Advent 2B - Sermon (2002)

I'm a bit behind the curve again this week...seems it just gets busier and busier! :)

Here's an Advent 2B sermon that I preached in 2002. I won't be preaching it this week, but will probably focus on what it means for the church to be a voice in the wilderness, calling the world to "Prepare the way of the Lord." So, I'm just providing this sermon as reference for anyone who might find it helpful in preparing a sermon, lesson, or devotional.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon
**************

Good News!!! If there's anything that we love to share, it's good news. When good news strikes, we rush to tell others about it. We can't wait to get home to tell our spouse or kids, and if the news is good enough, we even tell strangers on the street. When good news comes, it changes our day and our very outlook on life. Dark skies turn blue, minor annoyances disappear, and the world is a brighter place. Good news can transform our state of mind, our perspective on the world, and the way in which we relate to people.

Our text today comes from the Gospel of Mark. Mark sets out to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Greek word for Gospel is euaggelion, which is also the source of our word evangelism and evangelist. The most basic meaning of euaggelion is Good News, good message, or good tidings. And so, what Mark sets out to do, is put down in writing the Good News of Jesus. He tells his readers about the Good News which changes lives, transforms relationships, and alters our very perspective.

Mark begins his telling of the Good News unlike any other of the Gospels. Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, followed by the visit of the Magi. Luke begins with the foretelling of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, followed by their births and subsequent visits of the shepherds. John begins with a theological affirmation, stating that Jesus is the Living Word of God. Unique to Mark are these opening words to the Gospel, found in Mark 1:1-8:

¹ The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
² It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. ³ a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
⁴ And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan river. ⁶ John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ

Did you notice how Mark begins his Gospel? The very first words of Mark's gospel are, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." He then begins writing, not about Jesus, but about John the Baptist. Mark considers John the Baptist to be the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Mark has Good News to tell, and he begins by talking about John the Baptist--the forerunner to Jesus.

According to Mark, John the Baptist is the beginning of the Good News! For Mark, the Good News doesn't begin with a chorus of angels, lowly shepherds, crowded inns, traveling Wise Men, or even with a baby in a manger. Mark begins by telling us about a strange man living in the desert who wore clothes made out of camel's hair, and aite locusts and honey. We imagine John the Baptist with unkempt hair, a long beard, piercing eyes, and a commanding voice. He appears to have taken a vow similar to that of the ancient Nazirites, to never touch or eat anything unclean, or to shave, or to drink any fermented drinks. God's power was among the ancient Nazirites in marvelous ways, as they were used by God to deliver the Israelites. Breaking that Nazirite vow meant certain defeat, as we remember in the life of Samson who allowed his hair to be cut.

John the Baptist certainly doesn't strike us as an individual that we would be very comfortable around. In fact, if John the Baptist were to suddently appear in today's culture, we might be tempted to lock him up or institutionalize him. And yet, Mark tells us that lots of people went out to the wilderness to hear his words. It appears as though he was never lacking an audience for his words, and that people were attracted to his message. After all, people are attracted to good news. They like to hear good news, and that's exactly what John the Baptist was preaching.

But, we have to ask the questions, "what did the Good News of John the Baptist look like? How did he share the Good News of Jesus Christ?" John the Baptist began his preaching of the Gospel with one word--repent. Mark tells us that John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John came to prepare the people for the Good News ahead.

Advent is a season of preparation. During advent, we are reminded that the King is coming, and that we must prepare ourselves for His arrival. Each one of our Scripture texts today highlighted this theme of preparation for the coming King.

Isaiah chapter 40 was written to the Israelites after spending 200 years in Babylonian exile. 200 years had passed since they were carried off. 200 years of silence from God. And then God speaks through the prophet, comforting the Israelites by telling htem that they have paid for their sin, and that their time of exile is over. They are told to prepare for the coming of God, and that He will set things right. "Prepare the way for the Lord. Make way! Prepare a highway for our God!" the prophet proclaims Before the Israelites could be restored from their captivity in Babylon, they had to prepare theselves--repenting of their former ways, and making way for God to invade their midst and set things right.

You might ask, "How does one prepare the way for the Lord?" The Psalmist answered that question in our call to worship this morning. Psalm 85:13 says, "Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps." The way of the Lord is prepared by righteousness. If we want to make way for God, we should live righteous lives. If we want to hasten His coming, we should live spotlessly and blamelessly. If we want to truly prepare ourselves this Advent season, we must examine our lives, asking Him to search our hearts and to purify us.

Peter speaks of preparation in his second letter, where he warns his readers that they must live lives of patient expectation. They must live in patience, knowing that it may be years before Christ returns, but at the same time, they must live expectantly, knowing that he might return today. Adn then, Peter asks this question, "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?" In other words, "How will you prepare yourself for His coming?" Peter then answers the question by saying, "You ought to live holy and godly lives,...[making] every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him."

Throughout Scripture, preparation for the coming of God involves examination, repentance, and righteous living. During this Advent season, we must "prepare the way for the Lord" in our own lives. John the Baptist encouraged people to prepare the coming of Jesus by repenting. As we think about repentance, typically a number of words come to mind...regret, remorse, penitence, wrongdoing, sorry, forgivenss, begging mercy, apology. And yet, the scriptural meaning of that word is so much more than any of these synonyms found from the thesaurus.

In Scripture, the word repent carries the meaning of "changing one's mind, behavior, or attitude." Repentance involves not only an apology, but a change in lifestyle. When we repent, we change the direction of our life. We no longer do the things we once did, but we turn from them, and turn to God. A repentant person does not return again to do the things they once did. Instead, they are given a new life, with new direction.

If the Advent season calls us to prepare for the coming of Christ, and that preparation requires that we examine our life, repenting of any wrong that we find, then we must have a clear understanding of what it means to repent.

In order to repent, we must first recognize our current state. I find it interesting that John preached about the baptism of repentance in the desert. The wilderness reminds us of the barren wasteland of sinful living. The wilderness reminds us of the Israelite children who wandered in the wilderness for forty years. The wilderness reminds us of loneliness, dryness, and isolation. And yet, it was in the wilderness where John preached about repentance. In order to repent, we must honestly look at our lives and the direction in which we are heading. We must strip away any facades or pretenses which exist, and look at precisely who we are. It is only by careful scrutiny and honest examination that we can recognize our current state. Often, we must ask God to identify those areas of shortcoming to us, for we are blinded to our own weaknesses and failings.

Once we have honestly looked at ourselves and recognized our current state, we must admit our need for help. Rarely do we have the resources to effect life-change on our own. In a few weeks, the year will change, and people will begin talking about New Year's resolutions again. Comedians will begin making jokes about last year's failed resolutions, and the morning talk show will do a special on how to set realistic resolutions and how to meet them. To me, New Year's resolutions are often a testimony to our own inability to change our lives for the better. While the New Year is a good time to stop and examine our lives, we are likely to fail in our resolutions if we do not include God in that process, and ask him to help change us. Once we recognize our failings, we must admit our need for help. That help can be found through scripture, through prayer, or thorugh accountability in Christian community...but without help, we will not likely experience the transformation we desire.

In order to repent, we must confess our sins. Often, we get uncomfortable at this point, but we forget that God already sees our hearts and minds, and knows of our sins. By confessing those sins, we really are only telling Him what He already knows. By confessing sins, we open up a door of honest communication with our Heavenly Father who already knows more about us than we do ourselves. Mark tells us that "the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." In order to repent, we must recognize our state, admit our need, and confess to God what He already knows.

The next step of repentance comes naturally. Once we tell someone we've done something wrong against them, we follow up with an apology. We tell them that we're sorry, and ask for forgiveness. Once we have confessed our sins--telling God what He already knows-then it's time to ask Him to forgive us. First John 1:9 offers this encouraging promise to us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." And so, when we examine our lives and repent, we must ask for--and receive--God's forgiveness and cleansing.

It is the last step of repentance that is sometimes forgotten or left out. As I said earlier, a full definition of repentance involves turning around or changing one's mind. If we stop simply at asking for and receiving forgiveness, we have not truly repented, and we have not truly prepared for His coming. Throughout scripture, repentance is always characterized by a change in behavior. If we continue to live in sin, then we have not truly repented. Repentance is when, by God's grace, the very direction of our life changes. No longer living for self, we live for Him. No longer seeking our glory, we seek His glory. We remember that we exist to live spirit-empowered lives to His greater glory. True repentance is not characterized by asking God for forgiveness for the same set of sins every night before we go to bed. True repentance is characterized by turning from those sins and living our lives differently than we did before. True repentance leads to life-transformation, and can only occur when we ask God to make our paths straight.

I'm reminded of the story of a little girl who was known for her messy desk in school. One day, a visitor to their classroom announced that he was going to hold a contest for the cleanest desk, and that the next time he came, he was going to give a prize out to whichever student had the cleanest desk. One little boy asked him, "Mister...when will you come back? How long do we have?" The kind gentleman replied, "I can't tell you when I will come back, but when i do, I'll bring the prize with me."

The little girl who was known for her very messy desk announced, much to everybody's amuzement, that she was going to win the contest. Her classmates laughed at her, believing that she could never have the cleanest desk.

She replied to their teasing by saying, "Well, I'll just clean my desk every Monday morning."

One child interrupted and said, "But what if he comes back at the end of the week?"

The little girl replied, "Well, then, I'll just clean it every morning."

Another student chimed in, "What if he comes back at the end of the day?"

She thought for a moment and then said, "I know what I'll do! I'll just keep it clean all the time!"

Repentance isn't just coming to church and praying once a week. Repentance isn't just cleaning up once a day. Repentance is more than bowing your head at the end of the day asking God to forgive you for all the things you did that day. Repentance is a change in lifestyle. Repentance means to change your mind, or to turn around...to turn from sin, and turn toward God. Repentance is when, by God's help, you don't just clean up the desk, but you keep the desk clean all the time.

And so, on this second Sunday of Advent, 2002, we ask this question, "What does it mean to prepare the way for the Lord? What does it mean to make straight in the desert a highway for our God?" Individually and corporately, we must examine our lives, asking God to show us where we are, admitting our need for His help, confessing our sins, asking for and receiving forgiveness, and turning from our ways to follow His ways. To prepare the way for the Lord means to Make Way! to Repent! and to Watch! for His coming.

When we truly prepare ourselves for Christmas, we are preparing not only for a celebration of His first coming, but also in anticipation of His second coming. Our preparation is vital, lest we be unprepared when the Master returns. For the day is coming...perhaps just around the corner...when

...our eyes at last shall see Him, thro' His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heav'n above.
And He leads His children on to the place where He is gone.

- Once in Royal David's City

Listen close...there's Good News just around the corner. It will change your life. Dark skies will turn blue, minor annoyances will disappear, and the world will be a brighter place. Make Way! Repent! and Watch! that you might be ready when he appears in all His glory!

Benediction: In all your Advent preparations, remain watchful with your eyes on Christ, whose birth in a manger is but a promise of his coming again in glory. And may the blessing of God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--be with you now and forever. Amen. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come!

More General Thoughts: Advent

When I was writing this post, I foolishly forgot what got me thinking about the whole concept of light/darkness and hope/despair.

It seems counter-intuitive to focus on elements of despair or hopelessness during this season. After all, what we really need is someone to encourage us, to give us hope. We need someone to shine a flashlight into our darkness and let us know that Christ will come again. We don't think that we really need any reminder of the apparent hopelessness around us.

At the same time, it is beneficial for us to be reminded that our very awareness of the darkness is evidence of God's grace at work in our lives. We know that there is something better because we can identify what is wrong. We know that there is sunlight because we can see the shadows.

Switchfoot's latest CD, Nothing Is Sound,has a track entitled "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine." The lyrics remind us that in our times of darkness, we can rest confident that God is watching over us. The shadow before us simply serves to prove the light of God. It is His grace that allows us to recognize the darkness, and it is His grace which sustains us through the darkness.

Crooked souls trying to stay up straight
Dry eyes in the pouring rain well
The shadow proves the sunshine

To scared little runaways
Hold fast to the break of day light were
The shadow proves the sunshine

Yeah Yeah, shine on me

May the shadows only serve to remind us of the light of God.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

General Thoughts : Advent

What does it mean to celebrate Advent? What is the purpose of Advent, and what distinguishes it from the Christmas season? Should we sing Christmas carols during Advent? How about wreaths, trees, and other Christmas type decorations?

I think that we often miss the depth and richness of Advent when we go straight from Thanksgiving into Christmas. I'm not just speaking about the commercialism and holiday spending sprees--I'm talking about our corporate and individual/family times of worship. When we begin singing "Joy to the World, the Lord is come," on the first Sunday of Advent, we are short-circuiting a rich tradition that allows us to first focus on our need for a Savior.

As we move through the month of December (at least in the northern part of the country, where I live), the days get noticeably shorter, until we reach the shortest day of the year--just a few days away from Christmas. As the shadows grow longer, we are reminded of our longing for sunlight. As the days get shorter and darker, our advent wreath grows brighter, adding a new candle each week. This wreath reminds us that the Light of the World has come, and is yet to come again.

One of the reasons children appreciate Christmas morning so much is because of the anticipation. We sometimes find that planning for the vacation is as much fun as actually going on the vaction. And I have to wonder if we are truly able to appreciate the Christian celebration of Christmas until we have been reminded of our need for a Savior.

Advent helps us explore the themes of darkness/light and hopelessness/hope. Our joy at the coming Christ is greater when we become more aware of our need. Instead of jumping directly into the Christmas celebration on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, we take time to consider our current situation of waiting for the second advent of Christ. We recognize that we are longing for His return. As Jars of Clay would say, we are "waiting for the world to fall...waiting for the scene to change."

How does this play itself out practically? In our congregation, we will focus on the Second Coming of Christ during the first Sunday of Advent. At the same time, we resist the urge to add Christmas decorations and Christmas music to our worship until the third Sunday of Advent. Our music choices for the first two weeks of Advent will focus on confession, longing, and our need for a Savior. We will also explore themes of hope and expectation--not just for opening gifts under a tree--but anticipation for the return of Christ.

Gradually, our focus will shift from looking ahead to the return of Christ to looking backward at the anticipation experienced by those who were awaiting His first advent. This will bring us into the Christmas celebration. We will use an advent wreath and blue paraments at the beginning of the season, and then add other Christmas decorations to the worship space throughout the month. We have a large nativity scene that we place on the platform, as well as a large tree which has been decorated with chrismons. (Chrismons are handmade ornaments which are monograms representing Christ--our set of chrismons include: a chi-rho, a fish, a dove, a manger, an anchor, a rose, a butterfly, a trefoil (IHS), an Alpha/Omega, and a cross. You can read more about chrismons in Diane Gibson's book Chrismons, They Point to Jesus. Our ladies' ministry made our set a few years back.)

It's also important to note that churches that keep Advent are more likely to celebrate Christmas through the traditional 12 days--with a Christmas-themed service for the first Sunday after Christmas as well, and possibly an Epiphany service celebrating the coming of the Magi. In addition to caroling excursions and candlelight services of lessons and carols, this allows ample time to explore most of the Christmas carols in your hymnal.

There are several resources available to help you explore the meaning of Advent within its intended context, instead of an extension of the Christmas season. Dennis Bratcher has some excellent articles available at www.crivoice.org. In particular, you'll want to check out his answer to the question, "Can we sing Christmas Carols during Advent?" During Advent, you may find it beneficial to pay close attention to the Old Testament lessons, as these lessons help us better understand the anticipation and longing of the People of God as they anxiously awaited the coming Messiah.

May this season be a blessed exploration of the certain hope which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

PS: I added some more thoughts about light/shadow and hope/despair in this post.

Advent 1B - Sermon (2002)

Here is a sermon from 3 years ago. On reflection, the illustration which I used as a hook seems to have little real connection with the rest of the message, other than helping to illustrate the feelings which we experience when caught in the middle. In any case, I've presented the sermon here in unedited form as it was preached in 2002.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon
******************************

Have you ever been in a tight squeeze? Have you ever been stuck in a corner with no way out? Have you ever been caught between a rock and hard place?

Mr. John Blanchard was caught between a rock and a hard place once. There he was, standing in Grand Central Station in New York City, having just straightened his army uniform. He was looking for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t--the girl with the rose. Mr. Blanchard was waiting to meet Miss Hollis Maynell for the very first time.

His interest in her had begun when he visited a secondhand book store and selected a book that had interested him. When he began to browse the book, however, it was not the words of the book that intrigued him, but the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book he discovered the previous owner’s name--Miss Hollis Maynell. It didn’t take long to locate her address--she lived right there in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

During the next year, the two of them grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared about her, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.

When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting--7:00 pm at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.”

So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen. Mr. Blanchard describes the events to follow like this:

“A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. ‘Going my way, soldier?’ she murmured.

“Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle.”

Mr. John Blanchard was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Wanting to go with the attractive young lady in the green suit, and at the same time wanting to have companionship with the one he had corresponded with for so long.

Have you ever been caught between a rock and a hard place? Have you ever been stuck in a corner with no way out? Have you ever been in a tight squeeze? Maybe not the same way that John Blanchard was, but I imagine that at times in our lives, each of us has been confronted with difficult decisions and dilemmas, feeling as though we were completely pinned between a rock and a hard place.

For the Christian living in 2002, the season of Advent is a season of being caught...not between a rock and a hard place, but between Christ’s first coming and His second coming. Advent is a season of being caught between what has already come, and what is yet to come. Advent is when we recognize that Jesus has come, but that He has not yet been fully revealed. As we enter the Advent Season this morning, we enter a season of anticipation and reflection. A season of looking ahead-and looking back. A season which celebrates the future-and a season which celebrates the past. A season where we experience the anticipation and longing for Christ’s birth--and for His return. The advent season is one of being caught--between a Bethlehem stable and a heavenly throne.

Our Scripture lesson in Isaiah this morning reflects the despair of those living in exile, those living under oppression, those who are in need of God’s saving works in their lives. Our lesson in Isaiah reflects the need for a Messiah...the need for Jesus to come and set things right. Our lesson in Isaiah shows us a people looking forward to that first Christmas so long ago. As we hear the prophet Isaiah, we can identify with the longing of the Israelites for the long-awaited Messiah to come. We can identify with their passion as they plead with God to “rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble.” These portions of Isaiah were written nearly 600 years before the birth of Christ, and we know that the Israelites awaited the coming of Messiah long before the writings of Isaiah.


In our lesson from First Corinthians, Paul challenges the believers to continue to eagerly wait for Christ to be revealed. He gives them the promise that God will keep them strong and blameless until the day of the Lord, when He comes again in His glory. This is the reality in which we more closely identify. We understand the believers in Corinth as they anticipate the return of Christ. It is His coming that we have been anticipating our entire lives. Every generation since Christ’s ascension into Heaven has believed that they would be alive to witness His return. We desire Him to come back and make things right. We recognize the fallenness of the world in which we live, and pray for its restoration. We see the moral corruption around us, and feel helpless in the face of evil. We know today--like the early believers in Corinth knew nearly 2000 years ago--that the world is in need of Jesus to come and restore order and peace to God’s creation.

And, so here we are today. Stuck...not between a rock and a hard place, but stuck between two advents. In limbo between a manger and a throne. Sandwiched between the knowledge of what has happened, and the hope of what is yet to come. Living in between what has already come, and what has not yet come.

The already and the not yet. Jesus already came as a baby in a manger, but He has not yet come as He will at the end of time. The already-not-yet reminds us of one of the strongest Advent Symbols...the Alpha and the Omega. The Alpha and Omega remind us of the first and the last. Jesus was in the beginning, and will be in the end. The Alpha and Omega remind us of His first coming and His second coming--that we are living in the already-not-yet--that the Kingdom has already come, and that at the same time, it has not yet come in its fullness.

And so the question we are forced to confront this morning is this: “How does one live when caught between the two advents? How should we look at life when we realize that we are living in the already-not-yet? How does one adequately celebrate the first advent, while appropriately anticipating the second advent?” Jesus answers the question, telling us how we are to live, in our Gospel lesson this morning. Hear these words of Jesus the Christ, as recorded in Mark 13:24-37:

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,
“ ‘ the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰ I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³² “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

Jesus tells us to be faithful, to be watchful, and be alert and on guard. Jesus cautions us to stay awake, looking for the coming of the Son of Man to occur at any moment. How do we live our lives caught between two advents? We must always be faithful. How do we live out the reality of the already-not-yet? We live in certain knowledge of the first advent, and in certain hope of the second advent. We live lives of watchfulness, awaiting the certain second coming of the Son of Man. The knowledge of the first advent gives us the certainty that is needed upon which we base our hope for the second advent.

Advent is a stark reminder of the despair felt on this earth throughout our history. We recollect the words of the prophet Isaiah and realize the intense longing for God’s saving grace. We remember the intense longing of those Israelites to see the promise of Messiah come to pass. We know of the violence that has marked the course of human history, and can fully appreciate the need for the Baby in the manger.

You and I live on the other side of the manger from those ancient Israelites. We easily turn the entire Advent & Christmas story into a story of joy and light and hope and peace. All of these themes are appropriate, but we do a disservice if we fail to remember the dark, damp, dreary and dismal world into which He was born. Christmas is a season during which we celebrate the light of the Christ child. Advent is the season during which we reflect upon our anticipation for the light. Our anticipation is made stronger by the growing darkness around us. The days continue to get shorter, the light continues to diminish. I don’t believe it’s any accident that Christmas occurs so close to the first day of Winter...the shortest day of the year. Despite the growing darkness around us, we know that Christmas will come, and after that-the days will get longer, and the light will continue to grow. During December, we experience the growing darkness. We anticipate the coming of the Light into the world, and live in expectant and hopeful watchfulness for that Light to come again.

The first Sunday of Advent is often characterized by hope or anticipation. We think of those Christmases long ago when we waited for months for Christmas to arrive. It seemed to take forever. We would count the days in anticipation, we would lie awake at night thinking about that new bicycle. Somehow, as we’ve gotten older, there are more things to do, more tasks to be completed, and so the time passes much more quickly, and we lose that sense of hopeful anticipation. I fear that our busy-ness and our culture encourage to look forward--not so much to the celebration of Christmas--but to the day when Christmas is all over. Anticipation has been replaced by busy-ness, watchfulness by hectic activity. We need to remember that childlike wonder and hope that we once had. We need to live our lives in watchful expectation...knowing that Christ will come again!

The life of the person caught between two advents should be characterized by hope, love, joy, and peace. The life of the person living between the Bethlehem manger and the heavenly throne is to be one of certain and watchful hope, reflecting on the Baby in the manger, while at the same time anticipating the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Faithful. Watching. Expectant. Hopeful.

And what of Mr. John Blanchard? There he was...stuck between a rock and hard place. Wanting to go with the attractive young lady in the green suit, and at the same time wanting to have companionship with the one he had corresponded with for so long. John continues to tell the story in these words:

“I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small, worn, blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment.

“‘I’m Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?’

“The woman’s face broadened into a tolerant smile. ‘I don’t know what this is about, son,’ she answered, ‘but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!’”

And so Lt. Blanchard found that the attractive young lady in the green suit and the one with whom his heart had found companionship were one and the same. We don’t get out of every rock-and-a-hard-place situation quite so easily as that. But living life caught between two advents is not so difficult after all. For, the baby in the manger and the Son of Man in power and glory are one and the same. Perhaps living life between the Bethlehem manger and the heavenly throne is not so difficult after all, we must simply be faithful, living out the certain hope which the manger gives us--certain hope in the Coming King.


Benediction: In all your Advent preparations, remain watchful with your eyes on Christ, whose birth in a manger is but a promise of his coming again in glory. And may the blessing of God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--be with you now and forever. Amen. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come!

Christ the King Sunday - Year A (Matthew 25:31-46)

It's hard to believe that I've cycled through the lectionary once already. Time has flown by quickly, and I forget that I've been ministering at this church for nearly 5 years now, with three of those as the lead pastor.

Tomorrow I'm not following the lectionary but will be looking at the Great Commission (as a follow up to my last two weeks looking at the two greatest commandments). However, I preached this sermon in 2002, and offer it here in its original form.

Peace,

PastorJon

********

The last Sunday of the Christian Calendar is known as “Christ the King” Sunday, or the “Reign of Christ” Sunday. We conclude the period of time between Pentecost and Advent with an acknowledgement and affirmation of Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings. We sound a triumphant note this morning, affirming that we know the outcome of the Great Narrative. Despite the growing darkness around us, we know that the Light is coming. Despite the onset of Winter, we know that Spring will arrive. Despite the apparent growth of the principalities of evil, we know that the Kingdom of God continues to break in upon us, and someday, the Kingdom Realities will truly become the Realities of which everyone is aware.

Christ the King Sunday helps us identify with the King, and with His Kingdom. We are confronted with the realities of His Kingdom, and His Lordship over our very lives. We must contemplate whether or not we have allowed ourselves to become subjects in His Kingdom, willing to serve His purposes.

Christ the King Sunday causes us to ask fundamental questions about the Kingdom. Who is the King? What is He like? What does He do? What is the Kingdom like, and who are its subjects? What are they like? How does one become a subject of the Kingdom?

Today, we will look in depth at a passage of Scripture which may help us understand a little bit more about the Kingdom, and what it means to acknowledge that Christ is King. Hear these words of Jesus the Christ, found in Matthew chapter 25, verses 31-46:

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Often, this passage of scripture is quoted when encouraging people to take care of poor and needy people. While that is not an inappropriate way to read the text, I wonder if we miss some other very important lessons because we don’t look beyond that application. This morning, we will look a little deeper into the text, to see what else we may learn from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25.

First, note that it is the Son of Man who comes in His glory, seated on the throne. We recognize the phrase “Son of Man” to be referring to Jesus. Jesus was both Divine and human, the long-awaited Messiah, the coming King. In this portion of His teaching, He identifies Himself as the Messiah, the coming King, who will judge all people. We understand the Jesus was much more than just a man, but the Son of David, the Messiah, fully-divine yet fully-human.

As Jesus sits on the throne, we see that all of the nations are gathered together. Jews, Arabs, Persians, Greeks, Americans, Asians, Russians, Africans, Australians, and so on. Not one nation will be left out. Not one group of people will be exempt from this separation. All people will be called before the Throne of Christ, to acknowledge His Lordship.

Notice what happens next: Jesus separates the people, one from another. Scripture doesn’t tell us that He will sort out the nations, or the tribes, or the family groups. It doesn’t even say that He will separate denominations one from another. No, He will separate the people, one from another. In this teaching, it is clear that nationality does not guarantee citizenship in the Kingdom of God. No longer could the Jews simply rely on being the “chosen people” in order to secure their citizenship. Likewise, being American is of no value in determining whether one belongs to the Kingdom of God. Being a member of a family does not play into which side of the throne one stands on. I daresay that even claiming membership in a certain church or religious group has very little to do with Jesus’ separation of the sheep from the goats. No, Scripture tells us that He will separate the people, one from another. It will be an individual sorting. Our Old Testament lesson from Ezekiel indicates that He will bring the sheep out from the nations and the countries and gather them together to bring them into their own land. The sorting process will gather together the sheep, regardless of nationality, family group, or denominational membership.

In fact, it appears as though the sorting will be very much like the sorting that a shepherd would do at the end of the day. The image that Jesus used here would have been a familiar image to the listeners. They would have immediately thought of a shepherd with hundreds or thousands of various breeds of sheep and goats. That shepherd would regularly be responsible for sorting out the animals, one kind from another, for the purpose of counting, breeding, and even sacrificing. He would probably have the animals led through a gate, where he could use his staff to sort them into separate pens, counting them as they came. Jesus, the Son of Man seated on the Throne, identifies Himself with the lowly shepherd.

What does it mean to understand that the King is also the Shepherd? What implications does that have for our lives? Throughout Scripture, Jesus is referred to as the Good Shepherd, who cares for the sheep and knows them by name. Christ the King is not a ruthless dictator or monarch. He is not a power-hungry emperor, or even a popularity-driven politician. No, Christ the King is a Shepherd, who cares for the sheep and knows them by name. What do we know about shepherds? The Shepherd leads the sheep. The Shepherd calls the sheep and they come. The Shepherd uses His staff to correct the sheep, and to lovingly keep them on the path and from danger. The Shepherd provides food, water, and rest for the sheep. The Shepherd is willing to go miles and miles from His comfortable home to wander the barren wasteland in search of the missing sheep. The Shepherd is even willing to tangle in brambles and thorns for the sake of the sheep. He may even be called upon to fight with the wild dogs and wolves in order to protect the sheep. Ultimately, the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. What does it mean to know that the King is also a Shepherd? It means we can trust Him, we can follow Him, knowing that He will care for us and call us by name. The Good Shepherd is the sort of King to which I’m glad I belong.

After Jesus separates the sheep from the goats, he welcomes the sheep into the sheepfold. He reminds them of the good they have done, and tells them that they have an inheritance waiting for them. Notice the response of the sheep. They don’t go marching into the Kingdom. They don’t appear proud or relieved, nor do they appear as though they expected this. Instead, their response appears to be one of confusion. You can almost picture the sheep bleating to one-another with their questions and lack of understanding. Perhaps the din of bleating became loud until one of the head sheep silenced the rest of the flock to pose the question.... “When? When did we do any of this? We don’t remember feeding you, or clothing you, or visiting you.... When?”

Why didn’t the sheep immediately understand what Jesus was talking about? Why do they appear confused at His teaching? Why don’t they realize that He’s talking about the countless people they have clothed, fed, and visited? After all, the meaning of the text seems apparently clear to us. Why didn’t they recognize that Jesus was speaking about their acts of service and sacrifice which they performed daily. I think maybe it’s because the sheep have only ever done what they have known to do. Habits can be a very good thing. We don’t remember if we turned the coffee-pot off, because we are in the habit of turning the coffee pot off. We don’t remember if we closed the garage door, because we always close the garage door. We don’t remember if we put the mail out, because we always put the mail out. The sheep always cared for the needs of others. It wasn’t just like second-nature...it was their nature...that’s what sheep do.

Is it possible that the sheep had forgotten all about the wonderfully good things they had accomplished in their life simply because doing good was a habit. Is it possible that they never thought about doing good, but that good deeds simply sprung up from who they were. And so, here they are at the end of time, when the Shepherd speaks of all the good they have done, and they respond in confusion, because they don’t remember doing it...they never had to think about it...they simply did what sheep did.

You’ll notice, that when Jesus sorted the people one from another at the beginning of the passage, He didn’t separate them based on what they had done. While He refers later to what they had done, when He separates them before His throne, He separates them based upon whether they are sheep or goats. The story of the sheep and the goats is not a works-based gospel. We should not read this passage of scripture and walk away thinking that those who care for the sick end up in Heaven, and those who ignore the sick end up in Hell. No, Jesus separated the sheep from the goats. The sheep received eternal reward, while the goats received eternal condemnation. The principle here is that what we do erupts out of who we are. A sheep will do sheep-like things. A goat will do goat-like things. Oh, a goat may try to do sheep-like things, but it won’t be natural, and the goat will probably fail miserably trying. Even if the goat succeeds in doing a few sheep-like things, the goat is still a goat. On the other hand, it does not appear as though the sheep needs to concentrate on doing good deeds, the sheep merely needs to be an authentic sheep. If the sheep is living an authentic sheeply lifestyle, the good deeds will occur matter-of-factly. What we do erupts out of who we are.

We have been studying the book of James on Wednesday afternoons. James constantly challenges his readers to be single-minded and authentic. He speaks against a double-minded man who wavers back and forth. We have read James, understanding that James has challenged us to have an integrated faith that impacts and informs every corner of our very existence. James doesn’t suggest that we need to try to do good works, but that we need to connect ourselves to the source of good works. In doing so, our authentic integrated faith will work itself out in our lives, producing every sort of good fruit. We are not saved by good works, we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This saving faith works itself out in our lives, producing good works.

The challenge of the story of the sheep and the goats is not to go home and attempt to do sheeply things. The challenge is to go home and make sure that you are a sheep. I can’t make you a sheep. You can’t make yourself be a sheep. Only Christ working through you can transform you into a sheep. The power of the Gospel is the power that takes a goat and transforms it into a sheep. The power of the Gospel takes cold hearts and makes them warm. It takes stone hearts and makes them alive. The power of the Gospel restores relationships, heals lives, encourages forgiveness, and prompts us to every good work.

It has often been said that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to Burger King makes you into a cheeseburger. A goat can go to church. A goat can hang out with sheep. A goat can even learn to act like a sheep so that the other sheep may not even notice he’s a goat anymore. But at the end of the day, the goat is still just a goat pretending to be a sheep. At the end of the day, the goat is still characterized by its nature as a goat. Transformation has not occurred in the life of the goat, simply good play-acting.

Notice that the goats didn’t try to convince Jesus that they had done good works. I find it hard to imagine that there would be anyone who couldn’t respond to Jesus by saying, “I visited someone in the hospital once,” or “I put money in the Salvation Army kettle once,” or “I gave that guy at the corner of Forest Avenue and High Street a dollar last week.” We know lots of philanthropists who are not members of the Kingdom of God, who have not had their very hearts changed by the transformational power of the Gospel. I wonder if the goats, kneeling there at the throne of God forgot all about the good things they had tried to do in their lives. I wonder if they forgot about the money they put in the Salvation Army kettle because they realized it was just an act. Perhaps they recognized that even at their best, they were merely goats trying to act like sheep. Confronted with Jesus Christ the Shepherd-King, they realized that they never allowed Him to change their nature. They never allowed Him to transform them into sheep. Perhaps they thought they didn’t need His help. Perhaps they thought they could put on a good show and sneak through the gate. But at the end of the day, the goats were identified as just that...goats.

What we do erupts out of who we are. We can try to be something we are not, but Jesus can see through those facades. We may be able to fool another person. You may be able to fool your husband, your wife, or your children. You may even be able to fool your pastor. But you cannot fool the One who created you and knows your heart. The power of the Gospel is available to transform the heart of anyone, changing them from the inside-out.

The reality is this: the day will come when all nations will be gathered together at the throne of Jesus, and every one of them will call Him “Lord.” The sheep called him “Lord” in verse 37, and the goats called Him “Lord” in verse 44. We each have the option of waiting until that day to acknowledge His Lordship, or of kneeling before Him today giving Him all the honor, glory, and power of which He alone is worthy. Today, we affirm His Kingship over all creation, and over our very lives. May His transformational power equip us for every good work for His Name’s sake. Amen.

Before we sing our closing Hymn today, hear these words from John’s throneroom vision as recorded in Revelation chapter 5:

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into al the earth. ⁷ He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our god, and they will reign on the earth.”
¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they sang:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.


Benediction: May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Positive 89.3 - Sharathon Update

It's been a pretty busy week for me, having put in probably 20+ hours worth of volunteering at the radio station. As I mentioned earlier, it was our Fall Sharathon, an annual event which raises the funds needed to keep the radio station on the air. For three days of radio broadcast, the radio hosts explained the need and asked people to give money to help reach the goal.

The goal was $240,000.00 for six months. At the end of the day on Friday, we had received just over $212,000.00. While that may seem like we missed the goal by quite a bit, we know that quite a few donations will still come in over the next few weeks. It also was the first sharathon to end the day on Friday above $200,000.00. Everyone seemed pleased with the result, trusting God to supply the remaining need through listeners and businesses.

My specific job was to run a computer program that we call "tracker." Tracker keeps track of all of the pledges that come in. Every pledge gets entered into tracker, which keeps a running total of monthly and one-time gifts, and shows us how we're doing toward our goal. Both of the studios have a computer which displays the contents of tracker, so they can give up-to-the-minute updates as to our progress.

As a result, while I was there, every pledge that came in went through my hands. It's amazing to see all of the gifts work together to reach the goal. I saw gifts ranging in amount from $5 one-time to $1000 a month. But every gift was important to help us reach our goal. And every person who gave did so because they were responding to the need, recognizing the benefit of the uplifting and encouraging music which is played on the Positive Radio Network.

That's right, I said "Positive Radio Network." The Positive Radio Network is soon expanding to New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Positive 99.9 will be broadcasting from Lawrence, MA, and Positive 95.3 will cover North Conway, NH. The permits have been approved, the translators have been purchased, and money needs to be raised to build the towers. Very few areas in New England have any Christian Radio at all, let alone an FM broadcast station which offers contemporary Christian hits. It's exciting to be part of a ministry that is reaching countless lives with the Gospel message.

If you'd like information about either fall sharathon or the expansion efforts, you can check out the website at www.positive.fm.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

PS. One last thing...if you're a night owl (or you live on the other side of the world), you can check out my overnight show, weekday mornings from midnight to 5:00am (ET).

Advent 1B - "Always winter, and never Christmas"

Those who are pursuing Narnia related themes in their church this December may find ways to weave the themes of the book into the themes of Advent. For instance, the books deal with the theme of "certain hope" as the children and the Narnians await the coming of Aslan. The White Witch has made it "always winter, and never Christmas." When Aslan comes, the power of the White Witch is broken, and the world begins to thaw out.

Advent is a period of waiting. We remember the waiting that was experienced by the children of Israel as they waited for Messiah. We remember that the world (though it didn't know it) was waiting a Savior. And at the same time, we are reminded that we are waiting for the certain return of Christ.

On Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia,Jars of Clay offers a song entitled "Waiting for the World to Fall," which could be used to highlight the themes of waiting. Some view the period of Advent simply as marking time until Christmas, a countdown of days until gifts can be opened. But what we are really waiting for and longing for is the certain return of the King, who will set all things right again.

I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting for the scene to change
I'm waiting when the colors come
I'm waiting for my world to come undone

-Jars of Clay: Waiting for the World to Fall

When Christ returns, we can be certain that the world that we know will be undone and remade. The scene will change, for eternity. As we will sing on the first Sunday of Advent, "What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see!"

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

Praise & Prayer Day and Fall Sharathon at Positive 89.3

Today is Praise & Prayer Day at Positive 89.3. It's a day that my friends at the radio station set aside to hear from listeners about what God is doing in their lives. We take phone calls of praise and thanksgiving, as well as prayer requests. Many of these phone calls are played on the air, and listeners throughout New England join together to pray. There are pastors on hand to pray for each request, and to help provide counseling.

For several years, I've blocked out the entire day to come and assist with Praise & Prayer Day. It's such an encouragement to hear all of these wonderful folk call in with their burdens and their praise reports. It is heart-breaking to hear reports of broken marriages, those struggling with addiction, and those who have been in abusive situations. At the same time, call after call, we are reminded that God is faithful and that He answers prayer.

Would you pray for Positive 89.3 this week? As a listener supported station, they have to raise their support through sharathons, which are an opportunity for listeners to support the ministry through monthly gifts. I see from the website that the goal is $240,000.00, which is a goal that will require miraculous intervention. So, I'd ask you to pray for us as we ask listeners to support the station. If you'd like to help support the ministry of Positive 89.3, you can do so securely online at www.positive.fm.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

First Thoughts - Advent 1B - Nov. 27, 2005 Sermon Resources

Here's hoping I can stay ahead of the curve with lectionary blogging this Advent season! Thanks for joining me on the journey, as we take a look at the Lectionary Texts each week. Here are a collection of thoughts and resources as I begin to think about Advent 1B.

Check out Liturgies Online for a suggested liturgy. As I read through the children's lesson in this liturgy, I was reminded that some people in my congregation refer to Maine as the "get ready" state. It seems that people are always saying, "Are you ready for winter?" or "Are you ready for spring?" I suppose this might be true in many areas of the country. It seems like we spend so much time getting ready for the next season that we forget to enjoy the current one. At the same time, the message of Advent is to "get ready" for the certain coming of Christ.

You may also wish to check out "The Voice Bible Study" for First Corinthians 1:1-2:5. You may wish to use this passage as a benediction--or perhaps coming out of your Thanksgiving Service. Paul gives thanks for the believers, but then directs our attention to the day of our Lord, and then concludes the passage with thanks for God's faithfulness. Certainly, 2000 years later, there may be some in our midst who struggle with doubt regarding the return of Christ--but this passage reminds us that Christ is returning, that He is faithful, and that we should be prepared.

I was fascinated to find a sermon manuscript from Dr. Russell Metcalfe for this text, preached 9 years ago. Pastor Metcalfe was the pastor at the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene when I was attending Eastern Nazarene College. In addition to providing a full liturgy for the day, you can read his thoughts about being prepared for the return of Christ.

There is a challenge to the preacher to exercise caution when preaching this text. Far too often, people within our pews have been manipulated by well meaning pastors who were preaching on a second coming text. "What if Jesus returned while you were in that movie theater? Do you want Jesus to find you doing such-and-such? You must be ready." While the text does call us to be prepared and to keep watch, I think it is important that we phrase this in the positive instead of in the negative.

If we are truly about the business of the Kingdom, then God's grace will preserve us blameless unto everlasting life. While we must be faithful, the message of the Epistle lesson is that it is God who keeps us strong, God who enriches us, and God who keeps us blameless. It is because of God's faithfulness that we have hope of eternity with Him, not because of our ability to keep a moral code.

The First Sunday of Advent also doubles as "Second Coming" Sunday, so we will be incorporating several musical selections along those lines in our worship service. Our open worship set will be a set that we've been teaching over the last few weeks: Celebrate Jesus, Soon and Very Soon, and What a Day that Will Be. I will probably also consider the incorporation of It Will Be Worth it All, as well as a hymn which gives thanks for God's faithfulness.

It has been our practice to serve communion at our Service of Thanksgiving (on the night before Thanksgiving), and then to not serve it throughout Advent until our Christmas Candlelight service. This helps us to understand the anticipation, preparation, and waiting associated with the Advent season.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

Nazarene Blogosphere Roundup

It's time for another roundup of Nazarene Blogs...

Lately, I haven't had a lot of time to go looking for more Nazarene blogs...I know that they're out there, but I would love your help in finding them. If everyone who read this post would go find one Nazarene blog that I haven't included, and leave the information in a comment post, it would help greatly! So, would you do that for me? Go google up another Nazarene blog, and put the link right down there in the comment section...see how easy that was? Thanks!

On first glance, it looks like a number of the regulars have been a bit quiet this week--maybe it was election day butterflies, or perhaps people are getting really busy with Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas preparations. In any case, here are some selections from the Nazarene blogosphere, in no particular order:

• Pastor Larry brags (in a good way) about his 9-year-old daughter who is a budding evangelist.
  
  
• Mike makes a bit of noise about the Paris Rioting, and offers his theories on why he has noticed a lack of noise about the topic in left-wing blogs.
  
  
• seekerbillycox ponders the track record of communities (local and global) which have strived for multiculturalism, and reaches some interesting conclusions.
  
  
• Marsha Lynn explains why she's committed to church, even when it's an imperfect representation of the Kingdom of God.
  
  
• Pastor John Wright considers the ways in which God gets our attention...and what happens next.
  
  
• bloganovel shares some entertaining moments from his weekend--but before you head over there, watch out for spider bites!
  
  
• G.R. "Scott" Cundiff continues his devotional blogging through the Bible. He offers commentary from Deut. 23 about making promises that should be kept, and then keeping them.
  

That wraps it up for the week...as always, if I missed something, misrepresented your post, or anything else...just drop me a line at jon at yourchurchweb dot net. Remember to leave a comment with your favorite blogger, just so they know that you're reading...and don't forget to find me a Nazarene blogger that isn't included!

Also, you can help build and share traffic at Nazarene blogs by joining the Nazarene Blogroll.

Have a great week!

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

2005 Advent & Christmas Resources - Year B

I'm getting a fair number of hits for people who are looking for the lectionary passages for Advent, so I thought I'd get a head start on listing some material for both Advent & Christmas. In addition to listing the passages, I've linked to a few sermons provided through http://www.preachersmagazine.org, a publication of Clergy Development in the Church of the Nazarene.

Advent 1B (Nov. 27, 2005)

• Isaiah 64:1-9
• Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
• I Corinthians 1:3-9
• Mark 13:24-37 - http://www.preachersmagazine.org/webnov27.htm

Advent 2B (Dec. 4, 2005)

• Isaiah 40:1-11
• Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
• II Peter 2:8-15a
• Mark 1:1-8 - http://www.preachersmagazine.org/webdec4.htm

Advent 3B (Dec. 11, 2005)

• Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
• Psalm 126 (or Luke 1:47-55)
• I Thessalonians 5:16-24
• John 1:6-8, 19-28

Advent 4B (Dec. 18, 2005)

• II Samuel 7:1-11, 16
• Luke 1:47-55 (or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26)
• Romans 16:25-27
• Luke 1:26-38 - http://www.preachersmagazine.org/webdec18.htm

Christmas Proper I (Dec. 25, 2005)

• Isaiah 9:2-7
• Psalm 96
• Titus 2:11-14
• Luke 2:1-14, (15-20) - http://www.preachersmagazine.org/webdec25.htm

First Sunday after Christmas -B (Jan. 1, 2006)

• Isaiah 61:10-62:3
• Psalm 148
• Galatians 4:4-7
• Luke 2:22-40

Baptism of the Lord (First Sunday after the Epiphany) - B (Jan. 8, 2006)

• Genesis 1:1-5
• Psalm 29
• Acts 19:1-7
• Mark 1:4-11

I hope this gets you off to a good start on your preparations for Advent & Christmas!

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

Considering a Podcast

I'm always fascinated by new technology, gadgets, gizmos, and software. I particularly like to think about ways that technology can be used to help share the Gospel with people who might not walk through the doors of a church. (This is why I invest time and energy into radio, television, and internet ministry.)

My latest fascination has involved the podcasting of sermons. If you don't know what a podcast is, it's kind of like a radio-broadcast on demand. You can subscribe to a podcast feed, and when you sync up your iPod/MP3 player, the new episode appears there for you to listen to at your convenience. People are making podcasts out of everything--from daily rants, to actual radio-style shows that are getting national attention.

As you might imagine, the podcast format could be great for sermons. Many churches have been uploading audio files of sermons on their website for some time, but it requires that listeners go to the site each week and check for the latest edition. It's only a few more steps for a technical team that is already recording and uploading a sermon to make it available as a subscription feed. With people already setting up their MP3 players as podcast players, those sermons ought to be set up as a subscription feed so more people will tune in each week.

My hindrance is primarily in the recording of the sermon. I have all the needed tools to produce a podcast, except that right now all I have is an analog tape deck connected to the output of the soundsytem. This would require playing back the sermon into the computer each week, and manipulating the audio file to reduce tape hiss. I don't have a CD recorder, nor can I put the computer next to the soundsystem each week to make the recording.

One solution I've considered is a digital voice recorder with a line-in jack. Or, even better (since I don't already have one), would be an MP3 player that's capable of recording from any source through a line-in jack. I could simply run a cable from the tape-out on the soundsystem, and hit the record button on the MP3 player. At the end of the day, it would hook into the computer via a USB cable, and I could edit the file, add bookends, and upload the podcast.

iRiver makes an MP3 player that I think would fit the bill. The IFP-795T has 512mb of storage, a line-in jack, and USB connectivity. So, I'm thinking of getting one of those with any Christmas cash that comes my way. Before I do, I'm curious if anyone has any experience with any of these things: podcasts, voice recorders, MP3 player/recorders, etc. I'd love to hear from you...just leave a comment below, or send me an email at jon at yourchurchweb dot net.

I'm also going to see if one of my friends can help me out with professionally produced bookends that would go on either side of the sermon file. Little touches like that simply help a project stand out among all of the potential podcasts that are out there. So, it will take some time, but I'm hoping to have this all put together and working by the new year.

Hey...while we're at it...I might as well give you the opportunity--if you'd like to contribute to the podcast project, you can always send money! :) I figure I need about $130-150 to set everything up. I'd love to have your help in funding this project--donations can be made through the Amazon Honor System.

Thanks for reading!

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

[3/6/06 Update: I have now launched this podcast. The iRiver works well, connected right to the sound system. You can browse the underlying blog which drives the podcast at http://www.yourchurchweb.net/sermons/sermons.html. Or, you can enter this feed address in your favorite podcatcher: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JonTwitchellSermons. Please let me know how it works for you. Grace and Peace, PastorJon]

Major changes to preaching schedule...

Ok...

I'm going to ditch the lectionary for a little while here.

As you may know, I've been staggered a week or two from the lectionary for the past several weeks, as a result of my traveling schedule and special speakers. I had planned to end Ordinary Time with The Sheep and the Goats, but our missionary speaker used that passage on Oct 30.

Yesterday, I had prepped a sermon on Proper 25A - The Greatest Commandment. The sermon dealt with both of the two greatest commandments. However, partway through the message I realized that I had tried to bite off too much, and that I should have just dealt with one....and so I made the commitment to handle the second one next week. That leaves me with just one week left in Ordinary Time, and so I think I will complete the series on Matthew with a look at the Great Commission.

This will give us an opportunity to look at what Warren calls "the Biblical Purposes of the church" which will be beneficial to us as we are currently going through our own revisioning process of rewriting our mission statement.

I'll be getting back to the lectionary during Advent, Christmas and Epiphany/Ordinary, but will then be deviating again during Lent as we follow The Quest.

Thank you for joining me on this journey through the lectionary. Comments are always welcome.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

Proper 25A - Created for a purpose - to Worship God

Much has been made of Rick Warren's bestseller The Purpose Driven Life. People all over the world ask the questions, "What am I here for? What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose?"

Warren has answered that question with the five biblical purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, service, and evangelism. He grounds these purposes in the words of the "Great Commandments" and the "Great Commission."

This week, the scripture lesson that we'll be addressing is Matthew 22:34-46, commonly called "The Great Commandments." Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, and the two are so intertwined that He can't just give the greatest, but must immediately follow it up with the second one, which is like it.

Warren, and others, have used the first part of this verse, "Love the Lord your with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," to provide support for "worship" as the primary purpose of the church and of the Christian. While I agree with this, we have to understand that our common definition of worship as the weekly corporate church service is woefully inadequate to fulfill the biblical definition of worship.

If we think that we are fulfilling the call to worship by singing three hymns and a chorus (or three choruses and a hymn), then we are deceiving ourselves. If we think that we have satisfied the greatest commandment because we came to an altar to pray, we are mistaken. In fact, if we believe that attending an hour of a "worship service" satisfies this greatest commandment, then we are truly missing out.

We are often guilty of becoming consumers instead of worshipers...coming to church to see what we can "get out of it" instead of what we can "bring to God." Worship should be about the gifts that we bring, not about the warm-fuzzy feeling we leave with.

I'm reminded of the Matt Redman song, "The Heart of Worship." As I understand the story behind the song, the pastor of their church realized that the church had become so wrapped up in the music that the congregation had become consumers of a great performance, instead of producers of authentic worship. And so, the worship team and worship leader went on a break. They eliminated music from their service, and the congregation was responsible for bringing the sacrifice of praise into the service--through testimony, scripture, and prayer. The song "The Heart of Worship" was written out of this experience...reminding us that worship is all about Jesus.

The greatest commandment is full of repetition. Jesus doesn't say, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." He says, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind." This reminds us of two things:

1) ALL. God really isn't satisfied with a 10% tithe and an hour of our worship. He doesn't ask for just a bit of our heart, but for all of it. He asks for all of our resources to be available for His disposal. Romans 12:1 tells us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, and we remember that sacrifices no longer have thoughts, passions, or wills of their own. A living sacrifice must also surrender every part of his life to the King.

2) YOUR. This verse is immensely personal. We are not responsible for someone else's heart, soul, or mind, just our own. We find it very easy to look at everyone else to see how they're doing: who came to all three services of Faith Promise convention? who was at small group? who is bringing pies to the Root Cellar for thanksgiving distribution? The Pharisees also fell into this trap, being more concerned about other people than about their own heart. We must recognize that nobody else can make a faith decision for us, but at the same time, we can't make those decisions for anyone else.

As we follow this commandment more and more, we become a more accurate reflection of God. Our heart begins to beat as His, our soul is connected to Him, and our mind begins to think His thoughts. As we become more like God, the obedience to the second commandment becomes more natural, for God is always expressing extravagant love for His creation.

Our commitment to life ought to echo that of the songwriter:

I'll live for Him, who died for me, how happy then my life will be.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

Nazarene Blogosphere (weekly?) Roundup - November 1, 2005

Ok...so it's been a while since we've gotten a roundup! I've been quite busy this last month building our new district NYI website. You can visit it at www.mainenyi.com. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the site and the design!

This roundup will contain a recent highlight post from each of the Nazarene blogs that I'm aware of. I hope you'll take time to visit each blog, read several posts, and leave a comment to encourage your favorite blogger.

As always, if you are one of the bloggers I link to, and you feel that I didn't quite capture the essence of your post, let me know (jon at yourchurchweb dot net). Also, if you'd rather not be included in the roundup, or if I've missed you and you'd like to be included, let me know.

All Nazarene bloggers are also invited to join the Nazarene Blogroll. Simply display the blogroll on your blog and let me know that you'd like to be included. Instructions can be found here.

Without any further commentary, here we go (in no particular order)!

• Darren Joyce posts a sermon that he preached recently to a Youth Group. He dealt with the lectionary passage for the week, the parable of the Wedding Banquet as recorded in Matthew 22:1-14.
  
  
• Mark Doble tells an incredible story of Divine Intervention in the life of a young lady.
  
  
• Mike makes some noise about politicians making timely donations and loans to churches just in time for election day.
  
  
• Pastor Larry returns from his short term missions trip to Ecuador, and posts several blog entries in his Ecuador category.
  
  
• Pastor John Wright posts some reflections on the Eucharist as it relates to peace.
  
  
• Brandon Hill writes about the importance of icons--both in our culture and on our computers!
  
  
• Chaplain Gentles blogs some of his thoughts about seasons, winter, and the Chronicles of Narnia.
  
  
• Hans Deventer posts a prayer about enemies that he found on Brian McLaren's website.
  
  
• Marsha Lynn recounts a story about moments with strangers during a recent retreat.
  
  
• Pastor Scott continues his devotional blogging. He's up to Deuteronomy 13, and writes about situational ethics.
  
  
• Billy Cox opened a new blog at seekerbillycox.blogspot.com.
  
  
• Be sure to send congratulations to Dave Pettigrew on the arrival of his new bundle of Grace!
  
  
• Kevin Rector offers his thoughts on the new hockey rules.
  
  
• Beth Shurbutt explains the different between praise and thanks, and exhorts us to praise God in all situations.

Have a great month of November!

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

Positive 89.3, Dr. Phil, and CarChips

My friends at Positive 89.3 were talking this morning about a recent episode of Dr. Phil which covered the issues of parenting and teen privacy through discussing the use of CarChips to monitor driving habits.

Basically, a CarChip is a device that plugs into the "On Board Diagnostic" port in your car. (That's the interface that your mechanic uses to tell you why the "Check Engine" light keeps coming on.) Depending on the model of the CarChip, it will record between 75 and 300 hours of data, including speed, rate of acceleration, driving time, etc. You then can take the chip out of the car, connect it to your computer's USB port, and download and analyze the data using the software which was included with the chip.

On last Thursday's show, Dr. Phil's had a father-son duo as guests on his show. The father had installed the CarChip in the car without telling his son, and after just a few days downloaded and analyzed the data. You can imagine his shock and anger when he discovered that on three separate occasions during those three days, his son had driven in excess of 100mph.

As you might expect, the son felt betrayed and distrusted, and was angry that his father had installed the chip and not told him. Dr. Phil responded by saying, "You said you forgot to tell him. What's the point in telling him? ... I'm glad you didn't tell him."

Listeners to Positive 89.3 called in with many viewpoints--some applauding the father for looking out for his son, many wanted to know where they could get a CarChip, a few were concerned for the privacy of the son.

Toward the end of the morning, listeners began to express a slightly different sentiment about trust and parental example. One listener said, "Using technology to keep tabs on your kids is easy, maybe it's time to do the hard work of parenting. If you don't trust them to drive, maybe you shouldn't let them drive." (my paraphrase). Another listener offered, "Let's remember where kids learn things. It's important for us to be sure we're setting the good example so they learn good habits." (my paraphrase)

I was particularly surprised at the number of callers who agreed with Dr. Phil's comment, "What's the point in telling him? ... I'm glad you didn't tell him." Listeners said that telling him about the chip would cause him to modify his behavior, and so the father wouldn't have an accurate picture of the son's driving habits.

While I can see the point there, (and I don't believe that it was legally--or even ethically--necessary for the father to tell the son about the chip), I have a slightly different point of view on the matter. Do we really care if we get an accurate picture of the son's driving habits? Isn't it more important to know that he'll drive safely?

The story says that the son has been using similar driving patterns for the last four months. It seems to me that the father must have suspected that there was a problem, or else he wouldn't have invested $150 in a CarChip. Let's imagine that the scenario had played out slightly differently-- the father installs the chip on Sunday, and decides not to tell the son about the chip until Wednesday. On Monday, the son is driving home from school, picks up his speed to 100mph, and goes off the road and hits a tree and is killed instantly.

Did the CarChip do any good?

Absolutely not.

It seems to me that the primary benefit of the CarChip is not simply in its existence. It's not in the father's ability to pull a sneak attack and say, "Gotcha!" No, the primary benefit is one of accountability--the son knows that the data is being recorded and that he will be held accountable for it, and so he modifies his behavior. That could save a life.

In the summer, our teen camp hosts a team of college students who help lead worship, run crafts, and spend time with the teens. They travel all summer long in a college van. I've learned that these vans are all equipped with GPS transmitters (not just passive receivers), which allow the security officers on campus to know exactly where the vans are at any moment. They can also read speed information, and have the authority to call the driver of the van and levy a fine for excessive speed. You can bet that driving habits in those vans have greatly improved since this system was instituted. And isn't that the goal?

One of the marks of Spiritual Growth and Formation is that of accountability. We encourage small groups of people to develop deep enough relationships so that they can help each other through their struggles, holding each other accountable for actions. The real goal of accountability is not to have a confrontation when someone falls, but to help them keep from falling in the first place--simply because they know that someone will ask them the hard questions.

Technology can be a good thing. I'm not entirely comfortable with the "big brother" aspects of this story. At the same time, it's the father's car, and his son is a minor. I simply think that both trust and safety could have been preserved, and that it's not necessary to sacrifice one in favor of the other.

Those are my thoughts...I welcome yours!

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

Wow...it's really been a month.

I got an email this morning from a concerned reader who wanted to make sure that everything was OK with me and my family. I knew that it had been a while since I posted here, but I didn't realize that it had been a month already. Yikes!

Yes, I have been preaching! And yes, I have been following the lectionary (more or less). And, my wife and I are both doing fine. However, most of my online time this past month has been consumed with designing and developing our district NYI website-www.mainenyi.com. Feel free to visit it and leave a comment here letting me know what you think.

It was really nice to get an email from a reader/fellow blogger. At least I know that someone out there actually reads my random ramblings.

Today, I will spend part of the day at the radio station preparing shows for the weekend. Be sure to listen to "The Zone" on Saturday nights from 8pm-1am. You can listen online at www.positive.fm.

Tomorrow, I will be conducting a graveside/funeral service for someone in our town who passed away this week. Please pray that I might be a comforting presence and somehow share the peace of Christ with this family.

This weekend we have our Faith Promise convention. We're welcoming Jan & Sheryl Wiesen for our weekend convention. We don't have a numerical goal to raise, but are praying that everyone would be obedient to what God wants of us. Our philosophy is that if everyone asks God what they should give to missions, and is obedient to that, then we will raise exactly the right amount.

I'll get back into lectionary thoughts next week. And hopefully a Nazarene Blogosphere roundup will be coming soon as well!

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

More Thoughts - Matthew 20:1-16 (Proper 20A) - Being Good for Goodness' Sake

Rev. Todd Weir at bloomingcactus offers some great sermon thoughts on this passage. He actually placed a stepladder on the platform during his message, and used the stepladder to illustrate our typical understanding of behavior and rewards. We tend do good things to get one step higher on the ladder, continuing to climb the ladder of success. But this passage illustrates that there is no stepladder of reward in the Gospel message, and so we begin to question why we bother do good.

Our society is based upon transactions. From the cradle we learn that good behavior brings good rewards and bad behavior brings negative consequences. In school we learn that hard work results in good grades, and failing to do our homework results in bad grades. Good grades as a teenager result in car priveleges, proper use of the car ensures that those privileges will continue. In the workplace we learn that hard work, a good attitude, and being willing to put in extra time help us earn promotions and larger paychecks.

Since this transactional lifestyle is so ingrained in us, we expect God to behave the same way. Good behavior on earth should result in more crowns in heaven, or an honored seat at the banquet table.

But God's grace doesn't seem to work that way. Since grace is getting what we don't deserve, we realize that it has nothing to do with earning God's love. If we expect some people to receive more of God's grace than others, then we have bought into a cheap grace that really isn't grace at all...but more like a paycheck.

Why then should we care about being holy or doing good? If there is no system that rewards good behavior, why not simply live as we please?

Our good deeds do not flow out of a sense of looking for reward or an obligation. Rather, our good deeds are a result of God's transforming presence in our lives. Our good deeds are done as a response to God's grace, not in an effort to receive it.

I'm reminded of a song by Jadon Lavik, entitled What If (from his debut album entitled Moving on Faith). You can find the entire lyric here, I've included just a couple of brief quotes below.

What if I climbed that mountain, what if I swam to that shore
What if every battle was victorious then would you love me more

What if I ignored the hand that fed me, what if I forgot to confess
What if I stumbled down that mountain then would you love me less

What have I done to deserve your son sent to die for me
What can I give I want to live give me eyes to see
In a world that keeps changin’ there’s one thing that I know is true
Your love is stayin’ there’s nothing else I’ll hold onto

None of us deserve God's grace or His love. Not one of us could possibly be righteous apart from His grace and forgiveness. While we can never repay the debt, we can live a life that responds to God's grace, with whatever time we may have left.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon