-
Advent Blog 29: When All Hope Is Lost
(I attempted to post this last evening so that it would available this morning. Alas, it did not work. Have been trying at various points through out today with no success. Ben had an entry from the other day that never posted as well. The blog apparently is already on holiday vacation.)
Today’s text is Isaiah 9:2-7
Envision a time where Canada has crossed the United States border and overtaken Michigan along with other states north of Indiana. They are crouched at the door, so to speak, and preparing to march in and possess Indiana as well. You have heard of what they have done to those who resided in Michigan. Many were slaughtered with little or no mercy shown. Others were enslaved and deported back to Canada. They most likely will do the same with Indiana. This may be difficult to imagine for us. It certainly was for Judah who was once part of a powerful and united kingdom but now was essentially a doormat. Having been split into a divided nation years earlier, the northern part (known as Israel) was invaded and conquered by the powerful empire from the north, Assyria. Judah (the southern portion of the divided kingdom) feared the same outcome as their northern counterpart.
In the midst of chaos comes hope. Hope is a mystifying attribute and can cause great confliction in one’s soul. This is conflict is painted so well in the film Shawshank Redemption where Red attempts to set Andy straight about hope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDGNsbLayJw
“Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. He has no use for it…” One could venture that this is the reaction most of Judah had to the well educated, royal prophet who declared that a child would bring the peace and renewal that these Jews craved for. The audacity of Isaiah’s claims are that the present reality was completely contrary to the picture he was painting. How quickly Judah forgot the pattern of their ancestors. Time and time again, those who were shown a glimpse of what God would bring about were often not the ones who saw it come to fruition. This is where hope comes into play. We stand in that same line of those who place their hope in God and all that He is going to do even though the present reality does not match the future description. We have seen a great deal more of the picture but still long…hope… for its completion.
- We have been called to participate in this already/not yet prophetic work that God promised to the remnant of Israel and ultimately to all humanity. What are we as a community doing to further this work? How are we helping the oppressed? How are we creating peace and allowing justice to blossom? If we are not about the Father’s business, He has a harsh response for us (just read other parts of Isaiah).
- I think we often live with the present circumstances of this world trumping the future reality. That God is sort of impotent and does not really know how bad it is. It all is a little too out of control. Subconsciously we begin to think the “enemy” is going to win or that the “darkness and despair” (verse 1) will go on forever. What are the hope killers in our lives/community? How does hope, or the lack of it, affect the journey of faith we find ourselves on?
-
Advent Blog 28: Reflection
During the Advent season we’re going to be taking Mondays to reflect on the previous day’s worship gathering. Take some time to talk about what was discussed at the worship gathering with family and friends.
-
Advent 4: Outrageous Promises / Strange Fulfillments
Sermon given by Ben Sternke on December 20, 2009 on the Fourth Sunday of Advent from Micah 5:2-5a, Psalm 80:1-7, and Luke 1:26-55.
-
Advent Blog 27: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and our day to practice worship together. Christ Church gathers at 5pm on Sunday evenings, and tonight we’ll publicly read the Scriptures we’ve been meditating on all week. If you’re not part of Christ Church, get together with a group of friends and practice the following exercises:
- Eat together.
- Receive communion together (choose a reading from John 6:43-58, or 2 Cor 11:23-26, a liturgical book like the Book of Common Prayer).
- Read the Scriptures together and share your experiences from your exercises this week.
- Pray for anyone in need.
-
Advent Blog 26: Reflection
Today is a reflection day. Catch up on exercises you’ve missed and enjoy the day.
-
Advent Blog 25: Who’s Getting Hurled Down?
During Advent, our daily exercises focus on the Scriptures we’ll be reading together on the forthcoming Sunday.
Read Luke 1:46-55 and do the following exercises:
- Mary’s song indicates that the coming of the Messiah signals good news for some and bad news for others. For what kinds of people is the birth of Jesus good news? For what kinds of people is it bad news?
- How can we, as a community, reflect this good news that the coming of Jesus means “lifting up the humble” and “filling the hungry with good things.”?
-
Advent Blog 24: Blessed Among Women
During Advent, our daily exercises focus on the Scriptures we’ll be reading together on the forthcoming Sunday.
Read Luke 1:39-45 and do the following exercises:
- It is remarkable how prominently women feature in Luke’s account of the lead-up to the birth of Jesus. Specifically, the depiction of Mary is startling in that she is held up as a paragon of discipleship: accepting with humility and graciousness the hard assignment given to her, believing the Lord’s promises to her, despite their improbability.
- Protestants chafe against the veneration of Mary, but in so doing we miss what a remarkable person she really was. Go back over the beginning of Luke’s gospel and meditate on the faithfulness of Mary, and list the qualities that make her a person worth emulating.
-
Advent Blog 23
Hebrews 10:5-10:
5“That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.
But you have given me a body to offer.
6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin.
7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—
as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”When first reading this scripture from Hebrews I wondered why such verses were chosen for the advent season. Shouldn’t we keep talk of death and sacrifice for Easter? Advent should be about the waiting and anticipation of Christ’s birth. However, the more times I read and reread the passage the more I began to see that the two can never truly be separated. Hebrews 10 is about how Christ came to be the final perfect sacrifice. In those days sin sacrifices were given as a reminder of sin, they did not cleanse one of sin. If they did there would have not been the need to repeat them year after year.
Now I admit that when I think of the sacrifices of the Old Testament my mind pictures the body of an animal on an alter. I forget that it is supposed to be a process, and what I picture is just the final step. The book of Leviticus is almost completely dedicated to explaining and re explaining the rules and regulations that go along with the selection, preparation and presentation of the “body” for an offering. Growing up on a farm I once had to opportunity to witness a group of men from the middle east prepare a lamb that was to be used for Passover. Their process of selecting and preparing the lamb was painstakingly precise, nothing done without purpose, nothing wasted, a strangely moving- almost beautiful event. Yet, even if what I witnessed was anything like the ritual that went into the sacrifices of the Old Testament they were still merely temporary, not what God desired.
Here in Hebrews Jesus is saying that he is the “body,” that is here to do Gods’ will. The birth and death of Christ are both necessary steps in the process of sacrifice. In order to have a sacrifice that is perfect and without defect, as required in Leviticus, He was selected and sent in the form of a baby. This way when the time came his ”body” would be the offering that would replace the old temporary- imperfect offering. He is the new perfect everlasting sacrifice that sanctifies us once and for all. How great is it that now, instead of having to give yearly sin sacrifices, we are given a yearly reminder of just how innocent, willing, and obedient Jesus was in his role as sacrifice.
A Manger and a Cross instead of an Alter. One is not possible without the other. This is something I did in 2004 that seemed appropriate for this passage.
Reflection:
- Do we still have sacrafices, offerings that we give in order to make ourselves feel better about something ?
- Do we give of time/money freely or are we just replacing the sin offerings of the Old Testament?
-
Advent Blog 22: What do we hope for?
Read Micah 5:2-5.
As you read through the short passage, and think back on some of the other Old Testament prophecy, who is it, what is it, that you hope for? Does your hope and expectation match up with who Jesus really is?
I used to wonder how the Jews of Jesus time missed it. How the heck did they not think Jesus was the Messiah? The more I read some of these prophecies, the more I think maybe I understand a little bit. The Jews had a legacy of getting kicked around. (The novel “The Source” by James Michener gives a really great glimpse of this). In the midst of all this getting kicked around, they were promised a savior. Human nature alone would instantly conjure up images of revenge and destruction of enemies. Add that to some of the language that the prophets used, and it’s not too hard to have visions of a great warrior king who is really going to help the Jews start doing the kicking, once and for all.
But that isn’t who Jesus turned out to be. I am on the other side of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, I know who He turned out to be, and what I am supposed to hope for, but I still find myself hoping for someone to make my life easier, or create a quick fix to my problems, or exact revenge on an enemy. My expectations of what I want Jesus to be can be very dangerous as they can also end up shaping how I live my life.
What do you hope for? What do you expect with the arrival of this Christ-child?
-
Advent Blog 21: Reflection
During the Advent season we’re going to be taking Mondays to reflect on the previous day’s worship gathering. Take some time to talk about what was discussed at the worship gathering with family and friends.