say the advertisements. What would Jeremiah say?
The problem with Santa Christ, Sweet Baby and the Mercantile Messiah is that they come and go but they never change anyone. They don’t reveal anything about God. They don’t make demands. Jeremiah longed for a different Savior. The text says, “He shall execute righteousness and judgment in the land.” Jeremiah knew that the people needed to inventory their lives and get rid of everything that did not reveal the true nature of God. He proclaimed a costly coming of the Messiah. God says, “The days are coming, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he will execute righteousness in the Land.”
I invite you to listen to another Scripture reading – This from the mouth of Jesus as told by Luke. His followers ask him about future time of destruction. They want to know what to look for when the end is near. Jesus says, “There will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!”
Stop for a minute with me and think about it. What does it mean when Jesus says to us that there is a day coming when the Son of Man will come to us in a cloud with power and great glory? What can these words mean in the midst of a busy life, a hectic life, a crazy life?
. . . a life where our kids expect to be driven here and there and ask for things that we just can't afford?
. . . a life where our employers expect us to work overtime,
. . . and our clubs, our church, and our sports teams ask for hours we don’t have?
What do these promises about the future mean when we are caught up in trying to do all we can do right here and now in the present - what do they man when we are struggling to live one day at a time - when we are trying to be all things to all to many people? What do they mean when we watch the news or read the paper and discover that senseless horrors continue throughout the world; that crime and starvation and terrorism and war and earthquakes and floods abound and indeed seen to be increasing?
To me they mean that I should rejoice, that I should stand up and watch and pray.
The promise of Christ is that the future is not going to be like the present. On that day, evil will perish and that a new heaven and a new earth will come upon us – a heaven and earth of everlasting peace and justice, joy and love.
Don’t get so caught up in the worries of this life that you are unprepared for the return of the Savior. Jesus reminds us to be alert to the bigger picture. Understand your place in the greater scheme of things. Be on guard.
Let me ask you, what one or two things do you tend to be so focused on that lose your context? What types of situations flood you with worry and cause your stomach to twist in knots, and your mind to lose perspective on the big picture?
When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, I was sure I was going to die a slow death from the fallout of a nuclear war. There were two superpowers: the Soviet Union and the United States. We each had nuclear weapons. We each were held back from launching them by the certain knowledge that the other superpower would launch theirs ... but we knew that couldn't last forever. As children, we asked ourselves whether it would be better to try to survive a nuclear blast, or just be at ground zero during the attack. We decided it would be better to be near the blast, so we wouldn’t live to see the aftermath. When I was in high school, there was a television miniseries called The Day After that gave voice to what most people my age believed would happen before we had the chance to see old age. By mistake or intention, someone launches their weapons, and we launch ours, and the world ends -- fire, followed by ice, with famine and unspeakable global destruction.
Our worries may not be on a global scale. The toughest distractions are the personal ones. For instance, sometimes I become so focused on my work, I tend to lose sight of my place in the big picture. I can spend hours before the computer, and then rush around doing visits and getting ready for meetings and then going to them - that I forget what it is that I am proclaiming. I can miss my family’s joys and what it is God is actually doing all around me.
What about you? Do you ever feel lost in today -- lost in the concerns that this moment brings? Has your life been taken over by one worry or another so that you can’t appreciate what else is going on?
Jesus tells us in not to be distracted by the big issues: warfare, floods, famine, and creation seeming to fall apart. They are only signs that point toward a better future. Jesus also reminds us that personal worries can be more distracting than any civil war halfway around the planet. Those personal events are so dangerous because they are subtle and sneaky. We don't realize what is happening until it is too late. All of a sudden, we're trapped, feeling sorry for ourselves, working so hard, being so focused on one thing, that we miss the bigger picture.
That’s why Jesus tells us to be alert. To watch. To not be so caught up in the everyday things that we fail to look down the road and see the presence of God’s Kingdom with all its hope and promise.
Jeremiah and Jesus tell us about the signs of the coming of the kingdom so that we might ready ourselves for it. A righteous Branch has sprouted from David's line; and he will do what is just and right in the land. Look around you and prepare for Jesus to come. Spend this Advent in prayer and in hope, in righteousness and in love, knowing that as so many of promises of God were fulfilled at the birth of Christ, so too the rest will be fulfilled – to his praise and his glory.
Friday, December 1, 2006
Sermon for November 26, 2006 -- Christ the King
Serving the King
Revelation 1:4b-8 / John 18:33-37
When you think of Jesus - what image or metaphor do you comes to mind? Sometimes I think of Jesus as my brother and my friend -- someone who walks the journey of life with me, someone who talks with me and counsels me on the way, someone to whom it’s comfortable to talk and share life.
When you think of Jesus - what image or metaphor do you most often use? Some people think of Jesus as the good shepherd -- as one who guides and leads -- as the gentle savior who seek out the lost and injured sheep and carries the wounded and the lame on his shoulders till they are safe back in the fold.
What image do you have of Christ? How about Jesus as King? We don’t talk about that one much. Today we celebrate Christ as King. When I think about kings, here’s what comes to my mind:
« fairy-tale kings: benevolent, often dead, with a wicked queen
« king of the hill: the game where the strongest pushes everyone else off the hill
« “king me” -- checkers king jumps in all directions, taking over and winning
« The King - Elvis Presley - of which no more needs to be said
« the king in the “Wizard of Id - a self-centered bumbling dictator
« king o' the road - a wanderer with no cares
« A chess king - one of limited movement and power to protect
« Burger King – the only place on earth where you can have it your way.
Think about your images of Jesus and kings as we listen to an event from the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John.
John 18:33-37
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ (NRSV)
Let’s try to place ourselves in the year 31 AD. We are in Jerusalem in the Roman province of Palestine. In the eyes of Rome, this is a small but troubled land. The Emperor Tiberius has placed 500 Roman soldiers in the area under the full command of a governor named Pontius Pilate. It’s his sole duty to keep this tiny province under control at all costs. Pilate is an effective peacekeeper, but he is unpopular with the Jews in the area.
Whenever Pilate marches into Jerusalem, his guards carry Roman flags, topped off with a bust of the emperor, whom the Romans viewed as a god. The Jews consider this idolatry. They have asked Pilate to remove this image of the emperor before he enters the city -- not an outrageous request. Other governors had done it in the past. But Pilate refuses to pander to the superstitions of the Jews. Once day, when Pilate left Jerusalem for his palace in Ceasarea, a number of enraged Jews followed him home. Pilate evaded them for five days. Finally, he told the Jews to meet him in the amphitheater. The Jews arrived to the drawn swords of Roman soldiers. Pilate ordered the Jews to either withdraw their requests or be killed immediately. The Jews bared their necks, tempting the soldiers to strike. Not even Pilate could massacre these defenseless men. From that point on, the Jews knew Pilate could be manipulated to follow their will.
In another incident, Pilate took money from the treasury of the Jewish Temple to build an aqueduct. The people resented it and rioted through the streets. Pilate dressed his soldiers in civilian clothes and gave them concealed weapons before sending them into the surging crowds. At a given signal, the soldiers attacked the mob, stabbing and clubbing many Jews to death.
Once again, Pilate straddles Roman custom and Jewish law. Before him sits a Jewish prisoner from Galilee named Jesus. Religious leaders accuse the man of calling himself the King of the Jews, and they demand his execution. Pilate doesn’t have time to bother with these nagging people, so he gets right to the point and asks the prisoner, “Are you the king of the Jews?” The man calmly responds with another question. “Is that your own idea, or did you hear others saying that?” This upsets Pilate. He’s supposed to be asking the questions, and now this criminal is putting him on trial. “Am I a Jew?” Pilate cries. “Your people handed you over to me, not the Romans. What did you do, anyway?” The accused man is silent for a moment, then he answers the first question. “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest, but my kingdom is of another place.” Pilate thinks this is so strange. The criminal is not really defending himself. “So, are you a king then?” Pilate asks. Jesus replies, “You could say it that way. I was born for a reason–to come into the world to testify to the truth.” Pilate is getting confused. The prisoner is obviously not a military king, but he is still claiming to be a ruler. Pilate’s verdict: this man is harmless. He might be slightly crazy, but he’s innocent. He poses no political threat to the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, like most of his decisions, his choice to release Jesus will only make more trouble with the Jewish leaders. Pilate will ultimately cave into their demands and have Jesus put to death.
In this scene, Pilate is confronted with the true nature of Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus’ kingdom doesn’t fall within geographical or political boundaries. He has no soldiers to fight for him. Jesus is not a national hero. He doesn’t tame his subjects with force or manipulation. The kingdom of Jesus is different. King Jesus persuades men and women to follow him in spirit and in truth. Christ the King rules with love, and asks his subjects to love God and one another in return. In his kingdom, people relate to one another as servants. King Jesus rules the human heart and conquers the world with love, one single person at a time.
In one brief encounter, Pilate faced the reality of Christ’s kingdom. And Pilate has some choices to make. He can declare him an innocent man and let Jesus go free. Or, Pilate can accept the reality of Jesus’ words. He can allow the kingdom of Christ to do its transforming work of love in his own heart.
In the end, Pilate doesn’t make a decision for or against Jesus. He tries to remain neutral. He allows others to decide for him. Pilate will not even face the invitation of Jesus. He hides behind a compromise. First, he offers the Jews a choice–release Barabbas the insurrectionist or Jesus. When that doesn’t work, he has Jesus whipped and publicly humiliated, hoping that will meet the crowd’s taste for violence. This too fails. And with that failure comes Pilate’s fall from neutrality. Pilate fails to hear the truth, and orders the execution of Jesus, knowing the whole time that this King of the Jews is an innocent man. By the world’s standards Pilate was a successful man. He had made it to the top of civil service. Yet, here in the presence of this simple, disturbing Galilean, Pilate fails to see and accept the truth of Jesus.
History judges Pontius Pilate harshly. He was not necessarily an evil man. He had ambitions, and he misused his power. In the end, he was just an ordinary man. Perhaps we are more like Pontius Pilate than we care to admit. Like Pilate, we have goals and ambitions. Most of us are ordinary people. Today we come face-to-face with the simple honesty of Jesus Christ–the divine Lord who sits before us, inviting us allow him to rule the domain of our heart. He’s not going to force his way in. He’s not going to manipulate us or give us a guilt trip. He’s not going to play games in order to win our devotion. He simply presents us with the truth and waits for us to make a decision.
Like Pilate, we can stay neutral as we avoid Christ’s request to be in control of our hearts. We can choose to see Jesus as a harmless person who has no effect on our spirits. We can ask, “Jesus, are you a king?” but close our ears to his answer. We can see him as some great historical figure who has no impact on our lives today. But when it comes to Jesus, I have learned an important lesson: there is no neutrality. Being uninvolved only puts off the day when you will have to decide–are you part of Christ’s rule on earth, or are you working against it?
It sounds confrontational, but this is exactly what I have found so encouraging in my own life. Jesus loves us. He wants to be part of our lives. He is our sovereign leader and he calls each one of us to be a servant. I made a decision 18 years ago that changed my life. I said “yes” to Jesus and asked him to govern my life. Each day I get up and try to align my choices with what God wants from my life. Sometimes I don’t do very well. On a good day I take time to ask, “How can I serve the aims of your kingdom, Jesus? How can I yield my own will and my own desires to what you have planned for me today?” When I take time to be aware of God’s presence, I find that God usually sends someone into my life: someone who needs help, someone who needs to talk, someone who needs to be connected with the truth of the gospel, or someone to encourage me. It’s demanding work. It’s not something I do because I’m a minister. It’s what I do as an inhabitant of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus is our King. He is Lord of all. We don’t vote Jesus in by popular election. We don’t hold a convention to nominate him to the position. God has made him our leader. Jesus rules forever and ever. And one day, like it or not, every nation, every state, every individual person will see Jesus as he really is, The Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come.
Is Jesus the sovereign Ruler of your life? Do you find you are part of Christ’s growing kingdom, or are you working against it by resisting his new government? Jesus calls us to hear, to decide, and to follow.
Revelation 1:4b-8 / John 18:33-37
When you think of Jesus - what image or metaphor do you comes to mind? Sometimes I think of Jesus as my brother and my friend -- someone who walks the journey of life with me, someone who talks with me and counsels me on the way, someone to whom it’s comfortable to talk and share life.
When you think of Jesus - what image or metaphor do you most often use? Some people think of Jesus as the good shepherd -- as one who guides and leads -- as the gentle savior who seek out the lost and injured sheep and carries the wounded and the lame on his shoulders till they are safe back in the fold.
What image do you have of Christ? How about Jesus as King? We don’t talk about that one much. Today we celebrate Christ as King. When I think about kings, here’s what comes to my mind:
« fairy-tale kings: benevolent, often dead, with a wicked queen
« king of the hill: the game where the strongest pushes everyone else off the hill
« “king me” -- checkers king jumps in all directions, taking over and winning
« The King - Elvis Presley - of which no more needs to be said
« the king in the “Wizard of Id - a self-centered bumbling dictator
« king o' the road - a wanderer with no cares
« A chess king - one of limited movement and power to protect
« Burger King – the only place on earth where you can have it your way.
Think about your images of Jesus and kings as we listen to an event from the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John.
John 18:33-37
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ (NRSV)
Let’s try to place ourselves in the year 31 AD. We are in Jerusalem in the Roman province of Palestine. In the eyes of Rome, this is a small but troubled land. The Emperor Tiberius has placed 500 Roman soldiers in the area under the full command of a governor named Pontius Pilate. It’s his sole duty to keep this tiny province under control at all costs. Pilate is an effective peacekeeper, but he is unpopular with the Jews in the area.
Whenever Pilate marches into Jerusalem, his guards carry Roman flags, topped off with a bust of the emperor, whom the Romans viewed as a god. The Jews consider this idolatry. They have asked Pilate to remove this image of the emperor before he enters the city -- not an outrageous request. Other governors had done it in the past. But Pilate refuses to pander to the superstitions of the Jews. Once day, when Pilate left Jerusalem for his palace in Ceasarea, a number of enraged Jews followed him home. Pilate evaded them for five days. Finally, he told the Jews to meet him in the amphitheater. The Jews arrived to the drawn swords of Roman soldiers. Pilate ordered the Jews to either withdraw their requests or be killed immediately. The Jews bared their necks, tempting the soldiers to strike. Not even Pilate could massacre these defenseless men. From that point on, the Jews knew Pilate could be manipulated to follow their will.
In another incident, Pilate took money from the treasury of the Jewish Temple to build an aqueduct. The people resented it and rioted through the streets. Pilate dressed his soldiers in civilian clothes and gave them concealed weapons before sending them into the surging crowds. At a given signal, the soldiers attacked the mob, stabbing and clubbing many Jews to death.
Once again, Pilate straddles Roman custom and Jewish law. Before him sits a Jewish prisoner from Galilee named Jesus. Religious leaders accuse the man of calling himself the King of the Jews, and they demand his execution. Pilate doesn’t have time to bother with these nagging people, so he gets right to the point and asks the prisoner, “Are you the king of the Jews?” The man calmly responds with another question. “Is that your own idea, or did you hear others saying that?” This upsets Pilate. He’s supposed to be asking the questions, and now this criminal is putting him on trial. “Am I a Jew?” Pilate cries. “Your people handed you over to me, not the Romans. What did you do, anyway?” The accused man is silent for a moment, then he answers the first question. “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest, but my kingdom is of another place.” Pilate thinks this is so strange. The criminal is not really defending himself. “So, are you a king then?” Pilate asks. Jesus replies, “You could say it that way. I was born for a reason–to come into the world to testify to the truth.” Pilate is getting confused. The prisoner is obviously not a military king, but he is still claiming to be a ruler. Pilate’s verdict: this man is harmless. He might be slightly crazy, but he’s innocent. He poses no political threat to the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, like most of his decisions, his choice to release Jesus will only make more trouble with the Jewish leaders. Pilate will ultimately cave into their demands and have Jesus put to death.
In this scene, Pilate is confronted with the true nature of Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus’ kingdom doesn’t fall within geographical or political boundaries. He has no soldiers to fight for him. Jesus is not a national hero. He doesn’t tame his subjects with force or manipulation. The kingdom of Jesus is different. King Jesus persuades men and women to follow him in spirit and in truth. Christ the King rules with love, and asks his subjects to love God and one another in return. In his kingdom, people relate to one another as servants. King Jesus rules the human heart and conquers the world with love, one single person at a time.
In one brief encounter, Pilate faced the reality of Christ’s kingdom. And Pilate has some choices to make. He can declare him an innocent man and let Jesus go free. Or, Pilate can accept the reality of Jesus’ words. He can allow the kingdom of Christ to do its transforming work of love in his own heart.
In the end, Pilate doesn’t make a decision for or against Jesus. He tries to remain neutral. He allows others to decide for him. Pilate will not even face the invitation of Jesus. He hides behind a compromise. First, he offers the Jews a choice–release Barabbas the insurrectionist or Jesus. When that doesn’t work, he has Jesus whipped and publicly humiliated, hoping that will meet the crowd’s taste for violence. This too fails. And with that failure comes Pilate’s fall from neutrality. Pilate fails to hear the truth, and orders the execution of Jesus, knowing the whole time that this King of the Jews is an innocent man. By the world’s standards Pilate was a successful man. He had made it to the top of civil service. Yet, here in the presence of this simple, disturbing Galilean, Pilate fails to see and accept the truth of Jesus.
History judges Pontius Pilate harshly. He was not necessarily an evil man. He had ambitions, and he misused his power. In the end, he was just an ordinary man. Perhaps we are more like Pontius Pilate than we care to admit. Like Pilate, we have goals and ambitions. Most of us are ordinary people. Today we come face-to-face with the simple honesty of Jesus Christ–the divine Lord who sits before us, inviting us allow him to rule the domain of our heart. He’s not going to force his way in. He’s not going to manipulate us or give us a guilt trip. He’s not going to play games in order to win our devotion. He simply presents us with the truth and waits for us to make a decision.
Like Pilate, we can stay neutral as we avoid Christ’s request to be in control of our hearts. We can choose to see Jesus as a harmless person who has no effect on our spirits. We can ask, “Jesus, are you a king?” but close our ears to his answer. We can see him as some great historical figure who has no impact on our lives today. But when it comes to Jesus, I have learned an important lesson: there is no neutrality. Being uninvolved only puts off the day when you will have to decide–are you part of Christ’s rule on earth, or are you working against it?
It sounds confrontational, but this is exactly what I have found so encouraging in my own life. Jesus loves us. He wants to be part of our lives. He is our sovereign leader and he calls each one of us to be a servant. I made a decision 18 years ago that changed my life. I said “yes” to Jesus and asked him to govern my life. Each day I get up and try to align my choices with what God wants from my life. Sometimes I don’t do very well. On a good day I take time to ask, “How can I serve the aims of your kingdom, Jesus? How can I yield my own will and my own desires to what you have planned for me today?” When I take time to be aware of God’s presence, I find that God usually sends someone into my life: someone who needs help, someone who needs to talk, someone who needs to be connected with the truth of the gospel, or someone to encourage me. It’s demanding work. It’s not something I do because I’m a minister. It’s what I do as an inhabitant of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus is our King. He is Lord of all. We don’t vote Jesus in by popular election. We don’t hold a convention to nominate him to the position. God has made him our leader. Jesus rules forever and ever. And one day, like it or not, every nation, every state, every individual person will see Jesus as he really is, The Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come.
Is Jesus the sovereign Ruler of your life? Do you find you are part of Christ’s growing kingdom, or are you working against it by resisting his new government? Jesus calls us to hear, to decide, and to follow.
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