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| Imprisoned, Impatient; (sermon 12/12/10) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 11 2010, 07:27 PM (151 Views) | |
| Dewey | Dec 11 2010, 07:27 PM Post #1 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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There's an unusual twist to this week's sermon. It is the only time in my preaching class that I've delivered the sermon to the class *before* delivering it to my congregation. All the others were actually delivered three days *after* delivering it in church. This is because this past week's preaching assignment was to prepare a sermon in one hour - to not look at the scriptural passage it will be based on, and not write it, until one hour before stepping into the pulpit. That means that this time, I had the benefit of being able to review the professor's commentary on the sermon, and to incorporate some of those comments, as I took the "sermon in an hour" and refined it for use this Sunday. It also means that if you have any interest, you have the ability to see this sermon as it was originally delivered in its raw, one-hour prep version, and to see the professor's commentary, and then see how the final product actually came out by reading what follows. All of the sermons for the class are videotaped, and then the professor adds running, "real-time" commentary as the sermon progresses, via a split-screen video format. Since on this rare occasion, it's available, I thought I'd offer anyone who's interested to watch the video and commentary. To do so, go to http://connect.tlsohio.edu You'll be asked for a user name and password. the user name is Preaching (case sensitive). The password is ministry. On the page that opens, go to the left side bar, and expand the folder titled "MN2021", and then open the folder titled "Lab C Wed 130." Then, in the main window, click on the file "lee 1208 w notes.mov" (yes, if you're a glutton for punishment, you could check out the other video snippets of me in that same area, but I haven't even looked at all of them) So, just thought I'd offer that. Otherwise, here's this week's offering. Also shown here is a related video clip that will be shown during the service. ===== having difficulty embedding this, but the link to the video is: http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00684 ===== Matthew 11:2-11 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ===== John the Baptist sat in prison, thinking. Everything had started out so well, people were coming out to hear him and had believed – even though his message was discomforting, it had stirred people’s hearts and they were responding to his call to repentance. He’d done what God had asked of him. He’d even baptized Jesus, and was able to proclaim to everyone that he, Jesus, was the Messiah he’d been telling them about. John considered himself blessed to have a part of preparing the way for Jesus. John knew that his life had been difficult, and with little in the way of creature comfort. He also knew that his message had rocked the boat of many powerful people. Still, he’d always been confident, and taken comfort in the fact that he’d been doing God’s will, and pleasing God – and that God would bless him for that. So how did this happen? There he sat, chained to the wall most of the day. Able to hear voices of other people outside the walls that had kept him isolated and alone. Unable to feel the warmth of the sun on his face inside the windowless prison cell. Gradually coming to terms with the realization that his future didn’t look very bright. And wondering if he’d just been fooling himself all along. Had he been right? Was Jesus really the Messiah? Honestly, he’d imagined that by now, Jesus would have made a bigger splash. He would have set things right, gotten rid of the Roman occupiers and the hypocrites who had distorted their religion. He would have established a new Kingdom, God’s Kingdom, in Jerusalem. John was impatient. He’d expected all this would surely have been done by now. But since John hadn’t seen Jesus do any of those things yet, he started to wonder. Was Jesus really just another of a long line of wannabe messiahs, here today and forgotten tomorrow? Had John put his money on the wrong horse? And now, was this jail cell the punchline of a long, cruel joke, made at his expense? John was in prison – imprisoned by his own internal doubts and fears just as much as by Herod’s iron bars. That inner prison of John’s is one that most of us are familiar with, too. We live our lives doing what we think God wants us to do, being what God wants us to be. We come to church each week. We involve ourselves in mission, offering material and spiritual help to those in need. And because of that, even if we might not put it in words, we tend to think that things would generally go well for us because of it – God would bless us. We wouldn’t have to deal with the problems that other people had to face. We’d have our blessings, and we’d have them right now. We’d be happier than other people. But then it hits. We get broadsided by some awful thing that we never dreamt we’d have to deal with. We’re seriously hurt by the actions of someone we thought was our friend. Our family is about to crumble due to some dysfunctional relationship. Our spouse is killed by a drunk driver late one night. We’re diagnosed with inoperable cancer. We live the Christian life and expect to see God right now, loving, merciful, and good. But as we come to terms with the reality of our situation, and we have trouble seeing God doing anything about it, we start to question the core beliefs we’d always relied on. Is God really there, and in charge? Does God really love us? Wouldn’t God do something about our problems, right now? Is all this God talk – all this talk about Jesus reconciling us with God, and bringing us into an abundant, eternal life just a fairy tale? Are we praying into dead air? We ask these things as we sit impatiently in our own prison of doubt and fear. John asked Jesus to come clean – to tell him for sure, if he really was the Messiah. Jesus answered him, Just look around. See what is happening. That in fact, the very things that had been foretold by the scriptures that would happen with the coming of the Messiah, were indeed happening. The blind see. The lame walk. The deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor are hearing God’s great, good news of the gospel – God’s message of love and hope. Maybe not the way that John had expected it, but it was happening. There’s the proof you need, Jesus tells John. John was reading the prophecies right, in expecting the great military, political messiah. He just wasn’t reading and understanding *all* the prophecies. Sometimes I think it’s hard for us to hear that message in our own lives. There’s Jesus’ message to John; it’s the same message to us. As we go through the crisis situations in our own lives, it might be difficult to hear that truth, but it is still true. Jesus says to us, Look around. open your eyes. We know that Christ is real – that Jesus is who he says he is; that he did what he said he came to do, because of so many of the times in our own lives that we’ve felt God’s presence. Times when we’ve felt his presence in our lives in a way so real that we could practically reach out and touch him. Jesus said that this would be the case. And yes, the scriptures and our tradition do imply that the Christian life will be good and happy. But that certainly isn’t the case all the time, or for every believer. There will be other times. Jesus said that there would be times when we wouldn’t feel God’s presence; times when we’d suffer difficulties and darkness and when we’d want God to hurry up and step in to fix things. Not only did Jesus say that these times would come, but that our suffering, and our endurance, and our patience, would be transformed into blessings. We see the answer to John’s question to Jesus – we know that Jesus is who he claimed to be - by looking around us even this very morning. Because of the presence of God in the lives of people in this congregation, more than 120 blankets have been made for the needy children of a local mobile home park. Because of the presence of God in the lives of people in this congregation, free clothing and food have been distributed to people in Frankfort, and children with HIV/AIDS in Honduras have medicine, and food, and shelter. We see God’s presence in so many ways, in the world and in our own lives. So in those times when, like John, we get impatient when we don’t sense God’s presence in some circumstance in our lives, and we start to have fear and doubt, We can look at things like this, and we can see the answer to our doubts. Maybe not the kind of answer we might expect or want, but the answer is there. Fear and worry and doubt are the bars of our own prison. God has given us the key to enable us to be free that prison – and he placed it in a manger. Thanks be to God. |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| brenda | Dec 11 2010, 11:05 PM Post #2 |
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..............
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Patience can be so very difficult. Thanks for the reminder of the process and the purpose, Dewey. |
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“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne | |
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11:06 AM Jul 11