"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."
Ephes. 1:3-14
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.
John 1:1-18
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' ") 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
Well, we're still here. The New Year, the New Decade, The New Century (and the New Millennium, if that's how you count) have all begun. The old has passed away and we're still here. So, now what?
I ran across a story about a guy who was burnt out. He longed for a new spark in his life. It wasn't that he was unhappy. he loved his wife and kids. He had a good job. All the things of life. It's just that life wasn't very exciting any more. He wasn't taking chances any more.
One day while walking out of work he was pondering all of this when all of a sudden he heard a small voice say: "John, go to Las Vegas." He stopped and looked around but didn't see anybody. So, he ignored it. The next day as he was leaving work, the same thing happened. He ignored that, too. And the next one. But after a week of hearing this little voice say, "John, go to Las Vegas," he told his wife. At first she laughed but then realized he was serious.
Another week went by. Same thing. Same voice telling him to go to Las Vegas. Two more weeks went by. The voice was getting more and more insistent. So, John and his wife decided it had to be some sort of omen, so they packed their bags and headed to Las Vegas.
They had no clue what to do when they got there. So John asked. The little voice said: "Go to Caesar's Palace." So they went to Caesar's Palace. Then the little voice said, "Go to the roulette table." When they got there, John asked, "Now what?" The little voice said, "Bet $1000 on black 22" They did. The croupier spun the wheel. And they watched in fascination as it turned and landed on Black 22. Twice more the little voice led them to winning numbers.
Then the little voice got excited and said, "Bet everything on Red 13." John consulted with his wife and they placed their entire life's savings on Red 13. The wheel spun. Everyone watched with anticipation as the wheel turned and turned and turned and landed on Black 34. And the little voice said: "Oops."
This has been a weird week for working on sermons. Part of me was excited about talking about the future, looking at where God wants us to go and what God wants us to be and become as a Church and as Christians. It was weird because it was hard to stay focused while thinking about the vast enormity of the past and the almost endless outpouring of the future.
And to be honest, there was a little part of me that kept whispering, "You don't have to work on that sermon. It's all going to be over at midnight on Friday." I'm glad I didn't listen to that little voice.
Scripture is timeless. It always gives us a fresh message. And it always challenges us. So what's the challenge this morning? How do we prepare for the future? We're still here, so are what are we supposed to do now? Well, basically, we're called to do what we've always been called to do, be faithful and fruitful. Paul says, we have a glorious inheritance of redemption. And through this inheritance the mysteries of God have been made know to us. John sums it all up in discussing "The Word". As a consequence we're called to share and live that Word for the world. We're called to Go and Tell, Live It Well and The Dark Dispel.
A. The Great Commission in the Gospel of Matthew lays it all out. We're called to Go and Tell others about this great inheritance that is being offered by God through Christ. We're called to Go and Tell the Good News of redemption and forgiveness. We're called to Go and Tell of the great love God has for us. We're called to Go and Tell of the depth of that love. A love that spared no expense, not even the life of His own Son, to give us a second chance and to offer us a renewed relationship.
We're called to Go and Tell of this Wonderful Counselor, this Mighty God, this Prince of Peace our Lord and Savior. We're called to Go and Tell what God has done in our lives through Him. That's the whole reason for a being a "Church On The Move." We're not moving just to move. Or building just to build. We have a mission and a need. We're called and we need to Go and Tell.
B. I ran across a little book a few years back at Half Price Books. It's entitled "Skipping Stones, The Old Testament in a New Light" by John R. Aurelio and published by Crossroad Publishing. In this book the author describes creation this way. (pp. 1-11)
"Once there was God - just God, only God. Once there was nothing anywhere but God. There were no stars, no planets, no constellations, no universe. The was just an infinite, endless Spirit-God. This God had no form, no shape, no time, no limits.
"But He had an idea!
Before anything ever came to be, God had an idea. And, as is possible only with God, He saw the fullness of the idea in an instant. In an infinite instant God saw the totality of all that this idea would entail, all that it would mean. In it He saw the glory and the tragedy. He saw the triumph and the defeat. He saw the exhilaration and the pain. But most of all, He saw the ultimate victory in it. His victory. It was inescapable because He is inescapable. It was magnificent because He is magnanimous. It was worth it all, all of it, because He is Love. . .
"It is a love so incalculable that words cannot express it. Words cannot, for God is spirit and spirit is simple. One word must express it. One word, for God is one. So from the vast reaches of infinity, from within the endless, black abyss that is God, the Father utters one word.
"JESUS!" "One word! Only one word that expresses the totality of all that the Father is and has. . .
In the utterance of that word, "Jesus" the idea that God had before time and space and creation enters into existence and begins to unfold while God is uttering it. Everything that has ever happened, is happening, or will ever happen is all contained in that single word . . . "Jesus!"
"Jesus!" is the total of everything that the Father has to say, once and for all time. All His "words" and "acts" are contained in that single word - "Jesus!" We see things piece by piece. We hear things word by word. But not so God. He sees and hears only one thing - "Jesus!" "Everything ever is in "Jesus!"
And that is what we are called to Go and Tell. One Word. "Jesus!"
A. Not only are we called to Go and Tell. We're also called to Live It Well. What do I mean by that? Well, not only are we called to share the Good News. We're called to live the Good News as well. In verse 4 of our reading Paul reminds us that "[God] chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love."
To me, that simply means that we're called to Live the Good News so that others may see the love of God through our lives and through our actions.
Everybody is probably aware of Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's description of religion as a "crutch for weak-minded people." But did you know that 68 churches in Minneapolis took out a full page ad in the Star Tribune listing their addresses and phone numbers under the headline: "Strength Training For The 'Weak-Minded'. There's A Workout Location Near You. . ." (1) We're called to Live It Well so that others might be strengthened and lead into a redemptive relationship with God through Christ.
B. We're called to Live It Well in even the most trying of circumstances. And believe me that's hard to do. But it becomes somewhat easier if we remember that our ultimate purpose in Living It Well is simply to be able to Go and Tell.
Ugandan Archbishop, Janani Luwum, was asked, one time about his association with the tyrant Idi Amin; shartly afterward Archbishop Luwum was abducted and executed. His answer really said it all: "The best way to show a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it." (2)
We're called to Live It Well. We're called to be reflections of the one Truly Straight Stick, "Jesus!", for the world. We are called to showing them the love of God in Christ through our love, through our righteous actions. Notice I said "righteous" and NOT Self Righteous. We are not holier than anyone else. We've just have been given Good News to share with others and a lifestyle to lead. And if we do the best that we can; if we let the love of God in Christ Jesus shine through us, to touch others; if we accept the Good News and Live It Well, then we WILL be righteous.
A. We're called to Go and Tell and to Live it Well, and while caring these two out, we also The Dark Dispel.
B. Robert Fulghum in his book "It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It" tells a wonderful story on himself. At the last session of a two-week seminar on the isle of Crete in Greece. The leader asked "Are there any questions?"
"Robert Fulghum says that he can't pass up the opportunity to ask one question and so he asked, "What is the meaning of life?"
He said the usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go. But then, the organizer Dr. Alexander Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at Mr. Fulghum for a long time, asking with his eyes if he was serious and seeing from his eyes that he was said. "I will answer your question.'"
"Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small, round mirror, about the size of a quarter. And what he said went like this:
"When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.
"I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine - in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.
"I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light - truth, understanding, knowledge - is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.
"I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world - into the black places in the hearts of men - and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. That is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life." (3)
We too are called to shine the light of God's love in every dark crack and crevice of this world. We're called to push back the darkness with the light of "Jesus!" We're called to Dispel the Dark. We have the wonderful blessing of knowing Christ and the joy of salvation. The darkness has gone out of our lives forever. But there is still darkness in the world. But wherever light comes, darkness runs in terror. For just as the Gospel of John says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
One tiny candle can push back the dark and the dark will never overcome that light, no matter how small. We're called to be light and reflect the True Light which is Christ so that we can Dispel the Dark that is still in the world.
We don't know what the futures holds. No one ever does. We don't even really know the impact of 1999 on history. Look at the last turn of the century. 1899. Who would have thought that would have been such a good year, what with the Spanish American War in full swing.
But did you know that in 1899: in May of that year, the first auto repair shop was opened in Boston. And did you know that a few months later, in September, Henry Bliss became the first automobile fatality in New York. 1899 was noted for a few other things, too.
The Sherlock Holmes adventure series began.
The rubber heel was patented by Humphrey O'Sullivan .
Pres. McKinley signed a bill creating Mt. Rainier National Park.
Horatio Alger Jr., American clergyman & author, died.
The Gideon Society was established to place Bibles in hotels.
Carnation processed its first can of evaporated milk.
The US & Germany agreed to divide Samoa between them.
George F. Grant of Boston patented the golf tee.And there were a few notable births that year as well.
Jean Moulin, hero of the French Resistance during WW II .
Al Capone, notorious Chicago, gangster
Humphrey Bogart, actor.
Duke Ellington, the big band leader, which is sort of like saying "Johan Sebastian Bach, organ player.
Alfred Butt, inventor of Scrabble
Fred Astaire, in Omaha Nebraska
E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web and other works.
Ernest Hemingway.
Hart Crane, the American poet
Eugene Ormandy, born in Budapest, former conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Howard Thurman, African-American poet and author.
Hoagy Carmichael.
And Sir Noel Coward, the playwright. (4)We don't know who was born this year or the impact of that birth because we can't know the future. But we know the one who holds the future. The one by whom and for whom the future was created. "Jesus!"
We're called to trust Him. We're called to let him lead us so that we can Go and Tell, Live it Well and The Dark Dispel. If we does these three things and do them well, there won't be any little voce saying, "Oops!" in our ear. Instead we will hear the voice of Christ saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
________________________________
Bibliography
1. Adapted from Joyful Noiseletter, February 2000. p. 5.
2. Parables, Etc. (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), January 2000, p. 5.
3. Based on Robert Fulghum story.
4. From a sermon found at Deaconsil.Com
Other References Consulted
Lectionary Homiletics
Homiletics
Preaching Magazine
The Clergy Journal
SermonMall.com
SermonWriter.Com WebScription