Year A First Sunday of Advent 1 December 2013
Isaiah 2: 1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13: 9-14 Matthew 24: 36-44
Extra, Extra, Read all about it! Once again it is ADVENT, and it is so exciting. We are all so crazy busy that we don’t know which way is up and the world seems to be spinning at a pace that literally makes us dizzy. When you are dizzy you cannot find or walk a straight path, and this is the physical, emotional and spiritual condition which many of us find ourselves in this crazy time.
The message of the readings at this point in our Church Calendar is, “WAKE UP”!!!!
Our dizziness has made us faint and we need to wake up from this faint and see the path clearly and walk it.
The Isaiah tells us a prophecy:
Isaiah 2:3a “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.””
What I find so interesting about this reading is not just the actually prophecy but this desire that exists in the people to go up to the mountain of the Lord and learn his ways. I don’t know about your experience, but I don’t find that many people are keen to go to church to find out about God and his ways. BUT…. I do find that so many people are searching for truth. There are many kinds of truth that people get all tied up in and zealous about. Last week I talked about the prosperity doctrine, in the world there are many “self-improvement” ideologies People these days are also often zealous about food. More and more people are concerned about the kind of food we eat and the proof is found in our supermarkets where there are options for organic food and free range eggs etc… foods that are marked as vegetarian and then there are all kinds of dietary things going on like gluten free and lactose free and the many ideologies that go along with these.
We are living in a time where we should be healthier than we’ve ever been, smarter than we’ve ever been and many of us think that we are, but I do question this. We may have lactose free milk, but it is because our bodies can no longer handle the lactose and my body can no longer handle gluten. I can access all kinds of things on the internet, including much wisdom, but am I really any smarter? Much more conflicting information available just means I can justify almost anything I want to believe. I am bombarded with political correctness and so many of the moral values that were once held as sacred are now out there in the media as the complete opposite of that which I was brought up with.
If the reading from Isaiah is about the end times, and it is the end times when people say, “hey let’s go learn about God”…. I think that we have actually gone way past the end times…. Or else they are yet to come…. Perhaps there is yet to be a time when people will realize that with so many conflicting ideas comes major confusion and lies that placate our aching consciences. Perhaps people will actually begin to yearn for an absolute truth that is beyond our comfort zones, but the yearning will be so great that they will won’t to know the truth even if it convicts them of their own – dare I say that politically incorrect word – SIN.
The question I often pose, I will ask again; would you rather a lie that made you feel good or the truth that made you uncomfortable? A lie - or Truth???
It is time to wake up from our slumber. We’ve been squandering the wealth given us. What wealth is that??? The truth!
We’ve been given the truth. And the truth really is good news! Gospel is a word that used to have connotations of absolute truth, but Gospel actually literally means “Good News”. It is truth and the truth is GOOD NEWS! The Gospel is the message of the New Covenant that was put into being by Jesus. Our Roman’s reading exhorts us to be clothed in Christ. This is what the Good News is all about. The law of God was completed and fulfilled by Christ. When we are “clothed” in Christ (which is a part of our baptism), we take on the spiritual condition of Christ, which means we are totally accepted by God, regardless of the reality of our human condition.
Romans 13:11-12 “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.”
Now, if we are to wake up and really live by the truth we need to actually live as though we believe the words of the Gospel and the words of this week’s Gospel tell us to keep watch.
Last night a friend told me about his experience in the defence force. While on training in the reserves he was told to keep watch and also he was told not to fire. As the night progressed he and one other person took turns at sleeping and keeping watch. He heard rustling and knew the enemy was approaching, but because he was told not to fire he didn’t know what he should do. He woke up the other person who also had no idea…. So they did nothing. In the end they were captured and because of their inaction the rest of the group and the group camped next out were all captured. It was only an exercise, but you can see the possible consequence if it had have been real.
Who was at fault? Well my friend was told it was his fault, but it seems obvious that there was a huge lack of proper education and understanding as to what actions to take which was really the fault of the trainer as much or more so, than my friend’s own inaction.
And this is my question for us; what education do you need for yourself, to be sure that you are properly equipped to be keeping watch for the coming of the Lord?
In the New Testament we find that teachers of God’s way, will be held accountable and we know that in the Old Testament that the prophets were held accountable for speaking or not speaking God’s word. If the prophet didn’t give the message then his was the fault, but if he gave the people God’s message and the people didn’t respond, then they were held accountable.
If you are a Christian but not reading God’s word and not involved in the Christian church, YOU are going to be held accountable for squandering the wealth of God’s truth. You will be caught out on the “day of the Lord” because you were asleep. This is what I think is the prime message for this first Sunday in ADVENT…. The time of preparation…. It starts with waking up.
Matthew 24:42-44 ““Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Monday, November 25, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Reflection for 17th November 2013
Year C Proper 28 17 November 2013
Isaiah 65: 17-25 Isaiah 12 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13 Luke 21: 5-19
The Gospel reading for this week flies in the face of a prosperity doctrine. A prosperity doctrine, for the uninitiated, is one where the followers claim that the Good news about Jesus Christ is this: Believe in God and follow him and all good things will happen. You will become prosperous in all that you do if only you do God’s will.
It sounds great in theory, but life is more complicated. And just between me and you, a prosperity doctrine is an offense to those of us who follow Christ and have had bad things happen, as it invites judgment as it questions why, and “why do bad things happen?” is a question that much of the Bible deals with.
A Prosperity Gospel is a popular Gospel in our “Me” society. We would like to think that we should be rewarded supernaturally in a physical way for our faith in God, and we would like to think that those who do not have faith would be frustrated in their endeavours. But this is not the way things are.
Isaiah 65: 19-20 “ I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years;”
There are so many scripture passages that speak of the redemption of God’s people and our first reading is one of these. It speaks about the wonderful things that God will do, but if we read between the lines we will understand that God proclaims these things because the reality of life is very different.
We read Isaiah prophesise that there will be no weeping or crying. He proclaims this because in his experience and ours, there is much weeping and crying. Isaiah also says there will no longer be an infant who lives but a few days. He says this because in life there are infants who are born, wonderful gifts of life, only to have that life cut so very short. Isaiah also speaks of the old living out their days. The reality of our life is that many die who do not live to see their grandchildren or great grandchildren and that gift of life is taken away.
A prosperity doctrine is karma re-invented. Karma is the idea that we get what we deserve. So that would mean that if we are good people who follow God then we will be rewarded with physical signs of God’s favour which will communicate to all that we are favoured by God. But this is not the way our God works and it is simply not the truth about life.
I’m sure we all know of people who we think are so good and wonderful, but then some tragedy strikes.
Luke 21:12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.”
Here is the reality of the Gospel. Don’t get me wrong, the Gospel is truly good news, but we cannot deny that this is the reality of those who follow God. Why were these early followers of Jesus put out of synagogues or thrown in prison? I’m fairly sure it wasn’t because of their ability to bow to the societal conventions of their time. In a religion where keeping the law of God was the way to God’s favour, these people proclaimed the grace of God where the only sacrifice demanded was that one which had already been accomplished, made by Jesus on the cross.
“You will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.” Have you ever been brought to account for the faith you have in God. Perhaps I should put it this way; if you could go to jail for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
So many people do really and truly have faith in God and have really and truly accepted the Good News and the sacrifice of Jesus, but think that there ends the need to do anything else. We now need to look at the message that St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 3:8-9 “….we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.”
When we speak of the Good News of the Gospel we proclaim that it is a message about Grace (God’s undeserved favour) and that all one needs to do to be “saved”, (ie. Become one of Gods people and “right” with God), is to accept the sacrificial gift of Jesus and believe in him, confessing him as Lord. Essentially this is an intellectual acknowledgement, but here we read the exhortation to imitate those who evangelised the Gospel by the way they lived their whole life.
It gets a little tricky trying to explain how our actions need to match our beliefs because we need to first understand fully that we are not saved by these works, but only by the GRACE of God. Yet I must pose the question; do our actions match our belief in God? If we do truly believe in God and the message of the Gospel why are we so blasé about the state of our churches? Why are we not promoting and proclaiming the Good News? Why is the church diminishing in number?
I wonder if most of us have actually been living in the false convictions of the prosperity Gospel…. Living by the law of Karma instead of the grace of God. That is; “I’m a pretty good person and I believe in God, therefore I deserve to be rewarded”.
You know that if we lived by the law of Karma we’d be in big trouble because pretty much all of us break the absolute greatest commandment. Yep, you heard me. Most people will think they keep God’s commands because they treat other people well, ie… loving others as ourselves. News Flash!! That is the 2nd greatest command. The first is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Therefore, it is awesome great news that God’s grace means that none of us get what we actually deserve, but by being clothed in Christ we receive the blessings that Christ deserves.
Now, we need to note that on this earth Christ was crucified. It is a fact of life that if we are his followers there will sometimes be conflict and even persecution.
Luke 21: 16 – 19 “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”
These horrible things may happen to us simply for being Christian.
If we are following a false Gospel we will be omitting these realities of life on planet earth and always looking for the path of least resistance and personally I really like the path of least resistance. Don’t get me wrong, if we are in a time of blessing we should rejoice and relish that time, understanding that it is a gift and let it refresh us as we prepare to stand firm in the knowledge and grace of God no matter what happens.
We need to know, beyond any shadow of doubt that God cares passionately and grieves when we are grieving and hurts when we are hurting. In our reading from Isaiah we get a sense of this and we read about the promises for a better life where there will truly be no weeping, but for now we need to stand firm and get real about what we believe.
The Christian life is tough. Will you live it, or opt out?
Isaiah 65: 17-25 Isaiah 12 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13 Luke 21: 5-19
The Gospel reading for this week flies in the face of a prosperity doctrine. A prosperity doctrine, for the uninitiated, is one where the followers claim that the Good news about Jesus Christ is this: Believe in God and follow him and all good things will happen. You will become prosperous in all that you do if only you do God’s will.
It sounds great in theory, but life is more complicated. And just between me and you, a prosperity doctrine is an offense to those of us who follow Christ and have had bad things happen, as it invites judgment as it questions why, and “why do bad things happen?” is a question that much of the Bible deals with.
A Prosperity Gospel is a popular Gospel in our “Me” society. We would like to think that we should be rewarded supernaturally in a physical way for our faith in God, and we would like to think that those who do not have faith would be frustrated in their endeavours. But this is not the way things are.
Isaiah 65: 19-20 “ I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years;”
There are so many scripture passages that speak of the redemption of God’s people and our first reading is one of these. It speaks about the wonderful things that God will do, but if we read between the lines we will understand that God proclaims these things because the reality of life is very different.
We read Isaiah prophesise that there will be no weeping or crying. He proclaims this because in his experience and ours, there is much weeping and crying. Isaiah also says there will no longer be an infant who lives but a few days. He says this because in life there are infants who are born, wonderful gifts of life, only to have that life cut so very short. Isaiah also speaks of the old living out their days. The reality of our life is that many die who do not live to see their grandchildren or great grandchildren and that gift of life is taken away.
A prosperity doctrine is karma re-invented. Karma is the idea that we get what we deserve. So that would mean that if we are good people who follow God then we will be rewarded with physical signs of God’s favour which will communicate to all that we are favoured by God. But this is not the way our God works and it is simply not the truth about life.
I’m sure we all know of people who we think are so good and wonderful, but then some tragedy strikes.
Luke 21:12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.”
Here is the reality of the Gospel. Don’t get me wrong, the Gospel is truly good news, but we cannot deny that this is the reality of those who follow God. Why were these early followers of Jesus put out of synagogues or thrown in prison? I’m fairly sure it wasn’t because of their ability to bow to the societal conventions of their time. In a religion where keeping the law of God was the way to God’s favour, these people proclaimed the grace of God where the only sacrifice demanded was that one which had already been accomplished, made by Jesus on the cross.
“You will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.” Have you ever been brought to account for the faith you have in God. Perhaps I should put it this way; if you could go to jail for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
So many people do really and truly have faith in God and have really and truly accepted the Good News and the sacrifice of Jesus, but think that there ends the need to do anything else. We now need to look at the message that St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 3:8-9 “….we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.”
When we speak of the Good News of the Gospel we proclaim that it is a message about Grace (God’s undeserved favour) and that all one needs to do to be “saved”, (ie. Become one of Gods people and “right” with God), is to accept the sacrificial gift of Jesus and believe in him, confessing him as Lord. Essentially this is an intellectual acknowledgement, but here we read the exhortation to imitate those who evangelised the Gospel by the way they lived their whole life.
It gets a little tricky trying to explain how our actions need to match our beliefs because we need to first understand fully that we are not saved by these works, but only by the GRACE of God. Yet I must pose the question; do our actions match our belief in God? If we do truly believe in God and the message of the Gospel why are we so blasé about the state of our churches? Why are we not promoting and proclaiming the Good News? Why is the church diminishing in number?
I wonder if most of us have actually been living in the false convictions of the prosperity Gospel…. Living by the law of Karma instead of the grace of God. That is; “I’m a pretty good person and I believe in God, therefore I deserve to be rewarded”.
You know that if we lived by the law of Karma we’d be in big trouble because pretty much all of us break the absolute greatest commandment. Yep, you heard me. Most people will think they keep God’s commands because they treat other people well, ie… loving others as ourselves. News Flash!! That is the 2nd greatest command. The first is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Therefore, it is awesome great news that God’s grace means that none of us get what we actually deserve, but by being clothed in Christ we receive the blessings that Christ deserves.
Now, we need to note that on this earth Christ was crucified. It is a fact of life that if we are his followers there will sometimes be conflict and even persecution.
Luke 21: 16 – 19 “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”
These horrible things may happen to us simply for being Christian.
If we are following a false Gospel we will be omitting these realities of life on planet earth and always looking for the path of least resistance and personally I really like the path of least resistance. Don’t get me wrong, if we are in a time of blessing we should rejoice and relish that time, understanding that it is a gift and let it refresh us as we prepare to stand firm in the knowledge and grace of God no matter what happens.
We need to know, beyond any shadow of doubt that God cares passionately and grieves when we are grieving and hurts when we are hurting. In our reading from Isaiah we get a sense of this and we read about the promises for a better life where there will truly be no weeping, but for now we need to stand firm and get real about what we believe.
The Christian life is tough. Will you live it, or opt out?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)