Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, December 14, 2008

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Third Sunday of Advent

Year B

December 14, 2008

Resurrection Lutheran Church

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126

I Thessalonians 5:16-24 St. John 1:6-8, 19-28

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In the name of the triune God who created us, who loves us, who redeemed us, and who cares for us.

One of my favorite Advent hymns is "On Jordan's Bank." It is found on page 63 of your LBW. The words go like this:

1. On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come, then, and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings.

2. Then cleansed by every Christian breast
And furnished for so great a Guest.
Yea, let us each our hearts prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.

3. For Thou art our Salvation, Lord,
Our Refuge, and our great Reward.
Without Thy grace our souls must fade
And wither like a flower decayed.

4. Lay on the sick Thy healing hand
And make the fallen strong to stand;
Show us the glory of Thy face
Till beauty springs in every place.

5. All praise, eternal Son, to Thee
Who advent sets Thy people free,
Whom, with the Father, we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore.

Today we hear the story of John the Baptist, a particularly appropriate lesson for Advent. The lesson starts out with the words "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him." Being sent from God is not always a great thing by our standards. While John had some followers, those in power were really threatened by him. In fact, his words became so threatening that they eventually lead to his imprisonment and finally his death. He never gained worldly good or significant recognition in his life time. The life of a prophet is usually lonely.

Today I want you to pull out your insert and follow those two lines with me again. But I’m going to change a few words this time. "There was a person sent from God, whose name was Lucy. She came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through her." I figured I would use Lucy as an example since she is such a new addition to the church family and can’t really speak for herself yet.

This time I want you to read it with your name. Try it out. Go ahead.

How did it feel? I want to take a short moment now and let you just think about what it would mean if that verse was speaking about you. Did you believe it in your heart when you read it? I hope so because it is absolutely true. There is a person sent by God and guess what? That person is you. And you. And you. And little Lucy. And me.

To me it can be pretty overwhelming. You are that person sent by God. I am that person sent by God. You are that person called as a witness to testify to the light. It can be pretty overwhelming. We think of our personal failures and wonder how in the world we can be a witness to the light of God.

I have to wonder if John felt exactly that same way I suspect he might have been a reluctant witness for God. How much better to live your comfortable life without these annoying interruptions from God.

How are you and I going to respond? Some of us may be tempted to argue with God. Something along the lines of “Lord can’t I just go to church and support the church? Isn’t that enough God?” Perhaps our response will be that of Moses or Jonah. Basically a "not me Lord! Are you crazy God?" No one will listen to me Lord. Moses thought he didn’t speak well enough. Any excuse. How many excuses do we have for God?

Our initial desire to say no to the call of God in our life needs to be changed to a yes. We need to decide to respond like Samuel, saying "speak lord, for your servant is listening", then what?

How do we fulfill our commission to be a witness to testifying about Jesus? I think many peoples greatest fear is that we will have to go door to door to strangers like the Mormon's or the Jehovah Witnesses. Or do we have to pay an annual Temple assessment as in the Jewish tradition? Or do we try and keep it a secret like the Episcopal tradition?

Well we don't have to do it any particular way. One approach will not fit every circumstance and every need. Fortunately we don't even have to dress up in uncomfortable clothing and eat grass hoppers like John. But we do need to overcome our fears and anxiety to say yes to God. Sometimes not even really knowing what that yes to God will mean. We need to realize that God chooses us and that God will be with us. In our weakness God’s power is made even more manifest. Paul believed that he could do all things through the power of the strength of God in his life. Do we really believe that?

But one thing we absolutely do have to do is be a witness for God. There is no getting around that call of God in our lives. Each in our own unique way. Each of us as God has called is. It will not be the same. But that way God reaches out to so many other people.

It is our job to announce to others that the Lord is near. Advent can be a challenging and risky time for us. It calls us to evangelism like no other season in the Church year. So let each of us commit to the work of evangelist in our own lives as we respond to the call of God.

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, December 14, 2008

Third Sunday of Advent

Year B

December 14, 2008

Resurrection Lutheran Church

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126

I Thessalonians 5:16-24 St. John 1:6-8, 19-28

In the name of the triune God who created us, who loves us, who redeemed us, and who cares for us.

One of my favorite Advent hymns is "On Jordan's Bank." It is found on page 63 of your LBW. The words go like this:

1. On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come, then, and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings.

2. Then cleansed by every Christian breast
And furnished for so great a Guest.
Yea, let us each our hearts prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.

3. For Thou art our Salvation, Lord,
Our Refuge, and our great Reward.
Without Thy grace our souls must fade
And wither like a flower decayed.

4. Lay on the sick Thy healing hand
And make the fallen strong to stand;
Show us the glory of Thy face
Till beauty springs in every place.

5. All praise, eternal Son, to Thee
Who advent sets Thy people free,
Whom, with the Father, we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore.

Today we hear the story of John the Baptist, a particularly appropriate lesson for Advent. The lesson starts out with the words "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him." Being sent from God is not always a great thing by our standards. While John had some followers, those in power were really threatened by him. In fact, his words became so threatening that they eventually lead to his imprisonment and finally his death. He never gained worldly good or significant recognition in his life time. The life of a prophet is usually lonely.

Today I want you to pull out your insert and follow those two lines with me again. But I’m going to change a few words this time. "There was a person sent from God, whose name was Lucy. She came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through her." I figured I would use Lucy as an example since she is such a new addition to the church family and can’t really speak for herself yet.

This time I want you to read it with your name. Try it out. Go ahead.

How did it feel? I want to take a short moment now and let you just think about what it would mean if that verse was speaking about you. Did you believe it in your heart when you read it? I hope so because it is absolutely true. There is a person sent by God and guess what? That person is you. And you. And you. And little Lucy. And me.

To me it can be pretty overwhelming. You are that person sent by God. I am that person sent by God. You are that person called as a witness to testify to the light. It can be pretty overwhelming. We think of our personal failures and wonder how in the world we can be a witness to the light of God.

I have to wonder if John felt exactly that same way I suspect he might have been a reluctant witness for God. How much better to live your comfortable life without these annoying interruptions from God.

How are you and I going to respond? Some of us may be tempted to argue with God. Something along the lines of “Lord can’t I just go to church and support the church? Isn’t that enough God?” Perhaps our response will be that of Moses or Jonah. Basically a "not me Lord! Are you crazy God?" No one will listen to me Lord. Moses thought he didn’t speak well enough. Any excuse. How many excuses do we have for God?

Our initial desire to say no to the call of God in our life needs to be changed to a yes. We need to decide to respond like Samuel, saying "speak lord, for your servant is listening", then what?

How do we fulfill our commission to be a witness to testifying about Jesus? I think many peoples greatest fear is that we will have to go door to door to strangers like the Mormon's or the Jehovah Witnesses. Or do we have to pay an annual Temple assessment as in the Jewish tradition? Or do we try and keep it a secret like the Episcopal tradition?

Well we don't have to do it any particular way. One approach will not fit every circumstance and every need. Fortunately we don't even have to dress up in uncomfortable clothing and eat grass hoppers like John. But we do need to overcome our fears and anxiety to say yes to God. Sometimes not even really knowing what that yes to God will mean. We need to realize that God chooses us and that God will be with us. In our weakness God’s power is made even more manifest. Paul believed that he could do all things through the power of the strength of God in his life. Do we really believe that?

But one thing we absolutely do have to do is be a witness for God. There is no getting around that call of God in our lives. Each in our own unique way. Each of us as God has called is. It will not be the same. But that way God reaches out to so many other people.

It is our job to announce to others that the Lord is near. Advent can be a challenging and risky time for us. It calls us to evangelism like no other season in the Church year. So let each of us commit to the work of evangelist in our own lives as we respond to the call of God.

Sermon for the First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2008

First Sunday of Advent

Year B

November 30, 2008

Resurrection Lutheran Church

Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

I Corinthians 1:3-9 St. Mark 13:24-37

In the name of the triune God who created us, who loves us, who redeemed us, and who cares for us.

Today is the day of a new beginning. This is the First Sunday of Advent. Today is the ecclesiastical equivalent of New Year’s Day. In the recent history of the church, Advent has taken a rather penitential feeling, very much like Lent. This is most likely due to the use of purple as the color for both seasons.

In an attempt to combat this, many churches have moved from purple to shades of blue.

“The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.”[1]

This Advent I want to encourage you to expected the unexpected. One thing that has always interested me is that fact that the first Advent of Jesus came about in a most unexpected way. No one imagined the messiah as the simple son of a carpenter. In spite of all that was found in the Scriptures and in spite of the eager anticipation of the Jewish nation of a messiah who would come in great power and set things right, it just didn’t happen that way. Nope. God came in God’s own way and to serve God’s own purposes.

It must have been quite shocking for people to learn that their centuries held beliefs were to be turned upside down. That is if they were able to accept it at all. You see, many could not. They were unable to change their preconceived ideas to embrace Jesus as God revealed to them.

I think that it often seems that God never comes the way we plan on God coming in our own lives as well. That is why we need to expected the unexpected in our own lives. God will come to us in ways we perhaps never imagined. But if we insist on holding on to our own ideas and expectations we can miss God in our lives when God is right in front of us. We will allow ourselves to fall into the same trap that so many in the time of Jesus did. Those who recognized Jesus were rarely those of a religious bent. They were too obsessed in their own views of how God should act and as a result not only missed Jesus, but often actively plotted against Jesus.

The lessons in Advent will often focus on the next coming of Jesus. And I have an idea that the next coming of Jesus will probably also be unexpected. Those who are convinced that they understand from the Scriptures and the teaching of the church just how the next Advent will occur I believe are destined for disappointment.

Now that probably explains why I’m not a fan at all of the “Left Behind” series and the entire cottage industry of end times books, tapes, and teachings. They miss the fundamental point that humans don’t seem to do a very good job of guessing how God will choose to act in the world.

There is something very positive in this focus during Advent on the past and the present. Advent becomes a time of looking head and a time of looking behind and that can be a powerful symbol of our own faith journey, and even more it can be a powerful symbol of a congregations faith journey. Particularly in this place and time. As you examine the past and look towards your future in the call of a new pastor.

Last time I was here the lesson focused on our responsibilities to God in the time between the appearances of Jesus on earth. Last time I focused on individual responsibilities within the concept of supporting the church financially. Today I would encourage you to think about your life as a congregation. As I know from my own experience it is very easy for a congregation to assume that the pastor will be doing everything. Visiting the sick, evangelizing, cleaning, maintaining, inspiring, cajoling, you name it, it is the pastor’s job.

It is true that many of these things are indeed the pastor’s job. But please do not forget that in this time between the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus each and every one of us has our own responsibilities. Those responsibilities include everything I listed for the pastor to do. You see the “great commission” was not limited to pastors and other church professionals. It was for each and every one of us. The lesson of Matthew 25 was not limited to pastors and other church professionals. It was a call for each and every one of us to feed the sick, visit those in prison and minister to the needs of those less fortunate than us. The summary of the law by Jesus to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves was not limited to pastors and other church professionals. It was for each and every one of us.

“… as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which "all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption," it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to "love the Lord your God with all your heart" and to "love your neighbor as yourself."[2]

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[1] http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html

[2] Ibid

The Third Sunday in Advent, December 16, 2007

The Third Sunday in Advent

Year A

December 16, 2007

Isaiah 35:1-10 Psalm 146:4-9

James 5:7-10 St. Matthew 11:2-11

All of us have expectations in life. They consist of our hopes and dreams in the best of time and of our fears when things seem not to be going so well. It is a wonderful thing to focus on the hopes and dreams of our future, our hopes and dreams of what our life will be like as time unfolds before us. Living in expectation can make life feel vital and refreshing.

As we continue in this Advent season of expectation and anticipation, it is a good time to reflect on the question of “what are our expectations about Jesus?” I began this Advent season preaching about expecting the unexpected. And yet that is a hard thing to do. I know that I, and probably most of us, want to expect the expected. We get our hearts or minds set on something and it can really mess us up if we end up with the unexpected.

John was expecting the Messiah. He had been waiting for years. And he was in a rush to find just the right person. But Jesus must not have been acting exactly like John expected, because John sent messengers to Jesus trying to confirm if Jesus was the person John had been expecting or not. John did not want to invest his time in the wrong person. Jesus response was to tell John to look at Jesus’ life and see for himself what was happening. That would tell John what he needed to know.

Jesus could have said: “Of course I am the Messiah.” And I think John would have accepted it. Jesus however knew that some things require more than just words. We all know that actions speak much louder than words. Jesus called on John and his followers to look at his actions, not his words. In the activities and ministry of Jesus, John would find the answer to his question in a much more powerful way than a simple yes or no.

Jesus was there, right there in the flesh and blood for John and his followers. Jesus was walking, living and ministering right in the midst of mankind.

There as a song a few years ago entitled “What if God was one of us” by Joan Osbourn. The lyrics were very powerful and always made me think. They went like this:

If God had a name, what would it be
And would you call it to his face
If you were faced with him in all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in jesus and the saints and all the prophets

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
He's trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in rome

This is a song about the incarnation. I was always intrigued about the song, but never though about it in quite those terms. John and his disciples thought that God was one of them. But the face they saw most not have been exactly what they were hoping for or expecting.

What if God were one of us? How would we handle that. A few years ago a show was on that used this song as its theme. It was called Joan of Arcadia. And every week God would appear to Joan taking the form of different people which would come into her life. I never paid much attention to the show thinking is cute, but very likely missing the point of God in our midst. Well I was wrong about that. I happened to be watching it once, not really paying much attention to the show until it dawned on me that God was coming to Joan in the for of a “Goth” teenager. You know Goth, people dressed up all in black looking very not normal to my mind. And I found myself getting very upset! I was fuming at the scandal that they would portray God in this manner.

It took God several days working in my heart to change my mind. I had to struggle with my prejudices and realize that the show was right and I was wrong. That was God.

What do we hear and see in the Christian community today? Even more importantly, what do we show and say to the world around us? Sadly the news is only too happy to tell us stories about Christians who actions fail to match up to their words. People delight in bringing to light the failings of Christians, particularly when those failures include involvement in the very things those Christians were speaking against.

We see that in Jesus life and actions what he did brought people to him. More importantly, Jesus accepted people as they were. Jesus accepted and ministered to people who others in society dismissed or denigrated. Hopefully as we strive to live like Jesus did, people will be drawn to us as well. In that way we live out our lives as evangelists.

Most Episcopalians shudder at that notion. We think being an evangelist means we have to say certain things to everyone we meet. We think it means we have to be the type of people who can’t take no for an answer. Or perhaps we think it means we have to go door to door. But the truth of the matter is we are best as evangelists when our actions speak more loudly than our words. When people see in our lives that they we are acting like Jesus, they will come to us. Then we have an opportunity to share what Jesus has done for us in our life.

In order to share, in order to be an evangelist, we need to learn to see the face of God in everyone we meet. We cannot only see the face of God in the people who look like us, or act like us, or people we find acceptable. To the contrary I think we find Jesus in a more powerful way when we see Jesus in the very people we do not want to.

So let us be proud to be Episcopal evangelists. As we start a new church year and a new calendar year let us commit ourselves to the path of spiritual growth and to living our life in a what, that like Jesus, we draw people to us, wanting to have what we have in life.

You see the incarnation which we will celebrate just a few weeks away is not the only place we find Jesus. Yes Jesus was in that manger 2000 years ago and Jesus was the person John sent his followers to check out. But Jesus lives on today in each one of us. And even more critically, Jesus lives on in the people in need around us. So if you wonder if God is one of us, if God has a face like one of us and if God has a name like one of us, the answer is a resounding yes.

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent, December 2, 2007

The First Sunday in Advent

Year A

December 2, 2007

Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122

Romans 13:11-14 St. Matthew 24:36-44

I have a confession to make. Many of you may not know this, but I’m a big fan of the “Big Brother” show, much to Father Emmanuel’s disappointment and embarrassment. The title of the eighth season was: “Expect the Unexpected.” And almost every week a new twist was revealed in the show to keep the contestants on their feet and always wondering what would happen next.

The prophet Isaiah speaks of weapons of war being turned into implements of harvest. That is unexpected! A modern day equivalent of this message might be more like turning tanks into tractors and rifles into rakes. An idea that I’m sure would not go down well in Congress or many other places. After all, everyone knows that these would not be the smart things to do in our current geo-political circumstances. Only a fool would contemplate this kind of action. One thing that this vision of Isaiah calls us to is looking in new ways at old things, trying to find the good out of the bad. We should always be ready to re-examine ways we have of doing things or of what we believe. You never know when you might find a new and even better way.

Expecting the unexpected is a good way to sum up both the lessons for today and the message of Advent. Advent is living out our expectations for Christmas. We have begun the countdown in eager anticipation, to the Christmas event. Of course, since year after year we know what will happen it is sometimes hard to maintain the excitement of anticipation.

But this year, perhaps we can try to rekindle that spirit of anticipation and expectation in our Advent season at St. Peter’s. One of the great advantages of having children in the parish is that I believe they help us older members understand in a fresh way what living in expectation of Christmas can be all about.

But there is a lesson for the church as well in the idea of transformation found in Isaiah. Perhaps it is time for us to look afresh at ourselves and some of our commonly held beliefs. It is well past time for Christians to put down the weapons they use against each other and turn them into opportunities to again share the Gospel, the good news of Jesus through love and fellowship.

What was the unexpected that happened on that first Christmas? God became human. God came as a helpless child. God came to die a horribly painful death. But the Christ child was supposed to be the Messiah. In Jesus’ own time he was not the messiah the Jewish people were expecting. Talk about getting the unexpected! They wanted a king who would lead them to victory and instead their messiah ended up being a servant giving up his life on a cross.

A well known Advent hymn prays: “Come thou long expected Jesus”. But if Jesus so surprised everyone in his first coming, how might we expect the unexpected in his second coming? No one knows how Jesus second coming will play out, although many are willing to make their guesses. My suspicion is that just like the first time, in the end we will find all the expectations and predictions to be wildly off the mark.

We can face the unexpected in one of two ways. We can fear it and attempt to avoid it or we can look forward to it and be ready to embrace it. St. Peter’s has been doing the latter for several years now. It has resulted in many blessings to our parish family.

Expect the unexpected. What are our expectations for the coming year? What do we expect from God? What do we expect from each other?

St. Peter’s should expect the unexpected for the next year. We should pray for it. What is the unexpected? I don’t have any idea yet. But I know that seven years ago when I arrived at St. Peter’s I never expected to be where we are at today. And while I don’t want to speak for anyone else, I have a feeling that many who were here when I arrived would say the same thing. I’m hoping for great surprises for our wonderful parish family during this next year as well.

When we expect the unexpected we have to be ready for God to do anything in our life and in our parish. When we are blessed with the unexpected it can sometimes be uncomfortable for us. It can throw us off balance and affect us in many ways. It will challenge us to new growth. We have to be ready to face these potential effects of the unexpected head on.

How shall we live this life of expectation? Well it is truly a hard thing to plan for the unexpected. You never know what it is you should be planning for!

But I would suggest a few possibilities for us at St. Peter’s. We need to be willing to see the unexpected as a wonderful gift from God. That requires a willingness to set aside the fear that can often accompany dealing with the unexpected.

We need to be open to God working in new ways in our lives. God can and will surprise us if we are willing to follow wherever God leads us.

We need to pray for and anticipate God doing new and amazing things at St. Peter’s.

Then we will be ready for the amazing things God has in store for us this year.