Luke 19:28-28
Palm Sunday
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Deliver us from cold hearts and wandering thoughts, that with steady minds and burning zeal we may worship you in spirit and in truth.
He stood in the Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning playing six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed music. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on his meeting.
4 minutes later a woman threw the money in his case and, without stopping, continued to walk. 6 minutes later, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and moved on. After 10 minutes, a 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. Other children paused like this, but every parent forced them on.
After nearly an hour, he finished playing, having collected $32 and no applause. No one knew that this violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
If we do not have a moment to stop, listen, and reflect on one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments .... How many other gifts from God are we failing to notice?
My fear as we begin another Holy Week is that we are walking past the remarkable beauty and wonder of Jesus Christ once again without really paying attention. We’re just spending a few extra hours going to church on Good Friday, but we’re not really stopping to reflect, to be grateful, to be changed by the beauty of One, who had enormous power and relinquished it for the greater good of empowering others.
Hear the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem from Luke Gospel:
[Jesus] went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'" 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 34 They said, "The Lord needs it." 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." 40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out." 41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God." 45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; 46 and he said, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers." 47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard. (The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.)
The Palm Sunday story ushers us into Holy Week and the mystery of God’s abundant goodness – that God in human flesh came to liberate us from the death of power-brokering to the life of power-giving. Jesus had achieved a multitude of followers, praising God and calling him King. He did not deny his kingship. In fact, when the Pharisees challenged him to silence his followers, who were shouting, “Blessed is the King!” he said, “If these were quiet, the stones would cry out.” Palm Sunday is a stone-shouting day of gladness!
Luke’s Gospel is the only one that records this line about shouting stones and it ties in beautifully with our Stewardship theme for the year. But notice that Jesus also speaks of the stones being overturned by the people’s inability to recognize their time of visitation by God. Jesus wept over that. He wept over the brokenness of the city, over all the people he came to save, who could not see that he was their peace.
That reminds me of a great song, sung by our Seekers of Peace choir at our charter service, “Jesus weeps over the world today as we struggle to be free for we do not know the things that make for peace. And we do not see that He is our peace. He breaks down walls that divide us. He is our peace. He makes us one. He is the Prince of Peace.”
How many kings, emperors, queens, presidents, prime ministers do you know who gather the cheering, enchanted crowds and then weep? With Jesus, kingship, leadership is re-defined. Christ’s Kingship is the opposite of empire-building. Empire values power, superiority, triumph, even contempt. Jesus’ kingship takes on weakness in exchange for the empowerment of others. King Jesus values service over superiority. The Prince of Peace believes there is no triumph over others, only triumph when we achieve peace with others. Jesus’ kingship is about compassion for others, not contempt for others.
So how does this kind of leadership look in the 21st Century? People with power like us who call ourselves followers of Christ, are charged to pay attention to the weak, even at our own expense. So we choose to be generous and poorer so the 80% of the world’s population who are impoverished may become richer. That’s what we have done with our Lenten Challenge. That’s what we will do with our One Great Hour of Sharing. That what we will continue to do as we reach out in generous giving of our time and material wealth as a 20% + benevolent church. And we might even, as we grow in solidarity with the poor, stop moaning so much about our declining standard of living, and get on with solving the problem of world hunger.
How does following this King Jesus play out in the 21st Century? We who have much to say, stop talking and focus on listening to others. We who are literate care that 70% of the world is illiterate. We who have adequate health care are concerned for those with inadequate healthcare. We who have computers must remember that we are one in a hundred around the globe.
Those who are in the majority must listen to minorities and hold their opinions in high regard. This Prince of Peace brings down judgment on both Democrats and Republicans for their behavior in the last week. There is no reason to clap and cheer when close to half of your colleagues in the House of Representatives are gravely concerned and disappointed. But even in disagreement and threat, there is no absolutely no reason to spit, slap the images of leaders, or do anything else degrading toward people on the other side of a complicated and unpredictable issue.
The way of Christ is to think more highly of others than you think of yourself. Those who are superior find ways to serve rather than lording over others their strength, using their strength to increase the strength of others, to elevate others. There is no room for pompous attitudes of triumph. There is no triumph when there is no peace.
In the movie, Invictus, we see Nelson Mandela taking over as President of South Africa and then going against the judgment of his family, his friends, his colleagues, all his own people, the native Africans who have been abused, in order to give power and dignity to the very people, the white Afrikaners who had imprisoned him unjustly for twenty-six years. President Mandela wanted to make sure there was no simple transfer of power from whites to blacks. No, he was setting a new course of respect for both sides. He knew there was no triumph for the majority,the Black South Africans, at the expense of the white South Africans. The title, Invictus is from a poem. The Latin word means “Unconquered” Unconquered by the abuse of power over him for 26 years. Unconquered by the public’s expectation that he would use power against those who used it against him.
Unconquered. That’s who Jesus is, willing to relinquish power for the sake of others, willing to stand up for justice for others, willing to sacrifice his life and yet ultimately unconquered, thanks to be God. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,” the people shout. Leaders who come in the name of the Lord, in the spirit of the Lord are people of compassion, not contempt. Jesus’s compassion leads him to weep over the city, longing for the people to understand what makes for peace.
Yet, he asserts himself against injustice – those who are taking advantage of people in the temple, but it is out of compassion for the poor, who are coming to make their offerings in the temple. Those who were making money off them are akin to credit card companies luring in naive college students. They were similar to those who hire immigrant farm workers and then entrap them with low wages, unfair housing costs and the temptation of easy debt. It was not just that they were selling things in the temple, but that they were robbing people unfairly.
Jesus is not against making money wisely and justly. In the parable of the pounds which precedes this entry into Jerusalem, Jesus has the master of the story chastising the one who did not use his money to make more money. But Jesus is relentless in telling stories about the disaster of loving money, thinking yourself better than others, not forgiving, and being ungrateful for what you’ve been given. After the parables of the lost in chapter 15, Jesus tells story after story which challenge us – those of us who do have more and think too much of ourselves, are unforgiving, and ungrateful. Read Luke 15 to the end this week, in preparation for Easter. Understand who Jesus is and who he calls you to be.
When Jesus comes into Jerusalem and his followers cheer “Peace in heaven and glory in highest heaven!” These are the words first proclaimed by the angels at his birth. Then He challenges and teaches in the temple and all are spellbound by what he is saying. But the leaders, those whose power and authority is threatened by the presence of one who understands power differently, are looking for ways to kill him. And it only take five days to find a way. Jesus is prepared to be taken and is nonetheless unconquered. In his inner being, he was more than a conqueror. He was a peace-maker. And Jesus demonstrates by his willing sacrifice, by his weakness, what real strength is.
Will our lives reflect the inner strength of this Jesus? Do we dare take time to reflect on what we see in his life and teachings, as well as his sacrificial death? Or will we rush past the beauty of the greatest One on earth, God incarnate, imagining him to be a simple beggar in the street?
Open our eyes, Lord and guide our reflections this Holy week. May we who wave palm branches on Sunday be willing to keep following You on the Thursdays and Fridays of life, when the temptation to betray and deny is overwhelming. Dying and rising with You, may we live as your courageous kingdom people even now, working out our salvation with fear and trembling, yet knowing that it is always your Spirit at work in us to will your will and live according to your way.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
"Re-vere"
Philippians 3:4b-14
5th Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Bless us, O Christ, with a reverent sense of your presence that we may worship you with all our body, soul, mind, and spirit.
Would you be happier if you spent more time discussing the state of the world and the meaning of life — and less time talking about the weather? It may sound counterintuitive, but people who spend more of their day having deep discussions and less time engaging in small talk seem to be happier, said Matthias Mehl, a psychologist at the University of Arizona who published a recent study on the subject. (NYT March 17, 2010, Talk Deeply, Be Happy? by Roni Caryn Rabin)
Okay, so from now on, Peace people, try to shift it up to a higher level of authentic relating. You’ll not only be more interesting, but you’ll be happier. It’s okay to break the ice with weather and tv and sports, but don’t stay in the same gear. Move on and talk about what really matters. Paul knew how to talk about what really matters. He did not waste time on the rubbish of small talk because of the inestimable value of knowing Christ. Gretchen Frueh knows how to talk about what matters, and even more so now, because she doesn’t have much time to dwell on the insignificant.
Paul wants the Philippians to think about the inestimable value of knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection and I am standing here before you because I want all of us to know more deeply the surpassing value of knowing Christ. I want you to leave today convinced that the most important thing you ever do, you ever have done or ever will do is worship God. Revere God. Celebrate the goodness of God.
Think a few minutes about things that make you special. Your good lucks, your knowledge or sheer intelligence, your athletic ability, your wonderful family, your lucrative career, your family heritage, your professional expertise, your entrepreneurial acumen, your caring heart, your financial stability, your conversational skill, your knack for home decorating, your strong or energetic body, your pragmatic judgment, your kindness, your musical or artistic talent. Think of two or three things which define you, in which you are confident.
Now hear Paul put those things in perspective. Regarding his special talents, privileges, heritage, and accomplishments, he declares them rubbish, even worse dung, poop. I could name some other crass words that rhyme with rap and it. And the point is – everything Paul counted on for his personal value became worthless when compared with the greater value of knowing Christ. Hear what he has to say about revering the Lord, putting Christ first, pressing forward to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
NRS Philippians 3:4.If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own; but this one, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Forget the past. Live rightly in the present, so you can be properly focused on the future. We usually do one of two things with the past. Revel in it, clinging to all our accomplishments, longing for all the power and freedom we enjoyed in it. Or we can regret our past, re-living it over and over again, wishing that we did things differently or that life could have taken a different course. If only... Neither of those pleases God. One keeps you prideful and the other makes you despairing. There’s no future with hope if you’re stuck in your past. Learn from the past, but don’t dwell in it. You have a future with hope. Don’t get stuck in the past. Live in the present, but not for the present.
In the present, you can live in shallow or deep thoughts. In the present you can live for yourself or for God and others. You can try to juggle many things which you consider of equal value or you can set priorities, putting Christ in his rightful first place. You can live for immediate gratification or live for the joy and peace which will carry you into your future with Christ. In the present, you can sit back on your laurels, thinking you have reached the goal, or that you deserve to relax. You have a righteousness given in Christ, not imparted to you through your good works, but you are still called to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Forget the past. Live rightly in the present, so you can be focused on the future.
Paul says to the them, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.” Like him in his death? We don’t like to think about death but we know that it is in the future for each of us. Those who face it with courage in the present, like Gretchen, help us to face up too. When she and I got together on Monday to talk about her memorial service, I asked her to reflect on these verses and she sent me this quote from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love, his private journal published after his death.
Nouwen says, “... Maybe the death at the end of your life won’t be so fearful if you can die well now. Yes, the real death — the passage from time into eternity, from the transient beauty of this world to the lasting beauty of the next, from darkness into light — has to be made now. And you do not have to make it alone. God has sent people to be very close to you as you gradually let go of the world that holds you captive. ...The more you trust in the love of those God has sent to you, the more you will be able to lose your life and so gain it.
Success, notoriety, affection, future plans, entertainment, satisfying work, health, intellectual stimulation, emotional support — yes, even spiritual progress — none of these can be clung to as if they are essential for survival. Only as you let go of them can you discover the true freedom your heart most desires. That is dying, moving into the life beyond life. You must make that passage now, not just at the end of your earthly life... (Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom, pp. 107-108. Nouwen’s “secret journal,” written to himself during the most difficult period of his life.)
One way to stay focused on our heavenly calling to pray more often. Gia has challenged me to join her in praying on the hour, every hour, every hour on my knees. She claims it has been transformative. I’m going to try it this week. How about you? Just try it for a day – pray every hour on the hour. Say the Jesus prayer – Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Pray the Serenity prayer or the Lord’s prayer or St Patrick’s Prayer, which we sang at the beginning of the service. Pray a sentence each of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, Intercession. You can remember those with the acronym – Acts I. Renew your life with reverent prayer.
To revere God is to let our past, present, and future be shaped by a focused desire to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. Forgetting what lies behind and pressing on toward the goal of the heavenly call of the God in Christ Jesus at all costs. Next Sunday we press on with Jesus as he rides into Jerusalem toward death. But without death, there is no resurrection. So we die with Christ and live with Christ. That is our future. That is our now.
(Let us revere God in silence)
5th Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Bless us, O Christ, with a reverent sense of your presence that we may worship you with all our body, soul, mind, and spirit.
Would you be happier if you spent more time discussing the state of the world and the meaning of life — and less time talking about the weather? It may sound counterintuitive, but people who spend more of their day having deep discussions and less time engaging in small talk seem to be happier, said Matthias Mehl, a psychologist at the University of Arizona who published a recent study on the subject. (NYT March 17, 2010, Talk Deeply, Be Happy? by Roni Caryn Rabin)
Okay, so from now on, Peace people, try to shift it up to a higher level of authentic relating. You’ll not only be more interesting, but you’ll be happier. It’s okay to break the ice with weather and tv and sports, but don’t stay in the same gear. Move on and talk about what really matters. Paul knew how to talk about what really matters. He did not waste time on the rubbish of small talk because of the inestimable value of knowing Christ. Gretchen Frueh knows how to talk about what matters, and even more so now, because she doesn’t have much time to dwell on the insignificant.
Paul wants the Philippians to think about the inestimable value of knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection and I am standing here before you because I want all of us to know more deeply the surpassing value of knowing Christ. I want you to leave today convinced that the most important thing you ever do, you ever have done or ever will do is worship God. Revere God. Celebrate the goodness of God.
Think a few minutes about things that make you special. Your good lucks, your knowledge or sheer intelligence, your athletic ability, your wonderful family, your lucrative career, your family heritage, your professional expertise, your entrepreneurial acumen, your caring heart, your financial stability, your conversational skill, your knack for home decorating, your strong or energetic body, your pragmatic judgment, your kindness, your musical or artistic talent. Think of two or three things which define you, in which you are confident.
Now hear Paul put those things in perspective. Regarding his special talents, privileges, heritage, and accomplishments, he declares them rubbish, even worse dung, poop. I could name some other crass words that rhyme with rap and it. And the point is – everything Paul counted on for his personal value became worthless when compared with the greater value of knowing Christ. Hear what he has to say about revering the Lord, putting Christ first, pressing forward to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
NRS Philippians 3:4.If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own; but this one, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Forget the past. Live rightly in the present, so you can be properly focused on the future. We usually do one of two things with the past. Revel in it, clinging to all our accomplishments, longing for all the power and freedom we enjoyed in it. Or we can regret our past, re-living it over and over again, wishing that we did things differently or that life could have taken a different course. If only... Neither of those pleases God. One keeps you prideful and the other makes you despairing. There’s no future with hope if you’re stuck in your past. Learn from the past, but don’t dwell in it. You have a future with hope. Don’t get stuck in the past. Live in the present, but not for the present.
In the present, you can live in shallow or deep thoughts. In the present you can live for yourself or for God and others. You can try to juggle many things which you consider of equal value or you can set priorities, putting Christ in his rightful first place. You can live for immediate gratification or live for the joy and peace which will carry you into your future with Christ. In the present, you can sit back on your laurels, thinking you have reached the goal, or that you deserve to relax. You have a righteousness given in Christ, not imparted to you through your good works, but you are still called to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Forget the past. Live rightly in the present, so you can be focused on the future.
Paul says to the them, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.” Like him in his death? We don’t like to think about death but we know that it is in the future for each of us. Those who face it with courage in the present, like Gretchen, help us to face up too. When she and I got together on Monday to talk about her memorial service, I asked her to reflect on these verses and she sent me this quote from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love, his private journal published after his death.
Nouwen says, “... Maybe the death at the end of your life won’t be so fearful if you can die well now. Yes, the real death — the passage from time into eternity, from the transient beauty of this world to the lasting beauty of the next, from darkness into light — has to be made now. And you do not have to make it alone. God has sent people to be very close to you as you gradually let go of the world that holds you captive. ...The more you trust in the love of those God has sent to you, the more you will be able to lose your life and so gain it.
Success, notoriety, affection, future plans, entertainment, satisfying work, health, intellectual stimulation, emotional support — yes, even spiritual progress — none of these can be clung to as if they are essential for survival. Only as you let go of them can you discover the true freedom your heart most desires. That is dying, moving into the life beyond life. You must make that passage now, not just at the end of your earthly life... (Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom, pp. 107-108. Nouwen’s “secret journal,” written to himself during the most difficult period of his life.)
One way to stay focused on our heavenly calling to pray more often. Gia has challenged me to join her in praying on the hour, every hour, every hour on my knees. She claims it has been transformative. I’m going to try it this week. How about you? Just try it for a day – pray every hour on the hour. Say the Jesus prayer – Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Pray the Serenity prayer or the Lord’s prayer or St Patrick’s Prayer, which we sang at the beginning of the service. Pray a sentence each of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, Intercession. You can remember those with the acronym – Acts I. Renew your life with reverent prayer.
To revere God is to let our past, present, and future be shaped by a focused desire to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. Forgetting what lies behind and pressing on toward the goal of the heavenly call of the God in Christ Jesus at all costs. Next Sunday we press on with Jesus as he rides into Jerusalem toward death. But without death, there is no resurrection. So we die with Christ and live with Christ. That is our future. That is our now.
(Let us revere God in silence)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Re-turn
Isaiah 55:6-12
3rd Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
“Return.” We often return a product to a store because we changed our minds or it didn’t fit or look right in our house. Maybe it was defective. So we make a return of something we do not want. We return things that belong to other people. You borrow a book, a lawn mower, a ball from someone. And then you return it. You return a favor. Someone does something nice for you, like baking a cake. You return the favor, if you can, by doing something kind for them. We return home after school or work or vacation. We’re not really talking about returning, but RE-turning. More like when a teacher says, “Turn around. Pay attention.” If you watch sports on tv, you’ve seen the Corona commercial of the attractive young couple sitting on the beach sipping while watching the waves come in. Then another attractive woman walks by and the guy forgets the woman he’s with and his head swings all the way to the left, and the rest of the Corona thrown in his face is a clear message to “turn around.”
That’s sort of what we all do with God. The things of the world distract us and our eyes, our minds, our hearts, our souls are pulled away. We need weekly worship to re-turn us to God. We need daily prayer to re-turn us to God. We need a disciplined Christian life to keep us focused on God. That’s why we have Lenten disciplines. Why would people for generations give up meat on Fridays, except to remember that Christ died on a Friday? Why would Orthodox Christians couples give up conjugal relations during Lent – but to remember that Christ suffered for us. Why would some Christians fast and why would Peace people take on the Lenten Challenge, but to remember to put Jesus Christ first in our lives, to keep our focus on the One who matters most, to renew our faith.
Our theme for Lent is “Re-New your life.” And for the first three Sundays, we are considering different angles of renewal begin with our turning or re-turning toward God. First we read Psalm 51, the prayer of King David, acknowledging his sin and asking for a clean heart. The call that day was to be humble and courageous enough to see our own sin and repent. Then last week, we looked at the temptations of Christ, as a good example of how we are called to resist, to turn away from evil and keep focused on our identity as children of God, nothing that demeans that identity.
Today’s scripture from the prophet Isaiah beckons to us to return to the Lord, who will abundantly pardon. We could talk about the history of this prophet and much about the context of his writing. That might make you a better historian and Biblical scholar, but I’m hoping that today we will become better Christians, so I’m not spending much time with that. You can get a decent summary on Wikipedia about Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the 8th century BC. You can read there about how the Book of Isaiah is understood to be in three parts, possibly written by three different persons at different times. In the first 39 chapters, Isaiah prophesies doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God. The last 27 chapters prophesy the restoration of the nation of Israel. This section includes the Songs of the Suffering Servant, four separate passages that Christians believe prefigure the coming of Jesus Christ, and which are otherwise traditionally thought to refer to the nation of Israel. This second half of the book includes prophecies of a new creation in God's glorious future kingdom. That’s what we’re reading today – Isaiah’s vision of the new creation.
The Israelites felt far away from God in exile. They could blame God for that or blame their captors. They might even blame themselves, which the prophets usually help them to do. Isaiah offers both the challenge and the comfort, calling them to return to the God who will abundantly pardon. Calling them to seize the day. Carpe diem. Seek the Lord, now. Don’t be presumptious that God’s love and forgiveness is something with which we can trifle, play around. It is too special to be ignored, especially when you are such a bad place. Sure God’s love is certain. Sure God is everlasting, but don’t get uppity. God’s ways are higher than yours. God’s still in charge. Hear the word of the Lord:
NRS Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 12 For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
So these three themes – repent, resist, return – I see them as part of the natural cycle of growing in faithfulness. Repenting of sin. Resisting sin. Re-turning to God, which then leads to repentance of sin. If we see God’s beauty, then we see that we, created in God’s image, are tarnished, dirty, not a true reflection.
Let me use a little example from my life to illustrate how these three themes cycle. I hope the simplicity of this will help you translate into something in your own life. Some of you may have noticed that the Deiberts – both Richard and Elizabeth in particular – have a habit of running late. Notice I called it a habit. I could call it a pattern, or I could, if I have any intention of repenting, call it sin. I could justify it, saying it’s no big deal, doesn’t really hurt anyone, but if I examine it closely, I see at the root of this habit the sin of thinking I’m more important than you, or at least my time is more important than yours. Okay, so the first step is to acknowledge my habit as sin because it is a form of mistreatment of others. I can repetitively apologize or make excuses for my tardiness, but if I really want to repent, then I need to see the sin of considering my time more valuable than yours. So repenting means a real change of heart and willingness to stop making excuses for myself.
Next, I must resist the temptation to squeeze one more activity in before departing for a scheduled event. I must resist the temptation to ignore the clock – very easy for me. I must set timers for myself – put things in place – to make sure that I am guarding myself against this evil of tardiness. When distracting events happen like last minute phone calls, I must remember that my identity is that of a child of God who respects the time of others and is therefore willing to be on time, even if I must leave something unfinished. I must waste some of my time to protect some of yours –self-sacrifice. I must resist the temptation to enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes from rushing around, beating the clock in my shower and get dressed time, and all those other games I play when I’m under pressure. Sometimes those games work, but sometimes they waste my energy and with one untimely stoplight, I can still arrive late. I have to admit to myself that my games often don’t work. That admission is part of resisting temptation.
Finally, in order to really keep pressing on toward faithfulness in this area of weakness in my life, I must turn toward God, turn and re-turn, because only when I see God do I see what love really is. Only when I turn toward God do I see my sin for what it is. Only when I turn toward God do I have courage to face my sin as sin, in the comfort of knowing I will be abundantly pardoned. Only when I turn to God, rather than comparing myself with others who are tardy or others who have more consequential sins, do I set a high enough standard for myself.
If I turn to you, I’ll be sure to find that speck in your eye and fail to see the log in my own eye. When I turn to God, then I am seeing who I could be, not excusing myself for being less than I am created to be. When I turn to God, I see that God’s ways are higher than my ways. My egotistical self is put back in its place as servant of God. Now tardiness is just one of my sins. It was an easy one to talk about. There are so many different things in my life that pull me away, distract me from being the person God intends me to be. Returning to God is an acceptance of my humble place in the universe and being grateful for all the good gifts God gives.
There are lots of complaints about cold weather this year, even in Florida. Many of you came here to escape snow and even rain. But somehow God has to water the earth. We get hurricanes and thunder storms. One way or another, God has to bring the uncomfortable wet stuff to give us vegetation. We gripe about cold, but the farm workers who lost everything including their income when the plants froze have more reason to complain than we do. Returning to God means acknowledging God’s sovereignty, knowing that God must have some purpose for the stormy seasons and the exilic periods of life. Returning to God reassures us that we are in the right place. This notion of returning to God is best said by the old 1848 Shaker hymn, popularized by Aaron Copland with his Appalachian Spring in the 1946, further popularized when Sydney Carter, the English man wrote Lord of the Dance in 1963. There is simplicity in seeking one thing, being focused on one Lord, being unashamed of bowing and bending in humility, being in the God’s valley, notice it’s not a mountain top, but a valley of love of delight, where trees clap their hands. But that simplicity comes by turning, turning, turning, turning toward God until we come round right.
(Singing)
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
3rd Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
“Return.” We often return a product to a store because we changed our minds or it didn’t fit or look right in our house. Maybe it was defective. So we make a return of something we do not want. We return things that belong to other people. You borrow a book, a lawn mower, a ball from someone. And then you return it. You return a favor. Someone does something nice for you, like baking a cake. You return the favor, if you can, by doing something kind for them. We return home after school or work or vacation. We’re not really talking about returning, but RE-turning. More like when a teacher says, “Turn around. Pay attention.” If you watch sports on tv, you’ve seen the Corona commercial of the attractive young couple sitting on the beach sipping while watching the waves come in. Then another attractive woman walks by and the guy forgets the woman he’s with and his head swings all the way to the left, and the rest of the Corona thrown in his face is a clear message to “turn around.”
That’s sort of what we all do with God. The things of the world distract us and our eyes, our minds, our hearts, our souls are pulled away. We need weekly worship to re-turn us to God. We need daily prayer to re-turn us to God. We need a disciplined Christian life to keep us focused on God. That’s why we have Lenten disciplines. Why would people for generations give up meat on Fridays, except to remember that Christ died on a Friday? Why would Orthodox Christians couples give up conjugal relations during Lent – but to remember that Christ suffered for us. Why would some Christians fast and why would Peace people take on the Lenten Challenge, but to remember to put Jesus Christ first in our lives, to keep our focus on the One who matters most, to renew our faith.
Our theme for Lent is “Re-New your life.” And for the first three Sundays, we are considering different angles of renewal begin with our turning or re-turning toward God. First we read Psalm 51, the prayer of King David, acknowledging his sin and asking for a clean heart. The call that day was to be humble and courageous enough to see our own sin and repent. Then last week, we looked at the temptations of Christ, as a good example of how we are called to resist, to turn away from evil and keep focused on our identity as children of God, nothing that demeans that identity.
Today’s scripture from the prophet Isaiah beckons to us to return to the Lord, who will abundantly pardon. We could talk about the history of this prophet and much about the context of his writing. That might make you a better historian and Biblical scholar, but I’m hoping that today we will become better Christians, so I’m not spending much time with that. You can get a decent summary on Wikipedia about Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the 8th century BC. You can read there about how the Book of Isaiah is understood to be in three parts, possibly written by three different persons at different times. In the first 39 chapters, Isaiah prophesies doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God. The last 27 chapters prophesy the restoration of the nation of Israel. This section includes the Songs of the Suffering Servant, four separate passages that Christians believe prefigure the coming of Jesus Christ, and which are otherwise traditionally thought to refer to the nation of Israel. This second half of the book includes prophecies of a new creation in God's glorious future kingdom. That’s what we’re reading today – Isaiah’s vision of the new creation.
The Israelites felt far away from God in exile. They could blame God for that or blame their captors. They might even blame themselves, which the prophets usually help them to do. Isaiah offers both the challenge and the comfort, calling them to return to the God who will abundantly pardon. Calling them to seize the day. Carpe diem. Seek the Lord, now. Don’t be presumptious that God’s love and forgiveness is something with which we can trifle, play around. It is too special to be ignored, especially when you are such a bad place. Sure God’s love is certain. Sure God is everlasting, but don’t get uppity. God’s ways are higher than yours. God’s still in charge. Hear the word of the Lord:
NRS Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 12 For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
So these three themes – repent, resist, return – I see them as part of the natural cycle of growing in faithfulness. Repenting of sin. Resisting sin. Re-turning to God, which then leads to repentance of sin. If we see God’s beauty, then we see that we, created in God’s image, are tarnished, dirty, not a true reflection.
Let me use a little example from my life to illustrate how these three themes cycle. I hope the simplicity of this will help you translate into something in your own life. Some of you may have noticed that the Deiberts – both Richard and Elizabeth in particular – have a habit of running late. Notice I called it a habit. I could call it a pattern, or I could, if I have any intention of repenting, call it sin. I could justify it, saying it’s no big deal, doesn’t really hurt anyone, but if I examine it closely, I see at the root of this habit the sin of thinking I’m more important than you, or at least my time is more important than yours. Okay, so the first step is to acknowledge my habit as sin because it is a form of mistreatment of others. I can repetitively apologize or make excuses for my tardiness, but if I really want to repent, then I need to see the sin of considering my time more valuable than yours. So repenting means a real change of heart and willingness to stop making excuses for myself.
Next, I must resist the temptation to squeeze one more activity in before departing for a scheduled event. I must resist the temptation to ignore the clock – very easy for me. I must set timers for myself – put things in place – to make sure that I am guarding myself against this evil of tardiness. When distracting events happen like last minute phone calls, I must remember that my identity is that of a child of God who respects the time of others and is therefore willing to be on time, even if I must leave something unfinished. I must waste some of my time to protect some of yours –self-sacrifice. I must resist the temptation to enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes from rushing around, beating the clock in my shower and get dressed time, and all those other games I play when I’m under pressure. Sometimes those games work, but sometimes they waste my energy and with one untimely stoplight, I can still arrive late. I have to admit to myself that my games often don’t work. That admission is part of resisting temptation.
Finally, in order to really keep pressing on toward faithfulness in this area of weakness in my life, I must turn toward God, turn and re-turn, because only when I see God do I see what love really is. Only when I turn toward God do I see my sin for what it is. Only when I turn toward God do I have courage to face my sin as sin, in the comfort of knowing I will be abundantly pardoned. Only when I turn to God, rather than comparing myself with others who are tardy or others who have more consequential sins, do I set a high enough standard for myself.
If I turn to you, I’ll be sure to find that speck in your eye and fail to see the log in my own eye. When I turn to God, then I am seeing who I could be, not excusing myself for being less than I am created to be. When I turn to God, I see that God’s ways are higher than my ways. My egotistical self is put back in its place as servant of God. Now tardiness is just one of my sins. It was an easy one to talk about. There are so many different things in my life that pull me away, distract me from being the person God intends me to be. Returning to God is an acceptance of my humble place in the universe and being grateful for all the good gifts God gives.
There are lots of complaints about cold weather this year, even in Florida. Many of you came here to escape snow and even rain. But somehow God has to water the earth. We get hurricanes and thunder storms. One way or another, God has to bring the uncomfortable wet stuff to give us vegetation. We gripe about cold, but the farm workers who lost everything including their income when the plants froze have more reason to complain than we do. Returning to God means acknowledging God’s sovereignty, knowing that God must have some purpose for the stormy seasons and the exilic periods of life. Returning to God reassures us that we are in the right place. This notion of returning to God is best said by the old 1848 Shaker hymn, popularized by Aaron Copland with his Appalachian Spring in the 1946, further popularized when Sydney Carter, the English man wrote Lord of the Dance in 1963. There is simplicity in seeking one thing, being focused on one Lord, being unashamed of bowing and bending in humility, being in the God’s valley, notice it’s not a mountain top, but a valley of love of delight, where trees clap their hands. But that simplicity comes by turning, turning, turning, turning toward God until we come round right.
(Singing)
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
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