Acts 1:4-14 (Advent: Waiting in the Spirit, waiting on the Spirit)
"And while staying [1] with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with [2] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers."
In the Apostles’ Creed, we say: “crucified by Pontius Pilate, dead, buried, he descended into hell; and on the third day, he rose again from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the God the father, almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”
Often in Christian preaching, we speak of everything being accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Now, we do talk about the Return or Second Coming of Christ as a day of judgment and rapture. But, the waiting around period between now and then, well, we have mostly just talked about that as if it was a time for human decision – to choose God’s way in Christ or reject God’s offer of salvation. The way churches generally talk about the present age is as if human beings are the ones who are acting, and as if God is just waiting around to see what we do.
And, when you look at it that way, Advent becomes a very human-centered celebration. Because, the Christ has already come, been crucified and has risen. If you look at it that way, God has already done his work; now is time for us to do ours which God will judge one day as Jesus comes.
But, that way of looking at things has it all backwards, because Advent is all about celebrating God’s action, not ours – what God did in the past and what God is doing now and what God is going to do in the future. God is always the initiator, and we are always the responders to God’s promptings in our spirit.
To talk about this in a doctrinal way, our problem seems to be that we don’t have a place for the Holy Spirit in our belief system. And, if you look at the Apostles’ Creed, they just sort of threw it in with some other beliefs and didn’t seem to include the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son. But, let me turn this back in a practical direction and refer to the history we are told in Scripture.
In the Bible, we are told that after Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, that his followers were gathering each day and praying as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised that this Spirit would come from on high and lead them where they should go. The book of Acts is all about this history of the Holy Spirit being poured out on earth. This coming of the Spirit was the first fruits of the great harvest. It was the beginning of a new age in God’s relationship with human beings and all creation. And, it turned the people’s hearts towards an evergrowing movement towards the coming of God’s glory to the whole earth.
And, the Holy Spirit was poured out in that upper room in Jerusalem, and tongues of fire appeared upon the heads of every person that was there praying. And, though the Spirit came and rested upon them on that day, the Spirit remains God’s Spirit and not ours to possess. So, that the Spirit comes and goes as God wills. The Apostles did not from that day on possess God’s Spirit, but possessed a zeal to wait and pray for its coming and guidance over and over. In a real way, they had learned the movement of faith: from waiting prayerfully and expectantly for God’s Spirit, celebrating joyfully and in obedience when the Spirit comes, and then waiting again with hope when the Spirit in its fullness had departed.
At Advent, we are as those disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem. Their crucified and risen Lord has left them and ascended to heaven, but had promised that the Holy Spirit, the comforter and exhorter, would come to them from God. And, they had felt Jesus’ absence as they waited for the Spirit to come. And, they prayed, remembering the glory of God in Jesus’ life and death and resurrection. And, then, the rush of wind came through the room, and a rush of power and life came into their bodies, as God blessed them and lifted them and set them on a new path.
This is the time of waiting; this is the time of expectation. This is the time of doubt, as well, and we hope, but don’t know for sure that our hopes will be satisfied. As we dream and don’t know whether our dreams are in touch with reality.
Our passages tells us that Jesus’ disciples worried over when the kingdom would come, and they sat looking into the sky because their Lord had departed from them. This gives the image of some perplexed and perhaps disturbed people of faith.
I can certainly imagine that many of those followers of Jesus gathered in that upper room had doubts and fears as they waited. Some of them may have not seen Jesus after he had risen. Some of them had. Some of them had probably already been threatened or had close calls with those who were intent on persecuting Jesus’ followers. And, surely at least a few of them thought: “is it really worth it, putting myself in for all of this, when nothing may happen anyway, when I might just wait and wait and be shown to be a fool?”
Our scripture tells us that after they had seen Jesus taken up into the heavens:
"they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers."
And, in times like that, one’s heart is tested; in times like that, one’s faith is tried. And, in times like that, the followers of Jesus came together and prayed. And, . . . . we live in times like that. None of us has seen the risen Lord, unless somebody is holding out on us around here. All of us have experienced some times of real disappointment. There are worries right now in many of our hearts that we can’t seem to get rid of, because the trouble we are worrying over just isn’t resolved. Maybe it will be resolved today; maybe not for a long, long time. We wait as those who just don’t know, but as those who believe.
And, people tell us that God will take care of it, but how do they know what God will do? Maybe it is God’s will that we bear a problem a long time – you never can tell when you are not God. And, surely we are not God! And, if experience and Scripture are reliable, it seems that what God really wants doesn’t always happen on earth anyway. Do you think God wants little babies to be killed, and innocent civilians to be slaughtered around the world? I can say with confidence: God does not want this, and in fact, hates this. But, it happens, doesn’t it? So, God’s will in those situations is simply defied on the earth. But, that is when I turn to a passage in Romans: “All things work to good for them that love God and are called according to his purpose.” And, that doesn’t say: well, there is a good purpose in that bad thing. No, it says something more like: God can bring good out of horrible things. It acknowledges that things happen that are not in God’s will, but it affirms that God can reach into any situation and begin to create out of the chaos.
And, that gives me some confidence, because it assures me that somehow God is present. God is at work even in the darkness of suffering bearing it until the dawn breaks. It doesn’t assure me that God will fix the problem today – that could happen, but probably not. But, I feel deep in my heart That God wills and God works, and where God’s will is not done in the first instance, he continues to work until he overcomes the evil and brings about his gracious and merciful will in the end. And, God never gives up on us and on this earth and on the mess we have made of this earth, but his Spirit groans over the wounds of the creation, and God brings healing in his time. Just as God’s Spirit brooded over the tomb of the dead Jesus, God’s Spirit broods over the face of the chaos of this earth. And, that is what I hold fast in my heart this Advent as I wait and as I hope for what will come.
Because, I believe that God’s light continues to shine in the darkness; that God’s Spirit continues to go into dark places, even the dark places of my own heart and life. There is this still small voice that I find in the quietness and even in the despair of life, that makes me know that though it may look bleak, God is present. And, though the darkness may last, God’s Spirit is here and the darkness will not have the last word over me or you or this world. And, as I brace myself for the long haul of faith, my heart begins to sing that solemn song of the pilgrim: “I want Jesus to walk with me. I want Jesus to walk with me. All along my pilgrim journey, I want Jesus to walk with me.”
I may not believe that I can overcome all problems; but, something deep within me believes in God, and that God really will in the end bring good and overcome evil. But, that is on God’s time schedule, not mine. And, sometimes it’s hard being human and trying to live on the eternal time schedule, because we live our lives in accordance with limited understanding and human needs and a human time frame. The disciples asked Jesus: “when will the kingdom come?” Jesus said: “it is not yours to know times fixed by the father in heaven.” Our feeling that we need to know what we can never know. And, surely that leads to some real complaining in our hearts at times. The Psalmist wisely prays: “O Lord, have mercy and remember that we are dust.” And, our God knows our frame, our flesh and blood life, our limited understanding, and the struggle to live human life with respect for an eternal time frame that we can’t fathom. God knows that we are dust. God walked this earth in human flesh - this we believe and so we hope - in these days of waiting and expectation and worry. Amen.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Notes from sermon I thought about preaching but never finished
“I decided to know nothing among you, but Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
I was stopped dead in my tracks the first time I really heard this passage read. I was sitting in the office of Dr. Charles Cousar, as we translated it from the Greek. And, I looked at him very seriously and asked: “What does Paul mean by that?” I asked because those words hit me deeply, as if I had heard something that was too deep for me to understand, but too full of truth for me to look away from.
Maybe hearing this passage hasn’t affected you much today. But, maybe as we think through it together this morning it will.
These words affected me so much, because first I knew that Paul knew all kinds of things: he knew the scriptures, he had revelations directly from God, he was an apostle and colleague of the other apostles, though he mostly went it alone in the gentile mission. If you read Paul’s letter to the Romans, you see that Paul had a penetrating mind, an insight into God’s truth as applied to all of life.
But, Paul had decided . . . he made a decision to KNOW NOTHING AMONG THE CORINTHIANS, BUT JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.
Now, this passage hits me just as hard and deeply as it did some 25-26 years ago, when I started seminary. And, it holds out hope for an anchor in a sea full of change. These words present to us a starting point in our quest to understand the way of God and to follow in this way of the crucified Lord.
Are you interested in that this morning? Do you want to understand the way of God in this world and follow in it? Or, did you just come to get a little manna to sustain you along the path of the world, a path you haven’t received from God, but have received from the world?
I’m asking these questions, because you might have made a better choice about where to attend this Sunday morning if you wanted to get some fuel to walk in the ways of the world. You might have done better to watch the t.v. preachers who make it all seem so simple, and, it really is simple for about all of them because they have accepted the definitions of what is good and what is true from society, and simply are providing advice about how to achieve societal goals. Their preaching, however,is nothing but psychology with some biblical language as icing on the cake.
I’m asking these questions because I’ve been on vacation and been able to get away from things a little and see a little more clearly. The way of Christ is not the way of the Church, and has never been the way of the Church. It is a way that challenges the Church as it challenges the surrounding culture. Almost all of the churches of our day don’t preach Christ and him crucified. I’m not sure I’ve preached him in truth except just now and then. Because, I’ve tried to use all the traditional, holy language of the church, to make sense of things in way that fits in with our psychology and sociology and whatever else you want to call it.
The way of Christ is something we in the Church know almost nothing about, except in those times when we sing a spiritual like “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” And, sing it until it moves into our souls and we understand in our bones what we can’t grasp with our minds.
And, Paul knew that he had found the bedrock, and the spring of living water, and he would not stray from it again. I DECIDED TO KNOW NOTHING AMONG YOU, EXCEPT JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.
And, in a time when the churches have all sorts of different ways of preaching about Jesus and the victory of Jesus and the victorious life of those who follow Jesus, I am going back to the old, old way of Paul’s preaching – preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified. And, maybe with all the up language that is popular in the church now and the gospel songs that are supposed the take us to heaven, and all those great emotional highs, well, I will stick with not knowing any of that, but only Jesus Christ and him crucified – him executed for a crime he didn’t commit, in a world he was too good for, doing the will of a God who we have not yet started to understand even after all these years.
For those of you who feel like you just can’t ever find a solid path in life, a way out of sin in life, have you ever stopped to wonder. Have you ever wondered whether you were simply on the wrong path? For those of you who think you know all about faith, and just wish others were as wise as you were, have you ever stopped to wonder that perhaps your wisdom is that wisdom of the world that God destroyed in the cross of Christ? Have you ever wondered things like these?
WILL YOU DECIDE TODAY TO KNOW NOTHING - NOTHING BUT JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED? WHICH MEANS TO REJECT EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU HAVE KNOWN IN AN EFFORT TO KNOW THE UNKNOWN – THE VERY TRUTH OF THE CRUCIFIED LORD? WILL YOU STEP INTO THIS DARKNESS OF FAITH WHERE ONLY GOD CAN SEE, WHERE ONLY GOD CAN LEAD?
*Comment: In some ways I thought this sermon had too much anger and presumption in it, and in other ways, I thought it was really going in a good direction. Sometimes our anger really has some truth in it, and if we could just sort out the true part from the junk that comes from the expression of our less honorable intentions! If you can learn to analyze your anger honestly, then you can really find some truth and you can also really find that you have a good bit of bullshit mixed in with it. If you would speak the truth, you might as well accept that you will also speak some bullshit or falsehood. Because, at those times when you really speak something deeply true, you feel it strongly and take the risk. But, it is also the case that there are times when you feel it very strongly, but "it" is bullshit and not truth. If you want to make sure you never speak passionately about bullshit, then you will have to give up on ever speaking the truth. Without taking the risk, your speech may be well-considered, but it probably won't ever open hearts or minds.
I guess this comment is a bit of a sermon to myself as I reflect on why I didn't see this sermon through to the end. It brought me to a point of complaining about church without getting me to the point of knowing whether I was simply whining or really onto some holy insight.
I was stopped dead in my tracks the first time I really heard this passage read. I was sitting in the office of Dr. Charles Cousar, as we translated it from the Greek. And, I looked at him very seriously and asked: “What does Paul mean by that?” I asked because those words hit me deeply, as if I had heard something that was too deep for me to understand, but too full of truth for me to look away from.
Maybe hearing this passage hasn’t affected you much today. But, maybe as we think through it together this morning it will.
These words affected me so much, because first I knew that Paul knew all kinds of things: he knew the scriptures, he had revelations directly from God, he was an apostle and colleague of the other apostles, though he mostly went it alone in the gentile mission. If you read Paul’s letter to the Romans, you see that Paul had a penetrating mind, an insight into God’s truth as applied to all of life.
But, Paul had decided . . . he made a decision to KNOW NOTHING AMONG THE CORINTHIANS, BUT JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.
Now, this passage hits me just as hard and deeply as it did some 25-26 years ago, when I started seminary. And, it holds out hope for an anchor in a sea full of change. These words present to us a starting point in our quest to understand the way of God and to follow in this way of the crucified Lord.
Are you interested in that this morning? Do you want to understand the way of God in this world and follow in it? Or, did you just come to get a little manna to sustain you along the path of the world, a path you haven’t received from God, but have received from the world?
I’m asking these questions, because you might have made a better choice about where to attend this Sunday morning if you wanted to get some fuel to walk in the ways of the world. You might have done better to watch the t.v. preachers who make it all seem so simple, and, it really is simple for about all of them because they have accepted the definitions of what is good and what is true from society, and simply are providing advice about how to achieve societal goals. Their preaching, however,is nothing but psychology with some biblical language as icing on the cake.
I’m asking these questions because I’ve been on vacation and been able to get away from things a little and see a little more clearly. The way of Christ is not the way of the Church, and has never been the way of the Church. It is a way that challenges the Church as it challenges the surrounding culture. Almost all of the churches of our day don’t preach Christ and him crucified. I’m not sure I’ve preached him in truth except just now and then. Because, I’ve tried to use all the traditional, holy language of the church, to make sense of things in way that fits in with our psychology and sociology and whatever else you want to call it.
The way of Christ is something we in the Church know almost nothing about, except in those times when we sing a spiritual like “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” And, sing it until it moves into our souls and we understand in our bones what we can’t grasp with our minds.
And, Paul knew that he had found the bedrock, and the spring of living water, and he would not stray from it again. I DECIDED TO KNOW NOTHING AMONG YOU, EXCEPT JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.
And, in a time when the churches have all sorts of different ways of preaching about Jesus and the victory of Jesus and the victorious life of those who follow Jesus, I am going back to the old, old way of Paul’s preaching – preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified. And, maybe with all the up language that is popular in the church now and the gospel songs that are supposed the take us to heaven, and all those great emotional highs, well, I will stick with not knowing any of that, but only Jesus Christ and him crucified – him executed for a crime he didn’t commit, in a world he was too good for, doing the will of a God who we have not yet started to understand even after all these years.
For those of you who feel like you just can’t ever find a solid path in life, a way out of sin in life, have you ever stopped to wonder. Have you ever wondered whether you were simply on the wrong path? For those of you who think you know all about faith, and just wish others were as wise as you were, have you ever stopped to wonder that perhaps your wisdom is that wisdom of the world that God destroyed in the cross of Christ? Have you ever wondered things like these?
WILL YOU DECIDE TODAY TO KNOW NOTHING - NOTHING BUT JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED? WHICH MEANS TO REJECT EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU HAVE KNOWN IN AN EFFORT TO KNOW THE UNKNOWN – THE VERY TRUTH OF THE CRUCIFIED LORD? WILL YOU STEP INTO THIS DARKNESS OF FAITH WHERE ONLY GOD CAN SEE, WHERE ONLY GOD CAN LEAD?
*Comment: In some ways I thought this sermon had too much anger and presumption in it, and in other ways, I thought it was really going in a good direction. Sometimes our anger really has some truth in it, and if we could just sort out the true part from the junk that comes from the expression of our less honorable intentions! If you can learn to analyze your anger honestly, then you can really find some truth and you can also really find that you have a good bit of bullshit mixed in with it. If you would speak the truth, you might as well accept that you will also speak some bullshit or falsehood. Because, at those times when you really speak something deeply true, you feel it strongly and take the risk. But, it is also the case that there are times when you feel it very strongly, but "it" is bullshit and not truth. If you want to make sure you never speak passionately about bullshit, then you will have to give up on ever speaking the truth. Without taking the risk, your speech may be well-considered, but it probably won't ever open hearts or minds.
I guess this comment is a bit of a sermon to myself as I reflect on why I didn't see this sermon through to the end. It brought me to a point of complaining about church without getting me to the point of knowing whether I was simply whining or really onto some holy insight.
Memory
Philippians 3:3-11; 12-16 (The Transformation of Memories: Rewriting our past)
The Apostle Paul had a watershed experience in his life, that divided his past as a Pharisee of the Jewish faith from his present as a follower of Jesus, the Messiah. Wherever Paul went to preach the Gospel, whether in the presence of gentiles or Jews, he had to give an account of his past and how he had been transformed by the Gospel of God. Because, before Jesus revealed himself to Paul, Paul persecuted the church of Jesus Christ. So, Christians that first heard Paul speak still worried that he would turn on them and turn them in to the Jewish authorities for prosecution. So, Paul did a lot of thinking about how his past was to be understood. And, he reflects on this in Romans 7 and also in Philippians, chapter 3. Paul is in the process of rewriting his history in a sense – from the perspective of faith in Jesus Christ, the son of the Living God.
The past does not exist except in our memories. But, the past does exist in the present memories that we have. So, in a sense we carry the past within us. We write books of history, biography and autobiography to carry the past with us in the present and into the future. But, our memories are not like books in which things are recorded clearly; nor are our memories like photograph albums in which a certain number of pictures are clearly preserved in a certain order; and our memories are not like audio or video recorded tapes of all that we have experienced.
Paul recalls his past as a strict and well-trained Jewish leader, a Pharisee among Pharisees, as he says. His life was all about living in the Jewish customs, zealously guarding the traditions of his elders. He remembers all of this, but now it all looks so different to him because he has come to a new position and perspective in life, knowing that the way of Jesus is the true way of God in the world. Paul remembers his past, but after Jesus he understands this past very differently than before Jesus. He even goes so far as to say: ‘forgetting what lies behind, and I press on to what lies ahead…” Memories can be transformed – at least the sense and affect on the present can.
We really know very little about how and why we have memories, but we do have them. But, what are they, really? As I try to think back on my earliest school years, I remember that very new school building at Cedar Bluff, and I am trying to remember who my first grade teacher was. I can’t even see her face. I can only remember that Scott McGlothlin threw a big rock on my ankle out on the playground on the first day of school. That is really all I can remember about first grade at Cedar Bluff. Now, second grade, I remember Mrs. Cope, my teacher, who I liked very much. I was sort of her pet. That’s the last time that ever happened with a teacher in my life. And, I remember the last day of school in second grade. I was over at my friend’s house – the Beacraft’s, and we were all getting ready to walk to school for the last day of school. We did that back then, even though we were little and we had to walk across Kingston Pike and about a mile down Cedar Bluff Road. But, there was almost no traffic back then, and I had my older sister to walk with me with the other kids. But, I remember that morning so well, because we were watching the news about Robert Kennedy being shot. That was 1968; I was seven.
That’s about all I can remember about first and second grade in school. If I had to write a chapter on my life in first and second grade, I don’t think it would be too detailed. Now, as I continue to think, I remember my friends back then, and I can remember a number of things that happened around home or in the neighborhood. In fact, I have a lot of home and neighborhood memories, and almost no school memories. These memories are jumbled. But, I can remember a number of times from those early years.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that our memory of our lives is a selective memory, and its not as if we can control or select what we remember. Of course, as I have started trying to remember and started telling some stories, I have started to remember more. That is a strange thing about memory as well. It waits to be awakened, to be created, or recreated. You know how it is to sit around and tell stories, and that brings on more stories – it touches parts of us that have fallen asleep. What is memory? I am not sure. But, it is at the very center of who we are, and what we are as human beings.
I wonder what happens if you have no one to tell stories with. No one to share experiences with, no one to remember with. Does your memory go to sleep? Do you lose access to past experience? Do you quit carrying the past in the present? I’m not sure. Sometimes those who are left alone a lot continue to remember very actively.
Our memory profoundly shapes how we understand our selves and who we are. It is a mysterious thing. Why we retain certain memories, seem to lose others. Some strong memories don’t fade, but must be understood one way or another. Like Paul’s memory that he had actually arrested Christians and locked them up and even turned them over for punishment because they proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, the very Son of God. Paul couldn’t get that out of his head, but he got something else in the center of his mind – that he was loved by God and that he now followed in the way of Christ. He understood his former life in this light. Forgetting what lies behind, and press on to what lies ahead.
I’m still trying to get some idea of what memory is. Well, let me turn things another direction. If the past exists as present memory, then the future exists in the present as anticipation of what will happen. That is, we can only imagine the future. But, still it has some type of existence in our minds, maybe in that same part of us that we remember. What I am getting at is that whether we are remembering the past or anticipating the future, it is an act of imagination. Now, remembering the past, our imagination is working with some real experiences we have been through to create, or summon up a memory that can be told about. But, in dreaming up how something might go in the future, we are working with real experiences of how things have happened and imagining them happening in either the same or different ways in the future. Jackson Browne, in a song called “Fountain of Sorrow,” has a line a really like: “Though the future’s there for anyone to change, still, you know it seems that it would be easier sometimes to change the past.” Imagination and memory. It may be that we have to reimagine our past before we can imagine a new future.
Paul thought back on his life as a Pharisee in the letter to the Romans: “the good I wanted to do, I could not. The evil I didn’t want to do, that I did!” But, then he recalls what happened. He says: “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Whereas Paul was trapped in sin, he looks back on all that from the perspective a living faith in Christ, and gives thanks for a new life in the Spirit. With the memory of deliverance in Jesus at the center, Paul reinvisions his entire history.
And, in the Christian faith, there is one memory that we share and that is at the center of all our remembering. And, that is to be our memory of Jesus, and his being broken for us on the cross of wood. Somehow, as we remember Jesus deep in our hearts and minds, and hear: “take, eat, this is my body, broken for you. Take this cup, drink, this is my blood shed for you.” Jesus life poured into our lives. Jesus’ past poured into our present. Jesus’ past being what is most important in our collective past. And, Jesus’ destiny calling us forward. For on that third day, the tomb was shaken by a power beyond all powers, the power of the Living God who raised Jesus from the dead as the first born of a new creation.
We remember Jesus’ death – we remember it deeply within. We remember it in worship and prayer and in times alone. And, out of this remembering comes a new creation within our memories. Because, remembering him brings new light to our pasts, and shapes them in the direction of a future. We often think of the past shaping what is to come. But, I would like for you to think about your future giving shape to what is past. Because, if I am going in a good direction in life, my past looks one way; if I am going a bad direction, my past looks another way.
For example, if I have just been sentenced to 15 years in prison, my past looks one way – as something leading to a bad result. But, what if I have just found a great job, my past, which may be fairly dark, looks another way, as leading to a good result. When you hear a person tell the story of their life, and if they feel they have arrived in a good place, they will usually tell even the hard parts with a sense of accomplishment and meaning, even if it is painful to tell about. When you hear a person tell the story of her life, and they feel they have arrived in a bad place, it is hard for her to tell of the past without a deep sense of tradgedy.
Jackson Browne’s words come back to me. “Though the future’s there for anyone to change – still you know it seems, it would be easier sometimes to change the past.”
Because you have been called to a good destiny by God, I want to encourage you to rewrite your past. What, am I crazy? No. Your memory is not simply a bunch of photographs of what has happened. It is a story you hear about your life, pieced together from recollections and feelings about things that have happened in life. When you come to new understandings, you can rewrite portions of your history.
Let me close with this. Let’s assume that each of us has written an autobiography: a detailed 10 chapter book about our lives. One chapter on early childhood, then adolescence, etc. And, then each year as we get older, let’s say that we take out this book and reread it. And, each year, we realize that we are going to need to rewrite this chapter or that, because we have come to understand that part of life differently. For instance, I am writing the chapter about my struggles as a teenager, and feeling angry at limits placed on me by my parents. Do you think that chapter would look different if I wrote it at 18 years old or 30 years old, and then different again if I wrote it when I was 75?
That is what I am talking about with memory. And, that is what I am talking about today. Can you remember Jesus life and death at the center of your heart and mind, and then begin to wonder again about your own history? It may be time to rewrite your story guided by the Spirit of the Living God. The Spirit that calls to life things that have died; the Spirit that heals the wounded and makes the blind to see. Paul says: “forgetting what lies behind, and press on towards what lies ahead in the upward callilng of Christ Jesus, my Lord.” But, we know from Paul’s writings, that he does really forget what lies behind. He talks about his past as a Pharisee, but he talks about it in light of his new identity, his new destiny as a follower of Jesus , the Christ of God.
So, remembering what lies behind from the perspective of this new life we have in Christ Jesus. Remembering from this good present in which God embraces us, not for who we have been, but with an eye towards what we will become. Remembering it all from this perspective of a present and living faith from God, we say “thank you.” We say: “thank you, God,” for what we will become. Amen.
The Apostle Paul had a watershed experience in his life, that divided his past as a Pharisee of the Jewish faith from his present as a follower of Jesus, the Messiah. Wherever Paul went to preach the Gospel, whether in the presence of gentiles or Jews, he had to give an account of his past and how he had been transformed by the Gospel of God. Because, before Jesus revealed himself to Paul, Paul persecuted the church of Jesus Christ. So, Christians that first heard Paul speak still worried that he would turn on them and turn them in to the Jewish authorities for prosecution. So, Paul did a lot of thinking about how his past was to be understood. And, he reflects on this in Romans 7 and also in Philippians, chapter 3. Paul is in the process of rewriting his history in a sense – from the perspective of faith in Jesus Christ, the son of the Living God.
The past does not exist except in our memories. But, the past does exist in the present memories that we have. So, in a sense we carry the past within us. We write books of history, biography and autobiography to carry the past with us in the present and into the future. But, our memories are not like books in which things are recorded clearly; nor are our memories like photograph albums in which a certain number of pictures are clearly preserved in a certain order; and our memories are not like audio or video recorded tapes of all that we have experienced.
Paul recalls his past as a strict and well-trained Jewish leader, a Pharisee among Pharisees, as he says. His life was all about living in the Jewish customs, zealously guarding the traditions of his elders. He remembers all of this, but now it all looks so different to him because he has come to a new position and perspective in life, knowing that the way of Jesus is the true way of God in the world. Paul remembers his past, but after Jesus he understands this past very differently than before Jesus. He even goes so far as to say: ‘forgetting what lies behind, and I press on to what lies ahead…” Memories can be transformed – at least the sense and affect on the present can.
We really know very little about how and why we have memories, but we do have them. But, what are they, really? As I try to think back on my earliest school years, I remember that very new school building at Cedar Bluff, and I am trying to remember who my first grade teacher was. I can’t even see her face. I can only remember that Scott McGlothlin threw a big rock on my ankle out on the playground on the first day of school. That is really all I can remember about first grade at Cedar Bluff. Now, second grade, I remember Mrs. Cope, my teacher, who I liked very much. I was sort of her pet. That’s the last time that ever happened with a teacher in my life. And, I remember the last day of school in second grade. I was over at my friend’s house – the Beacraft’s, and we were all getting ready to walk to school for the last day of school. We did that back then, even though we were little and we had to walk across Kingston Pike and about a mile down Cedar Bluff Road. But, there was almost no traffic back then, and I had my older sister to walk with me with the other kids. But, I remember that morning so well, because we were watching the news about Robert Kennedy being shot. That was 1968; I was seven.
That’s about all I can remember about first and second grade in school. If I had to write a chapter on my life in first and second grade, I don’t think it would be too detailed. Now, as I continue to think, I remember my friends back then, and I can remember a number of things that happened around home or in the neighborhood. In fact, I have a lot of home and neighborhood memories, and almost no school memories. These memories are jumbled. But, I can remember a number of times from those early years.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that our memory of our lives is a selective memory, and its not as if we can control or select what we remember. Of course, as I have started trying to remember and started telling some stories, I have started to remember more. That is a strange thing about memory as well. It waits to be awakened, to be created, or recreated. You know how it is to sit around and tell stories, and that brings on more stories – it touches parts of us that have fallen asleep. What is memory? I am not sure. But, it is at the very center of who we are, and what we are as human beings.
I wonder what happens if you have no one to tell stories with. No one to share experiences with, no one to remember with. Does your memory go to sleep? Do you lose access to past experience? Do you quit carrying the past in the present? I’m not sure. Sometimes those who are left alone a lot continue to remember very actively.
Our memory profoundly shapes how we understand our selves and who we are. It is a mysterious thing. Why we retain certain memories, seem to lose others. Some strong memories don’t fade, but must be understood one way or another. Like Paul’s memory that he had actually arrested Christians and locked them up and even turned them over for punishment because they proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, the very Son of God. Paul couldn’t get that out of his head, but he got something else in the center of his mind – that he was loved by God and that he now followed in the way of Christ. He understood his former life in this light. Forgetting what lies behind, and press on to what lies ahead.
I’m still trying to get some idea of what memory is. Well, let me turn things another direction. If the past exists as present memory, then the future exists in the present as anticipation of what will happen. That is, we can only imagine the future. But, still it has some type of existence in our minds, maybe in that same part of us that we remember. What I am getting at is that whether we are remembering the past or anticipating the future, it is an act of imagination. Now, remembering the past, our imagination is working with some real experiences we have been through to create, or summon up a memory that can be told about. But, in dreaming up how something might go in the future, we are working with real experiences of how things have happened and imagining them happening in either the same or different ways in the future. Jackson Browne, in a song called “Fountain of Sorrow,” has a line a really like: “Though the future’s there for anyone to change, still, you know it seems that it would be easier sometimes to change the past.” Imagination and memory. It may be that we have to reimagine our past before we can imagine a new future.
Paul thought back on his life as a Pharisee in the letter to the Romans: “the good I wanted to do, I could not. The evil I didn’t want to do, that I did!” But, then he recalls what happened. He says: “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Whereas Paul was trapped in sin, he looks back on all that from the perspective a living faith in Christ, and gives thanks for a new life in the Spirit. With the memory of deliverance in Jesus at the center, Paul reinvisions his entire history.
And, in the Christian faith, there is one memory that we share and that is at the center of all our remembering. And, that is to be our memory of Jesus, and his being broken for us on the cross of wood. Somehow, as we remember Jesus deep in our hearts and minds, and hear: “take, eat, this is my body, broken for you. Take this cup, drink, this is my blood shed for you.” Jesus life poured into our lives. Jesus’ past poured into our present. Jesus’ past being what is most important in our collective past. And, Jesus’ destiny calling us forward. For on that third day, the tomb was shaken by a power beyond all powers, the power of the Living God who raised Jesus from the dead as the first born of a new creation.
We remember Jesus’ death – we remember it deeply within. We remember it in worship and prayer and in times alone. And, out of this remembering comes a new creation within our memories. Because, remembering him brings new light to our pasts, and shapes them in the direction of a future. We often think of the past shaping what is to come. But, I would like for you to think about your future giving shape to what is past. Because, if I am going in a good direction in life, my past looks one way; if I am going a bad direction, my past looks another way.
For example, if I have just been sentenced to 15 years in prison, my past looks one way – as something leading to a bad result. But, what if I have just found a great job, my past, which may be fairly dark, looks another way, as leading to a good result. When you hear a person tell the story of their life, and if they feel they have arrived in a good place, they will usually tell even the hard parts with a sense of accomplishment and meaning, even if it is painful to tell about. When you hear a person tell the story of her life, and they feel they have arrived in a bad place, it is hard for her to tell of the past without a deep sense of tradgedy.
Jackson Browne’s words come back to me. “Though the future’s there for anyone to change – still you know it seems, it would be easier sometimes to change the past.”
Because you have been called to a good destiny by God, I want to encourage you to rewrite your past. What, am I crazy? No. Your memory is not simply a bunch of photographs of what has happened. It is a story you hear about your life, pieced together from recollections and feelings about things that have happened in life. When you come to new understandings, you can rewrite portions of your history.
Let me close with this. Let’s assume that each of us has written an autobiography: a detailed 10 chapter book about our lives. One chapter on early childhood, then adolescence, etc. And, then each year as we get older, let’s say that we take out this book and reread it. And, each year, we realize that we are going to need to rewrite this chapter or that, because we have come to understand that part of life differently. For instance, I am writing the chapter about my struggles as a teenager, and feeling angry at limits placed on me by my parents. Do you think that chapter would look different if I wrote it at 18 years old or 30 years old, and then different again if I wrote it when I was 75?
That is what I am talking about with memory. And, that is what I am talking about today. Can you remember Jesus life and death at the center of your heart and mind, and then begin to wonder again about your own history? It may be time to rewrite your story guided by the Spirit of the Living God. The Spirit that calls to life things that have died; the Spirit that heals the wounded and makes the blind to see. Paul says: “forgetting what lies behind, and press on towards what lies ahead in the upward callilng of Christ Jesus, my Lord.” But, we know from Paul’s writings, that he does really forget what lies behind. He talks about his past as a Pharisee, but he talks about it in light of his new identity, his new destiny as a follower of Jesus , the Christ of God.
So, remembering what lies behind from the perspective of this new life we have in Christ Jesus. Remembering from this good present in which God embraces us, not for who we have been, but with an eye towards what we will become. Remembering it all from this perspective of a present and living faith from God, we say “thank you.” We say: “thank you, God,” for what we will become. Amen.
Psalm 72; Isaiah 11:1-10: Advent 2010
First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
11:2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
11:9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
11:10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Second Reading: Psalm 72:1-14
1 Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son! 2 May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice! 3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! 4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor! 5 May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations! 6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! 7 In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! 8 May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! 9 May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! 10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! 11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! 12 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. 13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. 14 From deceit and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.
Psalm 72 was written in the days of the kings of Israel, in hopes that a future king would bring God’s holiness and truth and mercy to Israel. Consider how great this hope was for a righteous king that would come from God and establish God's will.
This king, it is said: “He will have regard for the poor and needy. He will hear their cries . . .
“He will redeem their souls from violence and deceit . . . And, their blood will be precious in his sight.”
I hear these words,and I know there aren’t any kings of Israel that lived up to this hope. But, a few tried. And, this hope kept arising in the faith of the Jews in history, even when they were often betrayed by leaders, and even when they were carried away as slaves by the Babylonians almost 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And, even when they were being oppressed some 200 years before the birth of Christ by the Seluecid ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, who tried to humiliate them and defile their places of worship. The hope for a true king, that could deliver justice . . . that hope never died among the Jewish people. For, they were a people born out of the Red Sea, and led towards a new land by Moses, the righteous prophet of God.
And, these words from Psalm 72 echo down through history even til today: “He will redeem their souls from violence and deceit . . And, ,their blood will be precious in his sight.”
Another car bomb exploded in Iraq, and over twenty people are killed. Another child wanders through the streets of another city of the world, with nothing to eat and no one to take care of him or her. Another child is sold into sexual slavery somewhere in the world. Another man is robbed and beaten. A woman is raped. Others are deceived into buying this or that, and they can’t afford this or that, and now others will soon take all that they have in interest and penalties, and they won’t be able to rest at night.
“He will redeem their souls from violence and deceit. . . And, their blood will be precious in his sight.”
Blood spilled on all the continents of this earth, it is precious in his sight, just as it means nothing to so many who cause that blood to be spilled.
Yes, the hope for a truly good king, with justice and compassion and an ability to deliver. That hope runs right down into our day. And, that hope has a foundation in the history of this world, because it is a hope grounded in God’s saving presence in human history. “When Israel was in Egypt’s land, let my people go. Oppressed so hard they could not stand, let my people go. Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land. Tell ole Pharoah to let my people go!” And, for once, God’s will was done on earth, as the slaves of Israel were set free, as his people came through the Red Sea into a wilderness of freedom under the leadership of Moses.
Yes, this hope has a foundation in the history of the world, because God has been revealed as the God of liberation, and God delivers to heal and make whole and bring peace. As it says in our passage from Isaiah: “There shall be peace, because all the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”
To know God is to be at peace in one’s body and soul and throughout ones relationships with others. To not know God is to be at enmity within one’s own mind and soul and body and to be at enmity with others. It is the greatest blessing to be full of the knowledge of the Lord, a knowing that fills heart, soul and body – the knowledge that is a living faith and devotion to the living God of all life.
But, the Israelites knew back then when our Psalm was written and when Isaiah prophecied . . . they knew back then that they needed a savior, a deliverer, who could bring hope to the hopeless, solutions to problems that overwhelmed their society and world. They yearned for a king who was more than a king, a king who was a savior sent from God, to pour out God’s will onto the earth, and liberate human beings who were caught in their own webs of violence and deceit and sorrow. “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
As it says in Isaiah 14:3: “And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage in which thou wast made to serve.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Yes, I said, Come, Lord Jesus. Because, he alone is that ruler, that authority, that savior that is just, holy, full of kindness and compassion. O, we see glimpses of his truth in human beings on this earth. We see men and women and children who show compassion and work for justice, but none has the ability to set things right in the deepest places. Certainly, there are people of good will that do good things,and we give thanks and praise to God for that, but no one among humanity has the power and wisdom to really set things right, to answer the deepest questions of the human heart and heal the wounds of the broken link in the chain of creation. And, we are that broken link in the chain of being. We, human beings, “bleeding wound that will not heal,” as Bruce Cockburn used to sing. But, even with our wounds, we human beings bear an image of glory within us. Our good deeds and creative work and humor and kindness bear witness to this image of the Creator who is all goodness and wisdom and love and truth and fairness. But, our evil deeds bear witness to the cloud that separates us from our God who brought all things into being. Our darkened thinking and self-destructive actions, our words and deeds that undermine others’ sense of purpose and meaning and hope – these bear witness to another reality,our alienation from God, others and even our separation from who were are made to be. This cloud between us and God,between us and each other, between us and ourselves, is the reality of sin, which is the brokenness in our communion with God and each other and even ourselves.
Whatever it is that drives us to hurt and destroy what is good and beautiful in life, I for one, would like rid of it, or to at least be able to gain some power over against it. Highest hope, to be liberated from all destructive and self-destructive impulses and desires – that would be to be full of the knowledge of the Lord. That would bring peace to me, to those who are influenced or impacted by me, including not only humans, but other animals and the natural environment I affect and live in.
“They shall neither hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” Those are wise words.
But, is there really one who can bring reason to our unreasonableness? Is there really one who can comprehend the deepest problems of humanity and can rebuild the human race in goodness and wisdom and mercy? Clearly, if there is, he or she is not like anyone we have ever known. Though, we have seen glimpses of this goodness and truth and mercy through human beings we have known. Because, humanity has something very high about it, something very promising and hopeful that just can’t seem to be crushed even by all the evil we humans have thrown out on each other. There is at the heart of the human race, a beauty, and this beauty and goodness is not an abstract idea or mere wish, this beauty and justice and love and hope at the heart of humanity is a living being, who is one with the flesh and blood of humanity and one with the Spirit of the living God. This is our hope: born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea, a little over 2,000 years ago. His mother was named Mary, his father Joseph. He grew up in a small town in the hill country of Judea called Nazareth. And, how God poured out the Divine life through Jesus’ human flesh, we can never really understand, but somehow, we do understand in a way that touches our souls but evades our minds, in a way that lifts our hearts and dazzles our heads with delight. Because, now as we hear this hope of so long ago, something tells us:
THESE WORDS ARE TRUE. THIS HOPE IS REAL. MY HEART IS LIFTED BY THESE WORDS. AND,SOMETHING ABOUT THESE WORDS IS MORE TRUE THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER HEARD. THEY ARE TRUE, BECAUSE HE HAS COME AMONG US, FRIEND OF TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS AND PEOPLE TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT AND SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN. HE IS THE VERY SON OFGOD, FLESH OF OUR FLESH AND YET ONE WITH THE HOLY BEING OF GOD. OPENING A WAY TO GOD, OPENING A WAY TO OUR NEIGHBOR, AND EVEN OPENING A WAY TO OURSELVES.
"He will redeem their souls from deceit and violence…"
HE WILL REDEEM OUR SOULS FROM DECEIT AND VIOLENCE . . .
"Their blood is precious in his sight . . ."
OUR BLOOD IS PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT.
AND, HIS BLOOD IS PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, AND OUR SIGHT. ALLELEUIA, AMEN. MORE LOVE TO THEE, O CHRIST, MORE LOVE TO THEE.
11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
11:2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
11:9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
11:10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Second Reading: Psalm 72:1-14
1 Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son! 2 May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice! 3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! 4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor! 5 May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations! 6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! 7 In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! 8 May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! 9 May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! 10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! 11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! 12 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. 13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. 14 From deceit and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.
Psalm 72 was written in the days of the kings of Israel, in hopes that a future king would bring God’s holiness and truth and mercy to Israel. Consider how great this hope was for a righteous king that would come from God and establish God's will.
This king, it is said: “He will have regard for the poor and needy. He will hear their cries . . .
“He will redeem their souls from violence and deceit . . . And, their blood will be precious in his sight.”
I hear these words,and I know there aren’t any kings of Israel that lived up to this hope. But, a few tried. And, this hope kept arising in the faith of the Jews in history, even when they were often betrayed by leaders, and even when they were carried away as slaves by the Babylonians almost 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And, even when they were being oppressed some 200 years before the birth of Christ by the Seluecid ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, who tried to humiliate them and defile their places of worship. The hope for a true king, that could deliver justice . . . that hope never died among the Jewish people. For, they were a people born out of the Red Sea, and led towards a new land by Moses, the righteous prophet of God.
And, these words from Psalm 72 echo down through history even til today: “He will redeem their souls from violence and deceit . . And, ,their blood will be precious in his sight.”
Another car bomb exploded in Iraq, and over twenty people are killed. Another child wanders through the streets of another city of the world, with nothing to eat and no one to take care of him or her. Another child is sold into sexual slavery somewhere in the world. Another man is robbed and beaten. A woman is raped. Others are deceived into buying this or that, and they can’t afford this or that, and now others will soon take all that they have in interest and penalties, and they won’t be able to rest at night.
“He will redeem their souls from violence and deceit. . . And, their blood will be precious in his sight.”
Blood spilled on all the continents of this earth, it is precious in his sight, just as it means nothing to so many who cause that blood to be spilled.
Yes, the hope for a truly good king, with justice and compassion and an ability to deliver. That hope runs right down into our day. And, that hope has a foundation in the history of this world, because it is a hope grounded in God’s saving presence in human history. “When Israel was in Egypt’s land, let my people go. Oppressed so hard they could not stand, let my people go. Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land. Tell ole Pharoah to let my people go!” And, for once, God’s will was done on earth, as the slaves of Israel were set free, as his people came through the Red Sea into a wilderness of freedom under the leadership of Moses.
Yes, this hope has a foundation in the history of the world, because God has been revealed as the God of liberation, and God delivers to heal and make whole and bring peace. As it says in our passage from Isaiah: “There shall be peace, because all the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”
To know God is to be at peace in one’s body and soul and throughout ones relationships with others. To not know God is to be at enmity within one’s own mind and soul and body and to be at enmity with others. It is the greatest blessing to be full of the knowledge of the Lord, a knowing that fills heart, soul and body – the knowledge that is a living faith and devotion to the living God of all life.
But, the Israelites knew back then when our Psalm was written and when Isaiah prophecied . . . they knew back then that they needed a savior, a deliverer, who could bring hope to the hopeless, solutions to problems that overwhelmed their society and world. They yearned for a king who was more than a king, a king who was a savior sent from God, to pour out God’s will onto the earth, and liberate human beings who were caught in their own webs of violence and deceit and sorrow. “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
As it says in Isaiah 14:3: “And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage in which thou wast made to serve.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Yes, I said, Come, Lord Jesus. Because, he alone is that ruler, that authority, that savior that is just, holy, full of kindness and compassion. O, we see glimpses of his truth in human beings on this earth. We see men and women and children who show compassion and work for justice, but none has the ability to set things right in the deepest places. Certainly, there are people of good will that do good things,and we give thanks and praise to God for that, but no one among humanity has the power and wisdom to really set things right, to answer the deepest questions of the human heart and heal the wounds of the broken link in the chain of creation. And, we are that broken link in the chain of being. We, human beings, “bleeding wound that will not heal,” as Bruce Cockburn used to sing. But, even with our wounds, we human beings bear an image of glory within us. Our good deeds and creative work and humor and kindness bear witness to this image of the Creator who is all goodness and wisdom and love and truth and fairness. But, our evil deeds bear witness to the cloud that separates us from our God who brought all things into being. Our darkened thinking and self-destructive actions, our words and deeds that undermine others’ sense of purpose and meaning and hope – these bear witness to another reality,our alienation from God, others and even our separation from who were are made to be. This cloud between us and God,between us and each other, between us and ourselves, is the reality of sin, which is the brokenness in our communion with God and each other and even ourselves.
Whatever it is that drives us to hurt and destroy what is good and beautiful in life, I for one, would like rid of it, or to at least be able to gain some power over against it. Highest hope, to be liberated from all destructive and self-destructive impulses and desires – that would be to be full of the knowledge of the Lord. That would bring peace to me, to those who are influenced or impacted by me, including not only humans, but other animals and the natural environment I affect and live in.
“They shall neither hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” Those are wise words.
But, is there really one who can bring reason to our unreasonableness? Is there really one who can comprehend the deepest problems of humanity and can rebuild the human race in goodness and wisdom and mercy? Clearly, if there is, he or she is not like anyone we have ever known. Though, we have seen glimpses of this goodness and truth and mercy through human beings we have known. Because, humanity has something very high about it, something very promising and hopeful that just can’t seem to be crushed even by all the evil we humans have thrown out on each other. There is at the heart of the human race, a beauty, and this beauty and goodness is not an abstract idea or mere wish, this beauty and justice and love and hope at the heart of humanity is a living being, who is one with the flesh and blood of humanity and one with the Spirit of the living God. This is our hope: born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea, a little over 2,000 years ago. His mother was named Mary, his father Joseph. He grew up in a small town in the hill country of Judea called Nazareth. And, how God poured out the Divine life through Jesus’ human flesh, we can never really understand, but somehow, we do understand in a way that touches our souls but evades our minds, in a way that lifts our hearts and dazzles our heads with delight. Because, now as we hear this hope of so long ago, something tells us:
THESE WORDS ARE TRUE. THIS HOPE IS REAL. MY HEART IS LIFTED BY THESE WORDS. AND,SOMETHING ABOUT THESE WORDS IS MORE TRUE THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER HEARD. THEY ARE TRUE, BECAUSE HE HAS COME AMONG US, FRIEND OF TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS AND PEOPLE TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT AND SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN. HE IS THE VERY SON OFGOD, FLESH OF OUR FLESH AND YET ONE WITH THE HOLY BEING OF GOD. OPENING A WAY TO GOD, OPENING A WAY TO OUR NEIGHBOR, AND EVEN OPENING A WAY TO OURSELVES.
"He will redeem their souls from deceit and violence…"
HE WILL REDEEM OUR SOULS FROM DECEIT AND VIOLENCE . . .
"Their blood is precious in his sight . . ."
OUR BLOOD IS PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT.
AND, HIS BLOOD IS PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, AND OUR SIGHT. ALLELEUIA, AMEN. MORE LOVE TO THEE, O CHRIST, MORE LOVE TO THEE.
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