Sermon notes
Can you imagine complete silence? It’s hard to in our culture today inwhich televisions, radios, etc. are constantly blaring. But in thismorning’s text a silence of 400 years is broken. Don’t misunderstand me,not everyone was silent during this period. Women and men were talking..Boys and girls were talking. But there was no prophet speaking the Word ofthe LORD. No one was truthfully saying, “Thus says the LORD…”In reality two silences are broken in this morning’s text. For one, the400 year period without a Word from God and for another, a gap ofapproximately 30 years in the life of Jesus. John skips directly fromhis birth and infancy narrative to an event that occurs approximately 30years later: the ministry of John the Baptist. Both of these silences arebroken by the sound of a voice.The voice that breaks the silence is the voice of John the Baptist, whomay rightly be called the last of the Old Testament Prophets. He isfunctioning as a Herald by announcing the coming of the King. In theancient world, a herald was one who went ahead of a king’s chariot toprepare the road. He would command a crew which would smooth out theusually rough roads of that day by filling potholes and removing boulders.The herald would also go before the king shouting, “Make way, the King iscoming!” “efforts to make a road level and smooth were restricted to times when royalty was on its way” The king was on his way!
A number of years ago a couple travelled to the offices of an AdoptionSociety in England to receive a baby. They had been on the waiting list along time. They had been interviewed and carefully scrutinized. Now atlast their dreams were to be fulfilled. But their day of happiness wasanother's pain.Arriving at the offices of the Society they were led up a flight of stairsto a waiting room. After a few minutes they heard someone else climbingthe stairs. It was the young student mother whose baby was to be adopted.She was met by the lady responsible for the adoption arrangements andtaken into another room. Our friends heard a muffled conversation and afew minutes later footsteps on the stairs as the young mother left. Theyheard her convulsive sobbing until the front door of the office wasclosed. Then, there was silence.The lady in charge then conducted them next door. In a little crib was asix week old baby boy. On a chair beside it was a brown paper bagcontaining a change of clothes and two letters. One of these, addressed tothe new parents, thanked them for providing a home for her baby andacknowledged that under the terms of the adoption each would never knowthe other's identity. Then the young mother added one request. Would theyallow her little son to read the other letter on his eighteenth birthday?She assured them that she had not included any information about heridentity. The couple entrusted that letter to a lawyer and one day theyoung man will read the message which his mother wrote on the day, whenwith breaking heart, she parted with him.I wonder what she wrote? If I had to condense all I feel about life andlove into a few precious words what would I say? I would have no time fortrivia. I would not be concerned about economics, politics, the weather,the size of house or the type of car.
At such a time I would want to dwell on the deep things of life, on what life was all about and what things were absolutely essential.John in the desert was in the great tradition of the Hebrew prophets. Hewas aware that time was running out. In his burning message he had no timefor everyday matters. He was not playing Trivial Pursuit nor was heprepared to splash about in the shallows. Soon the sword of Herod's guardwould flash and his tongue would lie silent in the grave. Superficialpeople came out from Jerusalem to see him. They were intrigued by thisstrange phenomenon of a wild man preaching repentance. They werefascinated by frivolous things such as his dress, his diet, and his fire and brimstone sermons. They wanted to interview him and then tell all theirfriends about their remarkable experience. "Who are you?" they asked. Hisanswer was curt: "I am not the Christ." "Are you Elijah?" "No!" "Then whoare you?" they persisted. They had their doubts about who he was but hismessage to their ears was clear: Repent.There comes a moment when the preacher longs for his hearers to lose sightof everything except his message. "Don't listen to my accent. Don't lookat my clothes. Don't comment on my style. Don't search my biographicaldetails for my University pedigree. Just listen to what I am saying.Repent!”
Christmas season. A time of preparation. Most Scots prepare for theholidays with lights and gifts, cards and good cheer. But the Churchreminds us to prepare spiritually. What does that mean? John the Baptist gave us a direction.
We prepare for Christmas by repenting. Repenting in the Biblical sense ismore than having a change of heart or a feeling of regret. It is more thana New Year’s Eve resolution. Repentance is a turning away and a turningback. A turning away from sin and a turning back to God.
We need to have the conviction of sin! RepentanceThe Romans sometimes compelled a captive to be joined face-to-face with adead body, and to bear it about until the horrible emanating smelldestroyed the life of the living victim. Virgil describes this cruelpunishment:'The living and the dead at his commandWere coupled face to face, and hand to hand;Till choked with stench, in loathed embraces tied,The lingering wretches pined away and died.Without Christ, we are shackled to a dead corpse -- our sinfulness. Onlyrepentance frees us from certain death, for life and death cannot coexistindefinitely.
Bishop Joe Pennel of the United Methodist Church, once attended a Christmas worship service in Bethlehem at a placecalled Shepherd’s Field. As he heard the songs of the season, he thoughtto himself and later wrote: “I did not look to God and say: See howvirtuous I am. I did not utter: God, pat me on the back for all of thegood things I have done. I did not pretend by saying: God, look at all ofmy accomplishments, aren’t you proud of me? Indeed, I found myself askingGod to forgive me of my sins. That is how it works. The more we turn awayfrom Christ the more enslaved we become to the power of sin. The more weturn to Christ, the more free we become from the bondage of sin. Turningtoward Christ enables us to repent.”
We need John
John had three angles in his message 1. John's Message Called People to Repentance2. John Told People to Share.3. John's Message Was to Serve.
Carl Michalson, a brilliant young theologian who died in a plane crashsome years ago, once told about playing with his young son one afternoon.They were tussling playfully on their front lawn when Michalsonaccidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. It was a sharpblow full to his son's face. The little boy was stunned by the impact ofthe elbow. It hurt, and he was just about to burst into tears. But then helooked into his father's eyes. Instead of anger and hostility, he sawthere his father's sympathy and concern; he saw there his father's loveand compassion. Instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenlyburst into laughter. What he saw in his father's eyes made all thedifference!The sharp blow of God's message to us is: Repentance. But, look into yourfather's eyes. What he offers you is forgiveness and that makes all thedifference. Repent and you will be forgiven.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Friday, December 07, 2007
sermon this week!
Sermon notes
2 Samuel 23 :20, gut reaction? Run away! Lion chasers are different! You know what? God puts us in positions to fulfil our destiny, sometimes we need to chase our lions, in a pit, snowy day with a lion? Not a bad day, a horrendous day, but look what happens to Benaiah, how we react to our lions, how we take risks to fulfil God’s destiny for us, will give us the greatest opportunities in this life.
When did we become careful, when did we begin to worry about what people thought? When did we worry about the money in the bank, when did we begin to play it safe in case something happens?
I look at the birth of Christ, I don’t see God being careful, I see radicalful, I see riskful, so excitingful! I see a Father who loves his children, so much so he sent his first born to change the world, I see a son who came to challenge the status quo from the get go, birth in a stable, teaching the elders in the temple as a child, leaving his parents to be in his Father’s house, who met the sinners, made friends with them, spent most of his time with them, I see a man who challenged those who always sat in the churches, I see God who got so frustrated with those who had the talents, had the gifts and did nothing. I see God who loved each one of us so much that he laid his life down so that we could have life, I see a man who was and is God after he rose from the grave imploring his friends to go and tell the good news to all they met, and to go all over the world to take risks and live life to the full!
When did we live a careful life where we stayed with what we know, where we played it safe.
For all our good works, in what ways are we accepting the grace of Jesus Christ and letting others know of this great news?
Wiser Christians than me have said on occasion to me, shouldn’t go to the cinema, what would Jesus say if he came back and you were watching some film, I always laugh it off, but you know there is something deeper in that, what in fact are we doing as individuals and corporately as Christ’s church to be prepared for when he will return?
Irish joke about pushing the car, ghosts, rainy night, link of return of Christ is the natural end, not something frightening (well it shouldn’t be!)
History is going somewhere, not random, not eternal, there will be an end, there we will meet Jesus
Triumph, evil will be defeated
Restoration, the Jewish expectation was earthquakes, famines, wars, but with Jesus all will be made new, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, Jesus doesn’t come to destroy but to restore the perfect creation that God has always wanted.
The return of Jesus speaks of judgement., some will be taken, some will be left, now this isn’t about good works we have done, this is not if we have lived a good life, our true colours will be seen on this day, if we delight in Jesus when he returns we will run with arms outstretched, or shrink away in fear in hatred, I guess it is how we choose to live today, if we think we don’t need him, if we think we can do it alone, he will leave us alone when his day comes. Think about it, the repentant murderer, the repentant rapist those who accept their sin and seek forgiveness from Christ will be in his kingdom, we who have not really done that much wrong we who live lovely nice, respectable lives could be out in the cold, or the not so cold, because we have not sought the face of Jesus, that is not where I want to be!
The return of Christ will be decisive, there will be no second chances, the shops will be shut there is no chance of reprieve, so we must go and seek him now while he still may be found.
Sudden and unexpected, quick and not looked for so we must be prepared.
Jesus will return but the time is only known by the Father, the disciples did not know, we do not know, preachers, Jehovah witnesses, millennialists, post- millennialists do not know, Jesus doesn’t even know, the one thing we know is that the end will come, and we must be prepared.
So priorities for us then, a willingness to endure hardships for our faith, a wisdom in reading the signs of the times, a watchfulness so that his return will not find us idle or abusing the privileges we have been given as God’s children.
What does this mean for us then? Well firstly we need to accept Jesus as our saviour if we have not already done so, to do this we need to accept that we are sinners, which is something we never want to do in our nice safe comfortable existence. Who here is a sinner? Each one of us, every one of us, need the grace of God, we may have never done anything really bad, but we have all fallen short of the grace of God, so we need to accept our need of a saviour and that means inviting Jesus in to be our guide, our helper, our friend, our Lord.
So is that it? Nope Jesus calls us all to follow him, and to go and make disciples of all the nations, that means praying to God for opportunities to share your faith, that means sharing your faith with others, that means growing in your faith through study of the bible, through reading Christian books, through attending house groups, that means serving those in need, not the people like you, but those in need in the town of Dalkeith, getting your hands dirty, not because you are nice, but because you are a sinner who is redeemed and you want others to find redemption.
If we take this on board, our faith is no longer about maintaining a respectable image, it is about chasing our lions, there are two types of regret, regrets of action, regrets of inaction, “wishing you hadn’t done something, and wishing you had done something” in the church we are very good at getting at the regrets of action, the sins committed, we have a long list of don’ts which we think will be enough to make us holy, but you know you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right, our calling is much more than doing nothing wrong, we are called to chase lions, when we don’t have the guts to step out in faith, God is robbed of the glory he is due.
We have become to passive, too defensive, we want to play it safe, but you know what taking no risks is the greatest risk of all
Let’s not be frightened to make mistakes, lets not fear failure, we will learn, at least if we make a mess of things we are trying, Jesus is coming back someday, it may be someday soon, how are we going to meet him? How is he going to meet me, how is he going to meet you? Take courage, chase the dreams you know God has given to you!
2 Samuel 23 :20, gut reaction? Run away! Lion chasers are different! You know what? God puts us in positions to fulfil our destiny, sometimes we need to chase our lions, in a pit, snowy day with a lion? Not a bad day, a horrendous day, but look what happens to Benaiah, how we react to our lions, how we take risks to fulfil God’s destiny for us, will give us the greatest opportunities in this life.
When did we become careful, when did we begin to worry about what people thought? When did we worry about the money in the bank, when did we begin to play it safe in case something happens?
I look at the birth of Christ, I don’t see God being careful, I see radicalful, I see riskful, so excitingful! I see a Father who loves his children, so much so he sent his first born to change the world, I see a son who came to challenge the status quo from the get go, birth in a stable, teaching the elders in the temple as a child, leaving his parents to be in his Father’s house, who met the sinners, made friends with them, spent most of his time with them, I see a man who challenged those who always sat in the churches, I see God who got so frustrated with those who had the talents, had the gifts and did nothing. I see God who loved each one of us so much that he laid his life down so that we could have life, I see a man who was and is God after he rose from the grave imploring his friends to go and tell the good news to all they met, and to go all over the world to take risks and live life to the full!
When did we live a careful life where we stayed with what we know, where we played it safe.
For all our good works, in what ways are we accepting the grace of Jesus Christ and letting others know of this great news?
Wiser Christians than me have said on occasion to me, shouldn’t go to the cinema, what would Jesus say if he came back and you were watching some film, I always laugh it off, but you know there is something deeper in that, what in fact are we doing as individuals and corporately as Christ’s church to be prepared for when he will return?
Irish joke about pushing the car, ghosts, rainy night, link of return of Christ is the natural end, not something frightening (well it shouldn’t be!)
History is going somewhere, not random, not eternal, there will be an end, there we will meet Jesus
Triumph, evil will be defeated
Restoration, the Jewish expectation was earthquakes, famines, wars, but with Jesus all will be made new, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, Jesus doesn’t come to destroy but to restore the perfect creation that God has always wanted.
The return of Jesus speaks of judgement., some will be taken, some will be left, now this isn’t about good works we have done, this is not if we have lived a good life, our true colours will be seen on this day, if we delight in Jesus when he returns we will run with arms outstretched, or shrink away in fear in hatred, I guess it is how we choose to live today, if we think we don’t need him, if we think we can do it alone, he will leave us alone when his day comes. Think about it, the repentant murderer, the repentant rapist those who accept their sin and seek forgiveness from Christ will be in his kingdom, we who have not really done that much wrong we who live lovely nice, respectable lives could be out in the cold, or the not so cold, because we have not sought the face of Jesus, that is not where I want to be!
The return of Christ will be decisive, there will be no second chances, the shops will be shut there is no chance of reprieve, so we must go and seek him now while he still may be found.
Sudden and unexpected, quick and not looked for so we must be prepared.
Jesus will return but the time is only known by the Father, the disciples did not know, we do not know, preachers, Jehovah witnesses, millennialists, post- millennialists do not know, Jesus doesn’t even know, the one thing we know is that the end will come, and we must be prepared.
So priorities for us then, a willingness to endure hardships for our faith, a wisdom in reading the signs of the times, a watchfulness so that his return will not find us idle or abusing the privileges we have been given as God’s children.
What does this mean for us then? Well firstly we need to accept Jesus as our saviour if we have not already done so, to do this we need to accept that we are sinners, which is something we never want to do in our nice safe comfortable existence. Who here is a sinner? Each one of us, every one of us, need the grace of God, we may have never done anything really bad, but we have all fallen short of the grace of God, so we need to accept our need of a saviour and that means inviting Jesus in to be our guide, our helper, our friend, our Lord.
So is that it? Nope Jesus calls us all to follow him, and to go and make disciples of all the nations, that means praying to God for opportunities to share your faith, that means sharing your faith with others, that means growing in your faith through study of the bible, through reading Christian books, through attending house groups, that means serving those in need, not the people like you, but those in need in the town of Dalkeith, getting your hands dirty, not because you are nice, but because you are a sinner who is redeemed and you want others to find redemption.
If we take this on board, our faith is no longer about maintaining a respectable image, it is about chasing our lions, there are two types of regret, regrets of action, regrets of inaction, “wishing you hadn’t done something, and wishing you had done something” in the church we are very good at getting at the regrets of action, the sins committed, we have a long list of don’ts which we think will be enough to make us holy, but you know you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right, our calling is much more than doing nothing wrong, we are called to chase lions, when we don’t have the guts to step out in faith, God is robbed of the glory he is due.
We have become to passive, too defensive, we want to play it safe, but you know what taking no risks is the greatest risk of all
Let’s not be frightened to make mistakes, lets not fear failure, we will learn, at least if we make a mess of things we are trying, Jesus is coming back someday, it may be someday soon, how are we going to meet him? How is he going to meet me, how is he going to meet you? Take courage, chase the dreams you know God has given to you!
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