I suppose I might say we continue our immersion in the grammar of Advent Scripture readings today. For those of you who are visiting or who missed Advent 1 and 2, we have been paying some close attention to the grammar and what the grammar conveys to us. On Advent 1, Bishop John reminded us all that we face the future with an eye to the past deliverances of God. Specifically, he preached on the backward side of days and how Advent calls the people of God, and Adventers in particular, to live in a way that resembles one rowing a boat. We focus on the many deliverances of God, but especially on Jesus, even as we row our boats into uncertain or foggy futures, confident that God will deliver us through the next thing.
Last week, I tried to focus our attentions
on immersion. We spoke about the
immersion of forgiveness proclaimed by John the Baptizer and the immersion of
the Holy Spirit made possible through Jesus.
Specifically, we reminded ourselves of the Sacrament of Baptism and how
that Sacrament does both. Given the
conversations on the sermon, I would say it hit appropriately. A great deal of
conversation centered on the ways in which we live to immerse ourselves in the
ways of God. Some of us talked about our
prayer life; others spoke of their study of Scriptures; a few spoke of ministry
or, as we like to say, loving our neighbors as ourselves; and most reminded
themselves of worship. Good, I see nods,
and I see some thoughtful consideration.
Today, I will be focusing pretty intensely
on verse 4 of Isaiah’s passage. We see
the passage cited by Jesus, as Jesus speaks of John the Baptizer and his
ministry. John is like every other human
being who has ever lived and heard the testimonies about Jesus. Is He the Messiah? For our part, Jesus seems cryptic in His
response, but Jesus brings us all back to this chapter of Isaiah and calls upon
John to evaluate Him based on what Isaiah said about Him. John, of course, is reminded of the truth of
Jesus, but that same information will be ignored by the Sanhedrin. Isaiah tells us the signs of the Anointed One
of God. The lame will leap, the deaf
will sing, provision will come forth in the wilderness—each of us gathered
knows how those signs were fulfilled and recorded in the Scriptures, just as
each of us were drawn to Jesus by other stories we were told. And, it is appropriate in Advent, when things
in the world do not seem to be going the way we want or expect, that we remind
ourselves of the fact that we are not alone and of the fact that God still
loves us when we wonder and even doubt.
The first focus I’d like to do this
morning is to draw our attention to the literal meaning of the Hebrew at the
beginning of verse 4. Our translators
chose “Say to those who are of a fearful heart.” I get it.
The choice makes sense. But the
literal Hebrew is something close to “Say to those whose hearts are racing.” Think of the difference conveyed by the
original Hebrew. We have a ton of
Adventers who work as doctors and nurses.
I am sure they will have a million more reasons to suggest, but why do
our hearts race? Fear? Sure.
Anxiety? You bet. Excitement?
Yes. Anticipation? Yeah.
Our list goes on an on. The docs
and nurses would tell us our hearts race any time our bodies produce
adrenaline, that it is a biochemical response, right? Yay, I remembered my biology. But adrenaline courses through our bodies at
times other than when we are afraid.
Does God want us to know He is there for us when we are afraid? Without a doubt! But God also wants to remind us that He is
with us and sufficient for us in all times that our hearts are racing. All times.
Just as significantly, there is nothing wrong with the racing
heart. It is a response to external events
or stimuli, usually. We are not “bad
Christians” because we are afraid or anxious or excited. We are remined, though, that when our hearts
race, we should hear and remember the words of the prophet Isaiah.
What are those words? They are the glorious and comforting words of
the Messiah. In yet another way, to
steal the images presented by Bishop John, you and I are called to keep our
focus on THE DELIVERANCE found in Christ Jesus as we row our boats into foggy
or unclear futures. They are the same
words with which Jesus answered John the Baptizer’s question, “Are You the One? Or is another to come after?” John, for all his import and for all his work
had the same worries and fears and doubts as you and I. He knew the story of his conception in she
who was thought barren. He knew dad had
been silenced by the angel for her pregnancy.
He knew the voice of his aunt, the mother of the Messiah, when she
shared her incredible news while he was yet in utero. His whole life was lived dedicated to the
understanding that he was to announce the coming of Messiah. And for all his wisdom and faithfulness,
where was he? He was imprisoned. He was facing death. This was not the fairy tale ending anyone
expected. Very few people, indeed,
perceived the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.
Nobody expected the herald of Messiah to be rejected and killed for his
proclamation. Such, though, was the
predicament of John.
Jesus, for His part, could have simply
answered yes to His cousin’s question?
But would that have stopped the racing heart of John? Jesus, instead, brought John’s shoreline back
into focus. What did John’s disciples
report to their master? The lame walked
and leaped. The mute could talk and
sing. Jesus fed the 5000 and 4000 men,
besides women and children. Heck, some
claimed Jesus raised little girls and old men from the dead! Jesus cured lepers and cast out demons. Jesus’ disciples claimed He walked on water
and calmed the sea. Better still, Jesus’
answer would have caused John to think back on his own life, on God’s
deliverances in his life and on God’s deliverances of John’s people. Which story or stories meant the most to
John? I have no idea. Scripture does not tell us. But John had the same stories of corporate
deliverance to look back on, to think about, and to focus. And as he reminded himself of God’s unwavering
faithfulness, what happened to his heart?
He was encouraged to do the work God had given him to do, trusting God
would deliver and vindicate him.
Were we to stop there, most of us would be
well reminded and well satisfied that God has met our need. We recognize we have no reason for our hearts
to race and that, when they do, a great response is to focus our attention on
God and His deliverances of us in Christ and in however many more experiences
we have had. But there is always more to
the Good News!
The prophet Isaiah goes on to remind us
that our God is here and that He will come with vengeance and terrible
recompense. I will say a number of
commentators I read this week were incredibly uncomfortable with that
language. There were efforts to “soften”
the language and make it more “palatable for preaching.” The problem with such efforts, though, is
that they take away some of the power of understanding God’s words and Word. Naqam literally means vengeance. It is modified a bit by the additional gemul
elohim. Our translators chose
terrible recompense, but y’all have had me for nearly 8 years now and know the
usual meaning of elohim. We might better
understand the comfort of the prophet’s words if we spoke Hebrew, but we need
to translate it. Whether we go with God’s
response or God’s dealing or some other artful way, we are reminded
in the passage of both the immanence of God and the future vindication which
His people will experience because of His Coming and His judgment!
In the first, the immanence, we are reminded
of the closeness of God, of the ever-present-with-us of God. Our evangelical brothers and sisters would
use language of Him dwelling in our hearts or making our hearts His throne; we
Episcopalians might just choose to remind ourselves that He is with us always
to the end of the ages. Good. I see lots of nods and a couple chuckles. One reason behind the Ascension of Jesus
after the Resurrection is so that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, might
come. While Jesus walked the earth, the
redemptive power of God was focused on Him in the geographical area we call
Judea or Israel in the first century, as we reckon time. Now, we understand that we are empowered by
the Holy Spirit and able to accomplish great things to the glory of God through
faith obedience and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Anything anybody disagrees with? Good.
Let’s keep going and look back at Carola on our shores.
Despite that promise of God, are things
the way they will be? Good! Carola would be so proud. For those of you not here during her interim
period among us, the voice said “we are in the already and not yet.” What Carola tried to teach Adventers was that
we live in a tension. We know for
certain that God has won, but we know things are not yet fully re-created. For now, and until His Second Coming, we obey
His commands on our lives and fight evils in His Name and to His glory. Because God wins in the end, we are certain
we do, too, right? Great! We are all like John the Baptizer!
When we begin to labor for the things of
God, when we begin to discern prayerfully and faithfully those things He calls
us to do, are we guaranteed victory and glory and wealth and whatever other
blessings the world values? No? Are you sure?
We are laughing but we are laughing because we have some many points of
deliverance upon which to focus, and we might be laughing that we, like John
before us, are heralds of God’s loving certainties.
The world has convinced many of us in the
Church that vengeance is a four-letter word.
God, though, has reminded His people since the beginning of the Covenant
that vengeance rightfully belongs to Him.
We might rail at our circumstances and the evils we perceive, but we
also remind ourselves that God alone judges.
Better still, until our Lord Christ returns, God is delaying judgment and
vengeance. BUT . . . and this is a heavy
BUT . . . we know that when He returns it will be to judge. All in the world, past, present, and future,
will have had a chance to make a choice.
God has wooed every single human being who walked, who walks, and who
will walk the earth. God has promised
through His Son that all who proclaim Him Lord will dwell with Him for
eternity. Those who rejected Him, those
who scoffed at the teaching, wisdom, wooing, and whatever else, though, will
face a different promise, a promise, we would say, that points us and them back
to the Exile and the disgorging from the Land.
But in God’s judgment comes that idea of
vengeance and vindication which makes us excited and uncomfortable at the same
time. One of the commenters I read
really wanted us to think of God’s coming in the idea of retributive
justice. I get it. I can see its appeal. For those of you unaware of those efforts in
the world around us, such an understanding has captured the imagination of some
who are for this to have a place in our justice system. If somebody robs you and gets caught, you
accept repayment plus interest in exchange for them not going to prison. Good, I see some nods. Feel free to come in this week, if you want
to know more. It’s an effort to correct
a penal system that is not rehabilitative.
What happens, though, when the crime is
not financial? How do we value the
interest? For example, is it possible
someone has scammed us out of food the last four years? Were they caught, would repayment of the
price of the food plus the inflationary cost and interest satisfy naqam, let
alone gemul elohim? We might be
tempted to answer yes quickly, but what if another family did not receive
needed food because that initial food was stolen? How do we value their hunger? Their suffering? Plus, if it caused us to appear callous or
uncaring, or God to appear callous and uncaring, and it caused them to turn
away from God, what is the right value placed on the underlying theft? See the problem? And we are talking something easy, food. What about the hard to quantify things in
life? What if a politician accepted a
bribe and voted against something God wanted?
That never happens in our country, though. No, we just call it lobbying, not
bribing. Let’s look outside it
then. What if a ruler decided he wanted
to conquer a country to restore his country’s glory and perception in the world
and then punished civilians of that neighboring country for exposing his
country’s shortcomings? Too real? What if an internet influencer knowingly lied
to get people afraid of masks in a pandemic resulting in one or two deaths? What if law enforcement panicked or misused
their authority and killed someone in custody or killed someone unarmed and
surrendering? What if someone sold a gun
to someone they suspected were mentally ill, or sold it in a way to avoid any
background checks, and that gun was used to kill a child or shoot up a school?
Good.
I see lots of disgusted faces now.
But I also see faces know who understand the comfort of the words of
Isaiah. God is with and God has
delivered us. One glorious Day, though,
He will return to set all things right.
One Day He will return with His glorious response, repaying those who
rejected His saving offer from the Cross and vindicating those who chose Him
and persevered despite the seductive offers of those who reject Him. Armed with that reminder and knowledge and
promise, we are sent back out into the wildernesses He has assigned to us, to
proclaim His saving grace to all those with racing hearts in the world around
us, that they, too, might choose Him and receive that peace that passes all
understanding and join us as inheritors of those wonderful promises of He Who
Will Dwell with Us for all eternity!
In Christ’s
Peace,
Brian†
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