The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B (Advent 3) - December 14, 2008
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28
John the baptizer is an interesting character. We heard about John last week, he was in the wilderness crying out, “prepare the way of the Lord… Repent and turn to God.” And as I said last week, he is there to get us ready, to get us to move over and make room… to lay aside the encumbrances of this life, and allow God a place to dwell among us.
In this process he shakes things up. John the Baptist's words are urgent and disturbing that the Judaean priests and Levites come out to him and demand: "Who do you think you are?"
This morning, that is what the Gospel message is all about. And John’s answer is even more alarming. He is already shaking up things as they are; he is baptizing for the forgiveness of sins. But John is not the Christ, nor is he Elijah, nor is he the prophet Isaiah. He is just a voice a voice announcing that God is near, he is pleading with us to wake up, be baptized and wash away our sin, and prepare ourselves for the One who will liberate us.
John the Baptist is a witness to God's coming in the midst of that isolated and confined world that we call "our life"… a confinement formed by our self-deceiving thoughts that we are, perhaps, self-governing, advantaged, knowledgeable, or even economically stable.
I bid you last week to sit still and be silent… so you that you could listen carefully… listen for that prophetic voice of God that talks to us though unlikely messengers and invites us to the in-between spaces… listen and heed their warnings, so that when the time comes, we could be fully prepared!
Whether it's a "still small voice" or an impassioned prophetic cry, God's presence in our isolated lives often makes us uncomfortable. We think our lives are private, and want nothing to upset the stability, and the familiarity. So the slightest sound that may be from God, or any sense of a “small” voice that upsets our organized life, are unwelcome disturbances to us! They don't fit into that carefully created pattern of living…
The Priests and Levites who came out to confront John the Baptizer would understand this patter of thought. They wanted nothing to upset their stability, the familiarity of their lives organized around their traditional temple worship. They were deeply invested in their traditions, but evidently a great deal more invested in themselves rather than God. That's why John and his message was so threatening to them.
If John were really from God, if he really were a prophetic voice, then things as they knew it were going to change, they had too! But, they didn't want anything to change; they wanted things to stay exactly as they were. This changelessness, however, is not what God is about.
Like the Priests and the Levites, and like most human beings, people like things to stay just as they are – Change in things makes us “comfortable” - we like the safety and captivity of the lives we have made for ourselves.
We hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah about rejoicing in Jerusalem, and being clothed with garments of salvation, and a robe of righteousness. We hear that our labors shall not be in vain, that the captives will be free, and they will have the oil of gladness and a mantel of praise. These are comfortable words, and comforting promises. But the promises are only fulfilled by the passing away of what once was and the coming into being of that new order that God is creating.
We don't like hearing those words of the repentant turning and change (greek: metanoia) that we must do, so we end up closing our ears, and we don't hear anything… as a result we really don’t hear God.
John’s prophetic voice invites us to live outside our own confining lives and calls us to be different from the established order around us. Paul's call to the church at Thessalonica very much holds them to the Baptist's call, also: Help the weak, do not repay evil for evil, seek to do good to all, hold fast to what is good.
If we have made our place and are firmly “dug-in” to the way it has always been done before, if we are secure in our captivity, in our isolation, than we can understand the world and the fears of the Thessalonians. We learn to be comfortable with the familiar. And in our cozy comfort, we fear anything that is different.
But a voice calls out, calls out to our spirits, souls, and bodies to be kept sound and blameless at the coming of God. The Baptist's cry as we heard it last week and this morning is so cold, urgent, and disturbing. He is a voice announcing that God is near, inviting us to wake up, cleanse away our sin, and prepare ourselves for the One who will liberate us from our isolated unchanging lives… An isolation formed by our self-deceiving thoughts that we are independent, privileged, educated, politically correct, or economically stable.
When we are on the edge of life – when we know that we are alone, without property or privilege when we know first hand the scripture's words of assurance to the least of God's people, because we have started to recognize ourselves as the least of God's people, then our self-deceptions start to fall away.
There are countless ways this can happen. Often it happens under conditions that seem to disrupt our life like progress, and growth – a sickness, a death, a layoff. Crises like these, crises of our personal and professional and political lives, are the points at which our Christian life begins, or maybe begins again.
We were called last week to be still and listen to the cry of John so that we could be prepared… But the most important step that we can take this morning is to respond in action to that voice that calls us out of our own complacency… it's a step that takes us out of the comfort zone of our lives. It’s a realization that we are dependent, that we share the same limitations as all other human beings. It’s knowing that our need for God is greater than any fear we have of God's demands on us.
The things that we are afraid of are all likely to occur, but they are nothing to be afraid of. As I said a few weeks ago, we are all witnesses of God in this world. The Christian life invites us to accept this mission with all its hazards and all its burdens. It’s tough work, it’s a crisis, but for us Christians the word crisis is morphed into “formation” or positive change for us…
Consider the lives of the saints. Consider Paul and John the Baptist. They were all engaged in God's plan – fearfully, no doubt, but they had enough courage, initiative, and endurance to love God more than fear God.
They knew themselves to be finite and dependent on a power far greater than themselves and they let themselves be formed by God and took their place in the great army, rescuing souls that are isolated from God.
So… Learn from them… Hear the cry and respond daringly. And if we let God… God will come to us and inform and transform our lives… God will release the captives.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
RCL Year B (Advent 2) - December 7, 2008
The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B – (2 Advent) - December 7, 2008
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8
If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it… Does it still make a sound? I suspect that some of you would immediately answer… yes, of course it does! and then some of you would say… there goes Ken with those silly questions again...
And then I would say, “how do you know?” You weren't there to hear it…
Well, you say, I have been there at other times, and when I was there and the tree fell, I heard this great crashing sound as it hit the ground… so, I know for sure that this “in fact” happens.
Ok. So, you've experienced this happening first-hand, you saw and heard, you are an actual witness to this truth, so you know without a doubt that this does occur… But, what about those of you who, perhaps, have never been in the woods when a tree fell?
Some of you are saying, yes, it does make a sound, even though you have never actually been present to hear the tree for yourselves... Because you know others who have, and by faith in their testimony, you have come to believe that this is a "true" and "real" thing.
This leaves some of the rest of us… those who've neither been in the presence of a falling tree, nor can we take it on faith... from the witness of others who claim to have been present when the tree fell, and heard the noise.
So let me rephrase the question for you… If a prophet 2000 years ago cries out in the wilderness, “repent and be baptized… prepare the way of the Lord… make a straight way to God” and you weren’t there to hear him, do you still believe it? Do you still listen to his message?
I am sure that some of you, especially the ones growing up in Cleveland, have been lost in the woods before? I mean really really lost in the deep woods? I know that I have, and I also know that it can be a very scary experience.
You have heard me talk about wilderness before… The Israelites traveled in the wilderness for 40 years after they left Egypt. God used the wilderness to deliver them from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the promised land…
But the wilderness is a scary place… In the ancient world, traveling anywhere was dangerous… especially travel through in the wilderness. You only would travel to or through the wilderness places for specific reasons… The wilderness and the desert were considered those “in-between” spaces between the lush valleys and the mountains, the places of the unknown where evil dwelled.
Traveling to the wilderness as a destination was absolutely unheard of… the wild woods were considered the haunt of demons and a very unusual place for anyone to go. Now, do you think it was easy to follow a guy as different as John into the woods… That would NOT be a very comfortable feeling... And it probably shouldn’t be!
You have got to admit… John the Baptizer is a bit of a strange character, and a very unlikely messenger… I am not just talking about the way he acted… but also the way he dressed in his camels hair and leather belt not to mention his diet of locust and wild honey.
What would you think if you came up on this character today?… Would you follow him into the wilderness to hear his prophetic message? I don’t think so.
But folks paid attention to this unlikely character… they came from all over the Judean countryside and followed him to the in-between space of the wilderness... and heard his message.. “Repent, and be baptized – prepare yourself.”
What could he possibly be talking about? I am sure that they were all fascinated… John wasn’t giving them just any old message. He was telling them to get ready for something. He is there to shake them up and get them ready – and his prophetic message lingers to shake us up and get us ready.
The folks back then knew the ancient writings of Isaiah… the ones we just heard and they knew what it said about a prophetic voice crying out “in the wilderness – prepare the way of the Lord, make strait in the desert, a highway for our God.” They wanted to know more… so they followed John.
Followed John to that pace in-between the valleys and the mountains… a place, so unlikely, so riddled with mystery and the unknown… a place considered by some to be where evil dwells, a place that God will use to save us.
Last Sunday, we learned that Advent was a time of preparation and anticipation, because the Son of Man is coming in all his power and glory. Those themes continue this week with today’s text – And John is here to help us prepare the way… and shake us up a bit.
In Advent we are called to search down deep… Deep down into the wilderness places of our lives… Deep into that emptiness, where demons dwell… Places that we don’t like to go… Places that are strange and different to us… Those unlikely places that are in-between this life and our life to come…
We go to these places to prepare and examine ourselves to repent and to worship our God. John takes us on that journey, and the strange and different John gives us a message… The message of hope that something great is coming… The narrative that we are given today in the first chapter of Mark, identifies the one who is coming…. it is Jesus Christ, the Son of God…
And we are called by the text to prepare, and repent, and make our paths straight and ready for God… We all know that Christ is coming, and we don’t know the hour or even the day… But we need to be ready and God will unfold the story in due time ALL will be reviled in God’s time…
All we can do today is to sit still and be silent so we can listen carefully… listen… to listen and see if we can hear the sound of John crying out in the wilderness… listen for that prophetic voice of God that talks to us though unlikely messengers and invites us to those in-between spaces… listen and heed their warnings, so that when the time comes, we can be fully prepared!
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B – (2 Advent) - December 7, 2008
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8
If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it… Does it still make a sound? I suspect that some of you would immediately answer… yes, of course it does! and then some of you would say… there goes Ken with those silly questions again...
And then I would say, “how do you know?” You weren't there to hear it…
Well, you say, I have been there at other times, and when I was there and the tree fell, I heard this great crashing sound as it hit the ground… so, I know for sure that this “in fact” happens.
Ok. So, you've experienced this happening first-hand, you saw and heard, you are an actual witness to this truth, so you know without a doubt that this does occur… But, what about those of you who, perhaps, have never been in the woods when a tree fell?
Some of you are saying, yes, it does make a sound, even though you have never actually been present to hear the tree for yourselves... Because you know others who have, and by faith in their testimony, you have come to believe that this is a "true" and "real" thing.
This leaves some of the rest of us… those who've neither been in the presence of a falling tree, nor can we take it on faith... from the witness of others who claim to have been present when the tree fell, and heard the noise.
So let me rephrase the question for you… If a prophet 2000 years ago cries out in the wilderness, “repent and be baptized… prepare the way of the Lord… make a straight way to God” and you weren’t there to hear him, do you still believe it? Do you still listen to his message?
I am sure that some of you, especially the ones growing up in Cleveland, have been lost in the woods before? I mean really really lost in the deep woods? I know that I have, and I also know that it can be a very scary experience.
You have heard me talk about wilderness before… The Israelites traveled in the wilderness for 40 years after they left Egypt. God used the wilderness to deliver them from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the promised land…
But the wilderness is a scary place… In the ancient world, traveling anywhere was dangerous… especially travel through in the wilderness. You only would travel to or through the wilderness places for specific reasons… The wilderness and the desert were considered those “in-between” spaces between the lush valleys and the mountains, the places of the unknown where evil dwelled.
Traveling to the wilderness as a destination was absolutely unheard of… the wild woods were considered the haunt of demons and a very unusual place for anyone to go. Now, do you think it was easy to follow a guy as different as John into the woods… That would NOT be a very comfortable feeling... And it probably shouldn’t be!
You have got to admit… John the Baptizer is a bit of a strange character, and a very unlikely messenger… I am not just talking about the way he acted… but also the way he dressed in his camels hair and leather belt not to mention his diet of locust and wild honey.
What would you think if you came up on this character today?… Would you follow him into the wilderness to hear his prophetic message? I don’t think so.
But folks paid attention to this unlikely character… they came from all over the Judean countryside and followed him to the in-between space of the wilderness... and heard his message.. “Repent, and be baptized – prepare yourself.”
What could he possibly be talking about? I am sure that they were all fascinated… John wasn’t giving them just any old message. He was telling them to get ready for something. He is there to shake them up and get them ready – and his prophetic message lingers to shake us up and get us ready.
The folks back then knew the ancient writings of Isaiah… the ones we just heard and they knew what it said about a prophetic voice crying out “in the wilderness – prepare the way of the Lord, make strait in the desert, a highway for our God.” They wanted to know more… so they followed John.
Followed John to that pace in-between the valleys and the mountains… a place, so unlikely, so riddled with mystery and the unknown… a place considered by some to be where evil dwells, a place that God will use to save us.
Last Sunday, we learned that Advent was a time of preparation and anticipation, because the Son of Man is coming in all his power and glory. Those themes continue this week with today’s text – And John is here to help us prepare the way… and shake us up a bit.
In Advent we are called to search down deep… Deep down into the wilderness places of our lives… Deep into that emptiness, where demons dwell… Places that we don’t like to go… Places that are strange and different to us… Those unlikely places that are in-between this life and our life to come…
We go to these places to prepare and examine ourselves to repent and to worship our God. John takes us on that journey, and the strange and different John gives us a message… The message of hope that something great is coming… The narrative that we are given today in the first chapter of Mark, identifies the one who is coming…. it is Jesus Christ, the Son of God…
And we are called by the text to prepare, and repent, and make our paths straight and ready for God… We all know that Christ is coming, and we don’t know the hour or even the day… But we need to be ready and God will unfold the story in due time ALL will be reviled in God’s time…
All we can do today is to sit still and be silent so we can listen carefully… listen… to listen and see if we can hear the sound of John crying out in the wilderness… listen for that prophetic voice of God that talks to us though unlikely messengers and invites us to those in-between spaces… listen and heed their warnings, so that when the time comes, we can be fully prepared!
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