Spreading the kingdom

Listen to the sermon.

Well last week was Super Bowl weekend marking the end of football season.  Now at our house we are getting ready for Nascar to start.  Okay, I have a confession to make.  I am not a Nascar fan, but my husband is.  If we are home and Nascar is on, Sam is usually napping in front of the TV.  As near as I can tell, napping is a good thing to do during Nascar.  To me, a standard race is pretty boring.  I mean, what’s so exciting about being able to go fast and turn left?  And they do this for 400 or 500 laps, or miles, (which may be the same thing.)  Boring!!  Sure there’s the occasional wreck, but mostly it’s watching cars go round and round and maybe ever few laps, someone might pass someone else.

Well, one Saturday night as I was working on my sermon, Sam turned on Nascar – I did a mental eyeroll – and he was telling me that this race was different.  Sam very patiently explained that they were doing what was called a “shootout” with a two car draft.  What caught my attention was that they weren’t all running around trying to pass each other.  They were teaming up.  Now I’m aware that they all have team mates, but mostly in the races, it’s each driver for himself.

But that night, the cars paired up – one would drive up behind another – and push him.  Using this technique I'm told the cars could go on the average 20 miles an hour faster…  So now you have all these cars going around this track at about 200 miles per hour – with pairs hooked up bumper to bumper, driving right next to another pair beside them going 200 miles an hour – and maybe another pair trying to come up between them or around the side.

To make a long story short, in the last lap, there were two pairs out in front, way ahead of the others.  As they approached the finish line, the lead “pusher” decided to make a run for it.  He dropped back, passed his teammate that he had been pushing, and tried to win himself.  What happened was that the other pair stayed “hooked up” and they managed to pass both of the two single cars so that the front car of the second pair won the race.

Now, the question is, why have I just spent the first portion of my sermon talking about Nascar?  It’s because that night, I saw teamwork in Nascar designed to accomplish a purpose - to win.  That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in our lesson from 1st Corinthians today.  Three weeks ago, Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were baptized in the name of Christ – not Paul or Apollos or Cephas.  He picks back up on that theme today.

Sometimes division happens in the church because people divide themselves into little groups, make cliques, over some little differences.   That’s what we find in our lesson from First Corinthians.  Here Paul is doing what he so often does.  He is writing to – responding to – a community that he helped start.  He has received word that there is a lot of bickering going on – people arguing over who they belong to – Christ or Paul or Cephas or Apollos…  They have divided into little cliques, each one trying to prove their importance over each other. They bicker.  And he asks, “Whose name were you baptized in?”  His point is that Paul and Cephas and Apollos were all working toward the same end – to spread the word that Jesus Christ is Lord.  None was greater than the other.  (It reminds me somewhat of people bragging, "I'm an Episcopalian," or "I'm Baptist" or "I'm Catholic" or whatever...)

Paul’s job was to plant seeds and he did that.  Apollos came along later and watered those seeds – not unlike what happens in churches today.  Each person stayed to do their job, then turned it over to someone else to continue the work so that they could go on to the next town and spread the word there.

You might remember the story I told in the Outpost this month about the young rabbi.  I like that in several places our prayerbook says, "The people may kneel or stand."  Because your physical posture doesn't really matter.  What matters is the position of your heart, not your body.  

 Yes, even today churches find members bickering with one another over any number of things. People not only bicker over traditions, they also bicker over things – maybe items donated to the church.  Doesn’t Aunt Sophie’s old couch look great in the parlor?  Or Uncle Bill’s old piano (which no longer works) is a great addition to the parish hall.  Don’t move that dying fichus tree because Grandpa Tom gave that to the church.

I love seeing the playground here and seeing it used.  One church I served bickered over having a playground.  One group thought it was important to have a playground for the children to attract younger couples.  The other didn’t want to have a playground because of the liability factor.  They still don’t have a playground and they still have trouble attracting younger families.

Churches bicker over rules, ideals – they bicker over all kinds of things – whether the new rolling cart with the cutting block top is to be used as a cutting board, or as a decorative serving station.  Our bickering comes from a human need to have others conform to our way of thinking.  Jesus calls us to a higher ideal – that of unity – where we can agree on principles without having to conform to minutia.

One of the worse things we can do, the least productive thing is to compare ourselves to one another.  God judges each of us on our own merit, not that of another.  Each of us is uniquely made - by God - and God's purpose for us will be served - one way or another.  Whether we are called to lead or to follow, to serve or be served, or to design or to build, God uses us to complete his purpose, not ours.  Yes, it may not seem fair that there might be different standards for different people, but God has a purpose for us all

Paul tells the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So the one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose… for we are God’s servants, working together.”  We should be hearing the same message – we are invited to be in communion with one another, working for a common purpose, not doing the exact same thing, but supporting each other along the way.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus tells us,  “If you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council. . .  When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

 The lesson we didn't read this morning from Ecclesiasticus sort of holds the key for us.  It starts out, “If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.”  We have to remember that we make our own choices, our own decisions about how to act, what to say, whether to respond to others in love or with something less that love.

We have to make the decision of how to respond to those around us – to work with them or against them.  Sometimes there are bumps in the road, and that’s when we leave that gift at the altar and work out our differences.  If we can get past any differences and all work together, then we know that we will be spreading the gospel of Christ – the good news that Christ is alive and well within this church known as Grace.

This month we have a number of things that are going on - the Boy Scout Dinner, the Garage Sale and the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.  I hope everyone will be here to support our Scouts who do quite of lot for the church.  But we need hands on deck for the Garage Sale and for the Pancake Supper.  Please sign up to help with one or the other.

Now to take this idea even further, During his sermon at the opening Eucharist on Thursday, Bishop Doyle (operating out of the Parable of the Good Samaritan) told us that we are to look for Jesus in that person who has been beaten and left on the side of the road to die.  On Friday in her Plenary address, Francene Young said her church once noticed that Jesus was missing from the crèche after Christmas.  They went out scouring the neighborhood looking for the missing Jesus.  She encouraged us to go out and look for Jesus in the "hood."  All during Diocesan Council, we were told that our mission is to seek out the lost, the broken, all those in need of God's love and care.

We have people at Grace Church who are reaching out in various ways:  We have several who work with Meals on Wheels to take lunches out to those who can't do for themselves.  We also have several who work with The Gathering Place, a ministry to Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers.  We can demonstrate our Christianity by working in one of the these ministries or maybe there is some other way that we can serve.  What other ways that we can be involved (or need to be involved) in reaching out to those in our community who are in need of help?  We are called to seek out those who are not part of us, but who need our help.  Grace Church can be a light to this neighborhood as they see us working together and loving each other and caring for those around us.  Where is Christ calling you to serve?    
 Amen.

Walk humbly with God

Listen to the sermon.

So often the tendency is to just ignore the Old Testament lesson, and focus on the Gospel lesson; especially when you have the Beatitudes to preach on.  But today’s lessons fit together beautifully to make a statement about our relationship with God.

Today’s Old Testament lesson can sound confusing.  The setting is a court of law.  The Lord is bringing a suit against the people of Israel.  The judge and jury are the mountains and hills and the foundations of the earth itself.  And God says, “What have I done to you that you treat me the way you do?  I brought you out of slavery in Egypt.  I saved you from the Moabites and look at the way you treat me.   What do you have to say for yourself?  Plead your case before the mountains and the hills.”

Then the voice of the people of Israel answers, and they don’t have an answer, so they plead – asking, “what kind of sacrifice does God want to atone for our behavior?  A calf, a thousand rams, ten thousand rivers of oil?  What about my first born child, would that appease God?”

The prophet, Micah answers for God.  “He has told you, O Mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God…”  The Lord doesn’t want sacrifices – he wants your heart – and for you to treat everyone as if you were dealing with the Lord himself.

So, even though the Old Testament is full of information on how to atone for our sins by offering sacrifices, we learn here that there is something that is more important to God than the sacrifices we make for him.  That something else is found in the way we treat and respond to the people around us.  But by the time Jesus came along, the people had mostly forgotten.

The leaders, the priests and the Pharisees and Sadducees had become arrogant and prideful.  But Paul tells us to “let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  The problem with the sacrifices is that some people take great pleasure in boasting about those sacrifices.  They become a source of pride and pride always draws us away from God.

Let’s take a look at our Gospel lesson.  This is the famous Sermon on the Mount from the gospel of Matthew.  Matthew has five sermons built into his gospel.  This is the prologue to the first sermon, that portion that has become to known as the Beatitudes, which is simply Greek for blessings.  One writer has said that this is the instruction manual for how we are to behave.

It starts out by saying that when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain.  But the teaching seems to be to his disciples.  In those days, the teacher always taught sitting down – it says, he sat down and his disciples came to him and he taught them.

Blessed are the poor in spirit - Blessed are the meek – Blessed are those who mourn – blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness – Blessed are the merciful – Blessed are the pure in heart – Blessed are the peacemakers -  Blessed those who are persecuted – Blessed are you when you are persecuted for my sake…

As Jesus talked to the people, they probably thought he was crazy – these people lived in a time and under a regime where they were persecuted, they mourned the loss of their loved ones at the hands of the Romans, they had to remain meek because if they didn’t they would be crucified as rebels.  That was a way of life for them and they didn’t feel very blessed for it.

Are any of these things that you might be able to boast in – well, we would sound awful silly boasting over the first four.  “I’m poorer in spirit that you are…”  “I’m meeker than you…”  I have more to mourn about than you do…”  “I hunger and thirst more than you…”  And yet at seminary, I remember people who did just that – “I’m more persecuted than you…”And it became a source of pride to be persecuted.

But look at the others – “Blessed are the merciful” – doesn’t God call us to be merciful every day?  Isn’t that what Micah is calling us to do in the first lesson?  To do justice and to love mercy?  “Blessed are the pure in heart – for they shall see God.”  And that is the whole point of why we are here, why we are sitting in this building this morning – to be able to see God – both here on earth and eventually in heaven.

So how do we become pure in heart?  According to Micah, we do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.  According to Matthew, we are meek, and we are merciful, we are peacemakers, and we hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Even the Psalm gets into the mix here – the psalmist asks, “Who may dwell in your tabernacle, who may abide on your holy hill: those who lead a blameless life and who speak truth.”  God holds us to a pretty high standard.

Matthew really turns the world upside down - what the world believes is the opposite of God’s reality and that’s the most common theme in the gospels.  But Jesus doesn't issue this as an order but, instead, he gives a blessing.  He promises that, when our need is greatest, whether we mourn, or hunger and thirst, or find ourselves persecuted -- there we will find God--and there we will find blessing, and our lives will be made stronger.

Paul tells us that this didn't make any sense to either the Jews or the Greeks.  The Pharisees and Sadducees didn't believe the signs that Jesus gave because they weren't showy like parting the seas or raining down manna from heaven.  The Greek Stoics and Epicureans found it foolish to think that a "god" would be meek and mild or would come down and die willing.

But for those who are being saved – (Christians who believe) - it is the very power of God and the wisdom of God to choose the lowly, the foolish, and the despised of the world, so that no one could boast in the presence of God.  Jesus’ sacrifice was God’s doing, not ours.  So if we are going to boast, let us boast in the cross of Christ, and walk humbly with our God; this God who loved us so much that he sent his only son to be an example, to show us the way, -- and to be the final sacrifice for our sins.  Amen.

Come and See

I’ve talked several times about what our season of Epiphany means. It is, of course, more than that funny ‘green’ season between Christmas and Lent. It is about the revealing of Jesus Christ to the world around him.

In today's lesson, it is John who reveals the nature of Jesus when he says, "behold the Lamb of God." John bears witness to Jesus when he says, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove," and "This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." and "I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God."

We know that John had made quite a name for himself - there hadn't been a prophet in Israel for 400 years and suddenly one appears. John was that voice crying out in the wilderness - could the Messiah be far behind? People were coming out to see this curiosity - the man in animal skins.

John was taking all people to task – he was calling for reform at every level from the personal level of the ordinary person on the street to the rich and famous. Regardless of who they were, he was calling each person to turn their life around and live it within the calling of God.  So John had gathered a number of disciples - men who had come from all parts of Judea and from Galilee - people who heard and wanted to follow the call of God on their lives. And one of those disciples was a young man named Andrew. He sat at the feet of John and listened to what he said - probably hung on every word, as they waited on the one God had promised so long ago.

And one day, John changes for his usual litany of "Prepare the way...  The time is coming... Repent and be saved... " He points to Jesus and says, "there he is folks - that's the one we have been waiting for." And Andrew and another disciple - curious about what this might really mean
get up and follow Jesus.

Now Jesus turns around and see them and he asks, "What do you want?" (Implied is "Why are you here? Why are you following me?")

Now if Jesus sees you sitting here and asks you that question, how would you answer it? Why are you here? What do you expect to find in this place at this time? What is it that you are seeking? If you could ask God one question, what would it be?

The question Andrew decided to ask was "Where are you staying?"  That question sounds strange to us, but remember, this was a different time and place. The connotation here is more than, "are you staying at the motel, or with friends, or sleeping under the bridge?" The Greek
word Andrew uses for "staying" is "meno" - and it has many connotations. It is used in the gospel of John 39 times. Such as:

the spirit descended like a dove and meno - remained - on him. John 1:32
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood meno - remains - in me, and I in him. John 6:56

- everyone who believes in me should not meno - remain - in the darkness. John 12:46

If you meno - abide - in me, and my words meno - abide - in you….  John 15:7

Meno means to stay - in a given place, state, or relationship, or even expectancy. Not just where are you going to sleep tonight - but where do you live - with who do you place your trust - where is your heart - who are you?

You notice that Jesus doesn't actually answer that question? No, because any answer he could have given to Andrew would have been inadequate. Jesus tells him, “Come and see.” The entity that was Jesus could not be defined or described. He has to be experienced - and that takes time.
Now it was about 4 in the afternoon when Andrew and Jesus first spoke. And after staying with Jesus for the rest of the day - Andrew goes to his brother Simon and tells him, "We have found the Messiah." That was all it took, a few hours with Jesus, and Andrew was convinced that it was
important for him to remain - meno - with Jesus; that there was something vital –life-giving about this man.

For Andrew, the revelation - the revealing of God in Jesus - began with John saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God." but it didn't end there. In seeking, Andrew followed and learned for himself what it meant to "Come and see." This is important for us also - that the revealing of God in Jesus Christ is on-going - it doesn't stop in a single encounter. It is an on-going experience and our understanding of Jesus changes and grows as we learn more and more about this one we call
Lord.

As Andrew learned what it meant to follow, he didn't hesitate to bring others to Jesus - starting with his brother. He brought a young boy who had a lunch of two fish and five barley loaves. He brought some Greeks who were seeking Jesus. And for Andrew, following Jesus was the invitation to life in it's fullest.... and he never hesitated to share that invitation with others.

What are any of us looking for in life? Security, love, meaning, a sense of belonging? Something brought you here today? But many of us are here for the same reason that Andrew was with John and then followed Jesus. We are searching for something to hold onto when life gets tough – something to believe in outside our meager existence.

Like us, Andrew wanted to believe that there was more to life - more to his existence than what he had experienced so far.  Jesus says to us, "Come and see." And like Andrew, we will find for ourselves something worth living for, something beyond ourselves - something that can't be contained in a single time or place, but that continues to reach out - crying to be shared. Jesus invites each of us to "Come and See," and most importantly, to share with others what we find in him.

Baptism of Jesus, the Anointing of a King

In today’s gospel lesson, John is out of the edge on the Judean wilderness at the Jordan River calling people to repentance and baptizing them.  This is the ritual of purification.  It is an act taken on by two kinds of people – those who are new converts to the Jewish faith, and those who have been separated by reason of great sin or wrongdoing.  The problem of Jesus coming for baptism is that he doesn’t fit the mold.  He is neither new to the faith nor does he have great sin to atone for.

When John sees him coming, he recognizes that.  We are given to understand from the gospel of Luke that Jesus and John are cousins – connected from the womb – for when Mary came to Elizabeth and told her that she was with child, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy.  And when John sees Jesus come down for baptism, he would have “prevented him.”  

Actually this is a perfect example of perfect humility.  John sees Jesus and recognizes that he is without sin – he has no need to be baptized.  John has been talking and preaching about one who will come after him, one who will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.  And when John sees Jesus, he knows that he is the one.

Imagine for a moment if you were John and you saw Jesus coming, and in that moment of recognition that God often blesses us with, you know who and what Jesus is.  Would you be ready and willing to baptize Jesus, or would you join the protest that John makes?  “I need to be baptized by you.”  John in that instant recognizes his own unworthiness and protests.

John is not a bad person.  He is not all that sinful – if we were to develop a measure for such things.  But he has already proclaimed, one is coming whose sandals I am not worthy to untie – and here he is – faced with that same one – and that same one is wanting baptism.  And the world seems somewhat skewed to John – "wait," he thinks, "it needs to be the other way around."  This is true humility.

Jesus also displays his own humbleness – in obedience to the Father’s will – by subjecting himself to ritual of purification at the beginning of his ministry.  This baptism serves two purposes.

Two days ago, January 6, was Epiphany Day when we remember the coming of the Magi to seek "the king of the Jews."  Matthew’s gospel proclaims from the very beginning the kingship of Jesus.  So the first purpose of this baptism is the anointing of a monarch.

Jewish monarchs had to be anointed before they could speak or act as royal figures.  The one we probably remember best is the anointing of David the shepherd boy.  In today’s lesson, this is Jesus’ ceremonial anointing.   First he goes through the ritual of purification (baptism) and then he is anointed by God's own Spirit.  In early Jewish writings, to receive the spirit is to gain wisdom.  Jesus’ anointing comes not with oil, but by the Holy Spirit itself.

This was the official anointing of the king, the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in Israel.  The Holy Spirit descends on him and the voice from heaven is heard, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  He began his ministry in the humbleness and obedience to God’s purpose.

But I want to propose that there is more going on here.  Matthew doesn’t come out and say it the way he does in other places – but he includes this as an associative link with Genesis.  Jesus is out in the water of the Jordan River and the Holy Spirit hovering over him – not unlike the Spirit of God hovering over the waters of chaos in the beginning – in the first verses of the Bible.

For the Jewish reader, this is intended to call up that image.  In Genesis God brought order out of chaos – the beginning of creation.  In today’s lesson, we have a new creation – a re-creation – God’s hand at work in the world in a new way.  In walking down into that river, God, in the person of Jesus Christ, shows his willingness to go down into the mess of the world and experience what we are going through.

When Jesus steps down into that water and allows John to baptize him, he demonstrates that he is not only able but willing to receive the ministry of imperfect people.  By receiving baptism from John, Jesus reminds us that our unworthiness, our imperfect nature, is no excuse for refusing to offer the ministries of redemption that others may seek from us.

We might ask ourselves, when is the time that we put aside our unworthiness, our insecurities, our hesitations, and like John step out to minister to those in need – even to Jesus himself.

Today we are going to baptize two young children.  Scout and Gideon are too young to realize the extent of what is happening today.  But the seed of the Holy Spirit will be planted in them today and will have time to grow and eventually blossom into mature faith.   Regardless of what else happens in their life, they have been adopted into the household of God and made heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

God’s faithfulness in being with us, and our obedience in responding to his leading, is indeed the gift of life, both here on earth, and in heaven above.   Amen.

Ordinary people, extraordinary expectations

Advent is a time of the unexpected.  For one thing we have God’s choice of partners in the procreation of his own son.  Jesus could have been set down fully grown anywhere in the world.  But God knew that in order to understand people and to reach out to them, Jesus needed to grow up among them and to really be one of them.  God could have chosen royalty, or a wealthy family to bear and raise his son, one where he would never want or struggle.  God could have chosen a palace and an important city for the dwelling place of his son.

But God chose Nazareth – a small out-of-the-way place – unimportant – a place where Jesus could grow unencumbered by the wealth and attention he might receive in other places.  God chose a place where Jesus could live among the common folk and learn about them first hand; a place where he could touch, feel and understand the trials and struggles of everyday people.  In this area of Galilee, there was a large gentile population nearby so he would grow up knowing not only the Jewish people, but also how they interacted with people of other faiths and nationalities.

This is a perfect example of how God works within the context of ordinary life and through ordinary people.    Mary was not any kind of super hero  -  (no Angelina Jolie, no Queen Elizabeth – not even a Mother Theresa) – just a simple village girl who had recently come of age.  Mary lived an ordinary life in the small village of Nazareth.  She helped her mother take care of the house and younger children.  She made a daily trip down to the well, to draw water for use at the house.  She cooked and cleaned just like any Jewish girl.  I  picture her singing as she goes about her work, a sweet disposition and spirit about her.

She dreamed of one day having a home of her own to take care of.  She was betrothed to Joseph, a local carpenter – a tradesman.  The life that laid before them was a simple life – one of love and shared experiences – of small children running around and growing up, much as they had.  Most often, when a young couple became betrothed, the husband began work on a place to live – often a room added onto his father’s house.  When that was completed, then he came to collect his bride and everyone was invited to the celebration.

This was the plan – this was what they expected.  But before Joseph came to collect his bride, she had a visitor - an angel from God - and Mary was found to be with child front the Holy Spirit.  This left Joseph in a difficult position.  He loved Mary, but tradition and law said that he should divorce her and even have her stoned.  But as he pondered what to do in this situation, an angel appeared to him in a dream encouraging him to take Mary as his wife.

Joseph was a righteous man and he believed the angel and took Mary to be his wife.  He pledged himself to take care of Mary and her child as if the child were his own.  He would protect the mother and child until the child was old enough to take his place in society.

And so, like Mary and Joseph, we wait.  We wait in expectation – in anticipation – of what God will do in our midst – how he will work out his promises – using the ordinary to do extraordinary things.   If we just have the kind of faith exhibited by a young peasant girl and her faithful craftsman husband in a backwater town 2000 years ago – we too may see miracles and experience the great love of our God in new and wonderful ways.

Amen
.

Questions and Expectations

Listen to the sermon.

Did you hear about the little old lady that would go out on her porch everyday and lift her voice up to heaven and thank God for everything he gave her?  There was an old man who lived next door and everyday he'd yell back, "Shut up, old lady.  There's no such thing as God."  When times were hard, she'd go out and pray for food or other needs for herself.  One day when she had been praying for food, a bag of food appeared on her front porch.  She began to pray loudly, "Thank you, Lord, for the food I needed so badly."  The old man yelled back, "Ha!  God didn't get you that food, I did.  There is no God."  She lifted up her voice, "Hallelujah! The Lord provided me with food and made the devil pay for it."  The woman's expectation of God was fulfilled.

Today's lessons, especially the gospel, seem to be full of questions, and doubts and unfulfilled expectations.  John questions, "Are you the one to come, or should we look for another?  And Jesus asks, "What did you go out in the desert to see?"

John had spent a lot of time preaching in the wilderness.  People had flocked out to hear him and to be baptized by him.  He filled them with hope, "The kingdom of God is at hand.  Prepare the way."  And John did - he prepared the way, filled with hope and expectation...  "One is coming with power and glory, whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."  His vision of power and glory might be the expectation, but the reality was not so vivid, and so he asks Jesus, "Are you the one to come?"

John is saying: “Jesus, if you are the one to come, why am I here in prison.  Why haven't you freed me?  Where is the power and the glory?  Where is the army of believers who will follow you into victory?  This can't be the kingdom of God because it doesn't meet my expectations.”

John's expectation does not coincide with the reality.  Jesus has gained followers, he has appointed 12 generals, but they are not gathering for war, and they are not building an army and they are not overturning the Romans.  What kind of Messiah, was this anyway?

I think we sometimes have the same problem that John has here.  Like John the Baptizer, we are often in doubt about Jesus because we do not always see the difference he in making in our lives or in the world around us.  We look around and we wonder, "If God is in control, then why are things in such a mess?"  We want to say, God if you are really in control - why don't you make it obvious; why is there war, why is there pain and suffering, why is there illness and dis-ease?  Why is there such unrest in the world and in our nation?

Sometimes doubt is a good thing, sometimes it keeps us out of trouble by making us think twice before acting.  We don't always have the right answer in this life - and believe me that's hard for most ministers.  Most of us would love to have all the definitive answers - to be able to reassure and explain what is going on, and what is the best action to take in any given situation.  But more often than not, all we really have is more questions.

Several years back there was a TV show called Joan of Arcadia.  It had a lot of good things to say, about life, about the nature of God, and about our relationship with God...  One episode called, "The book of questions."  made the point on several different levels that it was not about the answers, it's about asking the right questions.  If you ask the wrong question, then the answer you get probably won't make much sense.

Jesus asks, "what did you go out into the desert to see?"  You don't look for learned, sophisticated, cultured people out in the wilderness.  The people had unanswered questions so they went into the wilderness to ask the questions that burned in their hearts.  The people went out to see a prophet, one they hoped had answers.  His answer was that there was another to come - John's claim was from Isaiah, "the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord'."  All four gospels report this.  After preaching hope to the masses, now John is in prison and his own hope is wavering - "Could I be wrong?  Could I have misunderstood what God was telling me?"

John didn't misunderstand that Jesus was "the one to come."  What John misunderstood was what that meant.  What it meant to be "Messiah."  John may have been called by God, but he was also a product of his time - he thought the Messiah was going to be a military victor - drive out the oppressor - set up the new Israel.  John really hasn't asked the right question.  The right question for the time was, "What does it mean to be Messiah?"  That is the question Jesus answered.

John defined himself in terms of Isaiah, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness..."  So Jesus also defines himself in terms of Isaiah.  "Go and tell John what you hear and see.  The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor hear good news."

One of the worse arguments I had with a really good friend came about because of a different understanding of a single word.  We were using the same term, but we had defined it differently.  It took a couple of days for us to sort that out.  That's the same problem Jesus and John where having.  They were both talking about the term "Messiah" - they had just defined it differently.  John's expectation, dependent on his definition, was not being met in Jesus.  John's expectation included death and destruction to the enemy.  Jesus' reality was health and life and hope for all people.

It makes us think about our own expectations of Jesus - of God.  What is it we expect from God, from Jesus?  Jesus tells us, "Look around you, what do you see?  What is the Lord doing in your midst?"

Advent is all about the coming of Christmas - and the story that is told.  The story is about a baby, born in a stable in a backwater town in an obscure area of the world.  Even here he overturns our expectations.  Not a rich, powerful ruler in a palace of gold, but a kind and gentle teacher in a dusty stable along a dusty road.

This beginning alone should give us a clue into the nature of Jesus and thereby into the nature of God.  We can't begin to understand God or to know his mind.  God is spirit and beyond knowing.  That is why the coming of Jesus is so important.  It is through Jesus that we begin to get a glimpse into the nature of God.  Put in human terms it is an incomplete picture to be sure - but still it is more than we had before.  Jesus doesn't come as a victor.  Jesus doesn't come as a warrior.  He comes as a little baby - to overturn our expectations.

Jesus is about the unmerited love of a God who cares enough about his creation that he enters into it. It is about having a personal relationship with the one who created us.  Jesus is also about transformation - transforming ourselves and the world - forming ourselves after Christ and reaching out to the world around us just as Jesus did.  Christ did not turn people away - he accepted them wherever they were in their journey - and if they didn't want to follow him, he let them go. You are free to believe what you want to believe.

Our tendency is to ask, "Why is there so much suffering in the world?"  Maybe that's not the right question. Maybe we should be asking, "Why is there so much good in the world."

From people who serve in soup kitchens, to a little boy who wanted to give a socks to homeless, to the girls who are auctioning off their hatchimals to raise money for fire victims.  There are many people out there emulating Jesus, his compassion out there in the world today.  As scary as our news often sounds today, there are those little tidbits of wonder tucked between all the violence and hatred.  It is those small things that people do to help others that reflect Jesus in today's world.

Look around at what God is doing in your life, and in the world around you.  And if you find that God isn't meeting your expectations, take a look at the questions you are asking.  Are you asking the right questions?  And are you listening to the answers that God gives?

Prepare the way for Jesus

We are in the season of Advent – a season when we are called to prepare the way for the Lord.  We are called to make a straight path for the Lord.

John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness – to the southeast of Jerusalem – near the region of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  There is a high probability that John was a member of the Essenes – another religious sect of Judaism.  From the description in the Bible, I want to say that he was a crusty old character – but he wasn’t old – he was the same age as Jesus.  Since they were cousins, they may have spent time together as children.  We know he had spent time in the desert because the Bible tells us that he appeared in the wilderness and he wore animal skins and survived on locust and wild honey.

Now think about today – if you heard about someone outside of town who wore strange clothes and was yelling and carrying on about the wrath of God, would you feel compelled to go see this strange phenomenon?  We’d probably be more prone to say, that’s just a crazy out there – a moon-struck lunatic – maybe a Jesus freak.  Sure, he might get press on the TV or maybe a short article in the Chronicle – most definitely a number of you-tube videos, fifteen minutes of fame and then he’s gone.  If you actually went out to see him, it was probably out of curiosity.

But this people – these Jews who were waiting for a promised messiah – they needed hope, and they went out to the wilderness seeking hope.  John fit the description of Elijah – and he said things that rang true to their Jewish ears.  They wondered if he might be the promised messiah.

“Prepare the way of the Lord – make straight his paths.”  This means to go out and make the road smooth; get rid of the potholes and the rocks.  Straighten out the curves.  This is what you did when you knew the king was coming.

How do you get ready for a visitor?  If they are coming for dinner, then you might spend the day cooking and baking for the meal, polishing the silver and setting the table.  If they are overnight guests then you might clean out the spare bedroom and make room for extra people to sleep.  John is calling us to prepare for the coming of Jesus.

John is using this phrase "Prepare the way" metaphorically – the path that the Lord wants cleared is the road to your heart.  The ministry of John was a bridge that gap between the Old Testament prophetic word and Jesus, the incarnate Word.  The Word of God, once uttered by prophets, now lived in human form.  John’s call to repentance precedes Jesus’ call to new life.  It’s about getting rid of those things in our life that separate us – that draw us away from God.

Think about what it is like after a hurricane or flood, a fire or even destruction like the twin towers -  piles of debris in driveways and roadways – tree branches, parts of houses, lawn furniture, scattered over the ground.  That is quite often what the road to our heart looks like – littered with the debris of our life.

That debris might be the stings and arrows that have assaulted us – abandonment and betrayal are two of the big ones – being so hurt that it affects our whole life.  And then there are the rocks and potholes that have caused us to stumble and fall – the addictions and temptations we have given in to.  The human condition – self-centeredness – is being so involved in ourselves and our own problems that we fail to reach out or even to notice the struggles of those around us.    

Look at the last verse of our Gospel lesson today.  Where John speaks of Jesus saying, “His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear the threshing floor and will gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”  Too many people have a simplistic view of this and see judgment, either you are wheat (good) and get into heaven, or you are chaff (bad) and you burn in hell.  But I don’t think this is at all what John is alluding to.  If you look at the elements of this story you will find evidence that John means something different.

It starts by understanding that wheat and chaff are both part of the same plant.  Wheat refers to the small grain, the fruit of the plant, and the chaff is the light covering that covers the grain.  The chaff is stripped off the grain by beating it or tramping on it, leaving both lying together on the threshing floor – most often the open ground.  This winnowing fork has been translated by various versions of the Bible as a fork, or a shovel, or a fan.  It is an instrument used to toss the mixture of grain and chaff into the air allowing the wind (or a fan) to blow away the light chaff leaving the heavier grain to be gathered for storing until it is used for making bread.

The Message is a modern day translation of the Bible and it says of Jesus, ”He's going to clean house — make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."

Now all of a sudden this makes perfect sense.  If the chaff and the wheat are part of the same plant then they represent two parts that make up every person.  The wheat represents that which is good, that part of us that is holy and godly, that connects us to God.  And the chaff represents that which is less than holy, that which separates us from God.  It is that debris in our life that needs to be purged from the pathway to our hearts.

That which is not of God cannot exist in the presence of God – There is something good in every person – but in all people, that good exists alongside that which is not of God.  Jesus has come to ignite a fire within us that will help us cast off that part of us that cannot exist in the presence of God.  It will be blown away like chaff from the wheat.  Removing the chaff from our life is necessary for us to be able to stand before God.

We are in the season of Advent – it is a season when we are preparing our hearts to receive Jesus.  So I ask you to consider today, “What are the things that God wants to purge from your life?”  What are the things that you need to let go of, in order for your heart to be ready to receive Jesus when he comes?