Pastor Rob recommends …
Where is God in a
Coronavirus World? John Lennox (2020)
Lennox, an Irish
mathematician and devoted Christ-follower, deals with the theodicy, the problem
of evil and pain. How can suffering exist when we believe God is all-good and
all-powerful? This short book (only 62 pages) will help you wrestle with difficult
questions, and in the wrestling, you will grow in your faith.
5-4-2021
A
couple of thoughts tease my mind as I sit to write. It’s “Star Wars” day. How did
a fun, fresh science fiction movie become the mythic, entertainment behemoth that
it is? Fans exchange knowing winks as
they proudly say, “May the 4th be with you!” They delight in the ignorance of the uninitiated
who don’t understand “the force.”
This
is all fantasy, but like a lot of fictional world, Star Wars holds a firm grip
on the hearts of many in the world. What
do witnesses sharing testimony about Jesus have to say to the voters, lawyers,
dishwashers, bus-riders, builders, writers, wannabe-writers, gamers, and influencers
inhabiting the Star Wars universe?
The
other musing poking around my brain is the movement related to COVID-19:
vaccines are up; infection rates are down; restrictions are being lifted. In the U.S., we are inching toward the end of
the pandemic. Of course, just as some at
the beach go charging into the surf, and others gradually dip their toes and
venture no farther than ankle deep, and others stay completely dry settling for
sand and sun, we will see varying levels of social engagement that mark the end
of the COVID-19 ordeal.
Some will
continue to isolate. Some will come out
but stay protected by masks and will find themselves wary about handshaking. Some will bound out into the world and act
gregarious, ignoring the personal space of others, and acting as if COVID-19
never happened. What word do Christ-followers have to share in this disordered,
unbalanced time? And how do we share it?
Sorry, I
don’t have answers, per se. When
COVID-19 is completely in the rearview mirror, there will be other crises
ignored by some and completely feared by others. There will be numerous fantasy worlds that
give people joy and even meaning. We who
follow Jesus are called to show the world who He is and why He matters, and we’re
called to do that no matter how things are in the world.
Ephesians
1:18 says one of the goals of this letter is that the reader will receive the
Spirit and know the hope to which Christians are called. Believers often talk about, write about, and
debate about “the elect.” Who’s included
in “the elect?” Who’s excluded? Am I among “the elect?” What if, instead of these conversations about
something utterly out of our control, we see ourselves as the called.
watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEXEakKWBds
Sunday, January 10, 2020
We read the Bible to hear God and
relate to God. It’s not the only way we
relate to God. Throughout the New
Testament and throughout church history we see the Holy Spirit speak in dreams
and directly to believers’ spirits.
Romans 1 confirms that God speaks through nature. God can speak through a preacher’s
sermon. There are countless ways to hear
God. The Bible is the one way that is
shared by all believers. We all have the
same Bible. We don’t just read it just
to say we read it. We read to hear God and grow in our relationship with
God. Hold onto that word,
‘relationship,’ because that’s the main idea.
As I read Haggai 1 this past week,
two incidents helped me hear God speak to this specific moment in history. First,
Tuesday night out elders met. We feel impatient
at home, socially distanced due to spread of the very dangerous
Coronavirus. We want life to open
up! With initial roll out of vaccines,
in my mind I jumped ahead of where are.
I began imagining us conducting ministries as we had before the pandemic
began. I imagined us doing that very
soon. It is the pastor’s job to lay out for the church a path for achieving
that imagined future.
We’re just not there yet. Yes, vaccines are here. However, with family gatherings around the
holidays and colder weather driving more and more folks inside, breathing one
another’s air, the number of cases has spiked.
I hear people argue that COVID-19 has been hyped up, and it’s not as bad
the media make it out to be, and it’s no worse than a bad strain of the
flu. Cases have risen so sharply in
North Carolina; we are running low on ICU in beds. Just let that sink in; here in North
Carolina, we could run out of ICU slots.
Vaccines are here. One day,
COVID-19 will be behind us. We aren’t
there yet, and right now it has gotten worse.
Our elders did their job
Tuesday. They guided the pastor. They helped me see the situation as it
currently is. It was sobering for me, but
also hopeful. We are doing good in the
middle of the pandemic. We host the food
pantry and blood banks. We stay
connected through streaming worship and Zoom Bible studies. God has enable us to make financial
contributions to other ministries in our area.
God is working through Hillside Church to bless Chapel Hill.
I am thankful God speaks through our
elders. Reflecting on that meeting, I
realize God was speaking to me then. God
spoke through them to me, but also showed me how He is speaking to all of us
through the words of scripture. We need
to bring our hearts along when we read Haggai 1. If we willingly read with our full selves,
emotions and all, we will be stirred up by Haggai.
Speaking of being stirred up … after
that Tuesday night meeting came Wednesday.
Refusing to accept the results of an election that have been affirmed by
dozens of court decisions, rowdy supporters of Donald Trump gathered on
Wednesday on the National Mall in Washington DC. Riled up by the defiant words of the
president himself, they stormed the U.S. capitol. The videos we all watched on the news over
and over of our own congress having to shelter in place because of violent
insurrection have horrified us.
I had one church member say in a
group conversation on Zoom, “I am sure Rob is going to talk about this
Sunday.” After she said that, how could
I not? Another member said she spent the
day weeping as she watched the videos and digested the images of chaos and
violence and disrespect of our democracy.
How could I not address this?
What struck me on Friday is how
easily the real issue comes to the fore when held alongside what’s happening in
Haggai. As we read last week, Haggai
reports God’s frustration that His people were dragging their heels in
rebuilding the temple. Rebuilding the temple
would put worship back at the center of Israelite community life. Worship is the primary context for us to live
in relationship with God. There’s that
word again, ‘relationship.’ Humans were created to worship God. We were made for relationship with God.
After hearing Haggai, Governor Zerubbabel
and High Priest Joshua obeyed the Lord.
These leaders led the people to worship God. Haggai then writes that the remnant, not an
overwhelming mass of people, but the small group who remained followed the
governor and high priest’s lead. They
obeyed God.
God responded to this overture of
worship and reverence from the people with a promise. “I am with you,” God said. This is one of the foundational assurances of
the Bible. It’s not a guarantee that all
that’s wrong is fixed in the blink of an eye.
It’s the promise that the living God will not abandon us in the face of
the storm. Instead, God stays with us,
holding us, even in the darkest hour.
After that promise of presence,
Haggai writes that the Spirit of Lord stirred up Governor Zerubbabel and High
Priest Joshua and the people. Stirred by
God’s spirit, they got to work. By the
time Haggai’s protégé, the prophet Zechariah was writing his prophecy, the new
temple was ready to be dedicated.
Stirred by God, the people did the work they previously thought was too
hard.
Now, let this improbable temple
building work stand side-by-side with what happened at the capital. We need to be stirred up. However, who is doing the stirring? I don’t endorse candidates or political
parties. I know in our church we have
Republicans, Democrats, independents, swing voters, and people who hate
politics. If you think you know my
politics, you might be surprised.
On
Wednesday, a group of mostly white people, allowed themselves to be stirred up
by Donald Trump to the point that they committed an act terrorism and
insurrection. If there is justice, every
person who crossed the barricades will be tried and convicted of acts of terror
on American soil. Our senators and
representatives, doing their jobs, representing us, were literally terrified by
supporters of our president.
We need to be stirred up, as the
people in Haggai were stirred up, but by whom?.
Who motivates us to act? Who we
listen to shows what we do when we’re inspired.
Campaigning, before he was ever
elected, Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women and dragging them around by
the vagina, but he used a much crasser term than vagina. Also, he openly mocked a reporter who has a
disability. How, in the 21st
century, can we tolerate a leader, who mocks people with disabilities? Tolerate? We made him president and then followed his
lead in making a mockery of our cherished democracy.
When
white supremacists held a rally that turned deadly in Charlottesville,
Virginia, President Trump insisted there were “good people” among the white
supremacists, avowed racists. He refused
to condemn white supremacy. Later in his
presidency, when given the opportunity to do so, he again refused to condemn
white supremacy, and he has embraced the endorsement and support of
racists.
He
decried nations in Africa as “Shit-hole” countries. I am sure someone is unhappy to hear a pastor
say “shit” in the sermon. I am equally
sure the people offended by me did not utter a word of condemnation when the
president said it. I am quoting
him. I have visited more than one
African country and have traveled to the continent 10 times as well meeting
scores of Africans here in the U.S. I
don’t know where the president gets the idea that these are shit-hole
countries. Some of the most beautiful,
proud, welcoming people I know and count as life-long friends are Africans who
follow Jesus with a dedication I pray I could come close to matching. They’re not shit-holes. You’re wrong Mr. President.
I know from experience.
If
I said any of the things he said, I’d be fired, and should be. The mess in Washington on Wednesday happened
because too many of us have allowed ourselves to be stirred up this
president. Governor Zerubbabel and High
Priest Joshua and the people were stirred up the Holy Spirit.
What
does it look like when we are stirred up by the Spirit? Temples get built. Churches figure out how to do worship and
small group and stay as safe as possible in the midst of a dangerous,
contagious, worldwide pandemic. Food
pantries and Blood banks, happen at the church. The church of Jesus Christ is known for doing
good and loving people.
I
see in our church people stirred up by the Spirit. We are doing vital ministry while at the same
time showing patience and discovering new ways to be God’s church. Stirred by the Spirit, we call out evil. What happened at the capital last week, a mob
following the whims of a foolish, self-serving, self-promoting president, was
evil. We name it.
Stirred
up by the Spirit, we welcome people of different political stripes and
viewpoints. We come together in the
death and resurrection of the one we all love and follow, our Lord, Jesus
Christ.
Stirred
up by the Spirit, we stand in confidence, knowing that our God is with us, we
are His people, He secures our future, and He holds us in His arms. No politics, no event, no pandemic can
disrupt our relationship with God in Christ.
That defines who we are.
Church,
we exist to worship and serve Jesus, and to share his gospel. We love others, follow him, spread hope, and help
people God sends to us find their own way into relationship with him.
AMEN
watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK5Y5upBEIQ
Sunday,
January 3, 2021
What time is it?
It’s the first Sunday of the year, so it time for
resolutions? I’m going to lose
weight. This year, I’ll read the Bible more. I’m going to be kinder. I am going to watch less tv and read more
books. I’ll exercise five times a week. I’ll learn a new hobby. I’ll discover creativity. Happy new year!
Resolutions indicate that we think change is needed in
our lives. We need to start over. Why?
We’ve gotten off track. The
problem is if you’ve failed at New Year’s resolutions enough times, maybe you’ve
given up on the idea of starting over.
Maybe you don’t think things can change.
Maybe you’ve settled upon just grinding through whatever miseries
come. That’s not a resurrection mindset,
but it is one many churchgoers have.
We worship and we talk about the great love of God. Our sins are nailed to Jesus’ cross. He rose, conquering death, and he invites us
to join him in resurrection. It’s the
ultimate do-over. We earnestly declare that we believe this.
Do we really? Do
we live like forgiveness and second chances actually happen? Or, are we resigned to the notion that things
will always be how they are now and any hope for change is just a recipe for
disappointment? Can there be anything
actually new in the New Year?
What time is it?
Don’t we at least believe that as we put the COVID-19
Pandemic of 2020 in the rearview mirror 2021 will be a little better? A little easier? We harbor no big ambitions, just a
possibility that we’ll see slight gains with the myriad frustrations of 2020
behind us. Here’s a small ‘hurray’ for
tempered expectations.
January 3, 2021: what time is it?
In Haggai, a small book of prophecy near the back of the
Old Testament, we find debate what time it is.
Haggai quotes God who quotes the people who say, “The time has not yet
come to rebuild the Lord’s house” (Haggai 1:2).
The most influential people of Jerusalem society –
priests, wealthy families, and the royal household - were exiled to Babylon in 586 BC. Haggai, one of the most precisely dated books
in either testament comes along almost 70 years later. The first of the four messages is dated the
first day of the 6th month, Elul, or August 29, 520 B.C.
A lot happened in 70 years. The Persians defeated the Babylonians, and
the Persians had a different policy regarding the people they conquered. They wanted the Jews to return to Israel and
re-establish worship of Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Originally the centerpiece of Israelite
religious practice had been the law, Torah, and the land. Then Solomon built a house for God. Solomon’s temple was one of the wonders of
the ancient world. Israelite faith found
a home in the temple. There were Psalms
written specifically for the time of year when they go up to Jerusalem to
worship in the temple. God is
all-powerful. God could be worshiped
anywhere, and was. But there was
something special about the temple. Then Babylon burned Jerusalem and destroyed
that temple.
Haggai along with 2nd Chronicles, Ezra and
Nehemiah, Isaiah chapters 56-66, and the prophet Zechariah, as well as some of
the Psalms and Ecclesiastes, give us the story and the perspective of Israel,
after exile. The exile is over. Now what do the people of God do? What time is it? The Pandemic is about to be over? Now what do we do?
Haggai quoted God who quoted the people who said, “It’s
not yet time to rebuild the temple.”
What time is it? Was it just too exhausting
for those who returned from exile, tired and haggard, to think about
rebuilding? They would get
re-established in life and then get to the temple, eventually.
It’s not time to build the temple just yet. Really, God asked. Then what time is it? God asked, “Is it time for you yourselves to
live in paneled houses while the Lord’s house lies in ruins” (1:4)? I don’t want to hear Haggai ask me these
questions. I don’t want to squirm under
God’s scrutinizing gaze.
God is love. God is compassion. God takes us as we are. That doesn’t mean we tell God how things
are. God tells us how things are and God
tells us who we are. God told those
returning exiles, “You have [planted a lot] but harvested very little; you have
clothes but are not warm enough; you earn wages, but then put your coins in
bags with holes. … The heavens have withheld rain and the earth has withheld
produce” (v.6, 10-11).
Rebuilding is long, hard
work, and sometimes it seems impossibly big.
We’ll never get there.
That’s how it looks. But God’s
point to his people in Haggai is their struggles are directly tied to their
neglect of living out their faith in God.
That neglect is seen in their failure to rebuild the temple. “Why is there no rain?” God asks. “Why won’t crops grow? Because my house lies in ruins while all of
you hurry off to your own houses” (1:9).
Things won’t be right until that pile of ash and stone is replaced with
a rebuilt temple. Rebuilding shows that
the people trust God.
Standing at the threshold
of a new year and a new time, Haggai interrogates us. What do we see? Are we focused on the pain and loss of the
past year, or the potential of the new?
Are we occupied with the mess the world is in or with the creative power
of God who brings order out of chaos? Are we paralyzed by depressing piles of
rubble, or energized to do the rebuilding work God has given us?
Haggai interrogates
us. One of Israel’s points of
devastating failure came when the nation entrusted herself to alliances with
more powerful neighboring nations instead of putting her in trust in the
all-powerful God. Who do we trust? Of course, we wear masks and socially
distance and will get the vaccine and do all the necessary things to live
safely. However, the question
stands. In whom do we put our ultimate
trust? The governor of North Carolina,
or the North Carolina secretary of health, Mandy Cohen? Ourselves?
In whom do we trust?
What time is it? What do we see? Who do we trust?
Haggai, speaking on August
29, 520 B.C. wanted the people of God to give their full allegiance to God and
find their sense life in God by rebuilding the temple. At the dawn of the 2021, the people of God
are to give full allegiance to Him, and we are to find our life in Him.
We know from Romans and
other New Testament writings that in Christ we, the church, are included among
the people of God. We know from the Gospels
that all the purposes of the temple find fulfillment in Christ. We know from 1 Corinthians that we, the
church, are the body of Christ, submitted to the Holy Spirit Empowered by that Spirit, we do the work of
sharing Jesus with the world.
It’s time for us to be the
church. Of course, we sit with people in
their messes, but we don’t leave them there.
Of course, we hold the hands of those who mourn and weep with them, but
we know joy, not tears, are the end of the story when we are in Christ. This week I talked with a friend, another
pastor here in Chapel Hill. He’s had
several members die of COVID-19. It has
been a hard, hard year for him and his church.
But he holds on to the resurrection because he’s in Christ. In Christ, it is always time for new life and
new creation.
What time is it? It is time for us to be the church. It is time for Hillside Church to discover God’s
vision for us. It’s time for us to lean
into the vision. We are a community of
witnesses who testify to all the ways we are blessed by Jesus. It is time for us to love others and share
Gospel hope with Chapel Hill.
The name Haggai means
‘feast.’ Those beaten-down Jews
straggling back to Israel from their Babylonian captivity saw their homeland
devasted. Filled with grief, celebration
was the furthest thing from their minds.
They didn’t feel like they were in any condition to begin something
new.
God thought otherwise. God
sent a man named ‘feast’ to tell them a new day had dawned, a day that belonged
to the Lord of the feast. I am here to
announce that in Chapel Hill, at Hillside Church, a new day is dawning. We won’t have a potluck supper next month,
but it is coming. In our hearts, in our
minds, and in our mental orientation, we, right now, are to begin preparing to
embrace God’s purpose for us as His people.
Following the prophet
named ‘Feast,’ we end up at the feet of the Savior, Jesus, the giver of
abundant life. The prophet insisted the
temple be rebuilt. Jesus our Lord is the
fulfillment of the temple’s purpose and we meet God in Him.
We are His people. So, we must ready ourselves. What time is it? It is time, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina,
to proclaim salvation in Jesus, to gather in His name, to uplift the hurting
and downcast, and to joyfully build his community, his church. This is His time and we are His people. We have His work to do. Let’s do it with joy.
AMEN
Except not this year, not in 2020. In 2020, we need to protect each other from the spread of the virus, so we don’t gather. How many grandparents will meet their new grandchildren through Zoom calls? A baby can’t participate in a Zoom call. Babies are
meant to be held, cuddled, and tickled. A baby’s smile produces a smile on the face of everyone in the room, even the crustiest old codger. There’s no “social distancing” with babies!
Joseph and Mary were far from home the night their first baby was born. Joseph knew the baby wasn’t “his.” He didn’t sire this child, but he sure acted like a good dad. An unfeeling Roman census required Joseph to take his pregnant wife to his ancestral home, Bethlehem, miles from his current home and family. The ancient Israelite people were more socially connected than we are. Family was everything. To be forced to have a baby away from the support of family was very hard, very sad. Joseph did what he had to do, and Jesus was born with only farm animals and later shepherds there to celebrate his arrival.
Is it possible this is one more way God-in-the-flesh, God incarnate, identifies with the struggles we face? Even the day of his birth, Jesus was confronted by obstacles that made life difficult. His birth that evokes happy praise songs in our worship services was a night fraught with danger, uncertainty, and isolation. Yes, this babe who lies at the center of our Christmas truly can identify with the things that make life a struggle for us.
As you worship this year, in your heart, reach out to Christ. When you do, appreciate this. He understands you and He loves you. It’s why He came and it’s why his Holy Spirit is with you now, no matter your circumstances. None of us wants a COVID-19 Christmas, but Jesus will get us through it and even make it special. He knows our struggles and He won’t leave to face those struggles alone. God is with us.
Rejoice! Even socially-distanced, rejoice, give thanks, and sing.
November 29, 2020
I don’t need to cite any examples. I can just say, the year 2020 has been weird, unique, forgettable, and one we’ll always remembers. Few people will look back on it fondly.
There’s no way to track this, but if there were, I wonder
if we could measure how often people prayed in 2020, and if, as things got
worse in the world, people’s prayers increased in intensity and frequency. And, I wonder what that measurement would
look like compared to other years.
Every year, life falls apart for some people. Pain – physical, emotional, financial, any
kind of pain – spurs a desire for change.
God, please bring some money. I’m tired of wondering how to pay for
groceries and rent.
God please help my body to respond to physical
therapy. My body hurts. I want to be healthy again.
God please fills this hole in my heart. The divorce has broken me. I feel empty.
I don’t want to feel this way anymore.
When life is going great,
we thank God and hope the good times will continue. Or, caught up in our
happiness, we forget about God. But
those who hurt pray. Pain produces prayers – prayers for change.
If I had to guess, I’d say as we close out 2020, more
people are praying for change than in other years at this same time. We want things to be different, better. We want life to open back up. We want Thanksgiving and Christmas and New
Year’s. We want parties and family. We want change.
Isaiah 64 is a prayer for change. Isaiah chapters 56-66 function as a
unit. Some experts refer to this as “3rd
Isaiah,” set after Israel has returned to the land from exile. Imagine the awkwardness and uncertainty when
that change we’ve prayed – reopening – comes.
Imagine life after the pandemic.
As much as we yearn for it, it will be fraught with economic uncertainty,
questions about vaccines, and whether or not we can hug each other. What will the new normal be?
In Isaiah 56-66, the people had returned to the
land. But Jerusalem with rubble
everywhere, the aftermath of the Babylonian destruction, sat depressed in varying
stages of rebuilding. The sin God’s
people committed that led God to allow defeat and exile to happen lurked at the
edges their consciousness. Would they
again disobey the Lord? Would God punish
as he had before?
Isaiah 64 is a prayer for change. Maybe hearing that we think, Isaiah 64
provides the words we need to lift before the Lord. This can be our prayer. Be careful!
Better than careful, be mindful.
God hears our prayer and takes them seriously. We should lift them up seriously.
Lord, I want to see unity in our land.
Lord, my body is broken.
I want to be healed.
Lord, I fear catching a disease. I want to know I am protected.
Each is truly a legitimate prayer for change. I encourage
these prayers. Talk to God. Take what matters in your life before the
Lord. No one loves you like God
does. God wants to hear from you. God wants you to pay attention to Him. God wants you to worship with energy, sing
your heart out, and throw yourself fully into your worship, your Bible reading,
your prayers, and thoughts. I would go
so far as to say God wants a relationship of intimacy with you.
Make no mistake though. God is still God. Listen to the opening of the prayer in Isaiah
64. “O that you would tear open the
heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at your presence … so that
nations would quake at your presence.”
How often are the prayers we lift requests for life to go
back to the way it was before COVID hit?
Or, if you life was kind of lousy and really hard before COVID, last
year at this time, maybe you prayed for a good, prosperous, healthy, successful
American life. O Lord, I want the nice house,
the best health insurance, the full kitchen cupboard, and a little extra to go
on a nice vacation. God loves
home-owning, full-bellied affluent people; no question about it!
Yet, think about it. If you’re struggling and praying for your
life to be like the person who appears to be struggling less – that’s not a
prayer for change. That’s a prayer for
you to live on the good side of how things are in the world right now. It is asking God to make it so we enjoy the
best this life has to offer. Isaiah 64
utters words at an entirely different level.
To pray this post-exilic
prophet’s prayer is to seek change in the fabric of society, an absolute
altering of the world as we know it.
Isn’t that what happens when “mountains quake?” Forget COVID, forget Trump v. Biden, forget
all the weirdness of 2020 we actually want to forget but cannot. Isaiah asks for fire from heaven that makes
the waters boil and the rulers tremble.
Do we want to pray that prayer?
What is God doing? I have heard that question asked a lot this
year. What is God up to? Setting aside the myopic narcissism in
supposing that what happens in our little lives is any kind of indication of
God’s intent or activity, it is a natural thing to wonder. God, what’s going on here, and, where have
you been?
Again, God invites us to
ask. If you take anything away from this
sermon, take away the assurance that God welcomes your queries. God wants to hear from you. God wants to hear from all of us. God wants to connect at the most seemingly
insignificant details in our lives. Just
know the Isaiah 64 is also much bigger than what we can see.
Verse 4 – “From ages past
no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who
works for those who wait for Him” We bring all our prayers, concerns, worries,
and hopes. We lift it all to God in
prayer. Then, we wait on God with that
question nibbling away at our faith. God,
what are you doing?
God will answer. How we receive that answer will be colored by
how approach God. Isaiah approached in a
spirit of repentance. “We have all
become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy
cloth” (v.6). Isaiah stated the sinful
condition of the people, and tries desperately to turn from that to the Holy
God who despises sin and will not tolerate it.
Isaiah recognizes that
while it hurts to face in God with our sins dripping all over us like we’ve
fallen into a muddy pond right before entering a formal ball, it is worse to
turn away from God, and even worse than that to think God has turned away from
us.
Do we, as Isaiah did, see
our own condition, our filth next to God’s pristine holiness? I maintain that the problems of 2020 and in
many cases the problems we face regardless of when we face them are magnified
by our own shortsightedness, selfishness, and greed. COVID is the not worst evil we’ve face in
2020; human sin is. When we pray for
change, will repentance be a part of it?
Will we, as Isaiah did,
say to God, “You are our Father; we are the clay, and you the potter”? The potter gets to mold the make the clay as
she pleases. The clay doesn’t make
suggestions. Will we be clay in God’s
hands? Will we acknowledge our
impurities alongside God’s perfection?
Will we say to God, make of me what you will?
Let’s bring together all
that’s been raised as we take the prophet’s words and try in some fashion to
raise them to God as our words.
· We want the world to
change or at least our experience of it to change.
· We agree that Isaiah was
onto something in including repentance as a part of his prayer. So, we also repent. We name our own failures and
shortcomings. Having confessed, we turn
away from sin and turn to God.
· We trust that God wants us
to pray and hears our prayers.
· We believe God can and
will answer.
· We wait.
We are left with the
thought that we still aren’t quite sure of what God is doing in all this. Take comfort.
Not knowing is included in the waiting.
Throughout the Bible God’s people have earnestly hoped God would act,
then failed to recognize when God did act, because God’s response wasn’t what
they expected. Moses, Job, Daniel,
Ezekiel, John the Baptist, Peter; they were surprised when God showed up, and
in most cases, they were watching for him!
“O that you would tear
open the heavens … so that mountains would quake and kings would tremble at
your presence.” O that you end the
pandemic, quiet the political fighting, bring justice to the victims of
injustice; God, come do something! Will
we watch for God’s response? When it
comes, will we see it?
Advent is a time of
waiting. To answer all the questions on
the first Sunday would be to skip to the end of the story. Instead, imagine, if God tore open the
heavens and brought the changes you’ve prayed for, what would that look like
and sound and feel like? To seek God and
ask God to act demands tremendous faith.
How does the birth in the
manger signal that God is at work in the world? Here’s the homework. Spend significant time contemplating how the
coming of Christ changes the world at the end of crazy pandemic 2020. How does the coming of Christ change your
life?
AMEN
