Sermons

« January 06, 2008 - January 12, 2008 | Go Back to the Main Index of Sermons | January 20, 2008 - January 26, 2008 »

January 13, 2008

God's Chosen One

January 13, 2008 God’s Chosen One
Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus’ baptism inaugurates his ministry. In Matthew, we hear an intimacy in the baptism of Jesus when God speaks from the heavens, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” These words are reminiscent of words we read in Isaiah 42:1-9, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations” (vs. 1).

In Isaiah 42, we hear the intimate words of God speaking of God’s servant. But let us not miss the underlying message--this liberating work is God’s work. Thus the particular words characterizing the Servant (covenant, light, open, bring out—verses 6b-7), are bracketed by “I am Yahweh” at the beginning (6a) and at the end (8). The Servant is identified by the self-announcement of God’s intention and sovereignty. It is God, not the Servant, who wills the transformation of creation. No other voice proposes that transformation. No other devises a way to do it. No other gets credit for it. It is first and last the Lord, the God of creation, exodus, and homecoming who works and wills a transformed world.

When we think of God as the one who works to transform the world, what do we do with all the violence that is done in the name of God by various “religious” groups? This is one of many questions that were addressed in the two-hour documentary entitled “In God’s Name.” Produced by two brothers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet, the program was broadcast on 12/23/07. It was excellent.

The brothers happened to be doing a documentary on Fire Fighters in New York City on September 11, 2001. One of them was filming in the lobby of the first tower that was hit. As did so many people on that fateful day, they wrestled with the feeling, emotions, and questions that come when something like this happens. As a result of their experience and their questions, they sought out 12 of the most prominent religious leaders in our world to get some answers from them. They spend an entire day with each of them and the result is a two-hour documentary.
They specifically sought out what they referred to as “spiritual leaders” which I thought was interesting, not religious leaders. They chose these 12 leaders because of the vast number of believers that their faiths represent-- more than 4 billion.

They also wanted to explore the diversity of spirituality in our world today.
So they featured leaders of the following religions: Russian Orthodox Church, Hindu, Roman Catholic, Tibetan Buddhist, Shi’ite Muslim, Evangelical Lutheran, Shinto, Jewish, Southern Baptist, Sunni Muslim, Sikh, and Church of England.

What was interesting was to observe how intimate these spiritual leaders were with God. It was very evident to me that even though they represented a wide variety of organized religions, they had common markers: a strong personal connection (relationship) with God, a deep and abiding sense that God was present in the world even when humanity was being its most destructive, that those who claimed to kill in the name of religion were not representatives of God, and family or some kind of support system that enabled them to answer their call.

One part of the show focused on call. Some of the spiritual leaders recounted how it was they began their journey of faith. Bishop Mark Hanson recalls standing in line to register for classes to be a therapist and he recalled, “A voice went inside of me, a voice I have not heard before, and asked, ‘what are you doing Mark?”

Bishop Hanson says he went into therapy for 6 months to figure out what God wanted him to do. He ended up going into the ministry. Then Bishop Hanson laughs. He delights in the thought that God took him, a 60’s protestor of the war and a skeptic of organized religion, and raised him up to be the figure head of millions of US Lutherans. He was very open and vulnerable, very refreshing.

Once a year, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Christian baptism has its roots in various Jewish rituals that use water as a sign of cleansing and renewal. When Jesus came to John the Baptist to receive baptism, he was demonstrating that even though without sin himself, he was voluntarily sharing the burden of human sinfulness. He was making his presence on earth “official.”

And it is through the cleansing waters of baptism that we are given our identity as Christians. We are human, and thus struggle with sin. In baptism we receive God’s unmerited grace and through baptism we are initiated into a Christian community.

As with Jesus, our baptism is the official beginning of our Christian walk of faith. When we are baptized as children, our parents and our church take responsibility to teach us the Christian faith. When we are baptized as adults, we are making a choice to have a relationship with God that is the focal point of our lives. We are making a commitment to return to God, no matter how many times we stray or sin, and to seek a deeper understanding of God’s will for our lives. If we are baptized as infants, then when we come of age to claim this desire for ourselves, we go through confirmation. As Christians, baptism is the first step of many as we seek to understand, to discern, to be, God’s servant.

I don’t want to assume that everyone here has been baptized. Maybe some of you have not. Do you have a desire to know God more fully? Do you have a desire to explore what it means to being a follower of Jesus Christ? If so, the first official step is baptism. I’d love to speak to you after worship or in the coming weeks.

Let’s go back to the Isaiah passage. If God does the work and his will is to transform the world, why doesn’t God just do it? One word—free will. Human beings have been given free will. Throughout our scriptures, throughout human history, God has invited humanity to participate in His transformation of the world.

This particular passage in Isaiah is entitled a Servant Song. It is one of five so called servant songs in the book of Isaiah. In these readings, God does not desire kings, conquers, rulers, but servants. God will lift up a servant to transform the world. What kind of servant?

“He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice” (vs. 2). The image here is one that will not break or crush to get his way but neither will he be broken or crushed—a peaceful inner resolve is innate in this servant.

I like this image of a bruised reed. It is so counter cultural to the warrior images we are so familiar with. How many of you have seen those reeds that poke up out of the water near the shallow mucky parts of the fresh water lakes? When I was a kid, we’d go to the shallow part of the lake, ride real slow and try to pull the reeds up out of the water. It was hard, they were firmly anchored. You’d drive through a patch and turn around and see them swaying from the movement of the water. Sometimes they’d been bent over, but never broken. I imagine after a while, their regained their fibers and stood back up again.
When reading Isaiah 42 alongside the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3, we Christians identify Jesus as the servant. And this is the author’s intent. In the relationship between the one sent and the sender—between Jesus and God, the servant is fully supported by God, is fully pleasing to God, and is fully endowed by God. Do you believe that Jesus was the last servant for God on earth?

What if the identity of the servant is less significant than the work of justice and transformation that God enables the servant to accomplish? Isaiah 42 announces that God accomplishes “new things” and the Servant is God’s vehicle for achieving these “new things.”

In the famous slogan, “What would Jesus Do” people try to imagine what Jesus would do so that they can act in a similar way. What we learn from observing Jesus’ life is that we don’t serve wealth, war, killing, destruction, or religions that are self serving. We serve the God of Jesus Christ with humility, openness, and devotion. We live into the mystery that is God and life, trying as we can to do God’s will in the midst of difficult and confusing times.

In a couple minutes, I’m going to invite leaders from our congregation to come forward so we can recognize their commitment to lead our church in 2008. As baptized believers, all of us have a role to play in helping our world to become the place God intended. A place of peace and abundance for all.

And I don’t know about you but sometimes it is hard to make the connection between the spiritual leaders of the world and the average Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or Jew. Of course, these spiritual leaders have devoted their lives to God. What can I do we might ask ourselves? And this is when we remember our baptism and respond! Our world is a mess. God needs all who are willing. God needs all of us, not just a select few to help transform the world. Are you interested in being a servant transformer?

Monsignor Ignatius McDermott was the founder of Haymarket Center on the near west side of Chicago. He was servant transformer. When he died, dignitaries from all over the area attended his funeral. Mayor Daley, Gov. Blagojevich, dozens of priests, and six bishops. Cardinal Francis George officiated. In the article that reported on the event, what struck me was in spite of all the dignitaries present, a large portion of the article was quotes from to Edward.

One such quote was, “Father Mac (as he was affectionately known) helped a lot of friends and me. He helped people stay sober and live in Christ.” At the end of the funeral, just before the organist played “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” (Father Mac was an avid White Sox Fan) Cardinal George stood before the casket and summed up this servant leader’s life—“He looked at the people that some would call bums and drunks and saw children of God.”

In her article “Goodness Revealed” Michelle Garcia writes about the situation in El Salvador, a poor and violence riddled country in Latin America. In the article, she introduces us to Doña Francisca Orellana, a servant transformer. During El Salvador’s civil war, people supported the guerrillas and when they did the government retaliated with strong force. We get the impression that Doña was not a guerilla supporter. One day while she was weaving palm branches into a mat, a bomb was dropped in front of her home. Shrapnel cut through her pelvis and somehow she made it to a guerrilla-run clinic.

Like any small town, the locals know what’s going on whether they are directly involved or not. When she arrived she saw what she termed “brothers” sick, lying on bamboo cots. Her heart broke. As she sat there waiting, watching the sick, Doña prayed, not simply for life, but also to serve. Her prayer was simple, “Let me live, Lord, so that I may weave palm mats for those who suffer, to ease their pain.” (Sojourners Magazine, January 2008 Issue)

Communities can make decisions to live into their baptism too and be servant transformers. Here’s an example of a group of Christians who made a radical, lifestyle choice that worked in their context. Bartimaeus Community designed their dwellings in a counter-cultural way. We might think of it as similar to commune living.

“They constructed 25 units on seven acres. Out of concern for creation care, they clustered the units together and keep cars at the periphery, creating a large wooded area for retreat and a large area where they garden together. Out of commitment to fostering community, they constructed a beautiful common recreation room where they share meals and life together several times a week. Out of concern for those on the margins, they jointly paid for one of the units to permanently serve as a place to accommodate families in transition.” (“Making it Real” by Tom Sine in Sojourners Magazine, January 2008 issue)

As baptized Christians, the time is now for us to follow in Jesus footsteps, down into the waters of baptism. Now is the time to leave behind our self-centered individualistic focus and choose instead to live a life that reflects a communal mindset. For as Martin Luther King Jr. said, we are in this together. What affects one, affects us all…Will you choose to participate in God’s transforming work? Will you say yes to be a servant transformer?

Posted by vickie at 10:00 AM