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December 16, 2001 LECTIONARY
READINGS The underlined text will take you to a sermon
"When God's Kingdom Comes" On this third Sunday of Advent we look once again to the qualities that are present in the kingdom of God. The third Sunday of Advent has been traditionally called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for "rejoice." During these Sundays in Advent, we look deep within to examine our hearts and prepare for the coming of Christ. There is a sense of longing for God's mercy as we see ourselves in the light of God's love and grace. In the kingdom of God, there is light and that light shines on the ways we fall short of God's intent for our lives. We have also looked at the righteousness of God. When God reigns, there is absolute right and when we look within - we are sometimes grieved that our lives have not always counted for that which is absolutely right. But there is more to this season. The kingdom of God is characterized by joy. This is the joy that sustains us in a world where things are not right. We will sing, "Joy to the world the Lord has come." The world may not yet understand or embrace the coming of the Lord, but we who have embraced the kingdom of God by faith know that the kingdom will finally overcome. In many churches, the candle on this third Sunday in Advent is a pink or rose color instead of the traditional purple to represent joy - a time of celebration in the midst of the more reflective and somber moods of Advent. *** Our reading from Isaiah points to an amazing joy. In the midst of the desert, where nothing can grow and life is lived in the extreme, God comes with blessing and the desert is transformed. Perhaps you have seen the standard movie scene where a man is crawling along the desert floor inches from death’s door. His lips are swollen and cracked—tongue parched and dry dust clinging to a perspiring brow. In the distance, one can faintly hear the melody, "Cool, clear water" and even the thought of water—the remembrance of a frosty glass of ice water brings mental anguish. Then the fleeting embers of hope are fanned by the image of an oasis just ahead—only to be crushed as the mirage disappears and despair comes crashing in! You’ve seen it! You went for a glass of water shortly after! THERE IS AN EMOTIONAL and spiritual equivalent to the desert. Only it is your heart that is cracked, your soul parched and dry and your dreams shattered. It is the dark night of the soul when it seems as though daybreak will never come. I remember a man whose life and dreams had been dashed to bits. He had lost family and job and wandered around in a desert of pain. "Will it ever stop hurting?" He asked. F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of America’s most admired authors in the 1920’s, found himself on the backside of a devastating spiritual desert. By 1936, at the age of 39, his life had been through an emotional shredder. In a remarkable series of articles in Esquire Magazine, he said he realized that his life had been mortgaged to the hilt in a physical and spiritual sense. Poignantly, he described his destitution saying, "In a real dark night of the soul, it is always 3 O’clock in the morning—day after day." (Esq. 2/82 "Cracking Up" - p.78) The image of the desert - the wilderness - is a powerful spiritual force in the biblical drama.
The desert is barren, lifeless, unknown and dangerous. Some of you may recall that almost 20 years ago, Bishop James Pike died in the Judean Wilderness on a trip to study the life of Jesus. It is just as dangerous to encounter the treachery of a spiritual wilderness. It is a symbol of hopelessness. Today our wilderness comes as anxiety, insecurity and fear. Sometimes it is family or health or just plain staring life in the face and coming up wondering if anything makes sense. ON THE SURFACE - it might seem as though the most blessed and full life of all would be that life which is unscarred by heartbreak and untouched by the wilderness. Our own culture props up the destructive illusion that pain and personal trial are to be avoided at all costs and that immediate relief is necessary when life brings difficulty. Whether it be the double dry, two olive martini, the $100.00 an hour psychiatrist’s vallium connection, or the $50.00 nickel bag—we have developed denial and anesthetic for all who would join the crusade to do away with life’s trials at all costs. Personal difficulty is often interpreted as a "Divine snub" as we murmur—"How could God let this happen to me?" This is, by the way, nothing new. Though there may be valuable learning in the desert, and though suffering can bring redemption, no one would go to the desert willingly. Let’s join the people of Israel. Through the power of God and the leadership of Moses, they have been freed from slavery in Egypt and are on their way to the Promised Land. However, they must first go through the wilderness—and they don’t like it! Listen to the dialogue from Exodus 17:1-4: Exodus 17:1-4 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. {2} So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" {3} But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" {4} Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." "Hey... what’s all this trouble?" they want to know. They had expected to go directly from Egyptian slavery to "Milk and Honey"—they did not expect a 40 year "lay-over" in the wilderness. But, here’s a crucial clue about hope and healing: There is no way to get to the promised land apart from the desert journey!
THERE IS A CRITICAL CHOICE which confronts us in the wilderness times of our life. We can refuse to give up and boldly activate our faith to choose hope --- or we can retreat into ourselves and become paralyzed in a dungeon of despair. It is in the wilderness or desert times that we test the genuineness of our faith. Genuine faith does not simply believe IN God... it also BELIEVES God! That is to say, I may believe in God, but it takes faith a step further when I can say I believe God when He says, "I will never leave you or forsake you!" In our scripture this morning, it is that genuine faith resident in the spirit of the prophet Isaiah which cries out in the midst of Israel’s desert experience... Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus…" THE MOST TENDER AND BEAUTIFUL FLOWER in all of creation is the Desert Flower. The Desert Flower is not a physical flower, but a spiritual treasure. It is the treasure David spoke of when he wrote, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil—for Thou art with me." Do you see...? When you come to those desert times in the midnight hour of your own soul, there is a precious rose! It is Christ Himself who is with you. He is engaged in that three o’clock in the morning struggle with you as He works to light the fires of hope within you. He lives within those who love Him to help them not only believe IN God, but to BELIEVE God that... "the desert will rejoice and blossom like the crocus!" I want to leave you with a message from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is a message you should memorize and plant deep within your spirit where it can become a seed that will germinate and grow into a desert rose. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Paul doesn’t say that all things are good, but he does say that God can work for good in anything. It is a principle of spiritual growth that we are many times brought closer to God in times of struggle than we are by long days of prosperity. Sorrows can be God’s winds... sometimes strong, sometimes contrary, but they may drive you into the safe harbor of His love. What a wonderful time of year it is to open our hearts more fully to the one who came to a manger so long ago. Perhaps in the barren sands of your toughest times and broken dreams, He will yet bloom as the Desert Flower! ¹ An article from National Geographic on this incident >> here ² See the complete report on this national disgrace and some very achievable steps that could help >> here The last verse of the Isaiah passage sums up the hopes of every person of faith of every age who has placed their hope in God.
Advent takes us in spirit to this time of completion. When we gather to worship, we create a spiritual place where there is singing and joy and the spirit of sorrow and sighing flee away. Verses 5 and 6 of this text go to the heart of Messiah's mission. It calls to mind Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free..." All of creation is a part of the renewal and new life that comes when the reign of God comes. St. Paul wrote of this renewal in Romans 8:19-21, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." [Notes from Last cycle] v.2 The fact of John’s imprisonment is mentioned in Matt.4:12, while the circumstances are explained in 14:3-5. John apparently had been in prison during much of Jesus’ Galilean ministry – perhaps a year or so. Jesus had come healing and teaching -- but the Kingdom had not come, Rome had not been crushed and the judgment of God had not been executed upon the wickedness of humanity. John must wonder about the "ax which had already been laid at the root of the tree." Thus the question that follows in verse 3. (Wm. Barclay wants to get John [or Matthew as the case may be] off the hook by saying it was perhaps the disciples of John who wondered if Jesus was for real. John sends them with something like, "Well, if you doubt who he is -- go and see for yourself and your questions will be answered." The construction in v.2 "ta erga tou Christou" = "the works of Christ" is an interesting composition in light of Matthew's avoidance of the term "Christos" - "Messiah" to this point in his narrative. The "Confession" of Peter does not come until later. Why does Matthew use the term "Christ" here? Our proposition is that Matthew uses this incident as a bridge between the expectations of a "Warrior-King" Messiah and the "Crucified One" who is nevertheless "King of the Jews" (Mt. 27:37). "The works" of Christ are indeed the works of the "one who is to come". (See Isaiah 29:18, 61:1-3, Luke 4:18) The works (erga) of Christ are the evidentiary witness to Christ (John 14:11-12) v.3 "Ho Erchomenos" = "the coming one" -- instead of "the one who is to come". "The coming one" is likely a designation of Messiah taken from passages like Psalm 118:26 or Isa. 59:20. vv.4-5 The Baptist's question is (unlike Barclay) an honest disappointment in the delay of God's judgment on evil. Jesus' (Matthew's) answer is woven from Isaiah's vision of a Messiah who would advance the Kingdom of God with the "work" of the kingdom. (See: Isa. 35:5-6; 61:1 -- allusions to "works" of Messiah -- fulfillment of the role of "Christos") Thus "go and tell John..." the Kingdom is indeed at hand" -- perhaps not exactly as John thought, nevertheless it is here. This points to the "unexpected - expected one". vv.7-9 Essentially, "Why did you to out into the desert to hear John? To hear a wishy washy speaker -- or someone who enjoyed a comfortable life? Of course not -- you came to hear someone who spoke on God's behalf! And John more than filled the bill !" v.11 John was a spokesman for God -- a genuine prophet after a silence of 400 years... Yet, one who participate in the "kingdom" ushered in by the life, death, resurrection and reign of Jesus Christ is blessed with fulfillment John could only point to. The last ingredient for this Sunday in Advent is the admonition of James to have patience. It is difficult to wander in the wilderness, languish in the desert and endure under oppression and injustice - joy delayed may feel like justice denied. With the saints of Revelation we wonder, "How long O Lord..." We are encouraged to be patience in light of the fact that the Lord is near. In some way, patience binds us to the Lord's nearness and impatience drives that nearness away. James points out the patience of the farmer who waits for a harvest. Faith in the principles of the harvest kept the farmer at the task of farming. So also faith in the kingdom of God keeps us patiently trusting in its coming. Worship
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