"The Problem of Christmas”
Luke 2:1-20
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church, December 24th 2010
A printable PDF file can be found here
http://firstpresbyterianbaldwin.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Christmas-Eve.pdf
In the face of an increasingly skeptical and disbelieving world Christmas becomes ever more poignant. Society is, at the same time, becoming both more religiously diverse and more secular. Peoples conceptions of what God may be like, or even if there actually is anything to the notion of there being gods at all are expressed in many ways, both in printed media, on screen and across the internet.
If we were able to time travel back to the days of Christ’s birth, I wonder if the environment we discovered would have been any less diverse or any less hostile to the notion that Jesus was born to be Savior of the World. The whole idea of Christmas would be seen by many to be intellectually incomprehensible and by others as dangerous and subversive, both in terms of politics and religion.
It was not just upon a whim that Herod became terrified at the thought of a new King for the Jews being born in Bethlehem. Herod had little trust in God, but trusted in the power of human alliances and power to maintain control of ones position.
It was no accident that the greatest opponents of Jesus turned out to be the religious establishment. The idea of God taking root in our midst, spirit being united with flesh, the holy taking on the earthly, was a scandal. God is ‘this’, we are ‘that’, and never the twain shall meet. The incarnation (the theological word for God coming to us in Jesus Christ) remains a heretical notion to believers of other faiths.
There is such an insignificance to the characters and places of the Nativity story. Bethlehem was not an important town. There is nothing more secular than the taking of a census and the paying of taxes. Carpenters with young wives had no great status. Shepherds were considered as being on the fringes of society and the object of ridicule. ‘Did you hear the one about the shepherd…’ That in the midst of such peoples and such places earth-shattering revelation should occur was highly unlikely.
Yet this is Christmas. This is what the gospel declares. That there came to the lives of unlikely people in insignificant places a revelation of God that has left the world a different place. What we do with this message is another matter.
Some will dismiss the whole thing as being incredulous, impossible and a rather dangerous kind of fairy tale. Some will look upon it as a beautiful mythical account, full of meaning and interest but ultimately only having the sentimental value of a Hallmark Card or Thomas Kinkade painting.
Yet some will accept what the gospel authors proclaim. That through these events something awesome, indescribable and unbelievable was coming to pass. God, in Christ, was breaking through into the circle of time and history in a redemptive way that can bring hope and joy and love to all those who allow themselves be transformed by His Holy Spirit.
Those who accept the gospel accounts as being more than just idle tales will not see Christmas as the whole story but interpret Christmas through the light of the life Jesus would lead, the deeds He would do, the teaching He would give, the death He would die, the claims that would be made about Him after His death, including those of resurrection and ascension and the power of His Holy Spirit that ignited the early Church.
Taken in isolation the Christmas story does offer much to celebrate. Light in the darkness, the giving of gifts, the lifting up of humble lives and insignificant places as being capable of being infused with great significance… all this is good stuff.
But look at it through the lens of the whole story that weaves in and through the 66 canonical books of Christian Scripture we call the Bible and it takes on an even greater meaning. Christmas becomes not an isolated event, but a significant Act within the great drama of revelation and salvation. Central to that whole drama is the life and love of Jesus Christ.
It is that whole story that gives significance to the communion service you are invited to be a part of this night. It has its roots in the Exodus experience of the Israelites and their great celebration of Passover. It recognizes the significance of Jesus Christ as one heralded by prophets and foreshadowed by events that shaped a nations life; the establishment of monarchy, the rescue of exiles, the proclamation of peace and justice, the hopes of a future defined by forgiveness and grace.
Communion declares the mystery of our faith. The mystery of what happened in Bethlehem. The unfolding revelation to His disciples of His unique nature. His call to be servants of one another, as He took a basin and washed His disciples feet. The sacrificial act of His crucifixion during which His body was broken and blood poured out as He prayed “Forgive them Father for they don’t know what they are doing”.
The proclamation of resurrection by His disciples. The coming of His Holy Spirit as they gathered in prayer at Pentecost. The ongoing life of His Church which has always found nurture and strength through participating in acts of worship around a table laid with bread and wine, declaring as Paul writes, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim His death until He come”
There always have been and will continue to be those who dismiss Christian faith as mumbo-jumbo and superstitious nonsense, particularly when we express our faith through rituals and acts that we ourselves describe as symbolic and mysterious. They will see the problem of Christmas as being symptomatic of the problem they have with belief in general.
I do not share their reservations. I cannot accept that everything in life can be explained by rational experiment and logical deduction. I do not accept the notion that mystery is unimportant and insignificant. I cannot believe that the very state of consciousness that causes us to wonder and reflect and seek for meaning is something that has ‘just happened’. I reject the idea that truth and beauty and love and hope are just part of our programming. I have experienced too many answered prayers to dismiss answers too prayer as always coincidence.
I dare to believe that the Christmas story is one of great significance. That rightly understood and related to the larger story we see in the Christmas events hope for all humankind.
It’s not a hope that anybody can be argued into. It’s something to be received. Something that seeps in rather than a blinding light of revelation. Something that can only be approached through music and silence, through taking and tasting, through wondering and questioning.
To our ‘so sure we can save ourselves world’ the proclamation of a Saviors birth may indeed be a problem. Yet … in the words of one of our Christmas carols… “O Little town of Bethlehem”…I suggest that ‘where meek souls receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.”
So I invite you to share in our communion celebration, not because you have life all sorted out and settled, but because you are open to being unsettled and changed. I invite you to participate in this celebration not because you believe without question, but because you have many questions that find no answers.
I invite you to be a participant in this sacred drama, not because you have your path in life all mapped out but because you are open to the direction and leading of a God whose call You seek to hear and whose Holy Spirit alone can give you strength for the journey.
The problem of Christmas is not a problem in any way to those who believe our world needs a Savior. It is the good news of our Saviors birth. In the name of Jesus Christ you are invited to seek for His love to be born afresh in your hearts and lives this night.
Amen.
Adrian J Pratt
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
CHRISTMAS LIGHT
CHRISTMAS EVE
Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96, 17-19; Titus 2:11-14,Luke 2:1-20
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 24th,2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
The light that God offers us in Jesus Christ shows us the futility of committing our lives to shallow
things. In the darkness of this world we can place far to much store on financial security and personal
gratification as being the ultimate things to aim for. We are taken in by the lie of consumerism; that it is only in things that we will find true satisfaction and that if we don't have the next 'thing' then our livesare terribly incomplete. The light Jesus casts upon us can reveal to us that many of the 'things' that we seek are insignificant when viewed from an eternal perspective.
The light of Jesus not only exposes evil for what it is and uncovers shallow purposes for what they are, it also reveals the good things hidden in the shadows that we might have missed. Like fishing for your slippers in the predawn darkness of your bedroom only to find that they are right beside you,
sometimes the things we most need are right next to us, but we can't see them.
In a world that insists that we look after number one, who knew that it is actually through serving
others that the greatest fulfillment can be found? In a world that tells us to hold onto what we have,
who knew that giving could be such a blessing? In a world that insists that 'the pursuit of happiness' is
the ultimate aim, who knew that such blessings can be found when we identify ourselves with those
traveling through dark and difficult days? In a world that values wealth and power, who knew to look
for the Son of God in a manger?
The tunnel of light that God opened at Christmas changes the way we see everything around us. But
Jesus does more than cast light on our our lives. He also leads us to that greater light that is far more
glorious that anything we can ever conceive, more brilliant and awe inspiring than even the light the
shepherds saw when the angels surrounded them in the fields outside Bethlehem.
Through the light God sent at Christmas, through the child Jesus, through the living influence of God's Holy Spirit upon our lives in the here and now, we have a tunnel to a distant light. The light that shines into the world, overcoming all our darkness. The light that points us to the Father of all lights, the beginning and the end of all creation. Such light is God's gift to us on this holiest of nights.
As we contemplate that light, and as we receive these gifts of bread and wine, I pray that it will dawn
upon us that our lives can be a transforming light for others. Of course it takes commitment and
cooperation and spiritual growth and seeking after community – all the things that this bread and wine represent - but as we remember that Jesus gave His life that we may be empowered to live our lives as light for others, we can also be equipped by God's Holy Spirit for Christ's service.
And to God's name be all the glory.
Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
(Portions of this message adapted from a sermon “Walking in the light of Christmas' by Rev. Stephens Lynch. Thanks to Stephen for sharing!)
Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96, 17-19; Titus 2:11-14,Luke 2:1-20
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 24th,2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
The light that God offers us in Jesus Christ shows us the futility of committing our lives to shallow
things. In the darkness of this world we can place far to much store on financial security and personal
gratification as being the ultimate things to aim for. We are taken in by the lie of consumerism; that it is only in things that we will find true satisfaction and that if we don't have the next 'thing' then our livesare terribly incomplete. The light Jesus casts upon us can reveal to us that many of the 'things' that we seek are insignificant when viewed from an eternal perspective.
The light of Jesus not only exposes evil for what it is and uncovers shallow purposes for what they are, it also reveals the good things hidden in the shadows that we might have missed. Like fishing for your slippers in the predawn darkness of your bedroom only to find that they are right beside you,
sometimes the things we most need are right next to us, but we can't see them.
In a world that insists that we look after number one, who knew that it is actually through serving
others that the greatest fulfillment can be found? In a world that tells us to hold onto what we have,
who knew that giving could be such a blessing? In a world that insists that 'the pursuit of happiness' is
the ultimate aim, who knew that such blessings can be found when we identify ourselves with those
traveling through dark and difficult days? In a world that values wealth and power, who knew to look
for the Son of God in a manger?
The tunnel of light that God opened at Christmas changes the way we see everything around us. But
Jesus does more than cast light on our our lives. He also leads us to that greater light that is far more
glorious that anything we can ever conceive, more brilliant and awe inspiring than even the light the
shepherds saw when the angels surrounded them in the fields outside Bethlehem.
Through the light God sent at Christmas, through the child Jesus, through the living influence of God's Holy Spirit upon our lives in the here and now, we have a tunnel to a distant light. The light that shines into the world, overcoming all our darkness. The light that points us to the Father of all lights, the beginning and the end of all creation. Such light is God's gift to us on this holiest of nights.
As we contemplate that light, and as we receive these gifts of bread and wine, I pray that it will dawn
upon us that our lives can be a transforming light for others. Of course it takes commitment and
cooperation and spiritual growth and seeking after community – all the things that this bread and wine represent - but as we remember that Jesus gave His life that we may be empowered to live our lives as light for others, we can also be equipped by God's Holy Spirit for Christ's service.
And to God's name be all the glory.
Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
(Portions of this message adapted from a sermon “Walking in the light of Christmas' by Rev. Stephens Lynch. Thanks to Stephen for sharing!)
Monday, December 23, 2013
Trusting Beyond Tradition
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Zechariah 2:10-13; Matthew 1:18-25
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 22nd,2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
As we pause for a moment on the brink of Christmas, I'd like to focus on some words from the prophecy of the Old Testament Prophet Zechariah, chapter 2, verse 3 “Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
Traditionally this is the busiest holiday of the calendar season. Shopping, decorating, cooking, Visiting, carol singing, and all the rest of it! Why we even have three services over the next three days, including one of them at nearly midnight! This does not happen at other times of the year.
We all have our Christmas traditions. I was talking to the children earlier about the 'Parang' tradition from Trinidad and Tabago that lay behind that wonderful Calypso feeling carol, 'The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy'. 'Parang' bands would go from house to house, and be welcomed with food and drink, and rituals of welcome and departure. A busy time!
Some people like to go into the city at Christmas time. See the displays. Visit Santa at Macy's. The Rockefeller Christmas Tree. Skaters in Central Park. Go to a show. Watch the Rockettes perform. A busy time.
Others like to head South, away from the cold of winter, and may well celebrate on a beach with a Barb-Q and the application of sun-block as they sing Christmas carols squinting through sunglasses. Not really a busy time, but a different kind of time for sure.
Some may be overwhelmed and just say “Bah, Humbug”... that's not what it's all about. They said that last year, they'll say it this year and they will say it again next year. That's their tradition. Today I want to talk about 'Trusting beyond Tradition.' I want to encourage us for a moment to focus on the gospel message that goes so much deeper than our celebrations imagine.
So again back to Zechariah, chapter 2, verse 3 “Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
Zechariah is thought to have spoken his words of prophecy some time after the nation of Israel had begun to re-establish themselves after their exile in Babylon. They had been through some bad days... and the good days were still far ahead of them. You could say it was neither the best of times nor the worst of times.
Zecharaiah's name in Hebrew meant 'God has remembered'. In verse 10 (that we read this morning) that sense of God seeking to restore the fortunes of God's people is reflected. "Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD.”
Maybe for some of us in our own lives we face neither the best of times nor the worst of times. Or maybe we have been though a time of feeling exiled from God or others. Maybe for some folk these really are the hard times, and like those Israelites still in Babylon, the day of deliverance seems like a forgotten dream.
Whatever and wherever we are today, in the midst of all the traditional busyness, the message of Zechariah still offers hope. He tells us that God remembers us. That we are neither abandoned nor forgotten. Though we may at times abandon our faith and forget about what God requires of us, God is still at work, calling to us, seeking to guide us and help us, if we can but pause from our busy-ness and be still enough before Him.
There is so much busy-ness around the nativity story. Mary and Joseph. Preparing for a wedding. Then a baby that they hadn't expected. Preparing to have to make a journey because of a census. That's a lot to deal with. Joseph was pretty stressed out about the whole affair! In fact Joseph is so busy that the only time God finds to speak with him is in Joseph's dreams.
Matthew 1:20-21 “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins."
Joseph is also told that he is to name the child 'Immanuel', which meant 'God is with us' – another way of saying 'God has remembered us.' As you read the bible accounts of the Nativity you do have the impression that it was all very unexpected and unanticipated. The birth of Jesus comes as a tremendous surprise, not just to Mary and Joseph, but to shepherds out on the hillside and Herod in his palace.
There are a few people in the story though that are watching and waiting. Simeon in the temple. The prophetess Anna. Far away wise men interpreting the stars and prepared to make a journey to welcome a new King. There were a few who took to heart the message of Zechariah “Be still before the LORD, all mankind”. And they were the ones who discovered that “He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
In order to trust in God, there has to be moments when we turn away from our busy-ness and seek to be still and discern what God is doing. It is often only in those still moments that we understand that God is at work in and around our daily lives. That God remembers us. That God is with us.
That just as God came to the people of Zechariah's time, recovering from the soul destroying experience of exile in Babylon, so God, in Jesus Christ comes to us, to save, to forgive, to renew and restore. Hope can still be born into our lives, because God knows us, God remembers that we are God's children, God longs to transform our lives by the presence and activity of His Holy Spirit at work within us and around us.
I well understand that we all have our traditions and rituals and ways of celebrating the Christmas season. I certainly do, and really don't want to let go of any of them. Yet the challenge every year is as to whether we can look beyond our traditions and allow this season to be more than just busy-ness and celebration and actually find the message of our Savior generates deep trust in God within our lives.
Zechariah 2:3 “Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
Isn't that what we celebrate at Christmas? That we do not have a God who is content to sit back and let us travel to an uncertain fate. That we have a God 'who has roused himself from His holy dwelling'. That in Jesus Christ... God comes to us, is born amongst us, is born as one of us, as one who remembers us, understands us and comes to save us from ourselves.
As the children sang for us, 'The Virgin Mary had a baby boy, And they said His name was Jesus. He came from the glory, He came from the glorious kingdom, oh yes believer, ... He came from the glorious kingdom!”
Like Joseph we may struggle to understand how such a thing can be. Like Joseph we may even be so busy that it's only in our dreams that God can get through to us! Yet there is life and love and hope to be found, waiting for our response, waiting to embrace us and renew us, if we can but be still for long enough to taste and see and know that God remembers God's people.
As we sing our carols, as we visit with our friends and families, as we watch our traditional movies and go through our traditional routines, take time to consider the Jesus who lies at the heart of things. Take time for trusting beyond tradition. Then we truly will be celebrating the Christmas message. “He came from the glory, oh yes believer ...He came from the glorious kingdom”
May the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the presence and peace of His Holy Spirit, illuminate our Christmas celebrations this and every year we travel through this season. And to God's name be all the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Zechariah 2:10-13; Matthew 1:18-25
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 22nd,2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
As we pause for a moment on the brink of Christmas, I'd like to focus on some words from the prophecy of the Old Testament Prophet Zechariah, chapter 2, verse 3 “Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
Traditionally this is the busiest holiday of the calendar season. Shopping, decorating, cooking, Visiting, carol singing, and all the rest of it! Why we even have three services over the next three days, including one of them at nearly midnight! This does not happen at other times of the year.
We all have our Christmas traditions. I was talking to the children earlier about the 'Parang' tradition from Trinidad and Tabago that lay behind that wonderful Calypso feeling carol, 'The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy'. 'Parang' bands would go from house to house, and be welcomed with food and drink, and rituals of welcome and departure. A busy time!
Some people like to go into the city at Christmas time. See the displays. Visit Santa at Macy's. The Rockefeller Christmas Tree. Skaters in Central Park. Go to a show. Watch the Rockettes perform. A busy time.
Others like to head South, away from the cold of winter, and may well celebrate on a beach with a Barb-Q and the application of sun-block as they sing Christmas carols squinting through sunglasses. Not really a busy time, but a different kind of time for sure.
Some may be overwhelmed and just say “Bah, Humbug”... that's not what it's all about. They said that last year, they'll say it this year and they will say it again next year. That's their tradition. Today I want to talk about 'Trusting beyond Tradition.' I want to encourage us for a moment to focus on the gospel message that goes so much deeper than our celebrations imagine.
So again back to Zechariah, chapter 2, verse 3 “Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
Zechariah is thought to have spoken his words of prophecy some time after the nation of Israel had begun to re-establish themselves after their exile in Babylon. They had been through some bad days... and the good days were still far ahead of them. You could say it was neither the best of times nor the worst of times.
Zecharaiah's name in Hebrew meant 'God has remembered'. In verse 10 (that we read this morning) that sense of God seeking to restore the fortunes of God's people is reflected. "Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD.”
Maybe for some of us in our own lives we face neither the best of times nor the worst of times. Or maybe we have been though a time of feeling exiled from God or others. Maybe for some folk these really are the hard times, and like those Israelites still in Babylon, the day of deliverance seems like a forgotten dream.
Whatever and wherever we are today, in the midst of all the traditional busyness, the message of Zechariah still offers hope. He tells us that God remembers us. That we are neither abandoned nor forgotten. Though we may at times abandon our faith and forget about what God requires of us, God is still at work, calling to us, seeking to guide us and help us, if we can but pause from our busy-ness and be still enough before Him.
There is so much busy-ness around the nativity story. Mary and Joseph. Preparing for a wedding. Then a baby that they hadn't expected. Preparing to have to make a journey because of a census. That's a lot to deal with. Joseph was pretty stressed out about the whole affair! In fact Joseph is so busy that the only time God finds to speak with him is in Joseph's dreams.
Matthew 1:20-21 “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins."
Joseph is also told that he is to name the child 'Immanuel', which meant 'God is with us' – another way of saying 'God has remembered us.' As you read the bible accounts of the Nativity you do have the impression that it was all very unexpected and unanticipated. The birth of Jesus comes as a tremendous surprise, not just to Mary and Joseph, but to shepherds out on the hillside and Herod in his palace.
There are a few people in the story though that are watching and waiting. Simeon in the temple. The prophetess Anna. Far away wise men interpreting the stars and prepared to make a journey to welcome a new King. There were a few who took to heart the message of Zechariah “Be still before the LORD, all mankind”. And they were the ones who discovered that “He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
In order to trust in God, there has to be moments when we turn away from our busy-ness and seek to be still and discern what God is doing. It is often only in those still moments that we understand that God is at work in and around our daily lives. That God remembers us. That God is with us.
That just as God came to the people of Zechariah's time, recovering from the soul destroying experience of exile in Babylon, so God, in Jesus Christ comes to us, to save, to forgive, to renew and restore. Hope can still be born into our lives, because God knows us, God remembers that we are God's children, God longs to transform our lives by the presence and activity of His Holy Spirit at work within us and around us.
I well understand that we all have our traditions and rituals and ways of celebrating the Christmas season. I certainly do, and really don't want to let go of any of them. Yet the challenge every year is as to whether we can look beyond our traditions and allow this season to be more than just busy-ness and celebration and actually find the message of our Savior generates deep trust in God within our lives.
Zechariah 2:3 “Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling."
Isn't that what we celebrate at Christmas? That we do not have a God who is content to sit back and let us travel to an uncertain fate. That we have a God 'who has roused himself from His holy dwelling'. That in Jesus Christ... God comes to us, is born amongst us, is born as one of us, as one who remembers us, understands us and comes to save us from ourselves.
As the children sang for us, 'The Virgin Mary had a baby boy, And they said His name was Jesus. He came from the glory, He came from the glorious kingdom, oh yes believer, ... He came from the glorious kingdom!”
Like Joseph we may struggle to understand how such a thing can be. Like Joseph we may even be so busy that it's only in our dreams that God can get through to us! Yet there is life and love and hope to be found, waiting for our response, waiting to embrace us and renew us, if we can but be still for long enough to taste and see and know that God remembers God's people.
As we sing our carols, as we visit with our friends and families, as we watch our traditional movies and go through our traditional routines, take time to consider the Jesus who lies at the heart of things. Take time for trusting beyond tradition. Then we truly will be celebrating the Christmas message. “He came from the glory, oh yes believer ...He came from the glorious kingdom”
May the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the presence and peace of His Holy Spirit, illuminate our Christmas celebrations this and every year we travel through this season. And to God's name be all the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Book Cover Judgments
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-15
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 15th, 2013
A printable PDf file can be found here
There's a song from the 1960's, written by Willie Dixon in 1962 and originally recorded by folk like Bo Diddley, Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, and the Monkees, that has the title, “You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.” The lyrics of the first verse...
“You can't judge an apple by looking at the tree,
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee,
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.”
In our bible reading today, we learned that people struggled to accept the message of John the Baptist partly because he was not known for his fashion sense! Elsewhere in Scripture we are told he lived in the desert, wore clothes made of camel skin and ate a diet of locusts and honey. He did not dress (or eat) to impress.
Our Scripture reading pictured Jesus addressing the crowds about John;“What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: "'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
Some of the last words written in the Old Testament, in the Book of Malachi, 4:5 read; "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. “ Jesus tells the people; “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he (John) is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear. “ (Matthew 11:2-15)
Appearances can be deceptive. You can't judge a book by looking at the cover. The way things appear may not be the most accurate representation of the way things truly are. It's ten days to Christmas Day. Christmas is sometimes pictured as the happiest time of the year. Parties. Presents. Peace and Goodwill to all people. That's how it can be pictured.
Yet we also know that for many people this is one of the hardest times of the year. The Christmas blues reach many. Family gatherings can be stressful. Seeing families gathered together, can be a reminder of distance, for families that are far apart. Empty spaces at family tables can remind people of the pain they feel for those they have lost.
Observing the money people spend on extravagant gifts can remind those who are financially struggling about the debt they can't seem to climb out of. For many people the joy of Christmas is not what they are feeling! They may put on a happy face, but inside something else is going on.
If you are one of those experiencing something of the Christmas blues, it can help to know that you are not alone. At the heart of Christmas is a wonderful message, that none of us are alone! God, in Christ, comes to us, dressed in humanity but endued with all the Grace of God necessary to guide us and help us through. It is a helpful thing to focus on the deeper meaning of the season, the Jesus whom John told us to be prepared for.
It could be that one of the reasons John didn't feel the need to put on a show for anybody was that he didn't want to get in the way of the message he was called to proclaim. He didn't want people to see him, he wanted people to see Jesus. The nature of the ministry Jesus would establish, was not that of outward show and pomp, but of service and humility.
A youth group I had in a previous church were planning to go to a youth targeted meeting in their home town, hosted by a christian group we didn't know a lot about. I couldn't go with them, but caught up with them the next day. “How was the youth meeting?” I asked. “Oh, we didn't go inside” one of them replied. “Why not?” I asked. “Well” they explained “There was a man on the door whose smile was too big”. Appearances can be deceptive. As Willie Dixon's song continues:-
You can't judge a fish by lookin' in the pond,
You can't judge right by looking at the wrong,
You can't judge one by looking at the other,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
The people who went to hear John the Baptist had to look at him in a different way. He looked like a wild man dressed in skins and living off the land, but he spoke like a prophet of old. Maybe some of them knew that he was the son of the respected town priest, Zechariah. Maybe that didn't help because that made him a local boy! Mixed messages can confuse us. Jesus encourages to look beyond appearances and tells us “If you have ears to hear, then hear!” (Matt 11:15)
You really can't tell everything about a person by first glances. If they are well-dressed, they could be genuine or they could be a con-man. If they look like they just crawled out of bed, maybe they have just crawled out of bed because they worked the night shift as a surgeon at the local hospital. Some of the richest people in the world dress in their most comfortable clothes because they couldn't care less about impressing anybody. In order to know somebody, you have to communicate. If you have ears, then your ears have to do some hearing!
Jesus never looked at people as problems. He always saw the possibilities that God's love could bring to them. He was never impressed by labels or titles. Some of the harshest words He spoke were against the religious folk who dressed the part, even acted the part, but had hearts that were just about as far apart from God as any could be. About John the Baptist, though Jesus did comment that his dress sense was not that of a palace dweller, He went on to say; “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist”. High praise indeed!
But He doesn't leave it there. He carries on; “Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” When a person belongs to the Kingdom of God, they are clothed with the righteousness of God. That is the mystery of grace. We are saved, by grace, through faith. To use scriptural language; though our righteousness is as filthy rags, God clothes us with glory. Not because of anything we have done, but because of everything that Jesus did.
No matter how we dress up or dress down, no matter how we appear to each other, in God's eyes we appear to be those who need a Savior, and that's why Jesus came! God … in the flesh... God Incarnate... God with us, Emmanuel. That's what we celebrate at Christmas. In Jesus Christ, we are claimed and adopted as God's precious children that He loves with a love that will never give up on us nor ever let us go.
We may not always look the part or even live up to our family heritage, but there's always a place for us at the table. No matter what others may make of us, ultimately it's God's welcome that defines us. Willie Dixon's song concludes:-
You can't judge sugar by looking at the cane,
You can't judge a woman by looking at her man,
You can't judge a sister by looking at her brother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
John the Baptist came with a message of repentance. It was a message that offered a new beginning. Wash away the old, and begin again. It was a message that urged people to get their lives together, because something new was coming. When Jesus went down in the waters with him, then John declared, “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world... this is what we've been waiting for... I baptize with water... He'll baptize with fire.”
Advent is a time for us to consider how we can de-clutter our lives in order that they may be embraced by the Grace of God. If we focus on the outward trappings of the season, the sad memories it may evoke, or upon the commercial excesses of this time of the year, it may well leave us with a case of the Christmas Blues.
John the Baptist offers us hope. Hope in Jesus Christ. You can't judge a book by looking at the cover. We can't truly celebrate Christmas until we get beyond the outward show of good cheer and see that behind it all is the simple, yet radical, notion, that in the birth of Jesus Christ, hope is here, help has arrived and our futures can be guided and graced by the Holy Spirit.
As we travel through this Advent season, may the true light of the love of Jesus Christ illuminate our journey. May the hope He brings eradicate our Christmas blues. May the perspective He offers encourage us to see all people through the loving eyes of Jesus. May His Spirit encourage us to turn aside from hasty judgments based on outward appearance and honor each other as much treasured Children of God.
'Truly I tell you,' said Jesus, 'Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.'
May God help us live into our baptisms as citizens of the Kingdom established through the ministry of the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem town. To God be the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-15
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 15th, 2013
A printable PDf file can be found here
There's a song from the 1960's, written by Willie Dixon in 1962 and originally recorded by folk like Bo Diddley, Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, and the Monkees, that has the title, “You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.” The lyrics of the first verse...
“You can't judge an apple by looking at the tree,
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee,
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.”
In our bible reading today, we learned that people struggled to accept the message of John the Baptist partly because he was not known for his fashion sense! Elsewhere in Scripture we are told he lived in the desert, wore clothes made of camel skin and ate a diet of locusts and honey. He did not dress (or eat) to impress.
Our Scripture reading pictured Jesus addressing the crowds about John;“What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: "'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
Some of the last words written in the Old Testament, in the Book of Malachi, 4:5 read; "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. “ Jesus tells the people; “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he (John) is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear. “ (Matthew 11:2-15)
Appearances can be deceptive. You can't judge a book by looking at the cover. The way things appear may not be the most accurate representation of the way things truly are. It's ten days to Christmas Day. Christmas is sometimes pictured as the happiest time of the year. Parties. Presents. Peace and Goodwill to all people. That's how it can be pictured.
Yet we also know that for many people this is one of the hardest times of the year. The Christmas blues reach many. Family gatherings can be stressful. Seeing families gathered together, can be a reminder of distance, for families that are far apart. Empty spaces at family tables can remind people of the pain they feel for those they have lost.
Observing the money people spend on extravagant gifts can remind those who are financially struggling about the debt they can't seem to climb out of. For many people the joy of Christmas is not what they are feeling! They may put on a happy face, but inside something else is going on.
If you are one of those experiencing something of the Christmas blues, it can help to know that you are not alone. At the heart of Christmas is a wonderful message, that none of us are alone! God, in Christ, comes to us, dressed in humanity but endued with all the Grace of God necessary to guide us and help us through. It is a helpful thing to focus on the deeper meaning of the season, the Jesus whom John told us to be prepared for.
It could be that one of the reasons John didn't feel the need to put on a show for anybody was that he didn't want to get in the way of the message he was called to proclaim. He didn't want people to see him, he wanted people to see Jesus. The nature of the ministry Jesus would establish, was not that of outward show and pomp, but of service and humility.
A youth group I had in a previous church were planning to go to a youth targeted meeting in their home town, hosted by a christian group we didn't know a lot about. I couldn't go with them, but caught up with them the next day. “How was the youth meeting?” I asked. “Oh, we didn't go inside” one of them replied. “Why not?” I asked. “Well” they explained “There was a man on the door whose smile was too big”. Appearances can be deceptive. As Willie Dixon's song continues:-
You can't judge a fish by lookin' in the pond,
You can't judge right by looking at the wrong,
You can't judge one by looking at the other,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
The people who went to hear John the Baptist had to look at him in a different way. He looked like a wild man dressed in skins and living off the land, but he spoke like a prophet of old. Maybe some of them knew that he was the son of the respected town priest, Zechariah. Maybe that didn't help because that made him a local boy! Mixed messages can confuse us. Jesus encourages to look beyond appearances and tells us “If you have ears to hear, then hear!” (Matt 11:15)
You really can't tell everything about a person by first glances. If they are well-dressed, they could be genuine or they could be a con-man. If they look like they just crawled out of bed, maybe they have just crawled out of bed because they worked the night shift as a surgeon at the local hospital. Some of the richest people in the world dress in their most comfortable clothes because they couldn't care less about impressing anybody. In order to know somebody, you have to communicate. If you have ears, then your ears have to do some hearing!
Jesus never looked at people as problems. He always saw the possibilities that God's love could bring to them. He was never impressed by labels or titles. Some of the harshest words He spoke were against the religious folk who dressed the part, even acted the part, but had hearts that were just about as far apart from God as any could be. About John the Baptist, though Jesus did comment that his dress sense was not that of a palace dweller, He went on to say; “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist”. High praise indeed!
But He doesn't leave it there. He carries on; “Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” When a person belongs to the Kingdom of God, they are clothed with the righteousness of God. That is the mystery of grace. We are saved, by grace, through faith. To use scriptural language; though our righteousness is as filthy rags, God clothes us with glory. Not because of anything we have done, but because of everything that Jesus did.
No matter how we dress up or dress down, no matter how we appear to each other, in God's eyes we appear to be those who need a Savior, and that's why Jesus came! God … in the flesh... God Incarnate... God with us, Emmanuel. That's what we celebrate at Christmas. In Jesus Christ, we are claimed and adopted as God's precious children that He loves with a love that will never give up on us nor ever let us go.
We may not always look the part or even live up to our family heritage, but there's always a place for us at the table. No matter what others may make of us, ultimately it's God's welcome that defines us. Willie Dixon's song concludes:-
You can't judge sugar by looking at the cane,
You can't judge a woman by looking at her man,
You can't judge a sister by looking at her brother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
John the Baptist came with a message of repentance. It was a message that offered a new beginning. Wash away the old, and begin again. It was a message that urged people to get their lives together, because something new was coming. When Jesus went down in the waters with him, then John declared, “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world... this is what we've been waiting for... I baptize with water... He'll baptize with fire.”
Advent is a time for us to consider how we can de-clutter our lives in order that they may be embraced by the Grace of God. If we focus on the outward trappings of the season, the sad memories it may evoke, or upon the commercial excesses of this time of the year, it may well leave us with a case of the Christmas Blues.
John the Baptist offers us hope. Hope in Jesus Christ. You can't judge a book by looking at the cover. We can't truly celebrate Christmas until we get beyond the outward show of good cheer and see that behind it all is the simple, yet radical, notion, that in the birth of Jesus Christ, hope is here, help has arrived and our futures can be guided and graced by the Holy Spirit.
As we travel through this Advent season, may the true light of the love of Jesus Christ illuminate our journey. May the hope He brings eradicate our Christmas blues. May the perspective He offers encourage us to see all people through the loving eyes of Jesus. May His Spirit encourage us to turn aside from hasty judgments based on outward appearance and honor each other as much treasured Children of God.
'Truly I tell you,' said Jesus, 'Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.'
May God help us live into our baptisms as citizens of the Kingdom established through the ministry of the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem town. To God be the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Nativities and Narnia
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Reading: Luke 4:14-21, Romans 15:4-13
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 8th, 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Back in the day... when I was younger... the second Sunday of Advent was always one that focused on the gift of God's Word, given to us in the Scriptures. Acknowledgment was made that if it were not for the written Word passed down to us then we would have no Christmas story to celebrate. No carols to sing, no Christmas plays, no traditions of giving and receiving, no Christmas tree, nor so many other things we take for granted about the festive season.
C.S. Lewis in his classic book for children 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' describes the mythical frozen land of Narnia as being a dismal land, not because of the cold, but because it was 'Always winter, but never Christmas'. Only with the return of Aslan (in his books the symbolic representation of Jesus) does Father Christmas once again make an appearance and all is well.
Critics of C.S Lewis complained that he would confuse children having figures like Aslan, representing Jesus, and then include characters like dwarves, badgers and Santa Claus. How would the children determine which were the mythological elements and which bits were supposed to represent something real? It could get confusing!
I am tempted to answer on Lewis's behalf; “You mean confusing... like Christmas?” After all the festival we celebrate is truly a strange mixture of ancient traditions, from different cultures and ancient practices, some of which have nothing to do with the Christian story.
A great deal of the Nativity story, as we tell it, has more to do with speculation and elaboration upon the texts than it does with the actual story that scripture contains. The date itself, December 25th, which we acknowledge as the birth of Jesus, was chosen in the fourth century as a good day to celebrate because it coincided with the winter solstice, when adherents of pagan religions built bonfires to welcome the return of longer days. Most scholars are unsure about the true date of Christ's birth.
C.S. Lewis's intention with his “Chronicles of Narnia” was not to rewrite the whole biblical story as an allegory. Before he wrote books for children, he was a classical scholar of English literature, and chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge University. He knew the power of story to ignite the imagination. His hope was that his works would inspire people to acquaint themselves with the true gospel story, not see his works as a replacement for it!
I suggest that we are attempting something similar with our Christmas celebrations. We know that what we do is not the actual historic biblical story. But we give ourselves permission to celebrate and to imagine and to invent, because that's what humans do! By creating this warm, folksy, festive story, with it's Santa and Elves and Baby in a manger and all the rest of it... maybe we can actually get folk to ask, “Well, what's the real deal with the season?”
And maybe that's why... back in the day... a Sunday was put aside in Advent to stress the Bible as being so important, especially for the understanding of the events we call Christmas. Because in many ways the biblical story is far more gritty and radical than our festive celebrations.
In our reading from Romans we heard Paul telling us, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
For the New Testament writers the story of Jesus does not begin in a stable in Bethlehem, but in the visions of Old Testament prophets and the hopes of a nation. Everything that surrounds the birth of Jesus is seen as the fulfillment of prophecy. Paul writes - verse 12 “Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in Him the Gentiles will hope."
In that verse alone are so many strands of theology and history that it could take a series of sermons to truly unpack it's implications. 'Jesse' was the father of Israels' most celebrated king, King David. The mission of Israel is pictured, not as self preservation, but for them to be a light for all nations, a model of how obedience to God created an opportunity for God's blessing. As events unfold, so hope is enabled, hope for freedom and justice and all of this focused upon the 'One who will arise'.
Even the events we know of as being part of the Nativity narrative can be interpreted in so many ways. Mary is a young girl facing an unexpected pregnancy. Joseph is the potential husband who struggles to do the right thing, guided only by dreams and his love for the girl to whom he was betrothed. The images we are given of Herod are disturbing. He is everything a King shouldn't be. Violent. Despotic. So insecure that he orders an act of child genocide.
The Holy family, are driven to Bethlehem by a political census, eventually have to flee beyond the borders to Egypt as refugees, before a change in governmental leadership offers an opportunity to return home.
The shepherds are the outsiders, the people on the fringes who receive the greatest news ever told. The Wise Men are strangers, shrewd judges of character, strangely drawn in from far away... culturally, geographically and religiously... to celebrate the dawn of a new star in creation. They welcome Jesus with gifts that would have deep meaning for His future; gold associated with royalty, frankincense associated with worship, myrrh associated with suffering.
There are angelic visitations to both individuals and groups of people, close encounters of the heavenly kind. There are ascriptions of glory and praise to the God who is seen as being behind all things, of having orchestrated the whole drama of salvation from the beginning of time, with Jesus taking center stage.
There is the cousin of Jesus, John the Baptist, the son of temple priest Zachariah, who has been struck mute until he sees his baby born. There is John's mother, Elizabeth, in whose womb, her baby leaps for joy upon meeting Mary the mother of Jesus.
There is Simeon. “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah.” (Luke 2:26). Simeon declares, as he takes the baby Jesus up in his arms, “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." (Luke 2:30). There is Anna, a widow aged 84 years, who has dedicated her life to God's service, who looks upon Jesus and declares Jesus to truly be the child of God's promise. (Luke 2:38)
All these characters and happenings and events are as much a part of the scriptural account of Jesus birth as are the innkeeper, who says 'no Room', the donkey who carries Mary to Bethlehem and the swaddling clothes in which the baby Jesus is cradled. But how familiar are they to us? I believe it is a good thing to remind ourselves that the story we celebrate as Christmas, whilst full of meaning and symbolism and joy, is not the whole story. It is a good thing to have a Sunday during Advent that invites us to take another look at the narrative contained in the Biblical Books.
In the gospel reading from Luke for today we see Jesus preaching His first sermon and reading from Isaiah, words that He claims are fulfilled in Himself.
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)
To jump from 'chestnuts roasting around an open fire' to the heat and tension of the synagogue the first time Jesus preached is quite a leap. But not if one has taken the time to consider, not so much the season surrounding the birth of Jesus, but the scriptures and events of His coming. Our Christmas celebrations, though glorious and heartwarming as they can be, do not prepare us for the life of Jesus that we read of in the Scriptures.
The idea of the Spirit of the Lord anointing Jesus is not a strange one if we consider the words of Simeon and Anna who saw the evidence of the Spirit on His life when He was a baby. His declaration of coming to set the oppressed free does not strike as strange when we consider the oppressive circumstances surrounding the biblical account of His birth.
That a message considered “Good News to the Poor” should be first announced to shepherds does not seem so strange when we consider the low ranking position shepherds had in the society of the day. To talk of a year of the Lord's favor, in the light of the healing and good works that followed His ministry, makes perfect sense.
Returning to our verse from Paul. “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
There's a lot of people in the biblical story of Christmas who need hope. The pregnant young girl. The fearful Father. The much maligned shepherds. The far away 'Wise Men' trying to figure it all out. The 84 year old widow Anna. Simeon, waiting for something to come clear before he breathed his last.
The Scriptural account has a whole lot to offer the refugee, the persecuted, the victims of violence, those denied justice, those seeking a star to light their way, those who are wondering how on earth a world such as ours can ever become anything remotely resembling a Kingdom of God. It's all there. Hope for the world.
Nativities and Narnia have a message for us. It may well indeed feel, as C.S Lewis expressed so well, that we live in a world where it's 'Always winter, but never Christmas'. So I'd encourage you to look beyond the traditional narratives and look at the Scriptures themselves.
For through prayerful contemplation of Scriptures words we have the opportunity of encountering the true Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Inspired by His Holy Spirit, hope can be reborn and actions of significance can be attempted. Maybe it is as simple as the bumper stickers suggest. 'Keep Christ in Christmas'. Just be sure that it's the Jesus of Scripture and not the Christ of Christmas that you make your ultimate authority!
To God's name be the Glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Reading: Luke 4:14-21, Romans 15:4-13
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 8th, 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Back in the day... when I was younger... the second Sunday of Advent was always one that focused on the gift of God's Word, given to us in the Scriptures. Acknowledgment was made that if it were not for the written Word passed down to us then we would have no Christmas story to celebrate. No carols to sing, no Christmas plays, no traditions of giving and receiving, no Christmas tree, nor so many other things we take for granted about the festive season.
C.S. Lewis in his classic book for children 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' describes the mythical frozen land of Narnia as being a dismal land, not because of the cold, but because it was 'Always winter, but never Christmas'. Only with the return of Aslan (in his books the symbolic representation of Jesus) does Father Christmas once again make an appearance and all is well.
Critics of C.S Lewis complained that he would confuse children having figures like Aslan, representing Jesus, and then include characters like dwarves, badgers and Santa Claus. How would the children determine which were the mythological elements and which bits were supposed to represent something real? It could get confusing!
I am tempted to answer on Lewis's behalf; “You mean confusing... like Christmas?” After all the festival we celebrate is truly a strange mixture of ancient traditions, from different cultures and ancient practices, some of which have nothing to do with the Christian story.
A great deal of the Nativity story, as we tell it, has more to do with speculation and elaboration upon the texts than it does with the actual story that scripture contains. The date itself, December 25th, which we acknowledge as the birth of Jesus, was chosen in the fourth century as a good day to celebrate because it coincided with the winter solstice, when adherents of pagan religions built bonfires to welcome the return of longer days. Most scholars are unsure about the true date of Christ's birth.
C.S. Lewis's intention with his “Chronicles of Narnia” was not to rewrite the whole biblical story as an allegory. Before he wrote books for children, he was a classical scholar of English literature, and chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge University. He knew the power of story to ignite the imagination. His hope was that his works would inspire people to acquaint themselves with the true gospel story, not see his works as a replacement for it!
I suggest that we are attempting something similar with our Christmas celebrations. We know that what we do is not the actual historic biblical story. But we give ourselves permission to celebrate and to imagine and to invent, because that's what humans do! By creating this warm, folksy, festive story, with it's Santa and Elves and Baby in a manger and all the rest of it... maybe we can actually get folk to ask, “Well, what's the real deal with the season?”
And maybe that's why... back in the day... a Sunday was put aside in Advent to stress the Bible as being so important, especially for the understanding of the events we call Christmas. Because in many ways the biblical story is far more gritty and radical than our festive celebrations.
In our reading from Romans we heard Paul telling us, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
For the New Testament writers the story of Jesus does not begin in a stable in Bethlehem, but in the visions of Old Testament prophets and the hopes of a nation. Everything that surrounds the birth of Jesus is seen as the fulfillment of prophecy. Paul writes - verse 12 “Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in Him the Gentiles will hope."
In that verse alone are so many strands of theology and history that it could take a series of sermons to truly unpack it's implications. 'Jesse' was the father of Israels' most celebrated king, King David. The mission of Israel is pictured, not as self preservation, but for them to be a light for all nations, a model of how obedience to God created an opportunity for God's blessing. As events unfold, so hope is enabled, hope for freedom and justice and all of this focused upon the 'One who will arise'.
Even the events we know of as being part of the Nativity narrative can be interpreted in so many ways. Mary is a young girl facing an unexpected pregnancy. Joseph is the potential husband who struggles to do the right thing, guided only by dreams and his love for the girl to whom he was betrothed. The images we are given of Herod are disturbing. He is everything a King shouldn't be. Violent. Despotic. So insecure that he orders an act of child genocide.
The Holy family, are driven to Bethlehem by a political census, eventually have to flee beyond the borders to Egypt as refugees, before a change in governmental leadership offers an opportunity to return home.
The shepherds are the outsiders, the people on the fringes who receive the greatest news ever told. The Wise Men are strangers, shrewd judges of character, strangely drawn in from far away... culturally, geographically and religiously... to celebrate the dawn of a new star in creation. They welcome Jesus with gifts that would have deep meaning for His future; gold associated with royalty, frankincense associated with worship, myrrh associated with suffering.
There are angelic visitations to both individuals and groups of people, close encounters of the heavenly kind. There are ascriptions of glory and praise to the God who is seen as being behind all things, of having orchestrated the whole drama of salvation from the beginning of time, with Jesus taking center stage.
There is the cousin of Jesus, John the Baptist, the son of temple priest Zachariah, who has been struck mute until he sees his baby born. There is John's mother, Elizabeth, in whose womb, her baby leaps for joy upon meeting Mary the mother of Jesus.
There is Simeon. “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah.” (Luke 2:26). Simeon declares, as he takes the baby Jesus up in his arms, “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel." (Luke 2:30). There is Anna, a widow aged 84 years, who has dedicated her life to God's service, who looks upon Jesus and declares Jesus to truly be the child of God's promise. (Luke 2:38)
All these characters and happenings and events are as much a part of the scriptural account of Jesus birth as are the innkeeper, who says 'no Room', the donkey who carries Mary to Bethlehem and the swaddling clothes in which the baby Jesus is cradled. But how familiar are they to us? I believe it is a good thing to remind ourselves that the story we celebrate as Christmas, whilst full of meaning and symbolism and joy, is not the whole story. It is a good thing to have a Sunday during Advent that invites us to take another look at the narrative contained in the Biblical Books.
In the gospel reading from Luke for today we see Jesus preaching His first sermon and reading from Isaiah, words that He claims are fulfilled in Himself.
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)
To jump from 'chestnuts roasting around an open fire' to the heat and tension of the synagogue the first time Jesus preached is quite a leap. But not if one has taken the time to consider, not so much the season surrounding the birth of Jesus, but the scriptures and events of His coming. Our Christmas celebrations, though glorious and heartwarming as they can be, do not prepare us for the life of Jesus that we read of in the Scriptures.
The idea of the Spirit of the Lord anointing Jesus is not a strange one if we consider the words of Simeon and Anna who saw the evidence of the Spirit on His life when He was a baby. His declaration of coming to set the oppressed free does not strike as strange when we consider the oppressive circumstances surrounding the biblical account of His birth.
That a message considered “Good News to the Poor” should be first announced to shepherds does not seem so strange when we consider the low ranking position shepherds had in the society of the day. To talk of a year of the Lord's favor, in the light of the healing and good works that followed His ministry, makes perfect sense.
Returning to our verse from Paul. “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
There's a lot of people in the biblical story of Christmas who need hope. The pregnant young girl. The fearful Father. The much maligned shepherds. The far away 'Wise Men' trying to figure it all out. The 84 year old widow Anna. Simeon, waiting for something to come clear before he breathed his last.
The Scriptural account has a whole lot to offer the refugee, the persecuted, the victims of violence, those denied justice, those seeking a star to light their way, those who are wondering how on earth a world such as ours can ever become anything remotely resembling a Kingdom of God. It's all there. Hope for the world.
Nativities and Narnia have a message for us. It may well indeed feel, as C.S Lewis expressed so well, that we live in a world where it's 'Always winter, but never Christmas'. So I'd encourage you to look beyond the traditional narratives and look at the Scriptures themselves.
For through prayerful contemplation of Scriptures words we have the opportunity of encountering the true Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Inspired by His Holy Spirit, hope can be reborn and actions of significance can be attempted. Maybe it is as simple as the bumper stickers suggest. 'Keep Christ in Christmas'. Just be sure that it's the Jesus of Scripture and not the Christ of Christmas that you make your ultimate authority!
To God's name be the Glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Strengthened for Service
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – COMMUNION SERVICE
Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 1st, 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Christmas is coming. 'Soon and very soon' we are going to welcome the birth of the baby born to be King of Kings. One of the jobs of a King is to dispense justice. Our reading from Matthew gave us a picture of the kind of Kingdom that Jesus rules over; the Kingdom of God, in which the rules are not quite the same as in the kingdoms of the world.
In God's kingdom it's not achievement or success that measures greatness, but rather service. In fact Jesus so completely identifies with people who need serving that He goes as far as saying 'In as much as you helped the least of people, you have helped me!” The negative side of the picture is that when we haven't helped others, we have been no help to Jesus... or to God's Kingdom.
One of the positive things about this congregation is the way we help others. There always seems to be food in the baskets for the Food Pantry, another turkey to be cooked for the Inn, another clothing drive that is well responded to. Our building is host to organizations that help people struggling with addiction problems. Through our gifts and tithes we support chaplaincy programs, missionaries at home and abroad, a whole host of projects and peoples.
And it is GOOD that we do these things. They are the work of the Kingdom. Inspired by our Savior Jesus Christ, we seek to be His hands that are reaching out to others. We want to make a difference. We want other people to know that God cares for them and loves them. We need to keep on doing what we do. It's important.
Of course we can always do more, but I'm not going to suggest we take on extra projects or responsibilities. What I would suggest to you this morning is that service can be hard work and that here and now, in this place, at this time, we meet around a table laid with bread and wine that can remind us why we are doing many of the things that we do.
We serve God, not to gain favor with God, but out of gratitude towards God for the gift of Jesus Christ. We serve God, not in our own strength, but through the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit, who turns service into an opportunity for worship.
It is striking in Matthews account of the King who is judging the subjects that they ask him, “When did we see you naked, or hungry, or in prison?” They have no concept that their service may somehow have attracted the Kings good pleasure. Still less do they seem aware that their actions could be interpreted as actually being ones that touched the King himself.
The good subjects just seem to be aware that being of service to others was the right way to live. There appears no question of personal gain or merit, no sense of currying favor with the King. There was a need. They could meet it. So they did it.
Rather like the parable of the Good Samaritan, the service givers recognize that a persons religious beliefs, a persons nationality or cultural identity, whether they were meant to be friends by the conventions of their society or not, didn't count for much. What mattered was that they saw a person in need of a helping hand, they extended that hand, and the person was helped to get through the situation that had befallen them.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, those who could have helped, namely a Levite and a Priest, are too busy. They are so wrapped up in their self preservation that they don't see the needs of the injured party, nor recognize their own ability to be of help.
In our parable about the King, the ones whom he judges complain, “ 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' (Matthew 25:44-45 NIV).
Christmas time is sometimes known as the season of giving. We give in response to what has been given to us... 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life' (John 3:16)
It is GOOD that at the start of Advent we gather around a table to remember the One whom God has given to us, Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose life was so marked by selfless service that even today, when somebody does a good deed, you often hear, even non-religious people say, “Well that was the Christian thing to do!”
Seeing these elements of bread and wine reminds us that service can be tough. Even though we acknowledge that it is the right thing to do, we also are not good at putting our selves aside. We, like the Priest and the Levite on the road who walked by the needy man... we have our own agendas to meet. We are busy people. We know the limitations of our resources. We fear getting to involved when trouble comes. We are uncomfortable with those who are different to us. It is not easy to put our aside our fears and our prejudices. Service can be hard work.
Around this table we see what Jesus went through for us. His body was broken. His blood was poured out. He is our pattern. He is our inspiration. And all that He went through was not just for us, but for all people, of all places, of all kinds and all times. He calls us to be people who let others know that they are loved, that God cares about them, that God can help them.
Around this table God promises to strengthen us for service. Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." As we allow God to strengthen us, service does not take on the notion of being a burden, but a privilege. It becomes a sharing in the work of Christ. It becomes not so much a task as an act of worship. Jesus tells us in that verse we just read: “You shall find rest for your souls”.
I would encourage us then as a Church to keep on doing the things that we are doing that help others experience something of God's Kingdom. To make the most of our times for offering and giving, not just in this season of goodwill, but throughout the year. In a world where we sometimes wonder if we can really do anything to change things, well, here, through the ministry and mission of our own church community are so many opportunities to do the little things that can make a big difference in the lives of those who may be served.
We know it's the right thing to do! Around this table we are challenged to consider how to realistically respond to the deep love shown to us in Jesus Christ. Around this table we are also strengthened for service. How? Well that's the work of the Holy Spirit and I would not be so presumptuous as to seek to explain it.
Is it about community? Is it about identification? Is it about how taking time to reflect makes us more able to reflect the love of God towards to others? I don't think it is necessary to explain it or understand it.
What I do know is that when I come to this table, laid with bread and wine, and lay before God my life as it is, my fears, my worries, my confession that when it comes to serving others I often fail, my selfishness and misguided sense of privilege... when I come to this table with all my brokenness, then it becomes a healing place. It becomes a place where we remember God is with us... and that because God is for us then we have nothing to fear, but everything to offer!
'Soon and very soon we are going to see the King'. Our reading from Matthew gave us a particular perspective on how meetings with King's can turn out! We believe in Jesus Christ, the Servant King, so let us seek for the pattern of His life to be one we follow in our own lives, through the grace, mercy and help of God's Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, December 1st, 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Christmas is coming. 'Soon and very soon' we are going to welcome the birth of the baby born to be King of Kings. One of the jobs of a King is to dispense justice. Our reading from Matthew gave us a picture of the kind of Kingdom that Jesus rules over; the Kingdom of God, in which the rules are not quite the same as in the kingdoms of the world.
In God's kingdom it's not achievement or success that measures greatness, but rather service. In fact Jesus so completely identifies with people who need serving that He goes as far as saying 'In as much as you helped the least of people, you have helped me!” The negative side of the picture is that when we haven't helped others, we have been no help to Jesus... or to God's Kingdom.
One of the positive things about this congregation is the way we help others. There always seems to be food in the baskets for the Food Pantry, another turkey to be cooked for the Inn, another clothing drive that is well responded to. Our building is host to organizations that help people struggling with addiction problems. Through our gifts and tithes we support chaplaincy programs, missionaries at home and abroad, a whole host of projects and peoples.
And it is GOOD that we do these things. They are the work of the Kingdom. Inspired by our Savior Jesus Christ, we seek to be His hands that are reaching out to others. We want to make a difference. We want other people to know that God cares for them and loves them. We need to keep on doing what we do. It's important.
Of course we can always do more, but I'm not going to suggest we take on extra projects or responsibilities. What I would suggest to you this morning is that service can be hard work and that here and now, in this place, at this time, we meet around a table laid with bread and wine that can remind us why we are doing many of the things that we do.
We serve God, not to gain favor with God, but out of gratitude towards God for the gift of Jesus Christ. We serve God, not in our own strength, but through the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit, who turns service into an opportunity for worship.
It is striking in Matthews account of the King who is judging the subjects that they ask him, “When did we see you naked, or hungry, or in prison?” They have no concept that their service may somehow have attracted the Kings good pleasure. Still less do they seem aware that their actions could be interpreted as actually being ones that touched the King himself.
The good subjects just seem to be aware that being of service to others was the right way to live. There appears no question of personal gain or merit, no sense of currying favor with the King. There was a need. They could meet it. So they did it.
Rather like the parable of the Good Samaritan, the service givers recognize that a persons religious beliefs, a persons nationality or cultural identity, whether they were meant to be friends by the conventions of their society or not, didn't count for much. What mattered was that they saw a person in need of a helping hand, they extended that hand, and the person was helped to get through the situation that had befallen them.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, those who could have helped, namely a Levite and a Priest, are too busy. They are so wrapped up in their self preservation that they don't see the needs of the injured party, nor recognize their own ability to be of help.
In our parable about the King, the ones whom he judges complain, “ 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' (Matthew 25:44-45 NIV).
Christmas time is sometimes known as the season of giving. We give in response to what has been given to us... 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life' (John 3:16)
It is GOOD that at the start of Advent we gather around a table to remember the One whom God has given to us, Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose life was so marked by selfless service that even today, when somebody does a good deed, you often hear, even non-religious people say, “Well that was the Christian thing to do!”
Seeing these elements of bread and wine reminds us that service can be tough. Even though we acknowledge that it is the right thing to do, we also are not good at putting our selves aside. We, like the Priest and the Levite on the road who walked by the needy man... we have our own agendas to meet. We are busy people. We know the limitations of our resources. We fear getting to involved when trouble comes. We are uncomfortable with those who are different to us. It is not easy to put our aside our fears and our prejudices. Service can be hard work.
Around this table we see what Jesus went through for us. His body was broken. His blood was poured out. He is our pattern. He is our inspiration. And all that He went through was not just for us, but for all people, of all places, of all kinds and all times. He calls us to be people who let others know that they are loved, that God cares about them, that God can help them.
Around this table God promises to strengthen us for service. Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." As we allow God to strengthen us, service does not take on the notion of being a burden, but a privilege. It becomes a sharing in the work of Christ. It becomes not so much a task as an act of worship. Jesus tells us in that verse we just read: “You shall find rest for your souls”.
I would encourage us then as a Church to keep on doing the things that we are doing that help others experience something of God's Kingdom. To make the most of our times for offering and giving, not just in this season of goodwill, but throughout the year. In a world where we sometimes wonder if we can really do anything to change things, well, here, through the ministry and mission of our own church community are so many opportunities to do the little things that can make a big difference in the lives of those who may be served.
We know it's the right thing to do! Around this table we are challenged to consider how to realistically respond to the deep love shown to us in Jesus Christ. Around this table we are also strengthened for service. How? Well that's the work of the Holy Spirit and I would not be so presumptuous as to seek to explain it.
Is it about community? Is it about identification? Is it about how taking time to reflect makes us more able to reflect the love of God towards to others? I don't think it is necessary to explain it or understand it.
What I do know is that when I come to this table, laid with bread and wine, and lay before God my life as it is, my fears, my worries, my confession that when it comes to serving others I often fail, my selfishness and misguided sense of privilege... when I come to this table with all my brokenness, then it becomes a healing place. It becomes a place where we remember God is with us... and that because God is for us then we have nothing to fear, but everything to offer!
'Soon and very soon we are going to see the King'. Our reading from Matthew gave us a particular perspective on how meetings with King's can turn out! We believe in Jesus Christ, the Servant King, so let us seek for the pattern of His life to be one we follow in our own lives, through the grace, mercy and help of God's Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Christ The King
CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY
Readings: Jeremiah 23:1-6, Colossians 1:11-20, Luke 23:33-43
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, on November 24th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Jesus on the Cross. A sign placed over His head: “The King of the Jews”. In Luke 23:39 we read; “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" A criminal facing death alongside Him showing nothing but contempt. He sees nothing in Jesus. His claims to be the Messiah are laughable. Save the people? He can't even save Himself! If He can't even save Himself, what kind of Savior can He be for anybody else?
In complete contrast, Paul, a one-time disbeliever and mocker himself, writes to the Church of Colossae, that Jesus is the One:- “In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:14-17)
To one Jesus is a tragic failure. To the other He is the cosmic savior. To one He doesn't mean a darn thing. To the other He is every-thing. To one He is an object of derision. To the other He's the Son of God who demands decision.
The criminals complaint is simple. If Jesus was God's chosen one, then how come He had chosen to do nothing about the suffering, evil and hatred that inhabited all of creation. Why had He allowed it to overwhelm Him? Some King!
Such questions have surely crossed our minds. Where is God when suffering comes? Why, if God is God, does God allow disasters and tragedy? Why, if Jesus is the healer, do we continue to live in a world where cancers take our loved ones? Why if Jesus is the peace maker do guns and bombs talk louder than words? Why, if Jesus is the just King of all creation do the rich get away with murder and the hungry die for lack of sustenance?
Indeed there are those who today ascribe significance to writings such as Richard Dawkins 'The God Delusion' and the late Christopher Hitchen's 'God is not Great', who would suggest that not only are we Sunday by Sunday perpetuating a dangerous and illogical myth as truth but that we are deluded idiots to believe that Jesus Christ is anything more than the ultimate invisible friend. For them Paul's portrayal of Jesus as the King of all Creation, the One who can bring forgiveness and turn life around, is nothing more than misguided and potentially hazardous, wishful thinking.
Today is Christ the King Sunday. We may, like the thief on the Cross, be wondering, 'What kind of King is this, who does not use His power to get Himself off the cross? What kind of King is this who does not use His connections, influences, and resources to get you and me off the crosses we face? What kind of a King is this who allows so much immense suffering on this planet earth?”
Today we are at the very mystery of God, the mystery of the universe, at the very heart of the mystery of love. God chose to experience the place of the greatest pain, the cross. At the cross, we glimpse the mystery of God. At the Cross God chose not to avoid the suffering of this world. It has been said, “Where suffering is, love is. And where love is, God is.”
We are not God. We try to avoid suffering. When we are assaulted by forces beyond our control we complain, “Why me, God? ” We get angry at God; we become depressed, we become hurt, we no longer believe in God or that God intervenes in our lives.
One of the quirks of being human is that the whole world can be suffering, and we never ask the question, “Why?” but when something goes wrong with me, or with my family, or with my friends, or with my loved ones; when something goes wrong with my life, I then ask the question deeply and personally, “Why God? Why me? Why us? Why my loved one?”
The nature of God is not to avoid suffering. The nature of love is not to avoid pain or the places of pain. That’s the way love is. That’s the way Jesus has revealed God to us, He did not avoid pain, nor avoid the places of pain.
Loving people do not use their resources and connections to avoid the pain of their loved ones. The loving thing to do is to enter into the pain of those we love in order to help them bear it. That’s the way God is. That is the nature of love; to go and be with people in the midst of their pain and suffering. Such is at the love revealed to us through the Cross, the cross that had nailed to it the designation 'The King of the Jews'.
By becoming King, Jesus challenged the very notion of Kingship. He overturns our whole notion of power. His power is not dominating or controlling. The power He expresses is the power of redemption, the power to enter into another persons situation so totally and completely that their situation becomes a place, not of defeat, but of possibility. Paul states it clearly in Colossians. Jesus is the One 'In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.'
I have been in ministry long enough to have witnessed the power of God at work in desperate situations. I know that prayer can change things and that trust in God can turn peoples lives around. When people are desperate for direction, when people are in the midst of pain or turmoil, even that mysterious moment when people are transitioning from this life to the next... in these situations I have witnessed the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ entering in and bringing hope when... logically... there should be none.
To the mocker, to the unbeliever, to those who suggest that spiritual realities are false simply because they cannot be recreated in a laboratory or proved by statistical analysis, I have to wonder if they truly have ever experienced the deep mystery of love. And I don't mean the 'wishy-washy' emotional experience that the Western world defines as romantic love. I mean the depth of love that is found at the Cross.
There is an adaption of Psalm 23 that is found in our hymnbooks - Hymn 171 . I like it so much that Yvonne and I had these words as a hymn in our wedding service. (Though to the tune 174 – 'Dominus Regit Me', rather than 'St Columba' to which it is set in the Blue Hymnal – a much better match in my opinion – but I digress!)
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.
When we allow the 'King of Love', the Shepherd-King, the Servant-King, to take charge of our situation, when we allow Him to enter in, when we give up on thinking we can be in charge and allow Him to take charge, everything changes.
There is another criminal in our reading from Luke. Ch 23:40-43 “The other criminal rebuked him (that is, rebuked the one who mocked Jesus...) "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. " Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."
This second criminal, warped, compromised, sinful as his life may have been (and we have no way of knowing what crime he had committed) at least recognizes that there is an integrity to the life of Jesus that he had not seen in others. He recognizes in Jesus a deep connection to God and the Kingdom of God. He somehow understands that what was happening then and there, at the moment, would not define how events would eventually turn out. He says to Jesus 'Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom'. In Jesus he sees hope beyond what was logical!
This mustard seed of faith the man has discovered in his final moments of life on this earth is enough for Jesus to promise him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." The word 'paradise' is only used three times in the New Testament, and in each case is associated with a state of being. We may be more familiar with the imagery of paradise from 17th Century poet John Milton's epic work 'Paradise Lost', in which the fall of humankind, and the loss of the innocence of the paradise of Eden, positions humanity in a state of experiencing guilt and shame.
What Jesus is promising the man is that through faith in Him, his state of being can be transformed – he will move from paradise lost to paradise gained. In our own lives, faith can also be a transforming experience. Indeed the faith we have encourages us and empowers us to seek transformation in our wider community.
On Christ the King Sunday, we are invited to remember that the 'Kingdom of God', to which Jesus constantly pointed, is as fully available now and always as it was 2,000 years ago. The question that remains is whether we will choose to live within it's boundaries, something we can only do through trust and faith and by nurturing our lives through the regular disciplines of worship and study, service and prayer.
Our readings today lay before us choices. We are offered a picture of two criminals. One cries out “Some King! Can't even save himself”. The other only asks to be remembered. We can choose to stand with the mockers, the disbelievers and the scoffers or we can put our trust in Jesus, that He was who He claimed to be and is still able to bring about transformation.
The questions will always remain with us. The 'why?' of suffering and the 'why me?' are not going to go away. But if we recognize that it is the nature of love to enter into suffering, and if we can sense that such is exactly what Jesus has done at the Cross, then maybe we'll even be moved to consider, as Paul does in Colossians, that the dimensions of the love of Jesus are greater than we could ever conceive.
We also have the benefit of the rest of the New Testament witness. We know the story didn't end with three crosses. Our faith also talks of the empty tomb and the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We proclaim Jesus to be King, over all the forces of life that cheapen, destroy and disfigure, even King over death itself.
In Colossians 9:17 Paul writes that 'In Him all things hold together.' My belief is that if we put our mustard seed of faith and belief in Christ as King, then such becomes a reality for our lives. Beyond logic, beyond understanding, our experience becomes that through faith in the rule of Jesus over our lives 'All things hold together'. And to God's name be glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Readings: Jeremiah 23:1-6, Colossians 1:11-20, Luke 23:33-43
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, on November 24th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
Jesus on the Cross. A sign placed over His head: “The King of the Jews”. In Luke 23:39 we read; “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" A criminal facing death alongside Him showing nothing but contempt. He sees nothing in Jesus. His claims to be the Messiah are laughable. Save the people? He can't even save Himself! If He can't even save Himself, what kind of Savior can He be for anybody else?
In complete contrast, Paul, a one-time disbeliever and mocker himself, writes to the Church of Colossae, that Jesus is the One:- “In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:14-17)
To one Jesus is a tragic failure. To the other He is the cosmic savior. To one He doesn't mean a darn thing. To the other He is every-thing. To one He is an object of derision. To the other He's the Son of God who demands decision.
The criminals complaint is simple. If Jesus was God's chosen one, then how come He had chosen to do nothing about the suffering, evil and hatred that inhabited all of creation. Why had He allowed it to overwhelm Him? Some King!
Such questions have surely crossed our minds. Where is God when suffering comes? Why, if God is God, does God allow disasters and tragedy? Why, if Jesus is the healer, do we continue to live in a world where cancers take our loved ones? Why if Jesus is the peace maker do guns and bombs talk louder than words? Why, if Jesus is the just King of all creation do the rich get away with murder and the hungry die for lack of sustenance?
Indeed there are those who today ascribe significance to writings such as Richard Dawkins 'The God Delusion' and the late Christopher Hitchen's 'God is not Great', who would suggest that not only are we Sunday by Sunday perpetuating a dangerous and illogical myth as truth but that we are deluded idiots to believe that Jesus Christ is anything more than the ultimate invisible friend. For them Paul's portrayal of Jesus as the King of all Creation, the One who can bring forgiveness and turn life around, is nothing more than misguided and potentially hazardous, wishful thinking.
Today is Christ the King Sunday. We may, like the thief on the Cross, be wondering, 'What kind of King is this, who does not use His power to get Himself off the cross? What kind of King is this who does not use His connections, influences, and resources to get you and me off the crosses we face? What kind of a King is this who allows so much immense suffering on this planet earth?”
Today we are at the very mystery of God, the mystery of the universe, at the very heart of the mystery of love. God chose to experience the place of the greatest pain, the cross. At the cross, we glimpse the mystery of God. At the Cross God chose not to avoid the suffering of this world. It has been said, “Where suffering is, love is. And where love is, God is.”
We are not God. We try to avoid suffering. When we are assaulted by forces beyond our control we complain, “Why me, God? ” We get angry at God; we become depressed, we become hurt, we no longer believe in God or that God intervenes in our lives.
One of the quirks of being human is that the whole world can be suffering, and we never ask the question, “Why?” but when something goes wrong with me, or with my family, or with my friends, or with my loved ones; when something goes wrong with my life, I then ask the question deeply and personally, “Why God? Why me? Why us? Why my loved one?”
The nature of God is not to avoid suffering. The nature of love is not to avoid pain or the places of pain. That’s the way love is. That’s the way Jesus has revealed God to us, He did not avoid pain, nor avoid the places of pain.
Loving people do not use their resources and connections to avoid the pain of their loved ones. The loving thing to do is to enter into the pain of those we love in order to help them bear it. That’s the way God is. That is the nature of love; to go and be with people in the midst of their pain and suffering. Such is at the love revealed to us through the Cross, the cross that had nailed to it the designation 'The King of the Jews'.
By becoming King, Jesus challenged the very notion of Kingship. He overturns our whole notion of power. His power is not dominating or controlling. The power He expresses is the power of redemption, the power to enter into another persons situation so totally and completely that their situation becomes a place, not of defeat, but of possibility. Paul states it clearly in Colossians. Jesus is the One 'In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.'
I have been in ministry long enough to have witnessed the power of God at work in desperate situations. I know that prayer can change things and that trust in God can turn peoples lives around. When people are desperate for direction, when people are in the midst of pain or turmoil, even that mysterious moment when people are transitioning from this life to the next... in these situations I have witnessed the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ entering in and bringing hope when... logically... there should be none.
To the mocker, to the unbeliever, to those who suggest that spiritual realities are false simply because they cannot be recreated in a laboratory or proved by statistical analysis, I have to wonder if they truly have ever experienced the deep mystery of love. And I don't mean the 'wishy-washy' emotional experience that the Western world defines as romantic love. I mean the depth of love that is found at the Cross.
There is an adaption of Psalm 23 that is found in our hymnbooks - Hymn 171 . I like it so much that Yvonne and I had these words as a hymn in our wedding service. (Though to the tune 174 – 'Dominus Regit Me', rather than 'St Columba' to which it is set in the Blue Hymnal – a much better match in my opinion – but I digress!)
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.
When we allow the 'King of Love', the Shepherd-King, the Servant-King, to take charge of our situation, when we allow Him to enter in, when we give up on thinking we can be in charge and allow Him to take charge, everything changes.
There is another criminal in our reading from Luke. Ch 23:40-43 “The other criminal rebuked him (that is, rebuked the one who mocked Jesus...) "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. " Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."
This second criminal, warped, compromised, sinful as his life may have been (and we have no way of knowing what crime he had committed) at least recognizes that there is an integrity to the life of Jesus that he had not seen in others. He recognizes in Jesus a deep connection to God and the Kingdom of God. He somehow understands that what was happening then and there, at the moment, would not define how events would eventually turn out. He says to Jesus 'Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom'. In Jesus he sees hope beyond what was logical!
This mustard seed of faith the man has discovered in his final moments of life on this earth is enough for Jesus to promise him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." The word 'paradise' is only used three times in the New Testament, and in each case is associated with a state of being. We may be more familiar with the imagery of paradise from 17th Century poet John Milton's epic work 'Paradise Lost', in which the fall of humankind, and the loss of the innocence of the paradise of Eden, positions humanity in a state of experiencing guilt and shame.
What Jesus is promising the man is that through faith in Him, his state of being can be transformed – he will move from paradise lost to paradise gained. In our own lives, faith can also be a transforming experience. Indeed the faith we have encourages us and empowers us to seek transformation in our wider community.
On Christ the King Sunday, we are invited to remember that the 'Kingdom of God', to which Jesus constantly pointed, is as fully available now and always as it was 2,000 years ago. The question that remains is whether we will choose to live within it's boundaries, something we can only do through trust and faith and by nurturing our lives through the regular disciplines of worship and study, service and prayer.
Our readings today lay before us choices. We are offered a picture of two criminals. One cries out “Some King! Can't even save himself”. The other only asks to be remembered. We can choose to stand with the mockers, the disbelievers and the scoffers or we can put our trust in Jesus, that He was who He claimed to be and is still able to bring about transformation.
The questions will always remain with us. The 'why?' of suffering and the 'why me?' are not going to go away. But if we recognize that it is the nature of love to enter into suffering, and if we can sense that such is exactly what Jesus has done at the Cross, then maybe we'll even be moved to consider, as Paul does in Colossians, that the dimensions of the love of Jesus are greater than we could ever conceive.
We also have the benefit of the rest of the New Testament witness. We know the story didn't end with three crosses. Our faith also talks of the empty tomb and the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We proclaim Jesus to be King, over all the forces of life that cheapen, destroy and disfigure, even King over death itself.
In Colossians 9:17 Paul writes that 'In Him all things hold together.' My belief is that if we put our mustard seed of faith and belief in Christ as King, then such becomes a reality for our lives. Beyond logic, beyond understanding, our experience becomes that through faith in the rule of Jesus over our lives 'All things hold together'. And to God's name be glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Patience!
Readings: Issiah 65:17-25, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Luke 21:5-19, Romans 8:18-27
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, on November 17th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
I was looking through a cataloger that was advertising T-Shirts with Christian messages upon them. One of them caught my eye. It said simply, “Be Patient. God hasn’t finished with me yet”. Romans 8:25 in the Good News Version of the Bible reads, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”.
The context of the verse is a section in Romans that deals with freedom. Whilst the gospel promises to set those who embrace its message free, that freedom does not come in an instant. Deliverance can be a lifetime process that involves many struggles along the way. Paul urges us to persevere in the knowledge that God’s Holy Spirit is with us and working in our best interests.
Patience is therefore something essential to Christian life. We need patience with ourselves, with the Church and with God. This text relates patience to faith. It is not putting up with situations that never change, but believing that with God all things are possible, even when they take time!
Allow me then to ask you some rhetorical questions regarding patience. Firstly let me ask you;
Are you patient with yourself?
The hardest battle on our hands for many of us is the battle with ourselves. Much of our lack of patience with others is a projection of our own feelings about ourselves. We tend to give ourselves a lift by dragging someone else down. Attempting to be Christian people can make this worse! For part of turning to Christ is being ruthlessly honest about ourselves. And what that can reveal is the slowness of our growth in character.
We find that the same old problems and sins continue to haunt us. We find that attitudes we thought were dead and buried start to show their ugly head again. We discover things about ourselves that we hadn’t realized were there.
All this is part of Christian growth. That’s why the Christian life demands patience. Patience with ourselves. There is no instant-Christianity. We can go to the store and get instant everything from potatoes to thousand dollar loans, but there is nowhere that sells “instant disciple” programs.
You can buy books that say, “Learn to drive in 3 Weeks”, but I guarantee that if all a person does is the read the book and never gets behind the wheel then you are not going to be wanting to go any rides with them.
There are no short cuts to being a disciple. Yet, with a persistent and patient faith, there are also no limits to the heights of character that we could reach. There are no limits on the victories we could achieve if we could only learn to wait patiently and walk humbly before our God.
Patience is a strong and active virtue. It means perseverance when the times get rough, plodding on when we feel the situation is hopeless, pressing forward when others around us are throwing in the towel. It requires fixing our eyes on what is not yet seen, walking by faith that God knows best.
Are you patient with yourself? If not then remember that God hasn’t finished with you yet. A second question.
Are you patient with the Church?
I was going to ask, “Are you patient with others?” in a general way, but I think a more pertinent question in our day, and seeming as the church is the body of Christ, a place where we have a particular calling from God to get along with each other, it seems more focused to ask “Are you patient with the Church?”
It is fashionable today to be impatient with anything institutional. The church is no exception. Impatience with the church is as old as the church itself. Radicals and Reformers have been in evidence in every age. And rightly so.
But unless protest is subjected to the discipline of patient love then it is on shaky foundations. It is easy to pick fault with the church. So easy. But picking fault is neither radical nor reforming. What is difficult is rolling up your sleeves, throwing yourself wholeheartedly into service of others and working hard to put things right. Such is the demand of love that Christ lays upon us. Love never stands aside and criticizes.
We must be patient with the churches hypocrisies. I’m not saying we must approve of them, I’m saying we must be patient with them. No church is what it should be, by a long shot. There is a yawning gulf between the actual and the ideal. There is no church in all creation that perfectly embodies the life and teaching of Jesus Christ in all its purity and splendor.
And even if such a church existed I don’t think I know anybody who would qualify for membership. Fact is that the church is hewn from the rough material of human nature; nature that is being transformed by the touch of God’s Spirit. Jesus welcomes sinful, struggling, weak, slow, ungracious people! As He put it, “It’s not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick”.
We also need to be patient with the churches traditions. I’m not just speaking about the things that denominations enshrine into their way of doing things, but also the local churches ‘ways of doing things’. That can be hard because often we have come into those traditions as an outsider and carry our own thoughts and ideas about how things should be done. However we should recognize that the positive side of traditions, particularly those of the different denominations, are often things that were formed in the heat of dispute and conflict, which provided a way through difficult times that has been passed on from generation to generation. Such accumulated wisdom should not be dismissed.
Yet, a new and changing day demands new methods and new ways of doing things. The change from one to the other can be a difficult and painful process, and is certainly one that demands patience.
That also means being patient with the churches decisions. They are not always our personal decisions. I'm pretty sure they are not always God’s decisions! It is far more difficult for a community to decide what is right in any given situation than for an individual. And the church community, made up as it is of fallible and sinful humanity, has made and will make many more mistakes.
As a pastor I am well aware that I’m as prone to failure as much as any other member of this congregation. Thankfully the church is a whole lot more than a pastor or a session or any group within the church. It’s people. People who are being redeemed by the love of Jesus Christ, but have a way to go before truly being the folk God wants them to be. So be patient with the Church. God hasn’t finished with her yet! Let me ask you, thirdly;
Are you patient with God?
Many of us wrestle with God, baffled by God’s reticence, impatient with God’s slowness. We are in a hurry and God does not seem to share our concern. We bombard heaven with our prayers and complain about God’s absence when instant answers are not what we ordered we ask,. “Lord, don’t You know what life is like down here?”
We wrestle with God. But we had better hope to lose. The very greatness of God is in God’s long-suffering. The majesty of God is God’s mercy. The power of God is in God’s patience. Where would any of us be were it not for the divine patience that works lovingly and gracefully for our salvation?
Christian patience is rooted in the conviction that God’s time is always the best time, the right time and the only time. You cannot force the hand of a God who chooses to make His approach to us through a Cross on a hillside, who could break us with Divine power, yet rather stoops to win us over by love.
Here is the heart of the matter. Christ died for us whilst we were yet sinners and prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. There is the divine patience. Oh, how we need that patient love to combat our impatient striving! How we need to grasp a vision of what God can do for our lives and the Church and for this world!
Be patient! God hasn’t finished with us yet! When they nailed the Son of God to that cruel cross, the words came from His lips, “It is finished”. That was not a cry of defeat, but of victory. For in that moment, God provided all that we need to be the people God wants us to be.
Living a faithful and patient Christian life depends not on which Church we go to, or who our pastor is, or where we live. It’s so much more. It’s about the reality of the empty tomb. ‘Christ is Risen”. Through His Holy Spirit He is transforming the most God forsaken lives, the only requirement being preparedness to go forward with Him, listening for His voice and patiently traveling on.
I was preaching one time when I noticed a spider crawling along the pulpit and to the end of the lectern. What was it going to do? Jump off, spin a web, turn back, go in a different direction? That little spider had no idea that it was in a pulpit of a Presbyterian Church. What did it know of elections and wars and debates on ethics and trying to balance the checkbook? How did it perceive its place in time and space?
I sometimes feel that our mental grasp of the love of God is as fractional as a spider’s grasp of the daily world in which we live and move and have our being. If the majesty and love of God is infinite, is it any wonder that from time to time we wonder what on earth is going on?
What is amazing is that Jesus, with all His divine authority, could say, ‘You do not now know, but one day you will understand all things” Paul speaks of how we presently see only ‘thru a glass darkly’, but one day all will be clear.
In the between time, let us exercise patience. Be patient with our self, with our church, with our God. Patience is nurtured through faith. Through having an inner conviction, that no matter what, God will work things out in the end, in God’s time and in God’s way. Patience comes through focusing, not on others, not on ourselves, but on God, on the way God has worked in this world through Jesus Christ and can work in us and through us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”. Be patient. God hasn’t finished with us yet. All around us may change. People come and go all around our lives. Everything changes. That’s life. Yet with our focus on the love of God, and the possibilities that the ways of God’s love open up to us, we can set our sights high and rejoice that a life lived in the knowledge and love of God is a life well lived.
May God, through the action of the Holy Spirit, build into our lives a gentle and patient spirit, that reflects the nature of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, on November 17th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
I was looking through a cataloger that was advertising T-Shirts with Christian messages upon them. One of them caught my eye. It said simply, “Be Patient. God hasn’t finished with me yet”. Romans 8:25 in the Good News Version of the Bible reads, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”.
The context of the verse is a section in Romans that deals with freedom. Whilst the gospel promises to set those who embrace its message free, that freedom does not come in an instant. Deliverance can be a lifetime process that involves many struggles along the way. Paul urges us to persevere in the knowledge that God’s Holy Spirit is with us and working in our best interests.
Patience is therefore something essential to Christian life. We need patience with ourselves, with the Church and with God. This text relates patience to faith. It is not putting up with situations that never change, but believing that with God all things are possible, even when they take time!
Allow me then to ask you some rhetorical questions regarding patience. Firstly let me ask you;
Are you patient with yourself?
The hardest battle on our hands for many of us is the battle with ourselves. Much of our lack of patience with others is a projection of our own feelings about ourselves. We tend to give ourselves a lift by dragging someone else down. Attempting to be Christian people can make this worse! For part of turning to Christ is being ruthlessly honest about ourselves. And what that can reveal is the slowness of our growth in character.
We find that the same old problems and sins continue to haunt us. We find that attitudes we thought were dead and buried start to show their ugly head again. We discover things about ourselves that we hadn’t realized were there.
All this is part of Christian growth. That’s why the Christian life demands patience. Patience with ourselves. There is no instant-Christianity. We can go to the store and get instant everything from potatoes to thousand dollar loans, but there is nowhere that sells “instant disciple” programs.
You can buy books that say, “Learn to drive in 3 Weeks”, but I guarantee that if all a person does is the read the book and never gets behind the wheel then you are not going to be wanting to go any rides with them.
There are no short cuts to being a disciple. Yet, with a persistent and patient faith, there are also no limits to the heights of character that we could reach. There are no limits on the victories we could achieve if we could only learn to wait patiently and walk humbly before our God.
Patience is a strong and active virtue. It means perseverance when the times get rough, plodding on when we feel the situation is hopeless, pressing forward when others around us are throwing in the towel. It requires fixing our eyes on what is not yet seen, walking by faith that God knows best.
Are you patient with yourself? If not then remember that God hasn’t finished with you yet. A second question.
Are you patient with the Church?
I was going to ask, “Are you patient with others?” in a general way, but I think a more pertinent question in our day, and seeming as the church is the body of Christ, a place where we have a particular calling from God to get along with each other, it seems more focused to ask “Are you patient with the Church?”
It is fashionable today to be impatient with anything institutional. The church is no exception. Impatience with the church is as old as the church itself. Radicals and Reformers have been in evidence in every age. And rightly so.
But unless protest is subjected to the discipline of patient love then it is on shaky foundations. It is easy to pick fault with the church. So easy. But picking fault is neither radical nor reforming. What is difficult is rolling up your sleeves, throwing yourself wholeheartedly into service of others and working hard to put things right. Such is the demand of love that Christ lays upon us. Love never stands aside and criticizes.
We must be patient with the churches hypocrisies. I’m not saying we must approve of them, I’m saying we must be patient with them. No church is what it should be, by a long shot. There is a yawning gulf between the actual and the ideal. There is no church in all creation that perfectly embodies the life and teaching of Jesus Christ in all its purity and splendor.
And even if such a church existed I don’t think I know anybody who would qualify for membership. Fact is that the church is hewn from the rough material of human nature; nature that is being transformed by the touch of God’s Spirit. Jesus welcomes sinful, struggling, weak, slow, ungracious people! As He put it, “It’s not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick”.
We also need to be patient with the churches traditions. I’m not just speaking about the things that denominations enshrine into their way of doing things, but also the local churches ‘ways of doing things’. That can be hard because often we have come into those traditions as an outsider and carry our own thoughts and ideas about how things should be done. However we should recognize that the positive side of traditions, particularly those of the different denominations, are often things that were formed in the heat of dispute and conflict, which provided a way through difficult times that has been passed on from generation to generation. Such accumulated wisdom should not be dismissed.
Yet, a new and changing day demands new methods and new ways of doing things. The change from one to the other can be a difficult and painful process, and is certainly one that demands patience.
That also means being patient with the churches decisions. They are not always our personal decisions. I'm pretty sure they are not always God’s decisions! It is far more difficult for a community to decide what is right in any given situation than for an individual. And the church community, made up as it is of fallible and sinful humanity, has made and will make many more mistakes.
As a pastor I am well aware that I’m as prone to failure as much as any other member of this congregation. Thankfully the church is a whole lot more than a pastor or a session or any group within the church. It’s people. People who are being redeemed by the love of Jesus Christ, but have a way to go before truly being the folk God wants them to be. So be patient with the Church. God hasn’t finished with her yet! Let me ask you, thirdly;
Are you patient with God?
Many of us wrestle with God, baffled by God’s reticence, impatient with God’s slowness. We are in a hurry and God does not seem to share our concern. We bombard heaven with our prayers and complain about God’s absence when instant answers are not what we ordered we ask,. “Lord, don’t You know what life is like down here?”
We wrestle with God. But we had better hope to lose. The very greatness of God is in God’s long-suffering. The majesty of God is God’s mercy. The power of God is in God’s patience. Where would any of us be were it not for the divine patience that works lovingly and gracefully for our salvation?
Christian patience is rooted in the conviction that God’s time is always the best time, the right time and the only time. You cannot force the hand of a God who chooses to make His approach to us through a Cross on a hillside, who could break us with Divine power, yet rather stoops to win us over by love.
Here is the heart of the matter. Christ died for us whilst we were yet sinners and prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. There is the divine patience. Oh, how we need that patient love to combat our impatient striving! How we need to grasp a vision of what God can do for our lives and the Church and for this world!
Be patient! God hasn’t finished with us yet! When they nailed the Son of God to that cruel cross, the words came from His lips, “It is finished”. That was not a cry of defeat, but of victory. For in that moment, God provided all that we need to be the people God wants us to be.
Living a faithful and patient Christian life depends not on which Church we go to, or who our pastor is, or where we live. It’s so much more. It’s about the reality of the empty tomb. ‘Christ is Risen”. Through His Holy Spirit He is transforming the most God forsaken lives, the only requirement being preparedness to go forward with Him, listening for His voice and patiently traveling on.
I was preaching one time when I noticed a spider crawling along the pulpit and to the end of the lectern. What was it going to do? Jump off, spin a web, turn back, go in a different direction? That little spider had no idea that it was in a pulpit of a Presbyterian Church. What did it know of elections and wars and debates on ethics and trying to balance the checkbook? How did it perceive its place in time and space?
I sometimes feel that our mental grasp of the love of God is as fractional as a spider’s grasp of the daily world in which we live and move and have our being. If the majesty and love of God is infinite, is it any wonder that from time to time we wonder what on earth is going on?
What is amazing is that Jesus, with all His divine authority, could say, ‘You do not now know, but one day you will understand all things” Paul speaks of how we presently see only ‘thru a glass darkly’, but one day all will be clear.
In the between time, let us exercise patience. Be patient with our self, with our church, with our God. Patience is nurtured through faith. Through having an inner conviction, that no matter what, God will work things out in the end, in God’s time and in God’s way. Patience comes through focusing, not on others, not on ourselves, but on God, on the way God has worked in this world through Jesus Christ and can work in us and through us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”. Be patient. God hasn’t finished with us yet. All around us may change. People come and go all around our lives. Everything changes. That’s life. Yet with our focus on the love of God, and the possibilities that the ways of God’s love open up to us, we can set our sights high and rejoice that a life lived in the knowledge and love of God is a life well lived.
May God, through the action of the Holy Spirit, build into our lives a gentle and patient spirit, that reflects the nature of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, November 4, 2013
An Open Invitation - Communion Service
Readings: Psalm19, Isaiah 55, Philippians 3:4-14, Matthew 11:25-30
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, on November 3rd 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
I remember when my kids were growing up one of them received an invitation to a party. “Oh” said the other, “That’s not fair!. Why can’t I go?” The next day the other one received an invitation to a different party and this time the first was not invited. That seemed to balance things out. Having received exclusive invitations the problem was solved.
Today I am not making an exclusive invitation. Whilst my invitation is personal, it is also an open invitation to come and share in bread and wine and remember the living love of Jesus Christ in such a way that our lives are renewed by the Holy Spirit.
Usually when invites are sent out to any occasion a guest list is made. A communion celebration is no exception. Who is on the guest list today?
1. The Heavy Laden. (Matthew 11:28) "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
2. The Thirsty.( John 7:37-38) "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
3. All those who want to be near to God. (Isaiah 55:6) “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”
1. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Are there things that are weighing you down? Are the worries of the world heavy on your shoulders? Are you going through a tunnel and have yet to see the light at the end of it?
Then hear these precious words of Jesus. “Come to me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest”
This is not an invitation to the self-sufficient. This is an invitation to those who are aware of their need. If we can but see ourselves in the light of God, then we would see that we are all in a situation of need.
Sometimes our need is for forgiveness. We just can’t believe we could be so stupid. We need to know ourselves forgiven so that we can move forward. Sometimes our need is for encouragement. Sometimes our need is for healing or for guidance.
Hebrews 7:25 says of Jesus that ‘He is able to save completely those who come to Him’. I like the way the Message Bible paraphrases these verses from Matthew.
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
This table of communion is a place to bring our burdens to God, to bring all our sorrows, all that weighs heavy upon us. Jesus invites us here. “Come all who are heavy laden, I will give you rest.” Next on our guest list:-
2. "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
He wasn’t talking here of drinking water. Nor was He talking of drinking wine. He was talking of drinking in His life giving Holy Spirit. John 7:39 states quite clearly, “Jesus said this about the Spirit.”
Christian life is spiritual life. Christianity is not a code of or morals or ethics. Christianity is not the Ten Commandments. Christianity is not just being nice to people or helping them. Whilst being part of a community of faith is vital for Christian life and growth, Christianity is not just about going to church or singing hymns or saying prayers. All these are good and positive things, but they are not the bottom line.
The bottom line is that Christianity is about having a life-giving relationship with God as our Father, made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in the power of His Holy Spirit. Everything else in Christianity flows for that source.
“Whoever is thirsty should come to me and drink, who ever believes in me, streams of life giving water will pour out from his heart”.
Without God’s Spirit life is dry, religion is empty, stewardship is a burden and worship is self delusion. ‘Let everyone who is thirsty come to me.” With these words Jesus puts into a new framework the words of Isaiah in Chapter 55; 1-2
“ Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”
Unless our Christianity is a spiritual thing it will offer little strength for living out our faith in the real world. We will remain hungry, unsatisfied, burdened and thirsty. But the richness of God’s grace can feed the hungriest of hearts.
On the communion table are bread and wine. Everyday things. What fills them with meaning are the spiritual realities they represent for us. The body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Here are symbols of love... a love prepared to abandon itself to save us, love offered without expecting reward, love that is not ashamed of rebuke or rejection. Love as fragile as a snowflake yet more powerful than a nuclear explosion.
If you are thirsting for that depth of love then you are thirsting for a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit. You have come to the right place. God’s Spirit empowers and enlivens, encourages us and guides us, lifts us up when we have fallen, strengthens us when we are weary. “Ho.. everyone who thirsts… come to the waters”.
Third on our guest list… Staying with Isaiah 55… verse 6 tells us;
3. “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near”
There is no magic about communion. It’s not a conjuring trick or short cut to God’s blessing. But I’ll tell you what it is. It is something special. Why? Because Jesus said, 'Remember me' in this way, ‘Remember me’ by breaking bread and drinking wine together in fellowship.
Over the centuries, to our great shame, Christian people have argued and fought over what actually is happening here. At different times the table has been hedged with superstitions and prohibitions.
‘You shouldn’t be here’
‘You have to do this and this and this before you are welcome here’
‘These things aren’t meant for you, you don’t make the grade,”
The tragic thing is that a lot of these arguments have arisen because people recognize this simple feast as something special. In the process they seem to have made something essentially simple unfathomably complex.
Now I speak personally… (and this is my opinion not Presbyterian doctrine)… I believe that we are not meant to understand why communion is special, nor are we meant to understand how it is that so many people over the centuries have testified that when they share in bread and wine with other Christians that God feels especially near.
We are not meant to understand it… we are meant to receive it, because real love, the love we nailed naked and bare to the cross of Calvary, the love that burst forth like an explosion of joy from the empty tomb, real love, is too deep to put into words.
It is something we have to taste, something whose touch we feel in the most secret places of our hearts, something that when it touches us is like a bubbling stream that flows through us… renewing us and opening up within us even greater depths to be filled.
'Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” This is a special invitation, to special feast, at a special time.
Revelation 3:20 pictures Jesus declaring; “Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”
So this morning I offer an open invitation. Come and feast on the love of God. Allow God to speak to you in whatever way God chooses as we share together in these elements of bread and wine.
This is also the last Sunday in our Stewardship season. Consider in what tangible ways you are able to respond to the inviting love that is offered here, through your time, talents, treasures and influence. How can your life be an invitation for others to taste and see that the Lord is good?
Who is on the guest list?
I invite you to come, just as you are, bringing nothing but your honesty and need, that here, at this table, your life may be nourished by the Holy Spirit at work in our midst. To God’s name be the glory as we remember Jesus in the way He invited.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, on November 3rd 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
I remember when my kids were growing up one of them received an invitation to a party. “Oh” said the other, “That’s not fair!. Why can’t I go?” The next day the other one received an invitation to a different party and this time the first was not invited. That seemed to balance things out. Having received exclusive invitations the problem was solved.
Today I am not making an exclusive invitation. Whilst my invitation is personal, it is also an open invitation to come and share in bread and wine and remember the living love of Jesus Christ in such a way that our lives are renewed by the Holy Spirit.
Usually when invites are sent out to any occasion a guest list is made. A communion celebration is no exception. Who is on the guest list today?
1. The Heavy Laden. (Matthew 11:28) "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
2. The Thirsty.( John 7:37-38) "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
3. All those who want to be near to God. (Isaiah 55:6) “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”
1. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Are there things that are weighing you down? Are the worries of the world heavy on your shoulders? Are you going through a tunnel and have yet to see the light at the end of it?
Then hear these precious words of Jesus. “Come to me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest”
This is not an invitation to the self-sufficient. This is an invitation to those who are aware of their need. If we can but see ourselves in the light of God, then we would see that we are all in a situation of need.
Sometimes our need is for forgiveness. We just can’t believe we could be so stupid. We need to know ourselves forgiven so that we can move forward. Sometimes our need is for encouragement. Sometimes our need is for healing or for guidance.
Hebrews 7:25 says of Jesus that ‘He is able to save completely those who come to Him’. I like the way the Message Bible paraphrases these verses from Matthew.
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
This table of communion is a place to bring our burdens to God, to bring all our sorrows, all that weighs heavy upon us. Jesus invites us here. “Come all who are heavy laden, I will give you rest.” Next on our guest list:-
2. "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
He wasn’t talking here of drinking water. Nor was He talking of drinking wine. He was talking of drinking in His life giving Holy Spirit. John 7:39 states quite clearly, “Jesus said this about the Spirit.”
Christian life is spiritual life. Christianity is not a code of or morals or ethics. Christianity is not the Ten Commandments. Christianity is not just being nice to people or helping them. Whilst being part of a community of faith is vital for Christian life and growth, Christianity is not just about going to church or singing hymns or saying prayers. All these are good and positive things, but they are not the bottom line.
The bottom line is that Christianity is about having a life-giving relationship with God as our Father, made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in the power of His Holy Spirit. Everything else in Christianity flows for that source.
“Whoever is thirsty should come to me and drink, who ever believes in me, streams of life giving water will pour out from his heart”.
Without God’s Spirit life is dry, religion is empty, stewardship is a burden and worship is self delusion. ‘Let everyone who is thirsty come to me.” With these words Jesus puts into a new framework the words of Isaiah in Chapter 55; 1-2
“ Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”
Unless our Christianity is a spiritual thing it will offer little strength for living out our faith in the real world. We will remain hungry, unsatisfied, burdened and thirsty. But the richness of God’s grace can feed the hungriest of hearts.
On the communion table are bread and wine. Everyday things. What fills them with meaning are the spiritual realities they represent for us. The body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Here are symbols of love... a love prepared to abandon itself to save us, love offered without expecting reward, love that is not ashamed of rebuke or rejection. Love as fragile as a snowflake yet more powerful than a nuclear explosion.
If you are thirsting for that depth of love then you are thirsting for a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit. You have come to the right place. God’s Spirit empowers and enlivens, encourages us and guides us, lifts us up when we have fallen, strengthens us when we are weary. “Ho.. everyone who thirsts… come to the waters”.
Third on our guest list… Staying with Isaiah 55… verse 6 tells us;
3. “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near”
There is no magic about communion. It’s not a conjuring trick or short cut to God’s blessing. But I’ll tell you what it is. It is something special. Why? Because Jesus said, 'Remember me' in this way, ‘Remember me’ by breaking bread and drinking wine together in fellowship.
Over the centuries, to our great shame, Christian people have argued and fought over what actually is happening here. At different times the table has been hedged with superstitions and prohibitions.
‘You shouldn’t be here’
‘You have to do this and this and this before you are welcome here’
‘These things aren’t meant for you, you don’t make the grade,”
The tragic thing is that a lot of these arguments have arisen because people recognize this simple feast as something special. In the process they seem to have made something essentially simple unfathomably complex.
Now I speak personally… (and this is my opinion not Presbyterian doctrine)… I believe that we are not meant to understand why communion is special, nor are we meant to understand how it is that so many people over the centuries have testified that when they share in bread and wine with other Christians that God feels especially near.
We are not meant to understand it… we are meant to receive it, because real love, the love we nailed naked and bare to the cross of Calvary, the love that burst forth like an explosion of joy from the empty tomb, real love, is too deep to put into words.
It is something we have to taste, something whose touch we feel in the most secret places of our hearts, something that when it touches us is like a bubbling stream that flows through us… renewing us and opening up within us even greater depths to be filled.
'Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” This is a special invitation, to special feast, at a special time.
Revelation 3:20 pictures Jesus declaring; “Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”
So this morning I offer an open invitation. Come and feast on the love of God. Allow God to speak to you in whatever way God chooses as we share together in these elements of bread and wine.
This is also the last Sunday in our Stewardship season. Consider in what tangible ways you are able to respond to the inviting love that is offered here, through your time, talents, treasures and influence. How can your life be an invitation for others to taste and see that the Lord is good?
Who is on the guest list?
- The Heavy Laden - Come and find rest (Matthew 11:28)
- The Thirsty – Come and be filled with the life giving water of the Holy Spirit ( John 7:37-38)
- All those who want to be near God – Open your hearts, because God is nearer than we dare imagine. (Isaiah 55:6)
I invite you to come, just as you are, bringing nothing but your honesty and need, that here, at this table, your life may be nourished by the Holy Spirit at work in our midst. To God’s name be the glory as we remember Jesus in the way He invited.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Pharisee and the Publican
Reading: Luke 18:9-14
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, October 27th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
I'd like to start with a story. Visualize a pool hall. Around the tables are the usual Pool Hall sort of crowd trying to get that white ball to hit the other balls and knock them into the pockets. Some kind of country music is coming out the Jukebox. And seated at a corner table is God, dressed up as a normal guy.
Through the door enters the Pharisee. He looks disdainfully around the room at the kind of company God is keeping these days and seeks out the Almighty. He slams some coins down on the table; “Next game, God, it's me and You!” God says nothing, shrugs His shoulders, and beckons to a couple of folk at the nearest Pool table. They give God a nod and a thumbs up, stop their game, and start setting up the balls.
A feisty looking girl with a twinkle in her eye comes over, looks straight at the Pharisee and says, “You call”. She flips a coin into the air. “Heads” says the Pharisee. It lands. It’s Tails. God gets to break. He picks out a cue from the rack on the wall and as He’s rubbing chalk onto the end, a country version of the Hallelujah Chorus starts playing on the Jukebox. ‘Ding ding ding ding a ding, ding ding ding a ding, Arrleylooyarh!’
As a Master of the Game He propels the white towards that triangle of colored balls. Bang, bang, bang, like some carefully choreographed ballet the balls roll into the pockets. He then slowly and deliberately pots the others, concluding with an awesome ‘around the table ricochet’ that causes the Black Ball to mark the shape of a Cross before leaping into the upper right hand pocket.
The Pharisee is standing ashen faced at the side of the table. He’s glancing around at the others, as if to say, 'That’s not fair, I didn’t get a chance'. God has hung His cue back on the rack and is walking over to the Pharisee. He grabs the cue from out of the Pharisees sweaty, clammy, hands. “You Fool” says God, “Don’t you realize that when you 'play me' there is only one rule?” God sighs, shakes His head and walks away. “Tell Him people, what's the result whenever people play God?”
As one voice the assorted characters in the Pool Hall shout “You Lose!” before bursting out into laughter and returning to their games and conversations. The Pharisee, spits on the floor, straightens himself up and haughtily exits the way he came in. As he leaves he turns and says, “Next time, next time, You’ll see, I can win this one”. End of story. Let's move to a bible story.
Jesus tells a parable about two men, not in a pool hall, but praying in the temple. One of them, a tax collector, hanging his head and beating his chest from anguished frustration. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”. The other, a Pharisee, is not praying to God, he’s playing God and He’s about to lose.
He foolishly thinks that the cards are stacked in his favor. He is thankful that he is not like other people in their irreligious ways. He knows the sorts of things that go on, double dealing and swindling in the business world, people treating others unjustly so as to make a profit or win an argument, people sleeping around and not honoring their marriage vows. He’s thankful that his life is free from all of that.
He has a particular contempt for that hopeless tax gatherer over in the shadows. He knew what sort of people tax collectors were. Collaborators with Rome. Cheaters who took the cream of the taxes to line their own pockets. Friends to low-life’s and crime bosses. No sir, he was way above all that. His cards were on the table for everybody to see.
He fasted twice a week, and he gave a tithe, not just of the things that the law proscribed but a tithe of everything that he received. Such an elevated moral status, so above many of his peers, and a life which manifested such exemplary characteristics, surely, oh surely, it had to count for something in God’s eyes. Surely that’s got to buy you a little slice of God’s good favor, right there.
Well, you’d think so! But Jesus tells us that the Pharisee leaves the temple with a life that is unjustified before God. Unjustified means:- Out of line. Out of shape. Missing the mark. Distorted. Out of focus. Not connected. Separated from. Divorced from. Far from. He had played God and he had lost.
Pharisees come in many shapes and forms. The frightening thing is the one that you see the most of, but recognize the least, is the one that stares back at you from the mirror. As Parables always seem to have a sting in their tales. The moment we start thinking, “Well, thank God I’m not like that Pharisee”, is precisely the moment that we have started to play God.
Thank God we are not like those evangelicals who think that if they don’t have an altar call and nobody gets saved that it hasn’t been a proper worship service. Thank God we’re not like those folk at such and such a church with all that fire and brimstone and ‘Jesus is coming Soon’ attitude hovering around. Thank God we’re not like those colorful folk at the Pentecostal Church who wave their hands around and shout out ‘Hallelujah’ and have services that last for hours on end.
Thank God we’re not like those Methodists and Episcopalians and Lutherans (well actually we are kind like those Methodists and Episcopalians) and Lutherans... but thank God we get to choose our preachers, they’re not imposed on us by some high and mighty Bishop. And thank God we’re not like those Catholics who have to bend the knee to the Pope. Thank God that we are not like any of them!
Ouch.
We just played God and lost.
As with so many of Jesus parables the long-term conclusions are left open. Does the Pharisee ever grow beyond his vanity? Does the Publican ever get his life together and become a little more …well… like the Pharisee in action if not in attitude? And if he does amend his ways a little, how much would it count, in comparison to the heights that the Pharisee had scaled?
All we are told is that right there, on that day, one man went home having obtained reconciliation with God, whilst the other went home thinking that they were God’s main man, but in reality was far from God's love.
So what do we do with this parable?
What is it saying?
That it’s O.K to be the bad guy as long as we are sorry about it?
That we shouldn’t try and live decent lives
because in God’s eyes they don’t count for anything?
Seems to me it’s a parable about the heart. It’s a story that digs down deep to the center of our being and challenges us to consider what we are really all about. It’s a parable about faith and the actions that faith produces. Most of all it’s a parable about Grace. Scandalous Grace. Unmerited, undeserved, uncompromising Grace.
Let’s go back to the Pool Hall. Over in the far corner, back in the shadows, a man, completely frustrated, throws his cue to the floor. He slumps into a hard wooden chair, holds his head in his hands and his mouth is moving like he’s cussing himself out. He sits alone. Doesn’t seem the sort of guy to make friends easily. God walks over to him. “What’s up?”
“This game, this game, I’ll never get the hang of this stupid game”. Slowly the story spills out. How he was never allowed to go near a Pool Hall when he was younger. How he ran with the wrong sort of crowd and had made bad decisions. How, on a day some years ago, he’s had his chance, but he’d slipped on his first try with the cue and tore into the surface of a perfect new green table top, and how mad people had been and how they didn’t want him around them anymore, because he just didn’t play the game like them.
“I’ll give you a game,” offered God. The man drew back. “You going to do me, like you did that Pharisee?” “Over here,” said God. “Look at the angle on this shot”. The two of them lower themselves down to table height. “You hit that white ball just a tad to the left of center, it’s going to slide down the table, miss the blue and hit that one with the spot on it right into the corner pocket”.
The man shook his head. “You don’t understand. I never hit anything straight. Life never works out like that for people like me. There will be a curve, or an ill wind or somebody will nudge the table or cause some kind of distraction just as I’m going to shoot”. “Trust me on this one” says God and moves around the table pointing to the exact spot where He wants the man to hit the white ball with the cue. “Right there.”
The man picks up his stick from the floor. He puts one hand down on the table, but it’s shaking so bad, you’d think he was recovering from an overdose. His other hand is doing no better holding the cue. A crowd has started to gather around the table. Not that he notices. His heart is pounding so hard he hasn’t even heard that the jukebox has ceased to play.
Hush descends on the room. It’s as tense as the deciding putt at the U.S. Open Golf Championships. Under his breath he’s pleading, “I can’t do this. I don’t do this. I’m not in this game”. God moves around the table and stands behind him. He reaches over and steadies the man’s hand that rests on the table. He reaches around with his other arm and holds the cue with him, His hand over the mans hand. “Breathe Deep” says God, “1,2,3, she rides..’
Everything goes into slow motion. The cue sliding towards the white ball. The dull click as it makes contact. The curve it makes safely around the Blue before impacting the spotted ball. Slowly the spotted ball is heading towards the corner pocket. But wait! Not enough velocity. It’s going to slow. It’s too far. The ball stops, right on the lip of the pocket. The man is turning his head and mouthing to God, “I told you” but the ball teeters and drops right in.
The crowd around the table goes wild. They’ve got the man up on their shoulders, giving him a few victory laps around the Pool Hall. Someone puts that confounded country music version of the Hallelujah Chorus back on the jukebox. ‘Ding ding ding ding a ding, ding ding ding a ding, Arrleylooyarh!’ God has a smile on His face that spreads from ear to eternity.
Luke 18, verse 14, as it reads in the Message Bible “Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."
Or as it appears in more traditional language,
“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
But all who humble themselves will be exalted”
To God’s name be the Glory.
AMEN.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, October 27th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
I'd like to start with a story. Visualize a pool hall. Around the tables are the usual Pool Hall sort of crowd trying to get that white ball to hit the other balls and knock them into the pockets. Some kind of country music is coming out the Jukebox. And seated at a corner table is God, dressed up as a normal guy.
Through the door enters the Pharisee. He looks disdainfully around the room at the kind of company God is keeping these days and seeks out the Almighty. He slams some coins down on the table; “Next game, God, it's me and You!” God says nothing, shrugs His shoulders, and beckons to a couple of folk at the nearest Pool table. They give God a nod and a thumbs up, stop their game, and start setting up the balls.
A feisty looking girl with a twinkle in her eye comes over, looks straight at the Pharisee and says, “You call”. She flips a coin into the air. “Heads” says the Pharisee. It lands. It’s Tails. God gets to break. He picks out a cue from the rack on the wall and as He’s rubbing chalk onto the end, a country version of the Hallelujah Chorus starts playing on the Jukebox. ‘Ding ding ding ding a ding, ding ding ding a ding, Arrleylooyarh!’
As a Master of the Game He propels the white towards that triangle of colored balls. Bang, bang, bang, like some carefully choreographed ballet the balls roll into the pockets. He then slowly and deliberately pots the others, concluding with an awesome ‘around the table ricochet’ that causes the Black Ball to mark the shape of a Cross before leaping into the upper right hand pocket.
The Pharisee is standing ashen faced at the side of the table. He’s glancing around at the others, as if to say, 'That’s not fair, I didn’t get a chance'. God has hung His cue back on the rack and is walking over to the Pharisee. He grabs the cue from out of the Pharisees sweaty, clammy, hands. “You Fool” says God, “Don’t you realize that when you 'play me' there is only one rule?” God sighs, shakes His head and walks away. “Tell Him people, what's the result whenever people play God?”
As one voice the assorted characters in the Pool Hall shout “You Lose!” before bursting out into laughter and returning to their games and conversations. The Pharisee, spits on the floor, straightens himself up and haughtily exits the way he came in. As he leaves he turns and says, “Next time, next time, You’ll see, I can win this one”. End of story. Let's move to a bible story.
Jesus tells a parable about two men, not in a pool hall, but praying in the temple. One of them, a tax collector, hanging his head and beating his chest from anguished frustration. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”. The other, a Pharisee, is not praying to God, he’s playing God and He’s about to lose.
He foolishly thinks that the cards are stacked in his favor. He is thankful that he is not like other people in their irreligious ways. He knows the sorts of things that go on, double dealing and swindling in the business world, people treating others unjustly so as to make a profit or win an argument, people sleeping around and not honoring their marriage vows. He’s thankful that his life is free from all of that.
He has a particular contempt for that hopeless tax gatherer over in the shadows. He knew what sort of people tax collectors were. Collaborators with Rome. Cheaters who took the cream of the taxes to line their own pockets. Friends to low-life’s and crime bosses. No sir, he was way above all that. His cards were on the table for everybody to see.
He fasted twice a week, and he gave a tithe, not just of the things that the law proscribed but a tithe of everything that he received. Such an elevated moral status, so above many of his peers, and a life which manifested such exemplary characteristics, surely, oh surely, it had to count for something in God’s eyes. Surely that’s got to buy you a little slice of God’s good favor, right there.
Well, you’d think so! But Jesus tells us that the Pharisee leaves the temple with a life that is unjustified before God. Unjustified means:- Out of line. Out of shape. Missing the mark. Distorted. Out of focus. Not connected. Separated from. Divorced from. Far from. He had played God and he had lost.
Pharisees come in many shapes and forms. The frightening thing is the one that you see the most of, but recognize the least, is the one that stares back at you from the mirror. As Parables always seem to have a sting in their tales. The moment we start thinking, “Well, thank God I’m not like that Pharisee”, is precisely the moment that we have started to play God.
Thank God we are not like those evangelicals who think that if they don’t have an altar call and nobody gets saved that it hasn’t been a proper worship service. Thank God we’re not like those folk at such and such a church with all that fire and brimstone and ‘Jesus is coming Soon’ attitude hovering around. Thank God we’re not like those colorful folk at the Pentecostal Church who wave their hands around and shout out ‘Hallelujah’ and have services that last for hours on end.
Thank God we’re not like those Methodists and Episcopalians and Lutherans (well actually we are kind like those Methodists and Episcopalians) and Lutherans... but thank God we get to choose our preachers, they’re not imposed on us by some high and mighty Bishop. And thank God we’re not like those Catholics who have to bend the knee to the Pope. Thank God that we are not like any of them!
Ouch.
We just played God and lost.
As with so many of Jesus parables the long-term conclusions are left open. Does the Pharisee ever grow beyond his vanity? Does the Publican ever get his life together and become a little more …well… like the Pharisee in action if not in attitude? And if he does amend his ways a little, how much would it count, in comparison to the heights that the Pharisee had scaled?
All we are told is that right there, on that day, one man went home having obtained reconciliation with God, whilst the other went home thinking that they were God’s main man, but in reality was far from God's love.
So what do we do with this parable?
What is it saying?
That it’s O.K to be the bad guy as long as we are sorry about it?
That we shouldn’t try and live decent lives
because in God’s eyes they don’t count for anything?
Seems to me it’s a parable about the heart. It’s a story that digs down deep to the center of our being and challenges us to consider what we are really all about. It’s a parable about faith and the actions that faith produces. Most of all it’s a parable about Grace. Scandalous Grace. Unmerited, undeserved, uncompromising Grace.
Let’s go back to the Pool Hall. Over in the far corner, back in the shadows, a man, completely frustrated, throws his cue to the floor. He slumps into a hard wooden chair, holds his head in his hands and his mouth is moving like he’s cussing himself out. He sits alone. Doesn’t seem the sort of guy to make friends easily. God walks over to him. “What’s up?”
“This game, this game, I’ll never get the hang of this stupid game”. Slowly the story spills out. How he was never allowed to go near a Pool Hall when he was younger. How he ran with the wrong sort of crowd and had made bad decisions. How, on a day some years ago, he’s had his chance, but he’d slipped on his first try with the cue and tore into the surface of a perfect new green table top, and how mad people had been and how they didn’t want him around them anymore, because he just didn’t play the game like them.
“I’ll give you a game,” offered God. The man drew back. “You going to do me, like you did that Pharisee?” “Over here,” said God. “Look at the angle on this shot”. The two of them lower themselves down to table height. “You hit that white ball just a tad to the left of center, it’s going to slide down the table, miss the blue and hit that one with the spot on it right into the corner pocket”.
The man shook his head. “You don’t understand. I never hit anything straight. Life never works out like that for people like me. There will be a curve, or an ill wind or somebody will nudge the table or cause some kind of distraction just as I’m going to shoot”. “Trust me on this one” says God and moves around the table pointing to the exact spot where He wants the man to hit the white ball with the cue. “Right there.”
The man picks up his stick from the floor. He puts one hand down on the table, but it’s shaking so bad, you’d think he was recovering from an overdose. His other hand is doing no better holding the cue. A crowd has started to gather around the table. Not that he notices. His heart is pounding so hard he hasn’t even heard that the jukebox has ceased to play.
Hush descends on the room. It’s as tense as the deciding putt at the U.S. Open Golf Championships. Under his breath he’s pleading, “I can’t do this. I don’t do this. I’m not in this game”. God moves around the table and stands behind him. He reaches over and steadies the man’s hand that rests on the table. He reaches around with his other arm and holds the cue with him, His hand over the mans hand. “Breathe Deep” says God, “1,2,3, she rides..’
Everything goes into slow motion. The cue sliding towards the white ball. The dull click as it makes contact. The curve it makes safely around the Blue before impacting the spotted ball. Slowly the spotted ball is heading towards the corner pocket. But wait! Not enough velocity. It’s going to slow. It’s too far. The ball stops, right on the lip of the pocket. The man is turning his head and mouthing to God, “I told you” but the ball teeters and drops right in.
The crowd around the table goes wild. They’ve got the man up on their shoulders, giving him a few victory laps around the Pool Hall. Someone puts that confounded country music version of the Hallelujah Chorus back on the jukebox. ‘Ding ding ding ding a ding, ding ding ding a ding, Arrleylooyarh!’ God has a smile on His face that spreads from ear to eternity.
Luke 18, verse 14, as it reads in the Message Bible “Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."
Or as it appears in more traditional language,
“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled,
But all who humble themselves will be exalted”
To God’s name be the Glory.
AMEN.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, October 21, 2013
The Unjust Judge
Readings: Psalm 119:97-104, Jeremiah 31:27-34, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, Luke 18:1-8
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, October 20th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
There are some verses of Scripture that guys probably relate to better than their spouses. Indeed I hesitate to mention these particular passages, but well, they do kind of fit in with today’s bible story. I’m thinking of a couple in the Book of Proverbs. I’ll give you them as they appear in the Good News Bible, a Bible that when it was first released had the title “Good News for Modern Man”.
Proverbs 19:13 “A nagging wife is like a tap that goes drip, drip, drip.”
Proverbs 25:24 “Better to live in a corner, out on the roof, then share the house with a nagging wife”
Hey, it’s the inspired, infallible, unchanging, Word of God, don’t get mad at me! Just telling it like it is. And you may well verify this word if when you get home, there’s somebody saying, “Well, did you hear what the preacher said this morning, Can you believe that? I mean for goodness sake, are you listening to me? I mean I pity his poor wife, having to put up with that sort of behavior, which reminds me, have you taken the trash out yet? Are you paying attention? You said you were going to do it last night, but there it is still sitting right there. Now you just better get off that couch, put down that remote and get busy, Bubba!”
According to tradition King Solomon, the compositor of Proverbs words of wisdom, had seven hundred wives, princesses and three hundred concubines. (1 Kings 11:3). You could say he was pretty experienced in the wife department. In fact it was some of his wives, wives who had come from foreign lands and wanted temples set up to their favorite deities, who eventually led Solomon away from the path of the Lord his Father David had hoped he would follow and weakened his reign.
“Go on Solomon give me a temple to my god. You’ve got a great big temple for your God. How about a little one for mine. I mean you gave whatshername a temple for her god. That’s not fair. I want one. I need one. And I’ll never ask you for anything ever, ever, ever again. Please Solly baby, please, pretty please, it’s just a little god, just a little temple, that’s all I’m asking”
Words. Endless torrents of words. Waterfall like, gushing, crushing floods of words have a habit of breaking a person down. “Allright, Allright, Allright, I’ll do it. Please just BE QUIET!”
Of course you ladies know that we guys don’t give up so easily. Oh no. We give it the silent treatment. “Well why don’t you say something?” and we know that what ever we say it’s going to be exactly the thing we shouldn’t have said. “You don’t love me anymore. All I wanted was for you to take out the trash!” As comedian Jeff Foxworthy says, “I have learnt that when my wife says, “We need to talk” I’m not going to be saying a whole lot”.
Jesus gives us a parable, not about a man and a wife, but an indifferent Judge and a poor widow. The woman has very little, in terms of wealth or social position or prestige. But she has one thing that wears the corrupt judge down. She is what in Liverpool they’d call a “Motor-Mouth”. “Ag-Ag-Ag Ag-Ag-Ag- Ag-Ag-Ag”
We are told at the start of the parable that it is a parable about our need to ‘pray and not to lose heart.’ (Luke 18:1). As is often the case with parables, the characters involved are greatly exaggerated. The man is not simply a judge, but a judge whose characteristics question his ability to do the job.
In a society where the two most important commandments were about loving God and loving your neighbor, this guys saying, “God? Whatever! Who cares what God thinks, I’m the main man around here. You’ve got a problem? Here’s the problem – You are a loser! Get over it. I have better things to do.” Just the sort of judge you want on your case. Right?
Then there’s the widow. As the parable unfolds the widow represents the chosen ones, ‘the elect’, of God. The widow stands for all those who, though chosen by God to enjoy God’s blessings, live outside of those blessings and feel powerless to bring about any change.
The parable focuses on a relationship that has gone wrong because one of the parties, the judge, is failing to fulfill his duties. It challenges us to consider how we see God. Is God this “I answer to nobody” –Distant – barely moveable force out there – who really isn’t concerned about us – because He has more important – God-focused things to do in the world?
Do we, building upon such an image, concede that the only way to ever get an answer to our prayers is to keep going on and on and on and on and on until God gets tired of hearing us and caves in to our demands?
On the contrary Jesus is quite clear that God is the total opposite of the Judge pictured in the parable. God is the one who does step in and who honors justice and lifts up those who have fallen. God does not drag His feet when it comes to things that concern His people. Verse 7 poses the question, “Will not God grant justice to His chosen ones?”
As is often the case with the parables of Jesus, there is a sting in the tale. It’s as though we are set up for a fall! Follow the argument through to the last sentence.
God (the God who is not like a bad judge who ignores a needy widows prayer) hears us and will meet us in our needs when we pray to Him. We should therefore be persistent in prayer and everything will work out right. Simple! Until you get to the last line. The last sentence throws the whole thing out of perspective.
Verses 18. “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
What a set up! Here we are being told that prayer and asking are as straightforward as dialing 1-800-GOD LOVES U. That it’s not complicated. That we ask and we receive. But then comes this disturbing rhetorical question. “When the Son of man comes will He find faith on the earth?”
The implication is “No, He won’t”. That if a faith evaluation had taken place on the earth back in Jesus day, or were to take place in the midst of our busy days, or anywhere in between, the last thing to be found would be found was faith. That in spite of this business of persistently asking and graciously receiving from a good and great God, we still miss the mark.
What I’m thinking, where this parable is pushing me, is to consider that faith, real faith, has very little to do with getting God to do anything or even God getting us to do certain things. That faith is really about allowing God to be God and allowing ourselves to ‘live and move and have our being' in God's love. That persistence in prayer has little to do with asking and asking and asking, but has a whole lot to do with resting in God’s love and accepting ourselves and the situations of our lives as only finding meaning through their relationship to God.
In the parable, what creates the situation that causes the woman to ask, ask, ask, ask, and ask again, is the character of the unjust Judge. So, Jesus explains, God is completely the opposite of such a judge. God is ready to help, always does the right thing, and is way above such a tawdry character as the unjust judge.
The implication is that if God is not like this bad judge, then we don’t have to be like the widow, whom can only get things done though incessant talking. That we have a God who elsewhere is pictured as having every hair on our head accounted for and knows intimately what is going on in His Creation to such an extent that even if a little sparrow falls to the ground it does not go unnoticed.
By picturing for us a bad relationship, the parable attempts to push us to consider what a right relationship may look like. We laugh about nagging wives and retreating husbands, because there is part of us that realizes that although that’s not the way relationships should be, that’s the way they sometimes go.
Putting it in that way, opens the door then for us to go beyond the kind of relationships built upon asking and receiving, towards relationships that are built upon accepting and believing.
Often times in long-term relationships it starts to be, that less is said, and a whole lot more is understood. Communication becomes not a matter of words, but a matter of understanding. The one partner doesn’t have to tell the other what’s going on, because the other has come to a point where they recognize the problem even before it can be framed into words.
When the Son of Man comes, will He find those who know in their lives the depth of relationship that Jesus had with the Father? Will people be at the point Jesus prayed for in His High Priestly prayer; “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We are one.” (John 17:11)
This parable tells us that faith should not function after the manner of a nagging widow badgering an unjust Judge, but rather within a framework of mutual respect and understanding. We are called to be persistent in prayer. Persistence in the light of a God who knows our every need, is not about asking and asking and asking till we get what we want, but trusting and trusting and trusting in God in such a way as we become quietly confident that God is working out God’s purposes in the situations of our lives.
Nagging wives and Idle husbands, Persistent Widows and Unjust judges, these situations do not offer us role models to be copied. They show us the reverse side so we can flip things around and discover how to approach troubling situations in a positive way.
And there is no more positive approach to life than placing our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, than believing that God is in control, and seeking to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us through the varied situations that come to our lives.
For there is no greater name than that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no greater endeavor than to be involved with others in the work of His kingdom. To God’s name be the glory. AMEN.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, October 20th 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
There are some verses of Scripture that guys probably relate to better than their spouses. Indeed I hesitate to mention these particular passages, but well, they do kind of fit in with today’s bible story. I’m thinking of a couple in the Book of Proverbs. I’ll give you them as they appear in the Good News Bible, a Bible that when it was first released had the title “Good News for Modern Man”.
Proverbs 19:13 “A nagging wife is like a tap that goes drip, drip, drip.”
Proverbs 25:24 “Better to live in a corner, out on the roof, then share the house with a nagging wife”
Hey, it’s the inspired, infallible, unchanging, Word of God, don’t get mad at me! Just telling it like it is. And you may well verify this word if when you get home, there’s somebody saying, “Well, did you hear what the preacher said this morning, Can you believe that? I mean for goodness sake, are you listening to me? I mean I pity his poor wife, having to put up with that sort of behavior, which reminds me, have you taken the trash out yet? Are you paying attention? You said you were going to do it last night, but there it is still sitting right there. Now you just better get off that couch, put down that remote and get busy, Bubba!”
According to tradition King Solomon, the compositor of Proverbs words of wisdom, had seven hundred wives, princesses and three hundred concubines. (1 Kings 11:3). You could say he was pretty experienced in the wife department. In fact it was some of his wives, wives who had come from foreign lands and wanted temples set up to their favorite deities, who eventually led Solomon away from the path of the Lord his Father David had hoped he would follow and weakened his reign.
“Go on Solomon give me a temple to my god. You’ve got a great big temple for your God. How about a little one for mine. I mean you gave whatshername a temple for her god. That’s not fair. I want one. I need one. And I’ll never ask you for anything ever, ever, ever again. Please Solly baby, please, pretty please, it’s just a little god, just a little temple, that’s all I’m asking”
Words. Endless torrents of words. Waterfall like, gushing, crushing floods of words have a habit of breaking a person down. “Allright, Allright, Allright, I’ll do it. Please just BE QUIET!”
Of course you ladies know that we guys don’t give up so easily. Oh no. We give it the silent treatment. “Well why don’t you say something?” and we know that what ever we say it’s going to be exactly the thing we shouldn’t have said. “You don’t love me anymore. All I wanted was for you to take out the trash!” As comedian Jeff Foxworthy says, “I have learnt that when my wife says, “We need to talk” I’m not going to be saying a whole lot”.
Jesus gives us a parable, not about a man and a wife, but an indifferent Judge and a poor widow. The woman has very little, in terms of wealth or social position or prestige. But she has one thing that wears the corrupt judge down. She is what in Liverpool they’d call a “Motor-Mouth”. “Ag-Ag-Ag Ag-Ag-Ag- Ag-Ag-Ag”
We are told at the start of the parable that it is a parable about our need to ‘pray and not to lose heart.’ (Luke 18:1). As is often the case with parables, the characters involved are greatly exaggerated. The man is not simply a judge, but a judge whose characteristics question his ability to do the job.
In a society where the two most important commandments were about loving God and loving your neighbor, this guys saying, “God? Whatever! Who cares what God thinks, I’m the main man around here. You’ve got a problem? Here’s the problem – You are a loser! Get over it. I have better things to do.” Just the sort of judge you want on your case. Right?
Then there’s the widow. As the parable unfolds the widow represents the chosen ones, ‘the elect’, of God. The widow stands for all those who, though chosen by God to enjoy God’s blessings, live outside of those blessings and feel powerless to bring about any change.
The parable focuses on a relationship that has gone wrong because one of the parties, the judge, is failing to fulfill his duties. It challenges us to consider how we see God. Is God this “I answer to nobody” –Distant – barely moveable force out there – who really isn’t concerned about us – because He has more important – God-focused things to do in the world?
Do we, building upon such an image, concede that the only way to ever get an answer to our prayers is to keep going on and on and on and on and on until God gets tired of hearing us and caves in to our demands?
On the contrary Jesus is quite clear that God is the total opposite of the Judge pictured in the parable. God is the one who does step in and who honors justice and lifts up those who have fallen. God does not drag His feet when it comes to things that concern His people. Verse 7 poses the question, “Will not God grant justice to His chosen ones?”
As is often the case with the parables of Jesus, there is a sting in the tale. It’s as though we are set up for a fall! Follow the argument through to the last sentence.
God (the God who is not like a bad judge who ignores a needy widows prayer) hears us and will meet us in our needs when we pray to Him. We should therefore be persistent in prayer and everything will work out right. Simple! Until you get to the last line. The last sentence throws the whole thing out of perspective.
Verses 18. “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
What a set up! Here we are being told that prayer and asking are as straightforward as dialing 1-800-GOD LOVES U. That it’s not complicated. That we ask and we receive. But then comes this disturbing rhetorical question. “When the Son of man comes will He find faith on the earth?”
The implication is “No, He won’t”. That if a faith evaluation had taken place on the earth back in Jesus day, or were to take place in the midst of our busy days, or anywhere in between, the last thing to be found would be found was faith. That in spite of this business of persistently asking and graciously receiving from a good and great God, we still miss the mark.
What I’m thinking, where this parable is pushing me, is to consider that faith, real faith, has very little to do with getting God to do anything or even God getting us to do certain things. That faith is really about allowing God to be God and allowing ourselves to ‘live and move and have our being' in God's love. That persistence in prayer has little to do with asking and asking and asking, but has a whole lot to do with resting in God’s love and accepting ourselves and the situations of our lives as only finding meaning through their relationship to God.
In the parable, what creates the situation that causes the woman to ask, ask, ask, ask, and ask again, is the character of the unjust Judge. So, Jesus explains, God is completely the opposite of such a judge. God is ready to help, always does the right thing, and is way above such a tawdry character as the unjust judge.
The implication is that if God is not like this bad judge, then we don’t have to be like the widow, whom can only get things done though incessant talking. That we have a God who elsewhere is pictured as having every hair on our head accounted for and knows intimately what is going on in His Creation to such an extent that even if a little sparrow falls to the ground it does not go unnoticed.
By picturing for us a bad relationship, the parable attempts to push us to consider what a right relationship may look like. We laugh about nagging wives and retreating husbands, because there is part of us that realizes that although that’s not the way relationships should be, that’s the way they sometimes go.
Putting it in that way, opens the door then for us to go beyond the kind of relationships built upon asking and receiving, towards relationships that are built upon accepting and believing.
Often times in long-term relationships it starts to be, that less is said, and a whole lot more is understood. Communication becomes not a matter of words, but a matter of understanding. The one partner doesn’t have to tell the other what’s going on, because the other has come to a point where they recognize the problem even before it can be framed into words.
When the Son of Man comes, will He find those who know in their lives the depth of relationship that Jesus had with the Father? Will people be at the point Jesus prayed for in His High Priestly prayer; “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We are one.” (John 17:11)
This parable tells us that faith should not function after the manner of a nagging widow badgering an unjust Judge, but rather within a framework of mutual respect and understanding. We are called to be persistent in prayer. Persistence in the light of a God who knows our every need, is not about asking and asking and asking till we get what we want, but trusting and trusting and trusting in God in such a way as we become quietly confident that God is working out God’s purposes in the situations of our lives.
Nagging wives and Idle husbands, Persistent Widows and Unjust judges, these situations do not offer us role models to be copied. They show us the reverse side so we can flip things around and discover how to approach troubling situations in a positive way.
And there is no more positive approach to life than placing our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, than believing that God is in control, and seeking to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us through the varied situations that come to our lives.
For there is no greater name than that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no greater endeavor than to be involved with others in the work of His kingdom. To God’s name be the glory. AMEN.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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