| To contact us: Calvary Episcopal Church 667 Mount Road Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 OFFICE mail@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org |
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| SERMON Advent 3 December 14, 2008 The Rev. Kristine Hill |
| 667 Mount Road, Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 |
| Small Parish - Big Heart The little church you've been looking for! All are welcome! |
| Our Mission: To worship the Lord To serve the community To grow the church |
| Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1st Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28 |
| The Rev. Kristine Hill, Interim Rector |
There’s a road-sign on the way to our house in Hickory. The sign is on one of the
main streets – Springs Road – and it looks like this
Whenever I give someone directions to find our house I mention this sign. The
sign lets people know that Wandering Lane is the next turn. Without it, most
people would have a hard time finding where we live. Out in our area, Springs
Road has traveled a good ways past town and few people are familiar with the
Whenever I give someone directions to find our house I mention this sign. The
crossroads. Wandering Lane, as the sign indicates, only goes in the one direction;
to make matters worse, it comes right after a slight rise-in-the-road. It’s easy to
miss. But you won’t find the street we live on - Creek Point Drive – unless you
first turn onto Wandering Lane. Miss that and you’re headed off into the boon-
docks. So I always give people two markers to look for – the Open Door Baptist
Church on the left, and then this sign on the right. If they can find those two
things they should be okay.
A sign is a thing that points us to something else. But not only that, a sign also
represents the thing to which it points. If there was a blank sign like this
in the same place as the other sign, it would not be very helpful. I could still
refer to it, but it wouldn’t prepare people visually for the alignment of the coming
streets; it wouldn’t stand out as a particular sign. The purpose of a sign is to be
a “go between,” an aid that stands between one who is seeking something and
the object she seeks. For the sign to work it cannot simply be along the path to
her destination, it must have some identifying marker that tells her she is on the
right track and advises her which way to go from here.
The Gospel of John is big on signs. Readers sometimes misunderstand this and
think John wants to be mystical and secretive. Not at all; John’s intent is to show
us Jesus and convince us who Jesus is. One could say that John’s Gospel itself
is a “sign,” in the sense that its purpose is to point to Jesus, to the good news,
to God revealed through God’s Son. When you read the Gospel of John, always
be on the look-out for signs; they are everywhere and their purpose is to
illuminate Jesus as Christ, the Savior of the World, so that we can believe. We
could even say there is a sign in the opening verses of our gospel reading for
this morning. We read: “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify to the light…” Right there we have one. John
the Baptist, himself, is a sign. What was his purpose in life? To point to Jesus;
God sent him to be a witness.
What does it mean to be a witness? That doesn’t sound very hard, sort of like
Fred McMahon, Johnny Carson’s side-kick who sat in the next chair and laughed
at all of Johnny’s jokes, then later stood at a counter with a box of Betty Crocker
cake mix to set up the next commercial. Is that being a witness? - being Robin
to Batman, Tonto to the Lone Ranger? Well… not according to today’s gospel
reading.
A preacher of an inner-city congregation, somewhere like Baltimore, told a story
about baptism. Baptism makes us new people in Christ, it kills the old, sinful
person within us and raises up a new version of us, one more able to live by
grace, in imitation of Jesus. We should look a lot more like Jesus once we have
been baptized, our lives be visibly different, she said, but how often does that
happen? Then she told about Jimmy who had been a thief and life-long criminal.
While in prison Jimmy went to Bible study. When he got out of prison, he began
to attend this pastor’s church. After a time, he decided to get baptized so he
went to a series of classes that taught him the Christian faith. He learned about
Jesus; he learned that through baptism his life would be forever linked to Jesus,
that in baptism he would die to sin and rise to new life.
Jimmy was baptized. He kept coming to church and Sunday school. The economy
got tough and he lost his job. As an ex-convict, it was hard to find another job.
One day an old friend looked him up. They went for a beer and talked, and after
a bit his friend asked Jimmy to join a small group that was planning to rob a
bank. It would be easy, the group had worked together before -- including Jimmy.
Jimmy said “I can’t.” His friend said “why not. You’re out of work.” Jimmy said,
“That’s true, but I can’t do this with you.” His friend said “you need the money,
don’t you?” Jimmy said “yeah, but I can’t do this.” The friend said “ya’ scared?
You don’t want to go back to the joint?” Jimmy said, “no, it aint that. I got
baptized. I can’t do this kind of stuff any more.”
It’s easy to talk about our faith here, surrounded by other people who share our
love of Jesus, who agree that God is mighty and good. But how much harder it is
to be a witness on neutral ground, and even more so in hostile territory. We can
talk to fellow Christians about our faith, but how do we effectively and lovingly
point to Jesus among people who are not believers? This is a tricky subject for
most mainline Christians who have no desire to mow people over with our
testimony, to be pushy or inappropriately personal, and certainly not to imply that
if others don’t see things the way we do then they are going to hell. So how do
we witness faithfully to Jesus Christ?
Two possible situations are presented in this morning’s gospel reading - those
where we are specifically questioned about our faith and those where we are
not. When we are not directly questioned about our faith, or put on the spot as
Jimmy was by a friend who wanted him to act in a manner inconsistent with his
faith, we can be like this sign (hold up prop). The sign sits where it has been
placed and does its job. By its very being it tells you what is coming, it
witnesses to reality. Throughout much of our lives we are like that sign. We
witness to Jesus by being who we are -- baptized people. We have died to sin
and been raised to new life. We strive each day to live as new people in Jesus,
to be like Jesus in how we speak, act, think, respond to the world and relate
with people in the world. As we strive to be faithful to Jesus in our daily lives
we become better and better witnesses in our very persons.
But at other times witnessing comes at us in the form of a direct question. “Who
are you?” the priests and Levites asked John. That is precisely the heart of the
matter. There will be times in our life, as individuals and as a congregation, when
we will have to own up to who we are. Are we friends of Jesus? Are we, like
Jesus, lovers of truth, workers for peace, light in the darkness? Are we willing,
for Jesus’ sake, for the sake of the good news, to risk our standing with our
friends, to put our safety on the line and say “I’m baptized, I cannot do those
things -- steal, judge my neighbor based on his race, on her sexuality, lie, I can’
t harden my heart and refuse to forgive, I can’t be glad that I’ve got mine and
just let others fend for themselves… I can’t do that anymore because my life
belongs to Jesus and that is not the way of my Lord.” / It comes down to the
question “who are we,” and are we willing to witness to Jesus with our whole
selves instead of only in church on Sundays when it is safe.
Don’t think it was easy for John to answer the priests and the Levites. He was
outnumbered, and they had the weight of authority on their side. John was the
one outside the norm, not the priests and the Levites. Imagine the police coming
in force and pounding on your door, demanding that you explain yourself, asking
“who are you, anyway.” The first thing any of us would want to do is prove we
are an ordinary citizen, not some terrorist. But not John. John simply answers
honestly. He tells them he is not the Messiah, nor the prophet Elijah. He is a
witness, a sign, one preparing the way for and pointing to God’s anointed. He
doesn’t duck and he doesn’t blink. He doesn’t scrape and bow and say “oh, you
priests and Levites are always right; whatever you say, that’s what I will do.” John
tells the truth whether they want to hear it or not. “One stands among you whom
you do not know…” he says, “I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”
John owns up to Jesus. Although it may sound strange to the authorities to hear
this little known man from Nazareth referred to as God’s chosen, John tells what
he knows. He stays true to himself by being a faithful witness.
In ten days we will gather to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord, the birth of the
baby Jesus. There is no more blessed event, no more wondrous story than what
we will hear on Christmas - that to us a son is born, to us a child is given, and
his name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
On Christmas Eve we will hear that God has looked out upon the world in all its
misery, in all its brokenness, all its hatred, its divisions, in all its fear, loneliness,
and shame -- and God has chosen to come to earth to embrace us, to warm us
and redeem us with his love. God has not judged us, not sent us away as
wicked and unlovable; God has looked at us and what God has seen is proud,
stubborn, hurting, people, people whom God dearly loves. And so Jesus comes,
to be with us, to heal us and to save us. This is news the world needs to
hear.
What God sees in the world, in us -- beloved people who are talented and able,
but also burdened and weary -- we, too, can see in our neighbors, because we
have received such great love. Seeing that our neighbors -- all our neighbors --
have gifts and cares as we do, and yet may not know the goodness of God’s
love in Jesus Christ, how can we not wish to be like John and point, with all our
being, to our Lord and his love?
Then let us be witnesses and, like John, prepare for Jesus to come, clearing
away the things within and around us that keep us from lives of faith and
service. Let us be witnesses and make ourselves into a sign that ever shows
the way to Christ and always reveals that Jesus is the Light of the World. Let us
be witnesses, asking ourselves again and again “who are we?” and pushing
ourselves to respond by giving everything we are and everything we have to
imitate Jesus Christ and his never-ending love. May God sanctify us and use us
to witness to his son, Jesus, that the world may be blessed as we are
blessed. amen.
main streets – Springs Road – and it looks like this
Whenever I give someone directions to find our house I mention this sign. The
sign lets people know that Wandering Lane is the next turn. Without it, most
people would have a hard time finding where we live. Out in our area, Springs
Road has traveled a good ways past town and few people are familiar with the
Whenever I give someone directions to find our house I mention this sign. The
crossroads. Wandering Lane, as the sign indicates, only goes in the one direction;
to make matters worse, it comes right after a slight rise-in-the-road. It’s easy to
miss. But you won’t find the street we live on - Creek Point Drive – unless you
first turn onto Wandering Lane. Miss that and you’re headed off into the boon-
docks. So I always give people two markers to look for – the Open Door Baptist
Church on the left, and then this sign on the right. If they can find those two
things they should be okay.
A sign is a thing that points us to something else. But not only that, a sign also
represents the thing to which it points. If there was a blank sign like this
in the same place as the other sign, it would not be very helpful. I could still
refer to it, but it wouldn’t prepare people visually for the alignment of the coming
streets; it wouldn’t stand out as a particular sign. The purpose of a sign is to be
a “go between,” an aid that stands between one who is seeking something and
the object she seeks. For the sign to work it cannot simply be along the path to
her destination, it must have some identifying marker that tells her she is on the
right track and advises her which way to go from here.
The Gospel of John is big on signs. Readers sometimes misunderstand this and
think John wants to be mystical and secretive. Not at all; John’s intent is to show
us Jesus and convince us who Jesus is. One could say that John’s Gospel itself
is a “sign,” in the sense that its purpose is to point to Jesus, to the good news,
to God revealed through God’s Son. When you read the Gospel of John, always
be on the look-out for signs; they are everywhere and their purpose is to
illuminate Jesus as Christ, the Savior of the World, so that we can believe. We
could even say there is a sign in the opening verses of our gospel reading for
this morning. We read: “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify to the light…” Right there we have one. John
the Baptist, himself, is a sign. What was his purpose in life? To point to Jesus;
God sent him to be a witness.
What does it mean to be a witness? That doesn’t sound very hard, sort of like
Fred McMahon, Johnny Carson’s side-kick who sat in the next chair and laughed
at all of Johnny’s jokes, then later stood at a counter with a box of Betty Crocker
cake mix to set up the next commercial. Is that being a witness? - being Robin
to Batman, Tonto to the Lone Ranger? Well… not according to today’s gospel
reading.
A preacher of an inner-city congregation, somewhere like Baltimore, told a story
about baptism. Baptism makes us new people in Christ, it kills the old, sinful
person within us and raises up a new version of us, one more able to live by
grace, in imitation of Jesus. We should look a lot more like Jesus once we have
been baptized, our lives be visibly different, she said, but how often does that
happen? Then she told about Jimmy who had been a thief and life-long criminal.
While in prison Jimmy went to Bible study. When he got out of prison, he began
to attend this pastor’s church. After a time, he decided to get baptized so he
went to a series of classes that taught him the Christian faith. He learned about
Jesus; he learned that through baptism his life would be forever linked to Jesus,
that in baptism he would die to sin and rise to new life.
Jimmy was baptized. He kept coming to church and Sunday school. The economy
got tough and he lost his job. As an ex-convict, it was hard to find another job.
One day an old friend looked him up. They went for a beer and talked, and after
a bit his friend asked Jimmy to join a small group that was planning to rob a
bank. It would be easy, the group had worked together before -- including Jimmy.
Jimmy said “I can’t.” His friend said “why not. You’re out of work.” Jimmy said,
“That’s true, but I can’t do this with you.” His friend said “you need the money,
don’t you?” Jimmy said “yeah, but I can’t do this.” The friend said “ya’ scared?
You don’t want to go back to the joint?” Jimmy said, “no, it aint that. I got
baptized. I can’t do this kind of stuff any more.”
It’s easy to talk about our faith here, surrounded by other people who share our
love of Jesus, who agree that God is mighty and good. But how much harder it is
to be a witness on neutral ground, and even more so in hostile territory. We can
talk to fellow Christians about our faith, but how do we effectively and lovingly
point to Jesus among people who are not believers? This is a tricky subject for
most mainline Christians who have no desire to mow people over with our
testimony, to be pushy or inappropriately personal, and certainly not to imply that
if others don’t see things the way we do then they are going to hell. So how do
we witness faithfully to Jesus Christ?
Two possible situations are presented in this morning’s gospel reading - those
where we are specifically questioned about our faith and those where we are
not. When we are not directly questioned about our faith, or put on the spot as
Jimmy was by a friend who wanted him to act in a manner inconsistent with his
faith, we can be like this sign (hold up prop). The sign sits where it has been
placed and does its job. By its very being it tells you what is coming, it
witnesses to reality. Throughout much of our lives we are like that sign. We
witness to Jesus by being who we are -- baptized people. We have died to sin
and been raised to new life. We strive each day to live as new people in Jesus,
to be like Jesus in how we speak, act, think, respond to the world and relate
with people in the world. As we strive to be faithful to Jesus in our daily lives
we become better and better witnesses in our very persons.
But at other times witnessing comes at us in the form of a direct question. “Who
are you?” the priests and Levites asked John. That is precisely the heart of the
matter. There will be times in our life, as individuals and as a congregation, when
we will have to own up to who we are. Are we friends of Jesus? Are we, like
Jesus, lovers of truth, workers for peace, light in the darkness? Are we willing,
for Jesus’ sake, for the sake of the good news, to risk our standing with our
friends, to put our safety on the line and say “I’m baptized, I cannot do those
things -- steal, judge my neighbor based on his race, on her sexuality, lie, I can’
t harden my heart and refuse to forgive, I can’t be glad that I’ve got mine and
just let others fend for themselves… I can’t do that anymore because my life
belongs to Jesus and that is not the way of my Lord.” / It comes down to the
question “who are we,” and are we willing to witness to Jesus with our whole
selves instead of only in church on Sundays when it is safe.
Don’t think it was easy for John to answer the priests and the Levites. He was
outnumbered, and they had the weight of authority on their side. John was the
one outside the norm, not the priests and the Levites. Imagine the police coming
in force and pounding on your door, demanding that you explain yourself, asking
“who are you, anyway.” The first thing any of us would want to do is prove we
are an ordinary citizen, not some terrorist. But not John. John simply answers
honestly. He tells them he is not the Messiah, nor the prophet Elijah. He is a
witness, a sign, one preparing the way for and pointing to God’s anointed. He
doesn’t duck and he doesn’t blink. He doesn’t scrape and bow and say “oh, you
priests and Levites are always right; whatever you say, that’s what I will do.” John
tells the truth whether they want to hear it or not. “One stands among you whom
you do not know…” he says, “I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”
John owns up to Jesus. Although it may sound strange to the authorities to hear
this little known man from Nazareth referred to as God’s chosen, John tells what
he knows. He stays true to himself by being a faithful witness.
In ten days we will gather to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord, the birth of the
baby Jesus. There is no more blessed event, no more wondrous story than what
we will hear on Christmas - that to us a son is born, to us a child is given, and
his name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
On Christmas Eve we will hear that God has looked out upon the world in all its
misery, in all its brokenness, all its hatred, its divisions, in all its fear, loneliness,
and shame -- and God has chosen to come to earth to embrace us, to warm us
and redeem us with his love. God has not judged us, not sent us away as
wicked and unlovable; God has looked at us and what God has seen is proud,
stubborn, hurting, people, people whom God dearly loves. And so Jesus comes,
to be with us, to heal us and to save us. This is news the world needs to
hear.
What God sees in the world, in us -- beloved people who are talented and able,
but also burdened and weary -- we, too, can see in our neighbors, because we
have received such great love. Seeing that our neighbors -- all our neighbors --
have gifts and cares as we do, and yet may not know the goodness of God’s
love in Jesus Christ, how can we not wish to be like John and point, with all our
being, to our Lord and his love?
Then let us be witnesses and, like John, prepare for Jesus to come, clearing
away the things within and around us that keep us from lives of faith and
service. Let us be witnesses and make ourselves into a sign that ever shows
the way to Christ and always reveals that Jesus is the Light of the World. Let us
be witnesses, asking ourselves again and again “who are we?” and pushing
ourselves to respond by giving everything we are and everything we have to
imitate Jesus Christ and his never-ending love. May God sanctify us and use us
to witness to his son, Jesus, that the world may be blessed as we are
blessed. amen.
