Focus:
Hope
Function:
To help people prepare to let
hope into them.
Form:
Storytelling
Intro:
From
the end of the Advent reading, Isaiah
64:8But
you are our father, Lord.
We are like clay, and you are like the potter. You created us, 9so
do not be too angry with us or hold our sins against us forever. We
are your people; be merciful to us.
Have
you ever felt like that?
I
hope not.
But
I confess, sometimes I do.
And
it is pride.
It's
just that I just wish I was perfect.
Then,
I would never have to say that I am sorry.
Or,
I would never embarrass myself.
And
the worse thing is this, I wonder, I hope it isn't true, but I
wonder, do I want to save myself?
Or,
do I trust Jesus? Do I believe in the hope that grace gives?
I
am glad I was raised in a Christian home.
The
Christian values I learned were not the values of the empire, but the
good news of God's love for all of humanity.
Like
most of you, we were taught that true
greatness comes from serving others.
We
had this little song that was taught to us little ones. It went like
this: “Jesus, Others and You, what a wonderful way to spell joy.”
That
message was constantly drilled into us. And I am so grateful that I
saw my parents, especially my dad, live that message before us.”
And
God is always stretching our minds, changing us, making that circle
of who really is our neighbor bigger and bigger.
As
we grow, we learn that it is the whole wide world. AMEN?
One
event of my dad's willingness to change his mind at the leading of
the Holy Spirit happened when I was 12.
We
were on the way to our Church's Annual Conference in Estes Park,
Colorado.
It
was a camping trip that involved setting up and tearing down the
family tent every single night.
It
was fun.
And
somewhere, In Cheyenne Wyoming we set up camp at this roadside park.
While
we were eating dinner, for lack of better terms to identify them, two
“hippie chicks” wandered into our campsite and asked us for a
ride to the next town.
Now,
although I grew up in an inner city, “hippies” were the bane of
culture.
My
uncle once gave me a sermon, 45 minutes, about how Rock and Roll
music, and the hippie culture, were a communist plot to undermine
America.
So,
although my dad was gracious and loving, giving these two girls a
ride was a big bi--iig stretch for him.
Sunday
morning, we went to church at some little country church in the
middle of nowhere.
I
think I remember that sermon verbatim.
The
preacher preached on loving your neighbor as yourself.
He
told the story of how he was driving down the road and he saw that
some cows had gotten out of their fence and were wandering on the
road.
He
told us how he ignored them as “not his problem.”
He
told us the farther he drove down the road, the more and more he was
convicted by the Holy Spirit to turn around, find the cows owners'
and help them get them back.
I
remember the humor when he told us that resisting the leading of the
Holy Spirit cost him an additional 25 miles and he wished he was
sensitive at the first twinge of conscience, not the last!
It
wasn't really a profound message. It was just a good reminder of who
and what we are as Christians. The pastor focused on the sin of
seeing good, and not doing it.
And
during dinner, at the campsite, the two hippie chicks came back to
the campsite. They were persistent. And much to my mother's chagrin,
and of course, my 16 year old elder brother and me and my twins
delight. We helped them and their big dog down road a few hundred
miles.
Who
knows? They may have been angels in disguise.
So
why do we at times turn our heads and pretend that we just didn't see
the problem?
Do
we not know that God knows when we turn our heads?
And
worse than that for me, is the constant fear that I have turned my
head to many times.
For
me, more than the times I turn my head, it is the fear that I have
turned my head one to many times.
Fear
does not come from God.
Let
me read those last two verses of our first passage again: Isaiah
64:8But
you are our father, Lord.
We are like clay, and you are like the potter. You created us, 9so
do not be too angry with us or hold our sins against us forever. We
are your people; be merciful to us.
Isn't
that a great comfort?
Isn't
that a great hope?
Isn't
it wonderful that God loves, encourages and enables us in spite of
the fact that sometimes we may have failed?
I
wonder why I have this propensity to shame myself for my failures?
Well,
that might be something between me and my therapist.
And
that leads us to the beginning of the Isaiah passage this morning.
Isaiah
writes about God's great power.
Isaiah
believes.
He
too, wonders why people are so quick to forget what God said.
So,
he starts out with the wish that God would reveal God's power with
tremendous power so that there would be no doubt that God has both
the power and authority to speak and people will stop doing evil
toward others.
Isaiah
is zealous for God.
He
is zealous for the job God has called him to do -to proclaim God's
love and justice to Israel, Judah and all the nations of the world,
both then, and now, recorded in scripture.
I
wonder if he is questioning God.
It
is like he is saying: “God, wouldn't it be easier for us preachers
if you just did some really mighty things?... ...Then we wouldn't
have to work so hard to defend you?”
Like
me, he questions. He doesn't seem to always understand the plan of
God and God's ways.
Well,
God is God and we are not. (look up) Thank you, God.
Why,
or maybe better question, HOW God “shows up” is what we see in
today's second reading from the Psalms.
The
Psalmist leads us to hope.
Here
some phrases from this Psalm:
Verse
1, Psalm 80: “Listen to us... ...Hear us... O Shepherd, O
leader...”
“...reveal
yourself... ...show us strength... ...save us!”
And
then, three times he repeats this theme in his prayer to God, the
leader, the shepherd
“Bring
us back...”
“Bring
us back...”
“Bring
us back...”
Say
it with me: “Bring us back!”
It
is a prayer, “God, Bring us back.” And as God the Shepherd:
“Bring us back to safety.”
And
then twice, “Show us mercy...”
Show
us mercy.
Isn't
that hope?
Both
the Psalmist and Isaiah make a common confession to God: “We are
broken and we need restored.”
Bring
us back, God.
Show
us mercy, God.
So,
how do we get from the question: “Well God, if you just showed up
and did some fantastic miracles, then no one would have an excuse to
doubt, would they? Why don't you do that?”
And
I see the answer in the Psalm:
“Lead
us. Guide us, Bring us back, Have mercy”
All
of those are addressed to the Shepherd. All of those are addressed to
the perfect loving heavenly parent.
All
of those are addressed to God.
God
has shown us God's great power.
But
it wasn't mountain smashing, flashes of lightning, earthquakes in
various places, Armageddon type spectacles.
Nope.
Instead, the great miracle, the great power, the great bridging of
the gap between God and creation came in Christ.
God
became human.
God
lived and dwelt among us.
God
showed us by Jesus' life how to live and how to die.
On
the first Christmas, a thrill of hope sparked.
A
weary world rejoiced. God, the Shepherd came to us to heal our
brokenness.
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