2019-12-01 Hope Can't Wait

Hope Can’t Wait

Matthew 24:36-44

God’s Promised Day Can’t Wait

There are few things in life harder to do than to wait.  The waiting exponentially increases if that for which we are expecting is a particular person.   Remember the agony of wanting to make everything perfect for your specific person's arrival.  You shop to get the right food.  Your search to find the right music leads you to those songs you share.  You layout the perfect clothes to wear.  Set up your plans.  Make your arrangements.  And at every moment along your journey of preparation, you can't help yourself from sharing your anticipation with every friend and stranger.  You cannot contain your enthusiasm. You cannot wait!

Then, the unthinkable happens!

[AT 11:11 Watch the video: "Plans."]

The person for whom you are preparing everything shows up a day early!  We can't wait; then, what we want shows up at our door - and we are not ready!  We have been "out surprised" by the very one for who we prepare a surprise.   Like a young lover who is caught off guard by the early arrival of his girlfriend, he wants her there but not until he is ready to pull off his surprise.  

Waiting for hope is a lot like that.  We make all kinds or preparations, then, without notice, it’s standing outside our door.  

God’s Promised Day

We know this time of year as "Advent," We watch for the salvation of God to come into the world.  We are summoned to "be on the look-out" for the signs and stories that point us to a greater future than we could ever have imagined.

For what are we looking? For what are we watching and waiting?  We sing about a "noel," a natal, a birthing.  Like parents knowing the end of the pregnancy is at hand but not the exact day or time, we wait. We anticipate.  Though we expect the birth, the birth is not the focus of our yearning.  We are awaiting the person whose delivery is eminent. 

In this week's First Testament text, Isaiah 2: 1-5, the prophet introduces his listeners to the promise of a new reality, a new existence beyond anything the people could have ever envisioned. Isaiah does not just speak about some new military triumph, a majestic show of force that will liberate Israel from all of her enemies. Instead, Isaiah proclaims that there is coming, in some undisclosed future, the birth of a new world and a new reality. A Day of the Lord when "He Shall Reign Forever and Ever." 

In this new reality, "all the nations" shall recognize the Lord's sovereignty and shall "stream" to the Lord's mountain without gladness and jubilation.  Isaiah's vision the pathway to the Lord's mountain, to live under the reign of God's righteousness, is open to all peoples, for all are hungry for God to "teach us God's ways" so that "we may walk in God's paths" (v.3) of peace and justice.

In this newly envisioned world, God will act as the "judge between the nations." This divine arbitration shall lead the nations of the world "to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" (v.4). Peace will reign, for this world that follows the reign of the Prince of Peace "shall not learn war anymore."

Isaiah's promise is the first proclamation that Yahweh will act as Redeemer, for this world, delivering it from all its misery and injustice.

Handel’s Messiah

The most famous solo in Handel's oratorio masterpiece is the soprano solo, "I know that my redeemer liveth." Handel's "Messiah" is every bit as Christmas as eggnog and Santa. From the very start, people sensed how vital it would be, and the organizers behind its world premiere were so worried about the crowds that women were told not to wear hoop skirts and men were told to leave their swords at home. It premiered during Lent because Handel conceived it as an Easter piece, but the first third of it is about the birth of Jesus, and it quickly became associated with Christmas even more than Easter. 

The words "I know that my redeemer liveth" comes from the celebrated passage in Job 19:25: "I know that my redeemer [go' el] liveth." The Hebrew word for "redeemer" is "go' el."  The "redeemer" in Hebrew tradition was the nearest relative of another, and so was charged with restoring the rights of another and avenging any wrongs perpetrated upon that relative. "Go-els'" "rescued" those who were in dire straits and helped to put them back within the mainstream of community and commitments to shared relationships. A "go-el" brought one who was lost home again.

Micah (4:1-4) quotes this prophecy from Isaiah, and we have already seen how Job declares (19:25-27) "I know that my "go-el" (my Redeemer) lives and that in the end, he will stand on the earth." This message of a divine redeemer, of a God who would deliver the people from death to life, from a world of oppression and injustice into a world of peace and harmony, was paramount to the people.

The Economist

Today opens up before us, this season of "watchfulness" and "waiting" for the first signs of our new "go' el," our new "redeemer" that God reveals to us. 

What this "go' el" will do for this world is spelled out in Isaiah's prophecy, and its nothing less than a complete transformation of this world and its ways. 

We are not looking for a world changer.   The Economist did a unique international feature called "We All Want To Change The World" (16 November 2019), 41-42. The editors of the #1 global magazine for politics, economics, and demographics call this the new status quo: the global rumble of revolving protests by people who want to change the world.

 Jesus doesn't come to "change the world."  Jesus comes to "save the world." We are not preparing for the arrival of a change-agent. We are preparing for the coming of the Savior of the world. "We all want to change the world." But there is only one who can save the world. "The Redeemer."

            The world needs a Savior. We cannot save ourselves, although Pelagianism teaches "you-can-save-yourself-if-you-just-try-hard-enough" Christianity. 

I need a Savior. 

You need a Savior. 

The world needs a Savior. 

Check out he adds, companies say, "Let Us Save You." They want to save us from pain, money wows, old age, wrinkled clothes, corrupt politicians.  

The market can't save us. 

The government can't save us. 

We can't save ourselves, either. 

The definition of someone who spends more than he/she makes as a "negative saver." We all become "negative savers" when we try to save ourselves.

No, we need a "go' el," we need a Redeemer. We need a Savior. And Jesus saves us not by some magic trick of a god machine, swooping down as some super-hero and rescuing us. 

Jesus saves us by entering into our story, becoming one of us, and suffering with and for us. Jesus did not parachute onto the world on some clean, cushy, puffy clouds from heaven. Jesus was born INTO the world in painful bursts of blood, sweat, tears on a bed of hay where itchy mites and other insects lived and were his first greeters. 

“God so love the world”…

The Redeemer began life in pain. He ended life in pain.

No ear may hear his coming,

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him, still

The dear Christ enters in. 

("O Little Town of Bethlehem")

Enters into to... 

A world of slavery, sex-trafficking, pedophilia, 

A world of Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Mussolini, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, 

A world of lying, cheating, stealing, trolling, bullying, slandering.

The Redeemer enters our world of sin and death, not to defeat the powers and principalities of our society on their terms. 

The most beloved passage of Scripture, John 3:16, makes it clear that the salvation of the world is caught up in the salvation of every person in the world. And, John 3:17 makes clear our Redeemer does not meet evil with evil.  “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

The Redeemer came to set you free from sin and death. 

The Redeemer came to set me free from sin and death so that you can sing, I can sing with you, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." 

The event you are waiting for, like a birth, is really a person you are waiting for.  The hope that you want to carry you through is knocking at your door.  The Redeemer is here to save you. 

But in saving you and saving me, our Redeemer is saving the whole world, and the whole of life, the whole of history.

"For God so loved the world" that God saves it. 

Christ saves the world in you and me.

We do not have to wait for this hope. It’s here. 

2019-12-08 Peace Can't Wait

Peace Can’t Wait

Matthew 3:1-12 

You can't wait for peace any longer.  

Is there a heaviness to your spirit today.  Maybe you just cannot wait for peace.  Peace is a spiritual fruit.  “Bearing fruit” is the key to John’s message.  The only way to know if there has been repentance is with fruit.  Radical message that being a descendant of Abraham was not enough.  One had to have faith and action like Abraham as well.  John warns against “resting on your laurels.”  It is not enough to just claim Abraham as your Father.  A changed heart has to follow.  “The Christian equivalent of ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ Is ‘We have Christ as our savior.’  While trust in Christ’s salvation is a first requirement, it is not the last” (Douglas Hare, Interpretation: Matthew).

Do you want peace in your life? Bear the fruit of repentance.  

Repentance leads to reconciliation and grows peace.

Think of it like this; you may have a bad memory chip on your motherboard.  While replacing the damaged microchip, you may rid yourself of the defected part, you still can't operate well.  You need something else.  You need a software upgrade.  It’s a two-step process.  

Repentance (The Renewing of the Mind)

Let's start with the message of John the Baptist from today's Gospel lesson.  John meets us out in the wilderness. 

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

It's a two-step process.  Clean up and fill up.  You have to clean up before you can fill up.  You may think that the water baptism, the baptism of John, is a clean-up.  The water represents the cleansing power of God.  It also represents dying with Jesus.  It washes us clean as we die to ourselves.  When I die to myself, I give up.  I am in John’s wilderness.  

The wilderness is where we find ourselves after cleansing before we are where God wants us to be.  The wilderness is where we learn who God is and who we are to God.  The wilderness is when we are our most rebellious.  The wilderness is where we empty ourselves of the shame, blame, pain, name, and game.  We lay down the shame of past actions and thoughts; we lay down blaming others for our situation.  We lay down pain, physical, emotional, or imaginary.  We lay down our ego and need to have our name blazed on everything.  And, we lay down our game playing that keeps us victimized and everyone else the persecutor.  

The wildness is where we lay down our lives.  If we lay down shame, blame, pain, name, and game, we may be cleansed yet still feel unsettled and powerless to live our life for God.   Left in the wilderness, we may say, "if this is all there is God, then I don't want it."

It's the second part of the message that fills us up.  John baptizes to clean.  Jesus baptizes with Spirit to fill!

Let me run around this tree one more time. 

"The Greek word metanoia, poorly translated as 'repent' in the Bible (Matthew 3:2, Mark 1:15), quite literally means 'to change your mind.' Until the mind changes the very way it processes the moment, nothing changes long term. 'Be transformed by a renewal of your mind,' Paul says (Romans 12:2), which hopefully will allow the heart to follow soon. —Fr. Richard Rohr. "Changing Our Minds." Published on the Center for Action and Contemplation online. March 29, 2016. https://cac.org/changing-our-minds-2016-03-29/

Repentance leads you to change your mind about the condition of your life.  When you change your mind about your life, you lay down all that is a barrier between you and God.  Like a freshly washed, empty coffee cup, you are open to the pour of coffee.  Jesus pours the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives you your second baptism.  

Reconciliation (the indwelling of the Holy Spirit)

We often have been told and say that Jesus comes into my heart.  Jesus sitting on a throne in my heart is a beautiful thought but not biblical.  If Jesus is sitting anywhere, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father as by biblical testimony.  It is the Person of the Holy Spirit that is within us.  Of course, I am splitting hairs because Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all three the Godhead of the Trinity.  Putting your finger on any part of the triangle is to put your finger on the triangle. 

Jesus taught us that when he leaves that he would send another to be in us.  So, which is better to have Jesus with us or to have Jesus in us as the Holy Ghost?  In the Gospel of John, Jesus breathes the Spirit into his disciples.  In the Book of Acts, the Spirit comes and enters each person all at once. Jesus' baptism is having the Person of the Holy Ghost, burning a fire in your gut.  

We often think of reconciliation as the righting of relationships between people and groups. I am going out on a limb this morning, church until you are in touch with, and until you are nurturing a relationship with the One that lives within you, reconciling with others shall be difficult at best and impossible most of the time.  We need is to pay attention to the One who dwells in us.  Tim Johnson puts the question this way, "Am I intentionally cultivating a deep and profound relationship with the Person living within me?"

If you say no, reconciliation needs to occur in you.  

If you say yes, you already know.

John cleans up the vessel.  Jesus pours in the Holy Ghost.  When John and Jesus finish, God reconciles us.  

Peace (completeness, wholeness, and restoration).

You may be stuck in the wilderness.  You may feel burned out, resigned, just waiting for your graduation to heaven.  Or, you may be singing the old Peggy Lee song, 

Is that all there is?

Is that all there is?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Let's break out the booze and have a ball

If that's all there is 

Or, like so many Christians, you may think that the church is a social service club.  Here is the Goods News of Jesus Christ.  You do not have to wait for the peace of Christ anymore.   You can develop a relationship with the Person who lives with you.  You can activate the fruit of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has given you.  Paul teaches, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."  These are the signs that the Spirit is doing its work in you.  Do strangers experience these in you?  More importantly, do the people who know you best and are around you most know you in these ways?  Yes, No, most days, some days?

Do you want to grow the fruit of the Spirit?  Peace, among other things? Intentionally cultivate a deep and profound relationship with the Person living within you.  Repentance is an invitation to a new way of life which is demonstrates the fruit of Spirit. Being a son of Abraham or being born again isn’t enough- your life must change, and your actions must bear out that reorientation. Are you willing to be changed by the good news?  Repentance (Renewing of the Mind) leads to reconciliation (The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit) and grows peace (completeness, wholeness, and restoration).