Scripture: Luke 3:7-18
Again we come to this meetinghouse looking for peace and hope in a dark world. The season of Advent is one that highlights the difference between and the battle between the light and dark. The season of Advent is during the darkest period portion of they year, and we today realize just how spiritually dark the world can be as we watch the news and wonder what went wrong.
We truly are sitting in a day of anticipation! I like everyone else looks out and say the world cannot get any worse and I think now would be a great time for the Lord to come. At the same time where my depression rises and darkness seems to overtake the light within, I see or hear a story that bring light shining back in the world. Just like the presidential election the news of today threatens to rip our communities and nations in half. Everyone has an answer that they feel will keep a tragedy from happening again. None of which solve anything.
I think about today’s news and I am reminded not of the future events of Apocalypse but of history. We think that everything around us is in total chaos but I remind you that there is nothing new under the sun. I grew up in Kansas so the stories of Dodge City and the Wild West have been part of my life. I have read stories of my own ancestors and the risks they took just to survive. Life was rough and dangerous. There was threats everywhere: rouge bandits trying to take advantage of sparse populations and little law enforcement, nature threatening through violent storms or vicious animals, and medical emergencies that today would be easily taken care of at home could then draw life short. Mankind is a rough bunch of people; we live in a world that equally challenges us. Yet we are also full of ingenuity and grace.
The history of our nation is not all that unique. I would venture to say that every nation has had a similar story, one of ambitious adventurers, privateers, pirates, tyrants, and benevolence. The main difference between our nation and that of others is our nation is young, we know our history, where other nations and cultures have existed for millennium. I would venture to say that the passage we read today took place in a dark time just as we feel all around us.
The people we read about in scripture we often gloss over the situations. For example we often forget how volatile the province of Palestine really was. Earlier in this chapter we are given a list of political leaders: Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip Lysanias, Annas and Caiaphas. Often we rush over the names of scripture because we can’t pronounce the names. But these names are important because there is a story behind each of those names. Herod and Philip were brothers, sons of Herod the Great who ruled over all of Palestine, which included all of today’s Israel, and parts of Jordan and Lebanon. This kingdom was split in thirds, not because it was so large but because it was so violent and unruly. It was not uncommon for riots and rebellions to break out in these areas on the last frontier of the Roman Empire. One state broken up into three, two of these states were ruled by the children of Herod, but the third was ruled by roman appointed Governor, appointed directly by the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Also listed is the rulers of the province to the north and the south of Palestine, each listed because these are people that could be traced, tracked and confirmed.
Along with the list of political leaders of the provinces of the frontiers of the Roman Empire were the leaders of the dominant religion of the indigenous people of the land. We have two strong forces at work right before our eyes. The state and religion, the physical and the spiritual. The ministries of John and Jesus spoke deeply of these aspects. To separate government and religion is very difficult to do because both deal with two very real aspects of humanity. To remove one aspect can cause the empire to slowly crumble.
John’s ministry is right in the middle of a clash between religion and government. But it is not exactly what you might think. He has not taken a side with any of the officials listed; he did not side with the politicos or the religious leaders. His ministry is barely in Israel. It is on the eastern banks of the Jordan. It goes back to the stories of Joshua and Moses. Prior to coming into the land of Promise Israel is camped out in the east. They traveled completely around the land of Canaan, from Egypt. They could not enter the land because they were unclean; they were not holy enough to enter into the land so Moses and the children wonder for 40 years and again they camp on the banks of the Jordan. This second time they are committed to God and are willing to fully devote their lives to His ways, willing to live a lifestyle of Loving God and loving their neighbor. Only then can they cross the river and enter into the land. John’s ministry is calling the people to remember.
Remember what is most important. Remember why we are here. They gained the land by being faithful to God and governing their nation with justice, but they turned their backs on God and Mankind seeking selfish ambitions before justice and in the process they lost the land. John is telling them “We do not deserve this land!” The passage begins, “you brood of Vipers.” Not my countrymen, or my friends, but you cold-hearted snakes. You broad of venomous, sinister, death filled serpents of sin. Ok I guess my dislike of snakes has seeped into my sermon, I apologize. But not fully, a viper is poisonous. We know vipers; a viper there is similar to a rattlesnake (pit viper) here. They strike out at unsuspecting prey and consume them after they infect them with their deadly poison.
This is not a sermon to get people to fall in love with the giver of the message. He is saying everyone listening to these words is filled with venom: the religious, political, and everyone in between. “Who warned you of the coming wrath?” These people are pouring out of the surrounding cities to listen to this guy lay it all out on them. He says do not even begin to think because you have a great heritage that you are safe. The ax is ready to cut you down just like all the other snakes.
It is a pretty intense sermon. It is quite frightening if you really stop and think about it. It is saying that the land is filled with dangerous people coiled up ready to strike. No one is safe, no one is worthy of any grace, but everyone from the top down is infected with the venom of the serpent. Everyone is coiled up around themselves thinking “I am like a god myself, with full knowledge.” That is an image that will keep me up at night. I dislike snakes, I have nightmares of snakes and I will probably not sleep tonight because I’m talking about snakes, but to imagine that everyone is a snake has got to be the darkest most depressing thought I can have. I am not safe.
It is no wonder the crowds rush to the banks yelling across the waters what must we do? There are three people groups listed: common people, tax collectors, and soldiers. It is easy for us to look quickly at the soldiers or the tax collectors, so I will begin there. To the soldiers he says, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusations, and be satisfied with you wages.” I ask you who are the soldiers? The soldiers are the law enforcement of the legal arm of the empire. In ancient Israel the soldiers were terrifying, they were often the judge, jury and executioners of the law. Today I want you to imagine not men and women defending a nation but lawyers and judges. Do not extort money, threat or falsely accuse. In our world we have warning labels on everything. Warning labels on a lawn mower stating that it is not to be used on carpet, our coffee cups warn us that the contents are hot; all these labels come from a lawsuit. Some are legitimate lawsuits, like the warning not to smoke while filling up the fuel tank of your car, while others we know are there because someone sued a company and won over things that they should have already known. “Be satisfied with your wages.” Or work for what you want, do not demand something that you have not earned and do not take more than you deserve.
The next group is the tax collectors. For our conservative friends I want you to notice that he does not condemn the office of tax collector. The government has all authority on earth to demand whatever taxes it deems necessary. When there is a government then there is a responsibility of the government to collect and utilize funds for the good of those ruled. What John says is, “collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” I want us to look at this as the government as a whole; do not take more than necessary to do what is needed. Remember that the people you rule must live. But in the same breath John is telling everyone else to pay what is required. Let us be realistic in our governing. Fund the things we deem necessary. Fund them fully or not at all. This goes for every governing body: a city, state, nation, or any other organization. Do not be a people ruled by greed; instead be a people willing to give.
The last group is the common people. This is the top group. This is the group that most of us would identify with. Most of us are not soldiers, most of us are not tax collectors, but we are all people. To the crowds John says, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Think about this. If you have two coats give one away. John is literally saying only live on what you need, if you have any extra it should be given away. He does not say plan for the future, he says give it away, not tomorrow but now. Keep what you absolutely need to survive but everything else is to be shared.
I proceeded in reverse but I did so for a reason. If the crowds were doing what they were supposed to do, the governments would not be forced to do it for them, and if the governments were doing what they were supposed to do the soldiers would not be forced to extort. It is a cycle that starts with each of us. John is saying that this world is messed up. The venom of the viper has corrupted it and not one person is living the way that they should. It does not matter who it is talking they are all not living up to a standard of righteousness. Each person is looking out for themselves and in the process people are going hungry, houses are being repossessed, people are losing jobs, and many are dying of hopelessness. Tragedy has struck our nation and people are pointing fingers. It is guns, it is lack of guns, and I even heard someone say that it is the fault of drug companies. Not one of those answers gets to the heart of the issue. Our nation is what it is because our people are who they are. We are a nation and a people filled with venom, we are a people that will sue another to gain financially, we are a people that will strike to get wages we have not earned, we are a people that will take for ourselves before we pay our employees, we are a people that will hoard instead of share. John says you brood of vipers. Yet they came in crowds to hear his message.
They asked are you the one, are you the messiah that will bring in the kingdom of heaven? His answer is no, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Imagine this. We all know water can clean. Fire can transform. It is in the fire that gold is purified; it is in the fire that ceramics transform from dust to rock. Water of baptism is a symbol, or a sign that says I recognize I’m dirty and need help. It is the life transforming fire of the Holy Spirit and a life devoted to God that transforms us into something new. No longer just a lump of mud, but something new.
How are we doing? I would say that the fires of transformation are all around us. I do not want to lessen the sting of the tragedies, I mourn with the families in Connecticut, and in Oregon. But these are just signs that we as followers of God have failed our communities. We will not solve the problems of our hurting nation by making laws, but only in repentance. Acknowledging that we have and are failing, admitting to everyone that we have not lived how we should. Then we need to bear fruit. We need to look at our communities and be moved by the Spirit to act. We need to become a people loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit and Living Christ’s love with others. We need to start here, and let that grow to our community as a whole. We need to forget the things of the world and focus instead on the mission that God has written on our hearts. Let us lay down ourselves, lay down our claims to our own lives and let God be God. Darkness is surrounding us but the Light is coming, the Kingdom of God is near. The kingdom begins in each of our lives and will spread to those we serve. That is the true meaning of this season. There is hope in the hopelessness if we are willing to let the light shine.
Scripture: Mark 12:28-34
What is the most important thing? When I was in school my classmates and I would often ask questions of our teachers trying to learn what the minimum requirements of the class were. Many times we would spend more energy trying to figure this out than actually doing the assignments, and if we would have just done the work we would have been fine. The economy of the classroom is often that way. At times the questions were to gain clarity but all too often it was to get out of doing what we knew we should do. Our teachers knew what we were up to, probably because they had done the same when they were students. I observed something as I progressed through my education, usually I did better on my papers if I just did the work without trying to negotiate the requirements. When I would just did my work my own way the professors usually gave higher marks because of the creativity factor. On one of my assignments my professor actually wrote on the paper, “I do not know what to do with this papers because I have never had one written in such a way, but since you fulfilled the requirements you get an A.” I guess most people do not write theology papers in a narrative format.
Teachers are around to pass on knowledge. Part of our human nature is to be curious. We want to know things so we study, investigate, question, and observe. Teachers are around to assist parents with those constant questions of our youth, as we grow teachers continue to pass on knowledge even though they may not have the same titles. Jesus was one of these teachers. Many called Him a rabbi, meaning teacher, but he did not officially hold that title. He traveled from town to town teaching, preaching, showing people how to life a life devoted to God. Although He did not have the credentials of the various scribes, they all recognized that He taught with authority, just prior to this exchange of ideas there was another discussion between the teachers, like many discussions they build and grow. They observed that Jesus had some very good things to say. This discussion that we did not read today was over the deep theological debate over the resurrection.
The laws of what Christians call the Old Testament stated that if a man dies without a child his wife is to marry his brother and the first child from that union would be considered the child of the first husband. It’s quite a confusing ordeal. The questions that was being discussed was not if this law was acceptable in the contemporary time frame, but over whose wife this woman would be during the resurrection. This was a debatable issue because the issue of resurrection of the dead was debatable. Some of the teachers of the law believed that the first husband would be the primary husband and so she would be bound to him. Other teachers did not believe in resurrection at all so they did not see the point of debating the issue. Jesus was brought into this discussion and was asked what He thought, and his response was that people would not marry or be given in marriage. He did not say that there was not a resurrection of the dead, but that marriage was not part of it. This answer did not take either side of the issue totally, but was different. They recognized the uniqueness of this answer. In their debating they did not even consider that the things just might be totally different in the life to come.
After hearing this discussion an eager scribe thought that this man might be able to answer some of his questions. In essences he asks, “What is the most important thing?” This man is a teacher of the law, and he devoted his entire life to learning and following the law. Through all of his studies he had learned many things, there were laws, interoperations of the laws, and a life to build around each. These teachers and lawyers would determine how best to pursue this life and teach it to those around them. These teachings were often called the yoke of the rabbi, used in this way because it was a burden to bear. There were expectations that needed to be met, so people would constantly be asking how best to live.
He asks this question both to test Jesus’ commitment to His faith as well as to answer his own personal desires. To live a disciplined life takes hard work. It truly is a burden. What must I do? It is a question that many of the scribes and several others have asked. By his question he was asking a multitude of things, firstly he wanted to know how his teaching compared to the teachings of Jesus. The answer Jesus gave was, “’Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe was excited to hear these words being uttered from the mouth of this teacher. He answers back by saying that Jesus had answered wisely and that these were things more desirable than all the sacrifices and offerings.
There is no other commandment greater than these. The wording of that sentence is a bit odd. Jesus gave two sets of commandments yet he says there is no other commandment greater than these. There is a singularity in the plurality. The two parts cannot be separated. In another gospel Jesus says that the second part is like the first. I have often wondered about this wording, not that I do not agree with what is being said but how it is worded. To love God is to love your neighbor and to love your neighbor is to love God.
You can attend meetings for worship everyday, you can give more half your income to the church as an offering, you could even go to the farthest reaches of the globe to show your love and devotion to God, but if you do not love your neighbor He does not even see it. You could also feed thousands, house the homeless, educate those without the ability to pay for an education, and show the greater love for your neighbor than anyone else but if you do not do it out of love for God then it is nothing more than empty hope. Jesus taught about these things several times. The rich young ruler went away from him because Jesus said that to inherit eternal life he would have to sell all he had and give it to the poor. For that man, he showed the greatest devotion to God, he kept the commandments to the letter but he did not love God with everything he had, because he loved his money just as much as God if not more. When it was said that to have eternal life all he would have to do is give it all away, he could not make that sacrifice and instead turned his back on Christ. Jesus also taught about people that came before him claiming to have healed many and spoken prophetic words in his name, showing grace and mercy to their neighbor, yet he also turned these people away saying, “I have never known you.” They loved their neighbor but did not love God.
James the brother of Jesus in his letter spoke of faith and works. James challenged those that listened to him to show him their faith without works, and he would show them his with. Our faith, our love for God is shown by what we do for others. Our love for others also should be done with praises to God that we have the opportunity to share the blessings He has given us.
Love is greater than all the offerings and sacrifices we can give. Love is a choice and an action; it is not an emotion, although it can stir emotions within us. To share what we have with others stirs within us a strong emotion of thanksgiving and grace. To receive a gift from others also stirs emotions of inadequacy and grace. Each aspect starts with a choice and an action. To give, to receive the emotions of thanksgiving we first choice to share our blessings with someone else and then we follow through with that choice. A gift and a meal must also be accompanied with an equally intentional choice of accepting the generosity and receiving the gift. This is why so many of our strongest memories are around holidays where we give and share gifts and food with our relatives and our friends, like we will do next Sunday evening here at Willow Creek, and like we will do in a few weeks with our relatives.
Jesus looked at this scribe and said something that he rarely said to the religious leaders around him. “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” I often wonder who this scribe was, could it have been Nicodemus who came at night to ask questions of Jesus, could it have been Gamaliel who was not part of the group but did not wish to persecute the followers of Jesus? We do not know for sure who this scribe was but we do know that he knew something of the light. He knew through his studies of the law and of the prophets that God was more concerned with living the intent behind the law instead of performance and keeping up appearances. He knew that the relationships with God and those people around you are more important than the religious activities one can perform.
We live in a time of change, an era in history where we are at a crossroad. Many believe that we just might be in the end of days, which we very may be in, but I do know for sure that we are nearing an end of an age. We look around us and we see the lowest average church attendance in generations, we see higher crime rates than we ever remember, we see poverty hitting not only “those” people but also our own family members. And we ask why? Just the other day on the radio I listened to a commentator ask what age group was the least religious and his answer was 18-29 year olds, but this same age group is seeking spirituality in a greater way than many generations prior to them. They are seeking hope because just like all of us they see the darkness and they are just as scared. What attracts those people to a church? What are they looking for?
They are looking for people that Love God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength. They do not just want religious devotion but a reality that they can experience. They are also looking for people that love their neighbor as themselves. They are looking for people that are actually believe and live according to their beliefs. They want to see people that serve in the community more than just attend worship meetings. They want to be part of a community that trusts God more than statistics. They want to be a member of a community that actually participates in miracles like the feeding of the 5000, instead of just reading about them. The people that we are so worried about the ones we are afraid will be the undoing of our society, want to love Jesus. They know what He taught and they love his message, but they do not like what His messengers have become. They love Christ but they do not trust His Church. They do not trust us because so often those in the church only live half the Gospel. We either love God or we Love our neighbor, but rarely do we love both.
I mentioned a paper that I wrote for a theology class that my professor did not know how to grade. The paper was not a technical paper; to be honest I did not know how to put the words on paper in a scholarly way so instead of trying to do that I decided to write a story. I wrote a story of a person that was facing incredible stress and as a last resort they decided to go to the church to speak to the pastor, but the pastor was busy talking to someone else. This broken person just sat in the hallway lost not knowing which direction to take, and the church janitor came by and began to talk to them. The conversation continued as the janitor continued to perform his tasks, and the person continued to speak. This simple janitor was able to pass on to this struggling person the truth of the gospel in a way that they could understand. The janitor did not have a degree in theology; he did not have a career that would make people jealous, because he was just the person that cleaned the church. But he loved the church, he loved God, he took the job because he could pray when he took a break and he could read the books of the library over lunch. And he could talk to people as they came in, he loved to greet them and wish them the blessings of God. In my story this janitor walked with this person who was unable to see through the darkness, and was able to shine some light back into their life. In the story the person never did speak with the pastor, they never received the words of wisdom from the great teacher, instead they found hope through the words of the person scrubbing the toilets. The great teacher may not have time, or they may not even have words, but the community can love.
“Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We are called to love above all things, to love with everything that we have, and everything that we are. We are called to share that love with the person sitting next to us, across the street from us, and even the person downtown. As we enter this time of holy expectancy my hope and prayer is that the Spirit of the Living God will teach us, show us, and urge us to fulfill that command here in our community.
Scripture: Job 38:1-7, 34-41
We live in a time where vast quantities of information is easily at hand. Because of this we can get comfortable in ourselves and our stances. We can make statements of opinion as fact because we know with just a few seconds of searching we can find pages of information supporting our claims. Why then are there still so many opionions? Why are Americans sitting around their breakroom tables, computers, and coffee shops fighting over who lied about what? Why are we as Americans fighting over when life begins when in science we have one answer, yet in politics we have multiple? Why are we fighting over countless issues?
We fight because in society we do not really know anything. Everything we are arguing over is just in actuality just opinions stated as fact. We do not truely know what will happen in the future because that is not for us to know. Social engineering is no a science or an art, it is at best theory and at worst wishful thinking.
Job gives us a picture into this. Those around him thought they had all the answers. Even he thought he knew what was going on, but in reality they were all equally clueless. God had to set them all straight. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements – surely you know!” I almost laugh at this because it is as if God just entered into a debate and every great thinker is left standing with their mouths open. “Where were you?” Its a simple question with a simple answer, we were not there, we did not exist! I do not care if you believe in God or not we were not anywhere near the begining of the universes the best we can do is come up with theories.
The story goes on to ask if we can lift up our voices to the clouds, that a flood of water may cover us? Can we send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, “here we are?” There are a number of things our greatest minds cannot understand or control. Does this mean we should step back, through up our hands and say who cares? No, but it also doe not mean we should be so bold as to suggest we are ever in full knowledge of everything. We do not understand because we cannot fully understand. We are observers in this world getting a limited view of the things around us, and filtering it through minds that have bias.
There are some things that we can build on. Our opinions are based on some knowledge, just as every opinion. It is important that we learn all we can about the world around us because we live here, and we should care for the places that we live. The ancient Hebrew poets have said that God placed us in the garden to have dominion, be caretakers, rule over it, bring it into submission, and conserve creation. All political buzz words that ultimately tell us the same thing take care of what we have.
When the first national parks came around people thought that they would keep it just as it was, protect it from harm and preserve nature. Quickly the forests would fill with plant life and become so full of growth everyone though how beautiful and full of life it is…but then lightning would strike, it would start a fire that would quickly consume the entire forest. The act of perserving actually devistated the park, what was thought to be good was not good at all. Quickly people began to realize that perservation takes work. Today, they systematically burn the forest, cut down trees, and let them regrow. Because in nature there are cycles of death and regrowth, pruning and branching out.
We do not know what is best. We have therories and educated opinions but ultimatley they are about as good as a devisted forest after a wildfire. We need a natural balance of burning, cutting, and growth. “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man: I will question you, and you make it known to me.” (Job 38:2-3, esv) If we want to perserve the land we live in, we need to gain knowledge, while at the same time recognizing that our knowledge is limited. We need to realize that there are certain ways to care for a forest, but those ways are not always the same for areas of grasslands or swamplands. Every community every enviroment is different in its own way. No one knows what is best for every enviroment, but we can observe and react to the neds at hand where we are. Get dressed for action, God tells Job, get to work where you are. We are finite creatures and can only collect a finite amount of information. What is most important is not what is happening in the capital, but what is happening right in your own home town.
That is where we can really do the work we are supposed to do. When Jesus sent out the apostles he told them to go first to Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We could look at it as being get the capital first, but they were there already just outside of Jerusalem. So really what is being said start where you are. Then let the message spread. If we would all minister and invest in our own communities makeing them better we would see some great things happen. We do not haveto know what to do, we do not have to have ultimate knowledge, we are just called to get to work where we are letting God take care of the things we don’t understand.