Sermon from September 8th Counting the Cost

Count the Cost Luke 14:25-33 A few short weeks ago I got out of preaching one of the toughest passages in Luke’s gospel. The week of the Outdoor Worship Service I was able to preach on creation instead of Jesus saying that his coming will bring division. At text study that week I was able to take a sigh of relief as we discussed Jesus’ harsh words. This week it came back and the opportunity for me to preach on Jesus’ harsh words and for us to reflect on them is before us. And brothers and sisters I promise as your pastor to never ignore Jesus’ hard words as it is often his hardest words that we need to hear the most. And today’s Gospel lesson is a tough one. In one fell swoop Jesus tells us we must hate our families and get rid of our possessions. If the crowd was large at the beginning of today’s reading, I’m sure it thinned out by the end. We are told a couple times in the Bible that we must sell or renounce all our possessions. These are more about our tendency to turn things into idols then they are about a call to sell things for the sake of the poor and hungry. It is about ridding us of all things that keep us from fully embracing our new identities as sons and daughters of God. And there is always the reality that all we have is first and foremost God’s so even if we don’t get rid of all our possessions we do surrender our “ownership” of it. I am sure we can all think of something in our lives that we have placed more trust or value in then we have God and as hard as these words from Jesus are we can understand them and they are far from the hardest words Jesus spoke today. Now this bit about hating our families is hard. And it flies in the face of all the times Jesus talks about loving others. In our warm fuzzy world of political correctness and tolerance we hear the word hate and we are likely to shut down, turn inward, and refuse to hear what the speaker has to say, even if that speaker is God in the flesh. So I challenge you to stay alert, return your gaze on our Lord and savior and listen to him. I think that today he speaks of hatred because we are all called to Love God so much that our love and desire for anything or anybody else pales in comparison, even our love for mother and father, brother, and sister husband, and wife. My best friend Lewis and I were talking about this the other day; we both have many siblings and talk together a lot about the complexities that a big family can create. It was in this context that this week Gospel lesson came up. Lewis shared with me an awesome story and granted me permission to share with you all today. You see Jackie and Lewis have struggled to get to church on time. Over the last year or so Lewis has been entering a new phase in his faith life and this tendency to be late for church was really weighing heavy on his heart. One Sunday morning recently he and their 12 year old son were ready and Jackie was not. Lewis decided to drive himself and Michael to church and let Jackie take the second car. Lewis was feeling guilty and when Jackie arrived he apologized. Apparently Jackie’s response was to tell him he had nothing to apologize for and that she never wants him to put her before Jesus. In that story Jackie and Lewis both answer the call to love family less than they love God. You see Jackie’s affirmation that Lewis made the right choice by placing his relationship with Jesus before his relationship with herself was also putting Jesus first in her own life. This real life story may help us put Jesus’ difficult words in the proper light. Brothers and sisters, as strange as it seems the most loving things you can do for your families is love God more than you love them. For right relationship with God being made possible in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes possible right relationship to others. A distorted, worldly view of priorities only creates distorted and worldly relationships. And the incarnation of Jesus Christ does indeed shatter any human definitions and boundaries we may place around this concept of family. He creates faith families like ours and brings people together who need to be together, like he did in the lives of Kalyb, Kary, Keltyn, David, and Brenda, I am so thankful that they were all open to the new and radical things that God was up to. And I am honored to celebrate those things with you all today. I firmly believe that they were a result of you guys putting God first in your life. Whether or not Jesus is talking about letting go of possessions or loving family a little less they are both ultimately about attachment. You see when there are things that we place too much importance in or things in which we find our identity instead of finding our identity in our relationship with God we need to do some work. This is what Jesus means when counting the cost, and the cost can be steep. Has my relationship with God caused me to hate my atheist brother and sisters? No but it caused some added distance and moments of discomfort. CS Lewis did not receive a full professorship until 30 years after he joined the faculty at Oxford because the damage his conversion did to his reputation. And there are still places in the world today where the cost of discipleship can be persecution, imprisonment, or even death. So in perspective our costs may seem very payable. For our young people it may be the pains of standing up for what is right when they see another being bullied, even by their friends. The cost for some may be let a sure promotion fly by because their faith discouraged them from cutting corners that may have helped them on the climb to the top, or waiting until next year to take that dream vacation because we aren’t ready to cut the tithing line item and the family budget. As we discern what our cost of discipleship is, it is always helpful to remember that God counted his own cost. He paid for our eternal life with the life of his only Son our Lord. And I can’t think of anything or anyone I would rather call Lord than Jesus Christ, whatever the cost. So the question shouldn’t be can we afford to follow Christ. As we see the affects of sin and struggle in our lives and in the lives around us perhaps the real question is can we afford not to.

Focus on Above and Beyond Ecclesiastes 1:1-14, 2:18-23 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 Peace and Grace to you all from our risen Lord and Savior, As I prepared to preach on our readings this week a certain quote from one of my favorite contemporary spiritual writers kept popping in my head. This Trappist monk actually spent the last two and a half decades of his life at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Bardstown Kentucky no more than 120 miles from here. Thomas Merton who spent much of his faith journey peeling away layers of complexity wrote that, We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have - for their usefulness. Think about that for a while, try to recall a moment in the past week or so where our hamster wheel tendencies were very real to you. What does it look like in your day to day life? Why do we do the things we do? I think that is the question that confronts us with our readings for today. What motivates us? Or to put it in words that might sound familiar in our politically charged world; what is our agenda? Because brothers and sisters, all of today’s readings remind us that the only agenda that really matters is God’s. St. Augustine once prayed Grant that we might seek never, never to bend the straight to the crooked. That is, your will to ours. But help us to bend the crooked to the straight. That is, our will to yours. Part of the disciple’s struggle is to learn to distinguish our will from God’s will, and then to begin to desire God’s will in place of our own. That is when the Holy Spirit will begin to transform our wills. And this transformation is a process, it doesn’t happen overnight and this process won’t be finished for anyone on this side of eternity, our faith isn’t perfected until we find ourselves fully in God’s glory. Solomon, Paul, and Jesus as he told today’s parable all knew that this process is hard. No matter how much effort we put into being a faithful disciple, no matter how many reminders we have that God sits on the throne, we still keep finding ourselves evaluating ourselves and others with a rubric given to us by the world, we keep compiling accomplishments, and titles that we think the world may value, we find more things to do to pad our resumes, and it seems that people begin to create those resumes at younger and younger ages. If we were to be honest with ourselves we are not all that different than the rich man in Jesus’ parable today. Brothers and sisters God’s agenda is what we should be spending our life pursuing, for God alone knows what tomorrow is going to bring and even our best-laid plans are bound to fall apart. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Colossians that our life is hidden; we don’t know what lies ahead. There are a few things we do know; we know that load of groceries we just put in our refrigerators will be gone by the end of the week, we know that paycheck we just deposited was probably mostly gone before we deposited it, we know our health we work so hard to maintain (some of us more than others, Sorry Heather I’m working on it) is fleeting and we know even our best and closest friends will let us down, promises will go unkept and the sting of hurtful words will linger. How do we know these things? Because we know all too well the affects of sin in our lives. As Solomon reminds us in the reading from Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities all is vanities. But we know a few other things too. We know that each and every one of us was created in God’s image. As we live out our lives in a world where things perish and fail we know that we were made for so much more. And we know that in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ we are claimed as daughters and sons of God. Remember my quote this morning; it’s before you on the screens or the bulletin. We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have - for their usefulness. Who you are as God’s own beloved child, bought back from sin, death, and the devil by Jesus on the cross of Calvary, will always be so much more valuable than anything you can ever own or do. And anything you can ever do or have will never make who you are as God’s child less valuable. Whose agenda is looking better now? You see in the end we don’t have to be like the rich man hoarding treasures in some barn; because God has already given us treasures beyond our greatest imagination. Those treasures begin with the assurance of his presence and the promise of eternal life. But there is even more than that, I am sure a quick look at your life can reveal those treasures to you. He has blessed me with a loving wife and healthy son, an amazing new community to call home, and supportive friends who no matter how many times we let each other down will be there for me when I need them the most. We are about to sing my favorite hymn. It was the hymn of the day for my ordination so it is really amazing that it is the hymn of the day my first Sunday as your Pastor, as we sing it I want you to listen to the words and I encourage you to make those words your prayer for the rest of the week. Because when we seek first God and His kingdom everything else just falls into place. Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.

Our Place in the Passion of Christ a Good Friday Message for the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network

Peace and Grace to you from our Crucified Lord Jesus the Christ, Brothers and sisters, I actually struggled a bit with what greeting I should begin this sermon. My usual peace and grace initially seemed a little out of place at a Good Friday service. Perhaps out of place in our entire Holy Week observance and rituals. For me anyway this whole week is so emotionally intense that the usual greeting may seem a little glib, a denial of the heart wrenching that goes on in the lives of the faithful this week. You see the reason this week is such an emotional roller coaster is because the church’s practices this week attempt not just to remember the events of Jesus’ last days, but we try to place ourselves in the midst of the Lord’s passion. It’s the kind of remembering that transcends an intellectual memory and incorporates our whole self, mind, heart, senses and body. Our week began with the blessing and waving of palms. With those palms we cheered on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and again on Sunday morning we will place ourselves at the empty tomb cheering on his even more triumphal victory over death. Bu a lot happens between Sundays. We place ourselves around the Passover meal Jesus shares with his disciples, receiving the meal and being given the commandment to love one another, a commandment we struggle to keep for the rest of our lives. We place ourselves in the garden with the disciples failing to answer Jesus’ simple request to stay awake and keep watch. With Peter we find ourselves rebuking Jesus’ claim that we will deny him while knowing very well that a day doesn’t go by without making choices that deny Jesus is Lord of our lives. And then we place ourselves at the cross. With our sins we take our turn cracking the whip and driving those nails. With the rest of the mob we convince Pontius Pilate to release among us a fellow sinner Barabbas and to crucify the Son of God. We join many of the same Israelites who were waving palms yelling Hosannas a few short days ago in cheering on the death of our king. In a few short minutes we will be singing my favorite hymn. When we sing “were you there when they crucified my Lord”, I want you to remember you were there and they didn’t do anything it was us, we need to own our place at the cross. It’s not a proud place to be but it is where we belong because as Dr. Martin Luther wrote, You should believe, and never doubt, that you are in fact the one who killed Christ. Your sins did this to Him. When you look at the nails being driven through His hands, firmly believe that it is your work. Do you see His crown of thorns? Those thorns are your wicked thoughts. Brothers and sisters today isn’t Good Friday because of our place in Salvation history. It is Good Friday because although it was our sins that nailed him to the cross it was his love for us that kept him there. Those same sins that Jesus took to the cross have been forgiven and our debt paid. As good as this week is to remember that we are sinners through and through. It is also a good week to remember it was for sinners such as us that Christ won salvation.

Our Place in the Passion of Christ A sermon preached at the PVEN Ecumenical Good Friday Service

Peace and Grace to you from our Crucified Lord Jesus the Christ, Brothers and sisters, I actually struggled a bit with what greeting I should begin this sermon. My usual peace and grace initially seemed a little out of place at a Good Friday service. Perhaps out of place in our entire Holy Week observance and rituals. For me anyway this whole week is so emotionally intense that the usual greeting may seem a little glib, a denial of the heart wrenching that goes on in the lives of the faithful this week. You see the reason this week is such an emotional roller coaster is because the church’s practices this week attempt not just to remember the events of Jesus’ last days, but we try to place ourselves in the midst of the Lord’s passion. It’s the kind of remembering that transcends an intellectual memory and incorporates our whole self, mind, heart, senses and body. Our week began with the blessing and waving of palms. With those palms we cheered on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and again on Sunday morning we will place ourselves at the empty tomb cheering on his even more triumphal victory over death. Bu a lot happens between Sundays. We place ourselves around the Passover meal Jesus shares with his disciples, receiving the meal and being given the commandment to love one another, a commandment we struggle to keep for the rest of our lives. We place ourselves in the garden with the disciples failing to answer Jesus’ simple request to stay awake and keep watch. With Peter we find ourselves rebuking Jesus’ claim that we will deny him while knowing very well that a day doesn’t go by without making choices that deny Jesus is Lord of our lives. And then we place ourselves at the cross. With our sins we take our turn cracking the whip and driving those nails. With the rest of the mob we convince Pontius Pilate to release among us a fellow sinner Barabbas and to crucify the Son of God. We join many of the same Israelites who were waving palms yelling Hosannas a few short days ago in cheering on the death of our king. In a few short minutes we will be singing my favorite hymn. When we sing “were you there when they crucified my Lord”, I want you to remember you were there and they didn’t do anything it was us, we need to own our place at the cross. It’s not a proud place to be but it is where we belong because as Dr. Martin Luther wrote, You should believe, and never doubt, that you are in fact the one who killed Christ. Your sins did this to Him. When you look at the nails being driven through His hands, firmly believe that it is your work. Do you see His crown of thorns? Those thorns are your wicked thoughts. Brothers and sisters today isn’t Good Friday because of our place in Salvation history. It is Good Friday because although it was our sins that nailed him to the cross it was his love for us that kept him there. Those same sins that Jesus took to the cross have been forgiven and our debt paid. As good as this week is to remember that we are sinners through and through. It is also a good week to remember it was for sinners such as us that Christ won salvation.

A Short Meditation on the Lord’s Prayer

While preparing to teach a class on Luther during Lent I rediscovered this amazing resource. The forerunner to the small catechism we don't know how involved Martin Luther was in its writing. Justus Jonas and John Agricola was tasked by the reformer to compile a resource to help teach children the faith. Thier finished product included a wonderful meditation that I have borrowed and reword a little bit for use with my 2nd year confirmands. A Short Meditation on the Lord’s Prayer Revised and Adapted from A Booklet for the Laity and Children 1526 by Matthew Voyer Soul: Our Father in heaven, we are your children. However we are estranged from you and far from you. How can we ever find our way back to the Home You have created for us? God: A child honors their father, and a servant obeys its master. If I am your father, where is the honor? If I am a master, where is the awe and reverence I deserve? For my holy name is mocked and rebuked by you. (Malachi 1:6 and Isaiah 52:5) Soul: My Father, unfortunately You speak the truth. We acknowledge and repent of our sin. In your mercy, may You grant us your grace that your name may be made holy in us. May we not think, say, or do anything that does not honor and glorify you. Help us magnify your name and hold it above our own ambition and glory. For we seek to love, fear, and honor you, as children should their father. God: How can my name be made holy in you while your hearts and minds are inclined to evil and held captive by sin? (Genesis 8:21) Soul: O Father indeed our bodies are drawn to sin, and the world, the devil and our appetites desire to dominate our lives and separate us from you. Come to our aid and let your kingdom be present so that sin may be eliminated, and we may become righteous in your eyes. God: My help often brings pain and destruction. Those that I want so save and correct feel condemned and put to shame. When my help is so often rejected, what more can I do? (Deuteronomy 32:39, Psalm 78:10-11, Isaiah 5:1-5) Soul: We hate that we do not understand and embrace your help, Father in Heaven. Grant us your grace and help us allow your holy will to be done in us. Even though it may be painful continue to discipline us, as to refine and purify our hearts and minds, do as You want with us, as long as it is your will and not ours that is accomplished. For your will and our own so often contradict each other, and yours is right and good, even though we do not understand it, and ours is evil, even though we find it so at tractive. God: With your mouths, you so often confess your love for me while your hearts remain far off. And when I worked to correct and improve you, you abandoned me. Even those of you who cherished and honored me eventually tuned their backs on me, returning to their idols and my disfavor. (Isaiah 29:13) Soul: O Father, again You are correct. For we cannot do this alone; we need your strength and nurture. So take us into your hands and have your way with us, so You may be glorified. In the trials that lay ahead, strengthen us by your Holy Word and our daily bread. May Your Son, the true bread from heaven, abide in our hearts. So we, being strengthened by His presence, may joyously endure the death of our own wills and embrace yours. And give us good and faithful pastors and teachers who will not bring us worldly comfort but rather, provide us with your holy gospel. God: It is not good to take what is good and is meant for my children and throw it to the dogs. You sin constantly and when you hear my word preached, you refuse to listen. (Matthew 7:6, 15:26, Jeremiah 5:5, Isaiah 42:20) Soul: Father, have mercy on us! Do not deny us your provision because of our sin. We are so sorry that we do not do your Word justice. Please have patience with us, your poor children. Take away our sin and do not judge us; for no one is worthy in your sight. Please remember your promise to forgive all who offer forgiveness for others, not because we have earned forgiveness by forgiving others; but simply because You are gracious and truthful, and we trust in your promise. God: I forgive you so often, but you do not remain steadfast and faithful. You have a weak faith, because you cannot stay with me for long, but you are always be tempted again. (Psalm 78:8 and Matthew 26:40-41) Soul: Oh Father, we are weak and vulnerable to many overwhelming bodily and worldly struggles. Please hold us in your hands so we do not fall back into sin and temptation. Give us grace and strength to remain in faith throughout these struggles. Without you, we can do nothing. God: I am just, and my judgment is always right and good. Sin must not go unpunished. Your sin will have consequences, and I must discipline you. (Psalm 11) Soul: Since sin leads to more sin, deliver us from every evil. So that freed from all sin and shame, we may live out your Holy will and be people of your kingdom, who exalt and praise your name forever and ever Amen. And since You taught us to pray this way, we will forever trust that You hear us.

Everybody Loves an Underdog Micah 5:2-5a and Gospel: Luke 1:39-45 (46-56) This week we were given a big bag of used DVDs and videotapes. The first one that drew Toby’s attention was the DVD Sky High. As many of you know super heroes hold a very special place in our house. So when Toby saw those spandex clad cape wearing teenagers on the front of the DVD case he knew what movie he wanted to watch again and again. However as the movie developed he realized it wasn’t a typical superhero movie. The typical superhero flick is about mighty and powerful individuals that can be depended on to save the day. But as Sky High’s story evolved it was evident that the heroes of this story were going to be a crew of weaker, less significant students known as the sidekicks or “hero support’ if you wanted to be politically correct. You see this movie went from being about the extraordinary to being about the ordinary. It became a quintessential underdog story. And I was ok with that; after all everybody loves an underdog. Believe me, I’m a lifelong Cubs fan…We love to hear and see stories of people who seem to defy all the odds and do great things; people who somehow transcend normalcy or even mediocrity in inspiring ways. Friends today I would like to recommend a book full of underdogs. This book if you will is an anthology of underdog stories (hold up bible). As much as we love underdogs, the entire biblical witness reminds us that God loves them even more. Moses wasn’t even supposed to make it out of infancy let alone be able to lead his people to the Promised Land. David, a little shepherd boy from the small town of Bethlehem watches his brothers go off to war and then slays the giant and becomes the king through whose line the savior of the world is promised. And then there is Mary. This poor and insignificant young girl from an isolated farming community would become the mother of the messiah. How cool is that. You see the story that we hang the eternal state of our souls on is a true life underdog story. Mary goes from being poor and insignificant to being an object of ridicule and shame. As an unmarried pregnant woman she could’ve been stoned to death but God uses another underdog to protect her and provide an upbringing for his son. Joseph, whose royal ancestry meant absolutely nothing to his friends and neighbors, lived the quiet and average life of a tradesman in that small community of Nazareth. This seemingly ordinary man was called to be Mary’s husband and protector and Jesus’ foster father. His decision to stand by Mary despite her supposed indiscretion wouldn’t have won him any steps up the social ladder either. Of course the miracle that these two were going to participate in couldn’t happen in a small and insignificant place like Nazareth. So God had to call Mary and Joseph out of Nazareth; but not to a place of more import to the comparable hamlet of Bethlehem. God calls His chosen parents from the boonies to the sticks. Today’s prophecy from Micah reminds us that this small forgotten town will see the birth of yet another king. Of all the underdog stories we love, this should be our favorite one by far. Why does God reveal himself in this way? Why doesn’t he offer salvation through a savior that would be easily recognizable and who would demand loyalty and dependence. I think that a God who is known only through the eyes and values of a fallen world would prove Himself to be nothing but an idol. For the incarnation of God to be truly well… incarnational God with us, Immanuel, would have to be born into the common and ordinary. A look around reminds us that the common and ordinary are full of things like poverty and pain, shame and struggle. And it is those things that are redeemed by the birth we remember this week. Part of my Christmas season devotions always include a Christmas sermon of Martin Luther’s. The sermon includes this quote. She starts out on the journey with Joseph, her husband… Then when they came to Bethlehem, they were the most insignificant, the most despised people, as the evangelist indicates. They were obliged to make room for everybody, until they were shown into a stable and had to be satisfied to share with the animals a common hostel… Thus God indicates that he pays no attention at all to what the world is or has or can do, and on the other hand the world proves that it knows nothing at all of, and pays no attention to what God is, has, or does. You see brothers and sisters our best and brightest will never cure what truly ails us. No eloquent head of state will legislate true justice into existence, no mighty military leader will force true peace on a people, and even the world’s brightest doctors can hold death off for only so long. But justice, peace, and eternal life are exactly what God brings forth in this baby’s birth. The hymn that Mary sings today, that the church has always sung with her in its daily prayer is as clear a summation of God’s good news as we’ll find in all of scripture. Listen again to Mary’s song. 49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” God exalts the lowly and calls the mighty to place themselves in His hands so they too may be exalted. And the world may see its messiah trough those who trust in His care. This is what it means to gather around the manger this Christmas season, to humble ourselves before this child in the hay, to join with Mary in singing her song. So we may be blessed and God may be known. I pray that as the birth of the Christchild approaches we can all find ourselves as underdogs in humble estate so we may fully know God’s presence and participate in His marvelous work.

Waiting with the Prophets Dec 4th 2011 Isaiah 40:1-11, 2 Peter 3:8-15, Mark 1:1-8

Waiting with the Prophets

Peace and Grace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ,

In my exploration on this week’s texts one fellow pastor found it interesting that we began Advent with a Gospel lesson from Mark’s 13th chapter, and this week we hear a reading from the beginning of that same gospel. In his exact words, he told his hearers that it was not a step backward, but rather a move forward—forward to the beginning. I had to chuckle at Reverend Fisk’s treatment of time. In some strange way the more I thought about it, it made sense. It seems to me that during Advent, time does something really funny. Christians all over the world are preparing for a birth that happened just over 2000 years ago. That is exactly what is happening; Advent is not merely a time to get ready for the holiday, but it is a time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Messiah. During Advent, the story of Jesus’ first coming and the promise of his second coming become intertwined in a way that denies all we think we know about time.
This divine compression of time shows up in today’s readings. Our lesson from Mark’s gospel begins with, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” It seems like a good place for Mark to begin his gospel. However as we read on, we realize that where he places his beginning is not with the birth of Jesus like Matthew and Luke. Mark actually begins his Gospel by bringing his hearers all the way back to the prophets.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; [3] the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,' "
John the Baptist is then introduced to us as the messenger who was sent ahead. John’s message calling God’s people to repentance is nothing new. It sounded much like the messengers who prophesied about coming Messiah centuries before the birth of John the Baptist. Even his seemingly unique wardrobe and dietary choices are important—only because they connect him to all of Israel’s prophets, people for whom living in the wilderness as hermits was often a part of the task. The job of “prophet” is by far the only position when dressing in camel hair and eating insects actually lends credibility. This connection would have been made by most—if not all—of the people who wandered to the Judean countryside to hear him.
It is a connection we should make as well. This morning we are reminded that we are waiting for the same Messiah on whom the prophets and their hearers waited. When we realize that the prophet Isaiah lived and ministered 750 years before Jesus was born, this seems astounding. How is it that we are waiting with prophets who walked the earth almost 3000 years ago for a Messiah who was born 2000 years ago? Perhaps today Peter had a word for us in this regard:
That with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. [9] The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Whenever I hear this passage from Peter, I am reminded of a line by Gandalf in Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. When Frodo accuses him of being late, his response is “A wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.” Peter’s letter today reminds us of two things. First, the thousands of years between the prophet Isaiah and us is merely a blink of the eyes to the God of Eternity. Secondly, this is important: as we wait and prepare for the Lord, He never stops waiting on us and preparing our hearts and minds. As a matter of fact, the acts of repentance that John the Baptizer (and the prophets who went before him) are never something we can do on our own. The very act of acknowledging our need for God’s righteousness depends on God’s guiding presence.
You see, brothers and sisters, God’s will is more perfect and holy than anything we could ever come up with. And as easy as it is to be impatient with what we perceive as God’s slowness (or even absence), we must remember that God keeps His promises. He has promised to be with us yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As we prepare to know God in yet another way, we remember all the ways He has been present for His people.
He was present for Isaiah’s original hearers in the midst of exile—in the words of comfort and hope spoken by His prophets. Also many who came to be baptized by John in the wilderness experienced God’s presence by experiencing firsthand the birth, earthly ministry, death, and resurrection of His son Jesus the Christ.
He continues to be present for us as well. In the words of scripture, we come to know the God of all Creation who humbles Himself so we may be in relationship with Him. As we gather as a faith family to worship, we encounter God in the words of the liturgy and songs—and in the mutual love and support of each other. Moreover, in Holy Communion, we get to taste and see God as He offers Himself as bread and wine for our eternal sustenance.
So in typical Advent fashion, we prepare for the coming of God’s Messiah with all of God’s people that went before by acknowledging the ways that God is already present for us—or rather (recalling Rev. Fisk’s query about the opening lines of Mark’s gospel), we prepare ourselves for God’s future by remembering God’s beginning. May the coming of the Christ-child be a source of great joy and hope this Advent season