Some time ago I acquired a "Revised Standard Version" of titles of some of the hymns which we will be singing in the weeks ahead. This looks like an above average crowd so I thought I would test some of these to see if you can figure them out. The first one is "Move Thitherward the Entire Assembly of all Those Who are Loyal in Their Belief." Do you know which carol that is? Well, I have the answers... "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful." Now surely the choir will know this, "Listen, the Celestial Harbingers Produce Harmonious Vocal Sounds." "Hark the Harold Angels Sing." All right, one more. "A Small Municipality in Judea Southeast of Jerusalem." "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem." You can surprise your friends with your erudition if you take that along with you.
The scripture reading we heard this morning is assigned to the church for this Sunday, the second Sunday of the Sunday's preceding the celebration of the Nativity, the 25th. It sounds like a strange scripture to read in this season. It really doesn't sound like Christmas at all, does it? Have you ever wanted to ask why the church doesn't lighten up and get with the season? After all, it's December!
The merchants have been tolling the Yule since Halloween. I would not be surprised if some Halloween the kids who showed up at the door, instead of saying "Trick or treat" would say "Merry Christmas." It's confusing.
The Church on the other hand says, "Hold on a minute. To celebrate the Nativity of Jesus you have to be ready. To receive the One who comes, not just hear about the One who comes, but to receive that One you must be prepared."
Who can tell us how to get ready for the Messiah who comes to transform all of life? The Church responds, "John the Baptist." We get to Bethlehem by going past John the Baptist.
It's an interesting thing that of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, only two out of the four, fifty percent, say anything about the birth of Jesus. But all of the gospels spend a considerable amount of time talking about John the Baptist.
The Church in it scriptures came to understand that the baptizer is a prelude to Jesus; for us to receive this one we must go through John.
You remember John was a "counter-culture" sort of guy. He lived out in the desert away from people. He dressed funny, in animal skins. He ate a diet that would not agree with any of us, locust, (grasshoppers) and wild honey. He was not the kind of guy who was comfortable to be around. But the main thing we need to learn from John (in the third verse of the third chapter) is that he preached a "baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins." That is, he preached a ritual washing associated with repentance.
Repentance is a key word for John. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which means, literally, a change of heart. We use it in religious termstotalkaboutareformationoflife. Repentance,thechangeofheart,is essential to receiving Jesus as Savior.
Repentance means turning toward God, turning away from sin.
A colleague of mine told of a man who'd said he had a life changing experience and it turned his life around 360 degrees. My friend said he resisted the temptation to tell him, "If you turn around 360 degrees you're going in the same direction." John is talking about turning 180 degrees.
Turning toward God. Turning away from sin. Sin means going one's own way in disregard of God.
It doesn't have to be really lurid or salacious, it means simply going your own way without any attention to God. It means turning inward toward yourself. Toward yourself in self-aggrandizement or in self-loathing.
That's the way the world turns, in upon itself. The gospel invites us to turn toward God.
Turning toward God involves a change of heart. It means changing the way we see life. Turning toward God will reveal something new about God's view of you and God's love for every part of creation.
Turning toward God means giving up the idea that I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, I'm not beautiful enough.
The world tells us that. Whenever we turn on television the ads send out a subliminal message'that in order to be successful, to drive a desirable car we need to be more beautiful than we are, or more virile. The world's message depicts mythical people, beautiful women with flowing gowns draped across the hoods of late model cars. In order to be successful and associate with the beautiful people of the world we certainly must be and have more. The world is teaching us a perverted message - we're not good enough.
But God's view is that you are precious as you are, now, today. You are the only one in the world like you. There's only one person whom God has created who can bring to the world what your mind and heart and hands can bring to the world. No one else can do that except you.
Repentance means believing that God does not condemn the world but loves the world. "All flesh" is the concern of God and God's love is inherent in all life.
Truman Capote, in 1956, wrote a short story entitled, "A Christmas Memory." It's basically the remanisence of a small boy who was pushed aside by the adults in his family and became close friends with an elderly cousin who also, because of her eccentricities, was moved to the periphery of the family's life. Because they had mainly each other to talk to they shared the most intimate thoughts. In one particular conversation this elderly cousin says to the boy, "You know, what I've always thought? I've always thought a body would have to be sick and die before they saw Lord. And I imagined that when He came it would be like looking at the stained glass windows in the church... But I'll wager it never happens that way, I'll wager at the very end a body suddenly realizes the Lord has already been and already shown himself. That in the ordinary things as they are (and her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing the earth for her bone) in just what they've always been I've seen the Lord. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes." (Thanks to Don Shelby.)
Scripture affirms this truth. The divine heart of God became flesh and "dwelt among us?" The creative spirit of all that has been and will be is within the world, ready to be seen and heard and understood.
John the Baptizer quotes Isaiah's description of how turning to God would change the landscape of life. He says, height and depth will be leveled. The crooked and rough will be made straight and smooth.
What Isaiah and John are describing is a time when even the broken and wounded will be able to walk here and see the hand of God in their lives in all that is around them.
Sometimes, on the other side of December 25th it seems like the light of Christmas doesn't last very long. That wonderful experience which we have together as we worship on the 24th or 25th just flows away. I've wondered if its transitory nature is because we've not really prepared our hearts to receive this One. We've really not gotten ready for the One who comes. Have we've forgotten that in order to receive Him and love Him and follow Him we must turn from ourselves and what the world tells us about ourselves? We must turn toward God and believe that God loves us right now, with all the world.
Let us pray...