| Главная » Файлы » Проповеди |
06.12.2009_Advent 2
| 06.12.2009, 17:47 | |
| Rev. Tatiana Cantarella Luke 1:68–79; Malachi 3:1–4; Philippians 1:3–11 Advent 2: "U-Turn” Luke 3:1–6 We all know how our people love sensations. Almost no one can withstand the temptation of knowing what our future holds. That of course makes "foretellers” incredibly popular. Most of you, no doubt, have seen at least one episode of "Wolf Messing” series and discussed his abilities. I don’t really like the show and don’t watch it on purpose but I’ve seen enough to notice that people who came to see his show were most of all interested in him predicting the future. This interest (often very unhealthy) is characteristic of human nature. It also gives rise to a misconception that the main role of prophets is to "foretell” the future. In reality, the main calling of biblical prophets was not "foretelling” the future but "forth-telling” the present. Prophets discern with unusual clarity the significance of current events and the circumstances of God's people. And based upon their diagnosis, they speak a word from God to provoke his people to change. By speaking God's word to our world, prophets call us to radical transformation. For about a thousand years, from Moses to Malachi, God spoke to Israel by sending them prophets. Jeremiah summarized Israel's prophetic history after they had been exiled to Babylon: "From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets” (Jeremiah 7:25). Malachi was Israel's last prophet, closest in time to the birth of Jesus. After Malachi there was a 450-year prophetic silence that was finally broken with the first prophet of the New Testament period, John the Baptist. In the verse that we tend to skip over Luke describes the time and place when "the word of God came to John”: in the "fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar" (about the year 26 AD). Luke also identifies the political context; the word of God came to John the Baptist "when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene." After naming Rome's political powers both great and small, Luke then identifies Jerusalem's religious establishment; the story takes place "during the high priesthood of Annas and [his successor] Caiaphas." These details, which we easily overlook, highlight a major theme in the story of Jesus. The "word of the Lord" through John the Baptist came neither from imperial Rome nor from Israel's religious establishment in the temple. It did not come from someone dressed in fashionable clothes who lived in an expensive palace, said Jesus (Lk 7:25). And it doesn’t come from a business board room, university laboratory, ski resort or posh restaurant. After this long silence God’s Word came through John the Baptist, wild John, long-haired John, John dressed in camel skins and living in the desert, eating wild honey and locust. The story of Jesus begins not with the celebration of his birth but with a public address announcement: "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with water and with fire” (Mtt 3:11). Repentance is called for because in Jesus the Kingdom of God is near. It is with this same proclamation that the ministry of Jesus Himself began: "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near”. It was this same message that Jesus called His disciples to preach. And it’s the message that we today need to hear and follow if we are to experience the story of Jesus: "Repent and believe the good news that in Jesus God’s kingdom has arrived.” The kingdom of God that Jesus announced and embodied is what life would be like on earth, here and now, if God were king and the rulers of this world were not (Borg, Crossan). The ancient Hebrews had a marvelous word for this, shalom, or human well-being. But entrance into this kingdom likewise requires a counter-cultural choice: repentance. However, when we hear John’s call to repent we don’t understand exactly what he is calling for. We may hear a call to something too demanding and thus brush it aside, while his message is that of grace, not of demands. John's terrible indictment to repent is a tender invitation to be our best selves. The call to repent is given along with the fact that the Kingdom is near – God Himself is near and calling, God Himself comes to us; God Himself calls us into relationship with Him, life of peace and hope with Him. God Himself is coming to make straight what is crооked, to fill the valleys and lower the mountains we otherwise could never cross, to make our paths straight. He will do all that if we turn to Him in repentance, believe and walk on this path that God prepared and continues to manage in our lives, in our world, that path that leads to Him and Him to us. But what does that mean to repent? Repentance doesn't mean to feel bad, but to think differently. To repent doesn't mean to grovel in self-hatred, morbid introspection, or pious sorrow. It consists of both outward acts and an inward disposition. When you repent you turn around, change directions, choose a different path, and make a radical rupture. Repentance signals an abrupt end to life on auto-pilot or to business as usual. The word "repentance”, by the way has not come to us from church language and was used from ancient times when there were almost no roads and maps. When a person traveled awhile through wild places, it was easy to get lost. A person walking and walking realizes that the scenery changed and stopped and said "I am going the wrong way”. But that was only the first step but until you change direction you will continue to be moving towards destruction. In Canadian province of Labrador there is a small village of Wabush. For many long years it was isolated from the rest of the world. Only in the last few decades a road was built leading there. If anyone has courage to drive 6-8 hours on unpaved road, then they will get to Wabush. However, there is only one road leading into the village, therefore only one leading out of there. So, to leave town you have to make a U-turn, to change direction by 180 degrees. There is no other way and if you keep going further thinking that somehow this road will lead you somewhere, you’ll end up in the midst of while nature where the road will suddenly end. Just thoughts, good motivations, prayers and determination cannot replace action, specific chance of direction and are not repentance. Our life must make a 180 degree U-turn and start moving in that new direction that points towards God. Friends, repentance is not just a feeling but a confession united with action: change of direction. And when we confess and act, when we decide to take the path that God calls us to follow and actually start walking on it, then God takes care of the rest. God prepares, clears out the path for us and leads us on it. Only then we begin to see that God really comes towards us like the father of the prodigal son ran towards him when the son came to his senses and decided to come back to the home where hope, peace, joy and love that he searched for can be found. Repentance is more than a feeling. We can decide to change our life, we can be determined to change, we can tell God that we are sorry for how we lived and really want that now everything would be different but until we really change our direction – we’ve not repented, we only talk about repentance (however sincerely we do it)! In a sense our feeling sorry and ashamed in relation to repentance is like a menu in relation to a wonderful meal. If I invite you into a great restaurant and after you study the menu I will take you out of there saying "wasn’t that a wonderful meal?” you would think I lost my mind. It would be right to actually order the meal after a menu review, to receive the service of the cook, to enjoy food and eventually be willing to pay the bill. Similar with repentance, our confession (our words of repentance) are like studying the menu, but one has to experience what it talks about, to turn around, change direction and then be able to "pay the bill” (do what is necessary). To repent is not just to admit to God that I live in sin; that I know that I don’t act in accordance with His Word and then feel guilty about it and yet keep on doing the same things. To repent is to change direction, to leave behind what we lived by up till now but what is not God’s will, walk away from it. And this "u-turn” allows God to enter into our lives and to reign in it; allows God to guide us and us to follow Him, leaving everything what we used to hold onto behind but finding so much more – life as it was meant to be. It is always hard to let go what we are so used to. But the words of John the Baptist are words of grace. Transformation of our lives is not something we do but something that God does in us when we turn from our own ways and begin to walk on the path He put us on. All that John is calling us to do is to confess our need for God, to admit that there are things in our lives that are wrong, that there is sin and turn again to God and begin walking on this path He cleared before us, walk on it in obedience to Him. John invites all of us to come and plunge into God’s forgiveness, dive into God’s grace, seek His presence, listen to His Word, do what He says for His sake, for our own sake, for our brothers and sisters, for the sake of this world. John preached baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins so that every person would find God’s salvation. Why such urgency and abandonment? Why not go home and talk it over with the family? Won't friends think we're crazy, impulsive, and even irresponsible? Won't you regret such a categorical decision? Why not hedge your bet? Jesus invited Peter, Andrew, James and John to reorient their lives by following him because in his own person "the kingdom of God has arrived." Jesus announced and embodied God's rule or reign on earth, right here and right now. There was an unmistakable element of cosmic fulfillment in his preaching, teaching, and healing: "The time has come. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news!" Genuine repentance is a deeply personal and individually unique act before God and my neighbor. Repentance has its communal aspects, and if you are lucky others might help you, but no one can repent for another; you can only repent for yourself. In this sense repentance can be quite simple, as observed by the Syrian abbot John Climacus (c. 525–605) in his The Ladder of Divine Ascent: "Let your prayer be very simple. For the tax collector and the prodigal son just one word was enough to reconcile them to God." One word is enough to turn ourselves away from sin and disobedience to God but then as He runs towards us like the Father toward his prodigal son, we are to run to Him as well, to Him and away from the choices, habits, actions, ways of thinking, attitudes, goals that would otherwise lead us to destruction and despair. Turn away from these things towards the One who alone can fill our life with peace that is beyond our imagination. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news! Enough of thinking about changes, feeling sorry and guilty. Turn around and come. I can’t do that for you, no one can, but I can pray with you and put my hand around you as Jesus, our Savoir takes our hand to lead you into a renewed life that is pure and true. Do you want to come? | |
| Просмотров: 417 | Загрузок: 54 | Рейтинг: 0.0/0 | |
| Всего комментариев: 0 | |