Prepared for Dec 13, 2009.
Before I get started, I want to take to thank Matt and Lisa. Matt is the one who called me on Tuesday morning to ask me if I would like to preach at the Jazz Service on Sunday. Of course I accepted. I also want to thank Lisa for encouraging me in the Lay Speaker program. Keep in mind, Lay Speaker training is not just about preparing to speak, it is all about equipping you for the work G-d has called you to do. I happened to be asked to speak, but you would all benefit from the chance to learn in the basic Lay Speaker classes.
Prayer:
The ones I am not sure I want to thank are the members of the Lectionary committee. For the third Sunday in Advent, they did not give me much of the birth story to go on. They did not even give me any of the traditional messianic prophecies from the Law and the Prophets. What I did find has much more to do with the reason that we celebrate the First Advent.
The Gospel text comes from Luke, just before Jesus’ baptism. Let me start at the beginning of the recommended reading. Just before John makes his bold statement about the Messiah, he has answered people’s questions about what repentance looks like. Boiled down, his response was, “Share with others, do our job faithfully and honestly and don’t bully people.” Even to the tax collectors and soldiers, he did not tell them to quit their jobs and do something else. He encouraged them to do their jobs fairly and graciously.
When asked if he were the Messiah, the Anointed One, John tells them just how radical the Messiah will be. You see, baptism for repentance had been part of Jewish tradition long before John. According to Wikipedia, “Immersion in the mikvah represents a change in status in regards to purification, restoration, and qualification for full religious participation in the life of the community, ensuring that the cleansed person will not impose uncleanness on property or its owners.” The people of John’s time would have been very familiar with water baptism and yes, the Greek word baptizo means to immerse. Now he is talking about something wholly different. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” To be immersed in the Spirit! To be immersed in Fire! What would that look like? How would that feel?
Here I want to pause so we can come back to those questions after we have explored some of the other writings in today’s lectionary list. First, let’s stop off in Isaiah 12. When you think of the Day of the Lord, my guess is that many of you think, like I once did, about a day of judgment as in the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
On this Day of the Lord, the focus is not on judgment but on grace. “Your anger turned away, and you comforted me.” Because of who G-d is, G-d has chosen to turn anger aside. Notice that we did not turn G-d’s anger aside. It was a sovereign act of grace. And on that Day, we will celebrate as we draw joy from the fountains of deliverance because the Lord is our strength and our might. The Hebrew words for “wells of salvation” translate just as well to “fountains of deliverance.”
I love the image of an artesian well rather than still water at the bottom of a deep pit having to use rope and bucket to pull water from the depths. Remember Jesus words from John 7. On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Isaiah looked forward to the same day when G-d’s love and forgiveness would spring up within the Messiah’s loved ones like an artesian well.
Zephaniah called G-d’s people during a troubled time in their history. King Josiah was the first godly king for several generations. The people had stumbled far from the ways of the Lord. The first chapters of the book talk much about the people’s shortcomings and the consequences of their behavior. But by the end of his message, he turns back to give the people hope for a day when the Lord will come and celebrate with them.
The Day of the Lord has turned from judgment now into a festival day and the Lord is the one celebrating. “He will rejoice, he will renew, he will exult!” Now remember, exult is not exalt. “Exalt” means to give praise or honor and “exult” means to be extremely joyful, to leap for joy! I can hardly wrap my brain around the image of the G-d of the universe leaping for joy in our presence. Look who else will be in our presence, the lame and the outcast. And how will G-d treat the lame and the outcast? “I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.” We all know what shame means. We have all known times when we are ashamed of something we said or did or left undone. If you are like me, you may have even had times when you were too ashamed even to attempt to come to the Lord of Hosts to find forgiveness.
There was a time in my life when I faced two equally painful options about what I needed to do regarding a problem I was facing. After I had made the choice I thought would bring the least amount of pain to the fewest people, I worried about facing G-d’s judgment. When I came to the Lord with a broken heart, I found refuge in G-d’s grace rather than shame under G-d’s judgment. Yes, the choice I made had tough consequences for me and many people I loved, but, because I stayed open to G-d’s presence and forgiveness in my life, I did not have to face the consequences alone, in my own strength. The grace-filled presence of the Spirit in my life has sustained me and enabled me to grow in my relationship with the Lord Almighty.
Let’s push this passage in one more direction. Think of all the miracle births between to two covers of the Bible. From what we know of the ancient world and its traditions, a woman without children was not just unlucky. She was considered to have been judged by G-d and found lacking. Each day, she faced the shame of not having a child, of knowing she was shunned by the Author of all Good Gifts. Sara was one such lady back near the beginning of the Hebrew story. She even laughed when she heard the Lord’s messenger telling Abraham about the coming child. Yet to this day, we know the story of the Holy One lifting her shame and turning it to renown. We celebrate the wife of Abraham’s youth as the mother of many nations. Sampson’s mother and Samuel’s mother, Hannah, were both blessed by the Lord’s intervention, lifting their shame and giving to the world with sons who would judge Israel through hard times.
Jumping forward to John’s life, his mother Elizabeth had been barren for many years. Yet today, we celebrate her life due to her son John’s ministry as the one who came to prepare a way for the Lord. Elizabeth’s cousin Mary had a miracle birth of a wholly different kind. The child within her came not almost too late but much too soon. Had not an angel intervened, Joseph would have divorced her quietly and her shame would have been increased. As it is, her shame must have lurked in the corners for decades until the son for her shame became the first born from the grave to live forever at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. (Acts 2:33) The birth that cast off Mary’s shame when our Savior rose from the tomb is the reason we continue to celebrate the birth of the child in Bethlehem. And this takes us back to John’s story in Luke.
From Isaiah we learned about water flowing from the fountains of deliverance. From Zephaniah we learned how G-d wants to deliver us from shame and exult over us with loud singing. That still leaves us with the questions we asked about John’s writing, “To be immersed in the Spirit! To be immersed in Fire! What would that look like? How would that feel?” Paul talks much about the evidence of the Spirit by its fruit in our walks of faith. I want to go back to John, though, and play with fire for a bit. We know lots about fire, so what we know about fire must somehow transfer to what we can know about the Spirit.
Fire has great power and if not respected can bring about great destruction. The Spirit has great power and when we use that power for selfish means, we can cause great harm to the body of followers. The fire from a single candle when passed from one to another can turn a dark room into a place of celebration. The refiner’s fire takes the metal trapped in the base material and separates the two leaving the purest gold or silver. We take that the pure gold, strengthen it and forge symbols of love and commitment. The fire in a glass blowers furnace takes sand and a few minerals to form a clear chalice we can use to hold what has become for us the blood of the new covenant. The fire in a baker’s oven takes wheat from the field along with water, sugar, and oil to make the bread we break in remembrance of the One until he comes again. Fire has great power to transform the simplest substances into food, tools, and art to grace our lives. How much more can the Spirit of Him who Lives Forever take our lives and form them into vessels fit for G-d’s glory.
How does this happen you ask me? How can I allow the Spirit to mold me and make me after his will? I am just finishing a delightful book by Marcus Borg “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.” In the opening chapter he makes this bold statement that I think informs our search for how the Spirit will touch our lives. “That life (the Christian life) is ultimately not about believing or about being good. Rather it is about a relationship with G-d that involves us in a journey of transformation.” I know, you are saying to yourself, “That sounds great, but how do I do that? How do I have a relationship with G-d, let alone one that transforms me.”
Living a life based on rules is easy. You win or lose based on the rules. You are naughty or nice and you get what is coming to you. Living a life based on a set of beliefs you can ascent to is easy. You believe or you don’t’. Living a life based on relationships is hard work because you have to be fully involved in the relationship each and every day. Think about all the time you spend working at the relationships of those closest to you. All the time listening, even being quiet in one another’s company. The walk of faith based on a relationship with the Living G-d through the power of the Spirit that Borg defines for us is much harder and much more rewarding that a simple set of rules or beliefs.
What will that life look like for you? I will let you in on a secret. I don’t know. I know how the Spirit has touched my life, but I don’t know how the Spirit will touch your life. Only the Spirit knows what you need today and tomorrow and for the hundreds of tomorrows you will celebrate in G-d’s grace. You can look at how others have done it in the past. You can practice what Wesley called the means of grace, but at the end of the day, you are the only one who can work out your relationship with G-d through the access Jesus made available for us by the Holy Spirit. My best advice for each of us is to throw caution to the wind and go out and play with Fire, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Before I get started, I want to take to thank Matt and Lisa. Matt is the one who called me on Tuesday morning to ask me if I would like to preach at the Jazz Service on Sunday. Of course I accepted. I also want to thank Lisa for encouraging me in the Lay Speaker program. Keep in mind, Lay Speaker training is not just about preparing to speak, it is all about equipping you for the work G-d has called you to do. I happened to be asked to speak, but you would all benefit from the chance to learn in the basic Lay Speaker classes.
Prayer:
The ones I am not sure I want to thank are the members of the Lectionary committee. For the third Sunday in Advent, they did not give me much of the birth story to go on. They did not even give me any of the traditional messianic prophecies from the Law and the Prophets. What I did find has much more to do with the reason that we celebrate the First Advent.
The Gospel text comes from Luke, just before Jesus’ baptism. Let me start at the beginning of the recommended reading. Just before John makes his bold statement about the Messiah, he has answered people’s questions about what repentance looks like. Boiled down, his response was, “Share with others, do our job faithfully and honestly and don’t bully people.” Even to the tax collectors and soldiers, he did not tell them to quit their jobs and do something else. He encouraged them to do their jobs fairly and graciously.
Luke 3: Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
When asked if he were the Messiah, the Anointed One, John tells them just how radical the Messiah will be. You see, baptism for repentance had been part of Jewish tradition long before John. According to Wikipedia, “Immersion in the mikvah represents a change in status in regards to purification, restoration, and qualification for full religious participation in the life of the community, ensuring that the cleansed person will not impose uncleanness on property or its owners.” The people of John’s time would have been very familiar with water baptism and yes, the Greek word baptizo means to immerse. Now he is talking about something wholly different. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” To be immersed in the Spirit! To be immersed in Fire! What would that look like? How would that feel?
Here I want to pause so we can come back to those questions after we have explored some of the other writings in today’s lectionary list. First, let’s stop off in Isaiah 12. When you think of the Day of the Lord, my guess is that many of you think, like I once did, about a day of judgment as in the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
Isaiah 12: You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
On this Day of the Lord, the focus is not on judgment but on grace. “Your anger turned away, and you comforted me.” Because of who G-d is, G-d has chosen to turn anger aside. Notice that we did not turn G-d’s anger aside. It was a sovereign act of grace. And on that Day, we will celebrate as we draw joy from the fountains of deliverance because the Lord is our strength and our might. The Hebrew words for “wells of salvation” translate just as well to “fountains of deliverance.”
I love the image of an artesian well rather than still water at the bottom of a deep pit having to use rope and bucket to pull water from the depths. Remember Jesus words from John 7. On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Isaiah looked forward to the same day when G-d’s love and forgiveness would spring up within the Messiah’s loved ones like an artesian well.
Zephaniah called G-d’s people during a troubled time in their history. King Josiah was the first godly king for several generations. The people had stumbled far from the ways of the Lord. The first chapters of the book talk much about the people’s shortcomings and the consequences of their behavior. But by the end of his message, he turns back to give the people hope for a day when the Lord will come and celebrate with them.
Zephaniah 3:14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth,
The Day of the Lord has turned from judgment now into a festival day and the Lord is the one celebrating. “He will rejoice, he will renew, he will exult!” Now remember, exult is not exalt. “Exalt” means to give praise or honor and “exult” means to be extremely joyful, to leap for joy! I can hardly wrap my brain around the image of the G-d of the universe leaping for joy in our presence. Look who else will be in our presence, the lame and the outcast. And how will G-d treat the lame and the outcast? “I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.” We all know what shame means. We have all known times when we are ashamed of something we said or did or left undone. If you are like me, you may have even had times when you were too ashamed even to attempt to come to the Lord of Hosts to find forgiveness.
There was a time in my life when I faced two equally painful options about what I needed to do regarding a problem I was facing. After I had made the choice I thought would bring the least amount of pain to the fewest people, I worried about facing G-d’s judgment. When I came to the Lord with a broken heart, I found refuge in G-d’s grace rather than shame under G-d’s judgment. Yes, the choice I made had tough consequences for me and many people I loved, but, because I stayed open to G-d’s presence and forgiveness in my life, I did not have to face the consequences alone, in my own strength. The grace-filled presence of the Spirit in my life has sustained me and enabled me to grow in my relationship with the Lord Almighty.
Let’s push this passage in one more direction. Think of all the miracle births between to two covers of the Bible. From what we know of the ancient world and its traditions, a woman without children was not just unlucky. She was considered to have been judged by G-d and found lacking. Each day, she faced the shame of not having a child, of knowing she was shunned by the Author of all Good Gifts. Sara was one such lady back near the beginning of the Hebrew story. She even laughed when she heard the Lord’s messenger telling Abraham about the coming child. Yet to this day, we know the story of the Holy One lifting her shame and turning it to renown. We celebrate the wife of Abraham’s youth as the mother of many nations. Sampson’s mother and Samuel’s mother, Hannah, were both blessed by the Lord’s intervention, lifting their shame and giving to the world with sons who would judge Israel through hard times.
Jumping forward to John’s life, his mother Elizabeth had been barren for many years. Yet today, we celebrate her life due to her son John’s ministry as the one who came to prepare a way for the Lord. Elizabeth’s cousin Mary had a miracle birth of a wholly different kind. The child within her came not almost too late but much too soon. Had not an angel intervened, Joseph would have divorced her quietly and her shame would have been increased. As it is, her shame must have lurked in the corners for decades until the son for her shame became the first born from the grave to live forever at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. (Acts 2:33) The birth that cast off Mary’s shame when our Savior rose from the tomb is the reason we continue to celebrate the birth of the child in Bethlehem. And this takes us back to John’s story in Luke.
From Isaiah we learned about water flowing from the fountains of deliverance. From Zephaniah we learned how G-d wants to deliver us from shame and exult over us with loud singing. That still leaves us with the questions we asked about John’s writing, “To be immersed in the Spirit! To be immersed in Fire! What would that look like? How would that feel?” Paul talks much about the evidence of the Spirit by its fruit in our walks of faith. I want to go back to John, though, and play with fire for a bit. We know lots about fire, so what we know about fire must somehow transfer to what we can know about the Spirit.
Fire has great power and if not respected can bring about great destruction. The Spirit has great power and when we use that power for selfish means, we can cause great harm to the body of followers. The fire from a single candle when passed from one to another can turn a dark room into a place of celebration. The refiner’s fire takes the metal trapped in the base material and separates the two leaving the purest gold or silver. We take that the pure gold, strengthen it and forge symbols of love and commitment. The fire in a glass blowers furnace takes sand and a few minerals to form a clear chalice we can use to hold what has become for us the blood of the new covenant. The fire in a baker’s oven takes wheat from the field along with water, sugar, and oil to make the bread we break in remembrance of the One until he comes again. Fire has great power to transform the simplest substances into food, tools, and art to grace our lives. How much more can the Spirit of Him who Lives Forever take our lives and form them into vessels fit for G-d’s glory.
How does this happen you ask me? How can I allow the Spirit to mold me and make me after his will? I am just finishing a delightful book by Marcus Borg “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.” In the opening chapter he makes this bold statement that I think informs our search for how the Spirit will touch our lives. “That life (the Christian life) is ultimately not about believing or about being good. Rather it is about a relationship with G-d that involves us in a journey of transformation.” I know, you are saying to yourself, “That sounds great, but how do I do that? How do I have a relationship with G-d, let alone one that transforms me.”
Living a life based on rules is easy. You win or lose based on the rules. You are naughty or nice and you get what is coming to you. Living a life based on a set of beliefs you can ascent to is easy. You believe or you don’t’. Living a life based on relationships is hard work because you have to be fully involved in the relationship each and every day. Think about all the time you spend working at the relationships of those closest to you. All the time listening, even being quiet in one another’s company. The walk of faith based on a relationship with the Living G-d through the power of the Spirit that Borg defines for us is much harder and much more rewarding that a simple set of rules or beliefs.
What will that life look like for you? I will let you in on a secret. I don’t know. I know how the Spirit has touched my life, but I don’t know how the Spirit will touch your life. Only the Spirit knows what you need today and tomorrow and for the hundreds of tomorrows you will celebrate in G-d’s grace. You can look at how others have done it in the past. You can practice what Wesley called the means of grace, but at the end of the day, you are the only one who can work out your relationship with G-d through the access Jesus made available for us by the Holy Spirit. My best advice for each of us is to throw caution to the wind and go out and play with Fire, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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