Reflections on “Looking for God in the Future" Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Luke 21: 25-36

The first Sunday of Advent and the first sermon in the Advent preaching series!  I'm not sure this sermon broke any new ground or  had any grand insights.  The service had the ordination and installation of incoming officers and the celebration of the Lord's Supper, so the liturgy carried the service.  If I preached these texts again, I would figure out a way to focus on the people who "faint" from the Luke passage.  I used that in the Time with Young Disciples, and it would have been better in the sermon than what ended up in the sermon!  The conclusion was an ad lib in the service (I added it back to the written text after the service), and it probably would have worked better to have just ended with the last sentence of my second point.

 “Looking for God in the Future”, December 1, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Luke 21: 25-36

¹⁴The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Introduction:   you don’t have to look very far to see signs of Christmas - decorations are already up in lots of places (including my house since we had our daughters together this year only for Thanksgiving, we had the house decorated and celebrated Christmas with them already).

For many of us, December is a mix and match of Advent preparation, Christmas celebration, and lots of variations in-between.

In the Advent sermon time one the next few weeks, we will be looking toward Christmas as we reflect on the lectionary texts that prepare us to meet the Christ child.

Preparing for Christmas often involves spending time looking for things.

some of us may spend time looking for the perfect gift to give someone.

some of us may be looking for that perfect photo - the photo from a family gathering, 

or that “just right” with our pets, or the photo of that place we visited

that photo that seems to perfectly show what our year has been like so we can put it on a Christmas card to send to friends and family.

some of us may be looking for comfort as we go through this holiday season for the first time without our loved one who died 

some of us may be looking for that special moment, that aha moment when we realize again what it means that God loves us enough to come to Bethlehem to live among us.

Looking for God is our theme this Advent as we reflect each week on where we might find God.

Although we hope the weekly themes are helpful to you, do not be limited by the sermon themes each week as you look for God in your life and in the world around you.

Move 1:  The prophet Jeremiah reminds us this morning that when we go looking for God, we have the assurance that we will find God at work in the future, which gives us hope.

a.  on those bad days we encounter,

those days when everything seems hopeless 

those days when you feel helpless,

we say things like, “this too shall pass.’

or we sing with Annie, “Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, you’re always a day away”

and we think that tomorrow, or someday soon, things will be better, just because time has passed.

Perhaps more wishful thinking than a sense of hope.

b.  for Christians, however, our hope is not just in the passage of time or movement toward the future:

our hope is in the God who will continue to be at work in the future.

1. “The days are surely coming…”

the prophet Jeremiah announces these words to God’s people.

2.  Words prophesied to the Israelites as their world around them was falling apart with the Babylonians were threatening to overwhelm the Israelites,

or, depending on when you date this part of Jeremiah’s prophecy after the Israelites have already been banished into exile.

in either case, it is a word about the future to people in dire straits for whom the present seems to have no guarantees that they will even have a future.

c.  But, “the day is surely coming….”

1. Jeremiah assures them:  the future holds forth the promise that God will be true to God’s promises.

2. We can make it through today because God is ever before us working to redeem and save the world and us.

1. Notice that Jeremiah uses the phrase, ‘in those days…” to describe the future event.

2.  A phrase that shows up again at a rather important moment, doesn’t it?

We remember  in the second chapter of  the Gospel of Luke, the story about the birth of Jesus begins with those same words, “in those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus…”

3. We do not know if Jeremiah’s prophecy anticipates the next great ruler of Israel or if he is looking toward the day when Christ will come,  

but we do know the truth he prophesies.

“in those days…” 

some future moment, God will act decisively again to redeem and save.

4. what better way for us to look for God in the future than to remember what God has already done:

the God who created us by blowing the breath of life into humanity;

the God who rescued Israel from slavery and ushered them into the Promised Land;

the God who arrived in Bethlehem in the Christ-child will not be stopped.

5.  If you are looking for God, the days are surely coming when you will find God anew continuing to redeem and save.

Move 2: Discovering God at work in the future not only gives us hope, but makes us accountable.

a.  Jeremiah describes the righteous branch that will spring up for David as coming to execute justice and righteousness.

1.  God’s work in the future continues bring about justice and righteousness.

2. the future comes to us as the next day in which God calls us to be people of justice and righteousness.

b.  We know that our Advent journey leads us to Bethlehem and the coming of Christ, but it would be a mistake to see the arrival of baby Jesus and ignore what he comes to do.

1.  As Milton Brasher-Cunningham notes, “any trip to the Manger carries with it a call to justice.” (http://donteatalone.com/los-tres-reyes/ milton brasher-cunningham;  January 6, 2013).

2. Jesus comes to join with us, to call us to new life, and to announce that God’s work for justice and righteousness is not done.

3.  As long as injustice steals hope and the future from people;

as long as intolerance separates people by categories with some deemed better than others because of where they live or who they know;

as long as economic disparity brings riches for a few and despair for many;

as long as violence and bloodshed rain down death;

as long and grief and despair overwhelm people;

God will continue to be at work. 

4.  If you are looking for God, look for God among those who are working for justice and pursuing righteousness today and into the future.

Conclusion:  AS we look for God, we have the assurance that God is at work in the world;  we know that God is calling us to join in the work for justice and righteousness, until Christ comes again.

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.²⁶People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. ²⁸Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. ³¹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³²Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. ³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³⁴“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, ³⁵like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Reflections on “Sabbatical snippets: Shaped and Formed”2 Timothy 1: 3-10

this was the last of my sabbatical sermons, that is, sermons that began with a reflection from my recent sabbatical.  I struggled greatly to get to the final version of the sermon.  I also suspect I preached a bit of what this week's Advent sermon might include.  the book I referenced, Rembrandt Is in the Wind, was given to me by my colleagues Julia and Dennis, to read on sabbatical.  I have not read all of the book, but I find it very stimulating.  I am grateful for the gift and its help with my sermon-writing.

 

“Sabbatical snippets: Shaped and Formed”, November 20, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; 2 Timothy 1: 3-10

3 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. ⁶For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; ⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, ⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Introduction:   Arches National Park is an amazing place to visit, although it can be a little hot in the deserts of UT in July!

The park contains more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the well-known Delicate Arch.  Arches national park contains the highest density of natural arches in the world. 

If you read the story of how the Arches came to be, you discover the slow movement of nature to form this arches.  Scientists tell us that the story of Arches begins roughly 65 million years ago. At that time, the area was a dry seabed spreading from horizon to horizon.

 I won’t  try to explain how the area we see as Arches national Park rose up to what we see now, Primarily because I’m not sure i could explain it correctly.

But, I was fascinated that the arches we now see now are the result of erosion and water that has been at work for centuries.  Rain and snow find feature in the rocks, then freeze and expand, with small recesses growing bigger with each storm. Over time, fractured rock layers turn into fins, and fins into arches. 

Arches also emerge when potholes near cliff edges grow deeper and deeper until they wear through the cliff wall below them. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arches_National_Park)

As I reflected in amazement over those arches, I was reminded how God shapes and forms each of us and the world in which we live.

Move 1:  The shaping and forming take place over time.

a.  Shaping and forming do not always happen overnight.

1. for every Saul who has a dramatic moment and is changed seemingly in an instant, there are numerous stories about God at work over time.

2.  the Exodus story and the movement to the Promised Land is one of the formative stories of the biblical text.

the Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness.

after having been in slavery in Egypt for several hundred years.

3. some scholars suggest that the time in wilderness was necessary to shape God’s people so that they could prosper in the Promised Land.

they had to spend time in the wilderness reclaim their faith as God’s people and rebuild their relationship with God.

they had to reshape their understanding of themselves from slaves to people who could thrive in the Promised Land.

4.  Another powerful story in Israel’s self-understanding as God’s people was the return from exile to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

70 years in exile 

70 years of being shaped and formed by the experience, both learning how to be God’s people in a very different context and looking toward the time when they would return and rebuild the Temple.

b.  God works over time shaping and forming us.

1. today is Christ the King Sunday - the last day of the liturgical calendar.

2.  the liturgical calendar we follow in worship gives us a yearly cycle to remember and tell how God has been at been work and points us to see the God who is still at work.

3.  today, we proclaim that Christ is King and lift up his life as the example of where God’s shaping and form of us leads.

4.  We are being shaped and formed to look more like Christ, 

live more like Christ

extend ourselves in the world more like Christ.

c. We know we are not there yet, but God is not done.

1. when you look in the mirror each day, you see a person who is still being shaped and formed.

2. When we look to the world, we see a world still needing to be shaped and formed.

3.  So we give ourselves over to the God who continues to shape and form us.

Move 2:  Being shaped and formed takes holy imagination

a. I suspect most of us are familiar with Michelangelo’s sculpture “The David” 

1.  Perhaps you have seen it in person in Florence or seen photos of it.

2. Considered by many to be the greatest piece of sculpture ever carved.

3. I remember seeing it the first time and finding myself staring at this sculpture, mesmerized by the marble David who seemed to be breathing.

Time seemed to stand still as I gazed at this breathtaking sculpture of David.

b.  Do you know the back story to the creation of this sculpture of David, the story about the the stone that Michelangelo carved?

1.  In 1463, an Italian sculptor Agostino di Duccio was commissioned by the Florence Cathedral to carve one of a series of 12 OT characters to adorn the buttresses of the cathedral.

he traveled to Fantiscritti Quarry in the Carrerra region of the Alps and had the quarrymen hew a stone 18 feet long weighing 24,000 pounds to use for the statue.

this was a deviation from the contract that allowed him to use four separate stones that could be put together to complete the statue.

It took two years for the stone to be transported back to Florence, where the stone was put in the cathedral courtyard.

2.  People flocked to see it, but as it was inspected, it was thought to be a giant, costly mistake — too narrow a stone; a hole in the middle; to massive a stone to be workable

it led to the firing of Agostino.

3.  The stone became a fixture for the residents of Florence -  as Russ Ramsey writes in his book Rembrandt Is in the Wind, the stone became “a symbol of incredible accomplishment and unmet potential.”

Ten years later another sculptor tried to do something with it, but got nowhere and was fired.

Twenty-six years later, a young sculptor named Michelangelo was tied to finish the project.

he would be the one to completed his marvelous, masterful, sculpture.

IT not only took time, but also the imagination of an artist like Michelangelo to see David in what was thought to be a wasted piece of marble and seeing in it the image of David. (Russ Ramsey, Rembrandt Is in the Wind, 17-39 tells the story in more detail).

c. the story of the stone used for the sculpture reminds me of who are and how we understand our world.

1.  Both an incredible accomplishment and unmet potential.

2.  We are God’s creation - each of us an incredible masterpiece reflecting the image of God.

3.  The world is God’s creation, created in goodness and reflecting an incredibly complex and beautiful act of God.

4. But, we are also unmet potential - we know that who we are and what our whole is does not measure up to the image of God and goodness in which we were created.

We continue to live into the potential to which God calls us.

5.  We need to look and listen for with holy imagination to live into the infinite possibilities God has for us and the world.

Move 4:  We also see the role of the church shaping and forming God does. 

a. We read in Paul’s letter to Timothy how Paul sees in Timothy the sincere faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.

2.  Paul’s observation reminds us that the community of faith shapes and forms us.

3.  Likewise, we read the story of Joshua who is take Moses’ place of leadership and are reminded that Moses has been working with Joshua to help him develop the skills needed to step into leadership.

4.  We need those who come before us, the Loises and Eunices and people like Moses who model for us discipleship as they shape and form us.

b. That, of course, is part of our calling as the body of Christ - to shape and form others in our midst, even as we go out into the world to shape and form the world by our work.

1.  In some ways, the vows the congregation takes at baptism are a summary statement of what it means to be a community of faith taht shapes and forms.

2.  when we stand and commit to be a part of the life of the one being baptized, we commit to praying for that person,

teaching that person the faith,

to walk beside them as they grow in their discipleship.

3. We often think of the baptismal vows in the context of baptizing infants and the vows become the reason we volunteer to teach Sunday school

or be a youth sponsor

or organize mission activities

or be a confirmation mentor 

or take in interest in the young kids as they grow into young adults.

A powerful image of the connections that helped the younger generations, like Timothy, to lay claim to their faith and their calling as disciples of Christ.

4.  But those baptismal vows also speak to the relationship the church has with anyone joining with us in this community of faith.

we join in ministry with that person.

we work together to proclaim the Christ’s presence in the world

we pray for each other

we grow  together in our faithfulness.

c.  It takes time for us to be shaped and formed by God.

1. It takes people in the community to care enough about each other to commit to the ongoing work being shaped and formed.

2.  the God who continues to be at work shaping and forming us calls us to be part of that work.

Conclusion:  Over time, the same forces that created these arches will continue to widen them until they collapse. 

In 2008,  the fall of Wall Arch in 2008 reminded us that this landscape continues to change.

David’s sculpture has cracks around the ankles that will one day probably lead to its collapse.

We live in a finite world,

but we follow the God of infinite possibilities, who continues to shape and form us.