More of THOSE Days

I’ll guess that you were feeling relieved after the children’s time that finally THIS week we would have some joyful news instead of all those oppressive prophetic texts. You may even had extra hope after the letter to Thessalonians advice to REJOICE ALWAYS. But then Stephen read the Mark text and it sounds a lot like what we’ve been hearing for two weeks in advent. . More about those days!

Do you know the story of the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’?  

Tell it, surely you each know a little part. (or you can WIKI it on your phone.) Aesop’s fable

• shepherd boy who repeatedly tricks nearby villagers into thinking a wolf is attacking his flock
• When one actually does appear and the boy again calls for help, 
• the villagers believe that it is another false alarm and the sheep are eaten by the wolf. ^[4][5]

Do you think it is blasphemy to think these prophets are crying wolf?

(answers)

image: Duomo (Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici decided to have the dome painted with a representation of The Last Judgment. This enormous work, 3,600 metres² (38 750 ft²) of painted surface, was started in 1568 by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari and would last till 1579.)

(The other text we could have read has John the Baptist crying out for repentance to people of Galilee. “make way” You remember that story from other advent messages.) 

But prophets weren’t crying wolf back in the days before the exile when they tried to warn the people. —Babylon came and conquered.

And prophets weren’t crying wolf during the exile when they said, God would return God’s people to their land. —a new ruler CYRUS the Great of Persia conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to return home to Israel.

and What about Jesus’ prophetic voice? 

He is often called, “prophet, priest and king”.

Are we still waiting for his prophecies? (answers)

we just heard: “the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. The stars will fall from the sky, and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken.” — or did that happen the day of his crucifixion? and is it not his coming again that we await?

Prophets aren’t the bad guys…. they are God’s guys. (and they are not all guys at that as we leaned playing the prophet memory game this morning.) 

ASK: What do prophets tell us? (variety)

Prophets tell us about “God’s ..preference for protecting and lifting up the lowly, the suffering, and the oppressed.” 

AND when enough time has gone by without justice for ALL. . . (and when God says ALL, God really means ALL, no exceptions allowed)  OR

When too much time has gone by, prophets are sent to warn people about an END…to injustice. 

Sometimes even THE END. 

“Prophets say what no one wants to hear, what no one wants to believe.” Scholar Deborah Black wrote, “They point in directions that no one wants to look. They hear God -when everybody else has concluded God is silent.” 

They see God where nobody else would guess God is present, 

they FEEL GOD.”

(we said in SS) 

“They dream God’s dreams and utter wake-up calls, 

they hope God’s hopes and announce a new future; 

they will God’s will and live it against all odds.. 

They sing God’s song and sometimes interrupt the program with a change of tune.” Which is what we heard in Zephaniah: 

“Don’t fear, Zion.

Don’t let your hands fall.

 The LORD your God is in your midst"

Isn’t THIS the good news, for God’s people? 

IT is GOOD NEWS that oppression, killing, injustice WILL come to an end.

(wouldn’t we like to hear such good news tomorrow at the Vigil that remembers the Sandy Hook killings?)

The reason we sometimes question whether the prophets speak good news—- is we know that we are implicated in the IN-justice. 

(why it’s hard to hear their words)

But God has also sent people to tell us FEAR NOT.

image - “FEAR NOT - tidings of Good News to all people”

What did the angel Gabriel say to Mary before announcing the news?

“do not be afraid"

What was the first thing the angels told the shepherds the night they announced Jesus’ birth?

“Fear Not!” 

“‘Do not fear’ is repeated over and over again (WHY?) —-because human beings are afraid of many things.” 

So there is good news in all these prophetic words and I am sure that has been your Advent question all month. What IS the Good News? 

but this is it, it begins with Do not fear and moves to Jesus’ words:

• we don’t and won’t know the day or hour…so act like it will be tomorrow

The other Good News is ALSO found the words of Zephaniah heard today, in fact he interrupts his prophecy of judgment to tell us 

• God SINGS over us. 
• God rejoices in us. 

God may have high expectations for God’s people, certainly,  but God also accompanies us on our journeys helping us - when we ask. 

How then shall we live? How shall we live as we wait? - 

(how live if God is rejoicing over you? how live if Christ is coming again tomorrow? how live everyday and ANY day?)

This is the question that John’s hearers asked.  As did many people who heard and actually listened to the prophetic word over time. —- 

The Thessalonians letter holds our answer - 

We live REJOICING. Rejoice always!

 begin conclusion

REJOICE! God is looking over your shoulder. ….

REJOICE! you are not alone.

God right beside us —-even as we send off those bills and hope there is enough left for gas this week.

REJOICE! God is right beside us as we make choices; 

as we choose the cable show, surf the internet, hang out with friends, talk to co-workers.

God is even looking over our shoulder as we decide what to pledge and whether to volunteer. 

REJOICE! God with us as we vote, as we peacefully protest, 

God is WITH US influencing the actions of our church and world.

Every day, in MANY ways, (sometimes too slow and sometime incredibly fast)—-God is transforming us and society with us to make us ready for when Christ comes again.

image - God With Us

This is GOOD NEWS!

IS it not a joy to know that God IS with us - changing us?

Even IF and when the end comes, God IS with us.

It is the message shared thru 

   all the Bible stories; 

in the prophetic word, 

in the coming of Jesus, … [all these witnesses] tell us about God’s Vision for humanity, God’s plan to bring all God’s people together again…God’s vision for God’s alternative future called the Kingdom of God.

It is GOOD NEWS because “God’s presence among the people is animating, [in that] God rejoices with them, renews them, and exalts over them.” wrote one scholar, Jennifer Ayers. 

“God frees and strengthens the people by being present among them, such that their hands should not ‘grow weak’; 

Zephaniah assures us that God also comes to humanity in the community of faith. (like we experience here this morning) 

God’s presence heals, enlivens, and challenges humanity to LEAN into God’s promises for an alternative future.”

Today’s message IS GOOD NEWS, its the reason for the Pink Candle message of JOY!

the message that Zephaniah interrupts dire predictions to tell us.

REJOICE - 

“The future will be different from the present, 

and from the future that HAD been foreseen.

DO NOT FEAR the LORD your God is in your midst.”

REJOICE!

the end

blessing:

Let us interrupt our lives to REJOICE this week for the LORD our God is in our midst.

Endnotes

1 The Moral Class-book. 1839.

Jump up
^ Original version from myth folklore

 the decree of Cyrus, the ruler of the Persian empire that had conquered the region and granted the Jews the right to worship their God in Jerusalem, wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Zion

Jennifer Ryan Ayer Feasting Advent Companion (Louis:WJK,2014)56

Deborah Black Feasting Advent Companion - pastoral (Louis:WJK,2014)56-57

Jennifer Ryan Ayer Feasting Advent Companion (Louis:WJK,2014)56

 Deborah Black - pastoral Feasting Advent Companion (Louis:WJK,2014)57

Purity Prep at Advent II

Elie Weisel, Jewish writer and Nobel Prize winner, tells the story of his mother greeting him EVERY day when he came from school. Every day she asked him the same question. Not ‘What did you do?’ Not ‘What did you learn?’ but she asked him, “Did you have a good question today?”

Once again we gather here to ask and answer questions. We gather as “partners in critical reflection”. 

Today as we recall we are at the beginning of the church year, we have two texts that beg us to reflect on the end… the end of all years… the end of all time.  

Judgment

John  Burgess, one of the scholars I read this week, wrote briefly about the history of humanity. “Christianity with its Judaic roots is a deeply historical religion.” he says. 

“This history begins with God’s creation of the world and ends with 

God’s judgment and re-creation of it.” (The 2 ends of the spectrum of human history.) He was using this comparison to cite Karl Barth who said that Christians live “between the times.”

But my question (the first today) is, 

“Do we accept one end of the history spectrum more than the other?” Let me pick it apart, 

1. there’s God’s creation of the world - Do we accept that as the beginning of OUR story? (Y/N)
2. God’s judgment of the world at the end - Do we accept that God will judge the world and all in it? (Y/N)
3. God’s RE-creation of the world - Do we believe that  God will re-creation, re-storing, re-newing the world at the end of time?

Maybe we have to back up further to answer another question, 

“What is judgment?” - what do we mean by the word?

Jesus told parables about the END of time and judgment. Do you remember?

(review the following stories prior)

1. 10 bridesmaids with oil lamps, half brought extra and had enough to wait, 5 did not and MISSED their opportunity to enter the celebration because they didn’t prepare.
2. Story of master entrusting 3 servants with his wealth. 2 invest and are rewarded. but 1 buried what he was given to invest and it was taken from him and he was punished for not using the opportunity he was given.
3. King divides into sheep and goats… (ask what they remember)

 What DO those stories TELL you about judgment?

Let’s think about what we have heard about judgment through our culture.

What do we typically hear about the end times?

Burgess gives us a reminder of 3 ways: (in case you can’t recall)

Duomo Florence

• 1 line of thinking is the Hal Lindsey, Time LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins “Rapture and Left Behind” model.  What do you know about it?
• 2 another line of thinking is the individual day of judgment at the end of each life. Have you heard that?  (do you think it is likely?)

During the dispute about all

owing the BMC to have a booth on the floor of AC a few years ago, I heard one Elgin employee who wanted to open our welcome say. “I voted the way I did knowing some would judge me harshly, but I am more concerned about facing God on my day of judgment and having to explain why I closed the door to some of God’s children.”

Do you think we will face an individual judgment of what has been good and not so good in our lives?

• 3 An alternate way to understand JUDGMENT is to let the character of Jesus’ language put a claim on us in the here and now. God’s radical claims are meant to cause us to ask GOOD QUESTIONS so that we can view EACH DAY as a day of JUDGMENT. 
• ALL 3 WAYS ARE VALID - there are surely more.

Prophet Malachi was sent to warn an ancient people about God’s judgment.

Some of the warnings were good news to them. These were a people long awaiting God to judge and punish their enemies. They sought ‘vindication’  but Malachi said, 

‘sure God is coming.. to judge us ALL’ You’ve been pointing the finger at your enemies and forgetting the fingers that point back at yourself.’ 

“Who can endure the day of his coming?”

Actually these people had become a bit skeptical of God and the promise of judgment. They had waited generations and were no longer convinced anything would happen.  After long centuries of waiting they saw, 

• no divine retribution against their enemies, they saw
• no prosperity for their own community, & no restoration ahead
• We might hear them say, “Surely if God was REALLY coming to judge, we would have seen some sign of it by now?” —- sound a little bit like our day?

When in fact, they had failed to notice their own failures. 

Malachi points to 3 areas where they would be judged.

1. compromised worship - theirs defined in terms of the inadequacy of offerings
2. moral failures - their infidelities in their relationships, and 3rd
3. their failure to institute justice in their society.

Malachi, using the silversmith way of purifying as an image, says, God’s judgment will be a process of purification.. . and FIRE would be involved.

Full Dome Florence wiki pic

After the week we’ve had and the news of each day, I couldn’t help but wonder how we might be judged.. even in those same categories as Malachi pointed out -  in his message from God.

We could examine our worship…

Is our worship so passionate that our offerings adequate by God’s standards?  yes, I do mean our financial giving, & our giving of ourselves? 

or is our worship and giving compromised? (by all the other gods who demand our time, money and our lives…)

We could examine our morality…

Do our moral lives live up to God’s expectation of the way we are to treat each other? Do we honor our covenants that are made with and before God? 

Do we treat our neighbors with the same love as ourselves? 

or do we fall short and claim forgiveness, which is THERE for us, but without really repenting of our infidelities and habits?

AND We could examine our world..

Does our society reflect the justice that God demands?

Surely, we have to admit that our society has failed to offer justice for all.

and

How would God judge a nation where people randomly slay others with easily attained automatic weapons?

Has any of the news this week been acceptable to God?

Do we dare point our finger at others?

Certainly we have developed some ‘good questions’ today and we might appropriately cower a bit to admit that we have grown a society that is far from just.. . (so now what?)

Do we live with an awareness of God’s impending judgment?  

should we? . . .

What would life be like if we did?

I want you to envision the other end of history in the time that remains. Maybe if we can get into our heads what God’s world COULD look like, we will find it easier to work alongside God’s spirit in helping to heal this one.

And imagine a time when God returns and recreates the world. 

What will look different? What will be restored? (use your imagination)

What do you think God would change?

3 minutes 

One more question: What would be different in this church?

(what would God restore here, or birth a new?)

1 minutes

YOUR TAKE-HOME QUESTION:

What will be different in YOUR life?

We need to envision that day and that time, as the prophets said, so that instead of living in fear, we Christians can greet the ‘Day of the Lord’ with hope. Yes hope, because this coming day of restoration has already been inaugurated by Jesus.

The time of God’s justice is a promise for the future AND 

it is the time we live in now… because 

HOW we live into our hope for God’s restoration can change the WAY we LIVE now.

the NOW is where Christ’s spirit helps us work toward realizing the justice that God will someday complete.

One (last) question for you to ponder:

If this IS the time when judgment begins

if this is the beginning of God’s justice, then

What should be the priority of our work? - OUR work, together in this community?  . . .

Jesus reminds us that we won’t know the WHEN. This Gives us hope that we are ‘not supposed to know everything, 

but we are expected to DO something’. 

We are never alone, but we are on God’s team.

(We are the Advent community of Alertness. watching for the end,)

(We are) watching in HOPE, sure that the END is in the same ‘hands’ as the beginning. 

and sure that we exist to participate WITH God in the transforming of all the world, before its final re-creation.

Can we say, with faith, not fear?…  

Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

Anguished Endings or Joyous Beginnings

Daniel 12:1-3, 1 Samuel 2:1-10 “Anguished Endings or Joyous Beginnings” 11.15.15 Year B ACOB

Daniel 12 “At that time, Michael the great leader who guards your people will take his stand. It will be a difficult time—nothing like it has ever happened since nations first appeared. But at that time every one of your people who is found written in the scroll will be rescued. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty land will wake up—some to eternal life, others to shame and eternal disgrace. 3 Those skilled in wisdom will shine like the sky. Those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and always.

It seems an appropriate Sunday to talk about anguish as people around the world suffer from violence inflicted brothers and by nature.

But I have to admit, that turning to the pages of ancient prophecy and reading predictions that sound like threats of violence, come just a bit too close to the proclamations of ISIS and their claiming that they are the soldiers of God’s vengeance.

Perhaps as we try to tap into the message for us, our feelings will help us identify with the key people in our scriptures.

Hannah to Daniel

We heard 3 scriptures in some form.

1. Hannah - at her lowest, NAME HER FEELING:   desperate? what else?

What did she do when at her lowest?

2. Hannah version 2 - at her highest, NAME HER FEELING:   exuberant… 

Her song celebrates, “Divinely initiated change of fortune.” (Harper Collins Study Bible)

What did she do when at her highest?

The story leaves me wondering and also comparing our own desire for “Divinely initiated change” and whether or not we respond as Hannah did? … or just bemoan the lack of change of our fortune….

3. Daniel - is a bit different, 

 Daniel was a prophet. (You more likely recall his childhood story with LIONS…especially since Big SS has been doing LIONS, and GIANTS, and WHALES… )  The book of Daniel is a favorite among conservative theologians who point to dramatic depictions of the End of the World using Daniel’s vision.  

Whether we are reading Hannah’s plea of anguish or prayer of rejoicing…or whether we are reading the front page of today’s paper, we don’t need Daniel’s prophecies to know that life is full of “tribulations.”

If we look in context of the Book of Daniel we learn, (thanks to Dr. Young)

Daniel 12 is part of a longer discourse that begins in chapter 10 and describes a vision of what the END OF TIME will be like. 

the setting

“A “man,” or angel, dressed in linen, with a face like lightning and eyes like flaming torches (10:5), speaks with Daniel, touches him, and gives him strength to stand (10:10-11,16-19). 

This angel, also called “one in human form,” explains to Daniel that he has been fighting against the “Prince of Persia” and will later fight the “Prince of Greece” (10:13, 20-21). (All this from chapter 10)

Alongside him fights Michael, (this is the part we need to hear today) “one of the chief princes” (10:13). The angel who speaks with Daniel tells him, “There is no one who contends with me against these princes except Michael, your prince” (10:21). (1)

now if you’ve seen the old movie (a relative term) from 1996, you might have an image of MICHAEL in your head that looks like John Travolta with beautiful large white wings, but dress in overalls and work boots. Who has a love of sugar.. . .

However you choose to envision Michael there are just a couple important things to remember:

The title “prince” in Daniel 10 and 12 refers to a superhuman, celestial being who has responsibility to protect a particular people (cf. Deuteronomy 32:8-9. LXX and 4QDeutj). 

The identification of Michael as the prince of Daniel’s people suggests that 

1. Michael has been their guardian from the very beginning of their existence. It emphasizes to Daniel and his audience 

2. that when they do not have power to contend against their enemies, the greatest of all princes fights on their behalf. (2)

A situation may seem hopeless, but what Daniel’s oppressed people can see and hear does not tell the whole story. Behind the scenes, forces more powerful than those on earth shape the destinies of peoples and nations.

How would Daniel’s message have helped Hannah?

How would knowing that there was a bigger story, “force more powerful than those on earth shape the destinies of peoples and nations.”

How does Daniel’s message impact you?

gospel prediction

One more story to add from scripture:

Mark 13 - didn’t read because we will hear Mt.’s version of it in 2 weeks as we begin Advent.

As Jesus left the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What awesome stones and buildings!”

2 Jesus responded, “Do you see these enormous buildings? Not even one stone will be left upon another. All will be demolished.”

3 Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? What sign will show that all these things are about to come to an end?”

Keep watch!

5 Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many people will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ They will deceive many people. 7 When you hear of wars and reports of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. 8 Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be earthquakes and famines in all sorts of places. These things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end.

Jesus too was an apocalyptic preacher at times. Today of all days, “it may be an important reminder to hear an ancient prophet cry out  about the fragile nature of the world.”(3)

It is not just the news of TODAY that sounds like a time Jesus was predicting, we can always hear wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines…

How did Jesus react to the fears he encountered?

How did he deal with his own? (prayer)

Daniel’s underlying message then, seems to hold importance for many situations: (repeat) 

“What we can see and hear does not hold the whole story. Behind the scenes - [beyond what we can see] forces more powerful than [us] than earth’s - shape the destines of people.”

How does hearing such a message make a difference to us?

(push for answers)

What have we/you needed when we were at our lowest?

did we pray?

What did we/you do when you were at your highest?

What emotions drive our lowest points?

fear, of what?  (answers)

recap

over the last several weeks we:

• looked at how our expectations influence what happens, a jar of oil and a bin of flour - almost empty or never empty? How has God surprised ACOB in ways that kept our jars full?
• looked at our deep family of saints, past and present and realized  We are often required to do some tearing down before God can enter in and do the building up that we need. 
• looked at ourselves from the perspective that God must have, or at least we realized that we cannot make God in our own image, or make excuses for God.

and we were challenged to hold a “New image of God as a power for life. 

ONE who balances the needs of ALL creatures, not just humans, 

And WE acknowledged the deep interconnectedness of death and life, because DEATH is a vital part of circle of life, that restrains and nurtures each element in all creation.” (Carol Newsome adapted)

Each step of the way in our journey to listen to God’s Spirit and follow in Jesus’ way, we have something to learn.

…..Each day of our lives is a journey full of scary CHANGE (c-word), FEARS to overcome, TEARING DOWN, allowing GOD to make changes, and finding our expectations expanded again and again by “DIVINELY INITIATED CHANGE”.

we recognize that sometimes we rejoice at the change, like Hannah.

and sometimes we are reduced to tears, anguishing over our lot, wondering if this IS the end or even end times.

as complicated as our lives are, can we listen with hope to Daniel’s message?  

Returning to the simplest kind of trust

as Dr. Young (of Duke) reminds us, the

“The Prince of our people is fighting for US, standing over US, and working for OUR salvation in ways that WE cannot see. 

We ARE all God’s people, the holy ones of the Most High, who share citizenship in the kingdom of God with the holy angels. 

Can we face the changes tomorrow must bring as God’s holy people?

challenge

Will we recall the mission of Christ’s church and..

• stand up in nonviolent resistance to injustice and persecution like the early church?
• will we?
• stand up in the face of oppression and even death? standing with others, evening dying with them?
• will we risk?
• looking at ourselves for who we are, honestly knowing that we too have sinful ways that rebel against God?
• and yet remembering that God loves us and desires us to work alongside the Divine presence in the world.

Can we begin the journey of a church, once again, feeling OUR guardian ‘prince’ on our side?

and knowing WE ARE GOD’S HOLY ONES, and forces more powerful than those on earth shape OUR destinies.   

The end

1. & 2. Anathea Portier Young http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2667

3.  Emerson Powery http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2663

full quote: Dr. Anathea Portier Young wp.org “Show them a path of nonviolent resistance to persecution and give them strength to stand up for righteousness in the face of oppression and death. Caution them not to look away from the legacy of sin, violence, and rebellion. And invite them to look to the lives of the martyrs and saints for the light of truth that will guide them in their hour of distress.”