Texts: Psalm 33:13-22 and Matthew 12:9 - 21
Happy Advent! Today we are celebrating HOPE. The One who fashions our hearts and observes all our deeds is our Hope. Psalm 33 cautions us that our own strength and our own wiles are not enough. Our hope is to be in the steadfast love of God.
What we are talking about today is big hope. Not little hopes that are more like wishes, but big hopes. Life hopes. Hopes that are born out of the gnawing concerns in our souls. Hopes that are created by amazing promises of things like Eternal Life. Hopes for a future in this world. This is what we are talking about today. These hopes are not mere wishes attached to a fantasy, but foundations of our existence … of our lives.
Our hopes … the foundation of our future … is found in the steadfast love of God. We may be strong. We may be smart. We may be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. But our hope, what we count on, must be in the steadfast love of God.
The story in Matthew that we read takes it a step further. Jesus is healing people and getting into trouble with the authorities. He’s trying to keep a low profile, healing as many people as he can. His calling is to bring wholeness to those that he encounters. Jesus is the beloved of God, whose Spirit rests upon him. This story ends with, “in his name the Gentiles will hope." Even though he is performing miraculous healings, we are told that it is in the name of Jesus that hope will be found. The name alone evokes a hope in us that is beyond all the miracles he performed. Jesus the healer; Jesus, the one who brings wholeness; Jesus, the one who offers a future; Jesus, the one who reaches outside of his own circle and offers hope to the Gentiles.
The season of Advent is a time of active waiting and reflecting. This week as we wait, let us reflect on hope. What does it mean to us that our hope is in Christ? How does that come to bear on our lives? Is it an ethereal wispy hope or is it a concrete hope that shapes the decisions that we make? Is it both? Can our hope in Christ be active in the realms of the mysterious and mystical as well as in our flesh and bone existence? Is mystery just as concrete as the stuff we can touch? I believe it is.
Our hope in Christ lives in our spirits and becomes manifested in the way we live our lives. It can move us forward and reveal to us from one day to the next how the Holy Spirit is abiding within us. Whether we are sick or healthy, poor or rich, weak or powerful, we move forward from one day to the next until the day we die. How we move forward and what propels us is something we can control. If our hope is in our own strength or wisdom, if it lives in our accomplishments, then it is fragile and can be crushed. If our hope is in our strength and we become weak or ill, then our hope becomes weak and ill. If hope lives in power and we are beaten or oppressed, then our hope is beaten and overcome. If our hope lives in our power and we maintain our power, then it feels like our hope is strong but the truth is that our power is only as powerful as our next conquest. Relying on some manifestation of our strength or health is not living in true hope – it is living in conquest and control. Our hope is to be in the steadfast love of the Lord.
The Big Hope – the foundation of our future, what we count on – is more than circumstantial. It is more than Jesus’ healings and miracles, it is in the essence of who Jesus is. It is Jesus as Christ. That might seem esoteric or flimsy, but because of who Jesus is, this gives our hope more substance than we can even imagine. Jesus is the one who was, who is, and who is to come. Jesus was in the beginning and nothing was created without him. This is the one we call the Christ.
Moving through life day by day with Christ as our hope means digging deep to build a solid foundation. Philippians 4:12 and 13 says, “I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In other words, the essence of my strength is not derived from my health or fitness, from my status or influence. It is the strength that comes through my relationship with Jesus that gives me my solid foundation.
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. No merit of my own I claim but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”
It is important for us to remember from whence our hope comes. When we are well fed and have power, do we remember that our true foundation is in the steadfast love of God and in the hope of Christ? If we do, then we will be more apt to not abuse what power we have and not take for granted our needs and wants being met. When we are powerless, hungry, or sick do we remember that our true foundation is in the steadfast love of God and in the hope of Christ? If we do, then our Big Hope will not be crushed by our circumstances even if our smaller hopes are.
Finally, as we reflect on hope this week I want to ask you to consider the children in our lives. Where do they see your hope coming from? Do they see you relying on the love of God and Christ? Do they see you relying on your circumstances and your strength? Do they know there is a difference between big hopes and smaller hopes and wishes?
Kids are not fooled easily. Even if they can’t articulate the incongruity that they see in our lives they will see it and it will teach them their core values.
Big Hopes have to do with our future. We want to build our future and this church on a solid foundation – on the love of God and on Jesus our Christ. If this is what we want, then we have to make sure that we are living out this truth and teaching it to the kids. To quote some lyrics from the Dixie Chicks, “Our children are watching us. They put their trust in us. They're gonna be like us.”
Like Paul said, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If we live relying on the strength of Christ rather than our own strength, the kids will see it and learn it. They will learn humility, confidence, gentleness, faith, and most importantly love. We need to live our faith openly and continue to learn how to hope in God’s love and in Jesus’ name if we want our children to live faithful lives with a solid foundation.
This week reflect on from whence your hope comes. Think about the steadfast love of God. And ponder the hope that is in the name of Jesus, who we are waiting on to celebrate the glorious mystery of the incarnation of God in Christ.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Texts: Deuteronomy 8:7 – 18 and 2 Timothy 1:1 – 18
Timothy came from a family of faith-filled women. Paul draws on that to inspire him to continue in the faith and to rekindle the gift of God that is within him. He wants Timothy to lean on his ancestors and move toward his future.
The writer of Deuteronomy is saying something similar to the people of God. “Remember the Lord your God, for it is God who gives you power to get wealth, so that God may confirm the covenant that was sworn to your ancestors, as God is doing today.”
We are here, in this building, because many years ago a group of people decided they wanted to worship God together. They put together their resources and started a community of faith. The building they built has gone through changes. The founders of this church have long gone to be in the Roll Call of the Saints. And the world is a very different place from the world that they knew.
Farther back than the founders of the church that worshiped in this building are the ancestors of faith to whom God has sworn the covenant. We are here today because of God’s covenant to us from long ago. In the Old Testament we are told over and over “I will be your God and you will be my people.” It is God’s faithfulness to us that keeps us in this covenant. In the books of the Old Testament we read things like,
Deuteronomy 5:29 “If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!”
Nehemiah 1:9 “If you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place at which I have chosen to establish my name.”
In the New Testament we read, in the Gospel of John 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments
From the Old Testament, Jeremiah 31:31 – 33 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Then in the New Testament, Hebrews 10:15 – 17 from which we read last week, “And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."
What we learn about our future from looking at our past is that God wants to be in relationship with us. God keeps trying, at every turn, to find a way to bring us back or keep us close. The Old Testament speaks of a new covenant where the laws of God will be written on our hearts. The New Testament declares this covenant to be in effect. God’s desire is our heart-led relationship, not our deed-based relationship. Last week we talked about our hearts being supple so that we would not be broken-hearted but rather our hearts could be broken open. Our hearts are to be supple not only to the harassed and the helpless, but also to the very spirit of God. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit which softens our hearts, helping us to receive the laws that God would write there. And it must be the Holy Spirit, lest we take credit for the relationship that we have with God through Jesus.
2 Corinthians 3:1 – 11 “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory! Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory; for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory!”
It is the Holy Spirit that wrote on the hearts of those who came before us and it is the Holy Spirit who writes on our hearts today. But let’s take it a step farther. It is the Holy Spirit who will be writing on the hearts of our children and grandchildren. We look at our past and honor those who have gone before us, those who laid the firm foundation of this church. We know that we are standing on the shoulders of these people of God and are building on their firm foundation. But we must also look at the future and realize that someday we will be the ancestors that this church looks back on. How we live today, how we are ministers to this community today, and how we love God today will impact the future of this church. Someday in the future this community of faith may read the same scriptures that we are reading. They may be looking back as we are today. And they will be in part looking back at us. We are building the future for that community. Just like we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before they will stand on our shoulders.
When Paul wrote to Timothy encouraging him to “rekindle the gift of God that” was in him, he did so only after reminding him of the faith of his “grandmother Lois and (his) mother Eunice.” The scripture in Deuteronomy says that the people are being brought into an amazing land. Their future is one of lavish resources. This promised land that they are being brought into will confirm the covenant that God made with their ancestors. They are the bridge between the ancestors and their future. We are the bridge between our ancestors and our grandchildren.
For those of you who have no children and think you might be off the hook, let me remind you that I have no biological children either. Even so, the future is very precious to me. The generations that follow us in this place will be our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of faith. They are counting on us to consider how we live and how we glorify God as a church.
This church has a future. I believe it is one of lavish resources. When we gather together, let us remember those who gathered before us, those who put their heart and spirit into making this community a reality. And let us give thanks to God for writing not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God on the tablets of their human hearts. And then let us look to the future and thank God for the promise that the ministry of justification abounds in permanent glory for those who come after us.
Finally, let us look at who we are today. We are the bridge between the past and the future. We are those whose hearts are written on by the Spirit of God. We are ministers of grace and glory to each other and to our community. We are the fulfillment of the promise to our ancestors and the building blocks on which our children and grandchildren will build.
Because of the faith of those who came before us I remind you as Paul did to Timothy to “rekindle the gift of God that is within you.” We can lean on the foundation of our ancestors while moving toward our future. What we share with them is the law that is written on our hearts. Regardless of the shape of our ministry, how it changes or unfolds, the promise of the Spirit of God remains the same. God will be our God and we will be God’s people.
Timothy came from a family of faith-filled women. Paul draws on that to inspire him to continue in the faith and to rekindle the gift of God that is within him. He wants Timothy to lean on his ancestors and move toward his future.
The writer of Deuteronomy is saying something similar to the people of God. “Remember the Lord your God, for it is God who gives you power to get wealth, so that God may confirm the covenant that was sworn to your ancestors, as God is doing today.”
We are here, in this building, because many years ago a group of people decided they wanted to worship God together. They put together their resources and started a community of faith. The building they built has gone through changes. The founders of this church have long gone to be in the Roll Call of the Saints. And the world is a very different place from the world that they knew.
Farther back than the founders of the church that worshiped in this building are the ancestors of faith to whom God has sworn the covenant. We are here today because of God’s covenant to us from long ago. In the Old Testament we are told over and over “I will be your God and you will be my people.” It is God’s faithfulness to us that keeps us in this covenant. In the books of the Old Testament we read things like,
Deuteronomy 5:29 “If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!”
Nehemiah 1:9 “If you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place at which I have chosen to establish my name.”
In the New Testament we read, in the Gospel of John 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments
From the Old Testament, Jeremiah 31:31 – 33 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Then in the New Testament, Hebrews 10:15 – 17 from which we read last week, “And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."
What we learn about our future from looking at our past is that God wants to be in relationship with us. God keeps trying, at every turn, to find a way to bring us back or keep us close. The Old Testament speaks of a new covenant where the laws of God will be written on our hearts. The New Testament declares this covenant to be in effect. God’s desire is our heart-led relationship, not our deed-based relationship. Last week we talked about our hearts being supple so that we would not be broken-hearted but rather our hearts could be broken open. Our hearts are to be supple not only to the harassed and the helpless, but also to the very spirit of God. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit which softens our hearts, helping us to receive the laws that God would write there. And it must be the Holy Spirit, lest we take credit for the relationship that we have with God through Jesus.
2 Corinthians 3:1 – 11 “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory! Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory; for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory!”
It is the Holy Spirit that wrote on the hearts of those who came before us and it is the Holy Spirit who writes on our hearts today. But let’s take it a step farther. It is the Holy Spirit who will be writing on the hearts of our children and grandchildren. We look at our past and honor those who have gone before us, those who laid the firm foundation of this church. We know that we are standing on the shoulders of these people of God and are building on their firm foundation. But we must also look at the future and realize that someday we will be the ancestors that this church looks back on. How we live today, how we are ministers to this community today, and how we love God today will impact the future of this church. Someday in the future this community of faith may read the same scriptures that we are reading. They may be looking back as we are today. And they will be in part looking back at us. We are building the future for that community. Just like we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before they will stand on our shoulders.
When Paul wrote to Timothy encouraging him to “rekindle the gift of God that” was in him, he did so only after reminding him of the faith of his “grandmother Lois and (his) mother Eunice.” The scripture in Deuteronomy says that the people are being brought into an amazing land. Their future is one of lavish resources. This promised land that they are being brought into will confirm the covenant that God made with their ancestors. They are the bridge between the ancestors and their future. We are the bridge between our ancestors and our grandchildren.
For those of you who have no children and think you might be off the hook, let me remind you that I have no biological children either. Even so, the future is very precious to me. The generations that follow us in this place will be our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of faith. They are counting on us to consider how we live and how we glorify God as a church.
This church has a future. I believe it is one of lavish resources. When we gather together, let us remember those who gathered before us, those who put their heart and spirit into making this community a reality. And let us give thanks to God for writing not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God on the tablets of their human hearts. And then let us look to the future and thank God for the promise that the ministry of justification abounds in permanent glory for those who come after us.
Finally, let us look at who we are today. We are the bridge between the past and the future. We are those whose hearts are written on by the Spirit of God. We are ministers of grace and glory to each other and to our community. We are the fulfillment of the promise to our ancestors and the building blocks on which our children and grandchildren will build.
Because of the faith of those who came before us I remind you as Paul did to Timothy to “rekindle the gift of God that is within you.” We can lean on the foundation of our ancestors while moving toward our future. What we share with them is the law that is written on our hearts. Regardless of the shape of our ministry, how it changes or unfolds, the promise of the Spirit of God remains the same. God will be our God and we will be God’s people.
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