Sunday, December 11, 2016 Sermon Isaiah 35:1-10 • Psalm 146:5-10
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Sunday, December 11, 2016 Sermon Isaiah 35:1-10 • Psalm 146:5-10 • James 5:7-10 • Matthew 11:2-11 The world is a desert. For those who live in lush lands it is hard to imagine, but the desert is as alive as every other place. Alive, but different. For the ones unfamiliar, in the spring the non-desert dwellers can see it as its blooms are everywhere. They are there, but different. “The desert shall rejoice and blossom.” But the desert is also a harsh and secretive environment where life struggles to live. The world is difficult. Like the desert, if one is to survive, one needs to be savvy, aware and willing to protect against the harsh elements of this world. In the softness that has come in our conditioned space, ready-made food, instant gratification world, good wishes and caviar dreams are the illusion. For although the body is pampered by modernity, the soul has been ravished. In the name of freedom, great tyranny has been imposed upon the soul. We see the tug-of-war in the ideas that are before us and the reality of the hostility to those ideas by the supposed wise and informed. No longer outraged, nor even surprised, it is sad to see yet another piece of foolishness in the guise of wisdom. Which story? Pick your day and pick the story of the day. People exchange the truth for a lie. It happens to us all. It happened to John the Baptist of whom Jesus said, “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” Two things about Jesus that shatter some of the foolishness this world foists upon us. This foolishness comes into the church too. Jesus did not get upset or react to the disciples of John when they asked Him if He was the One. He told them to report what they heard and saw. Not only did He not become upset, he demonstrated who He is through action and in both ways graciously offered hope in the midst of bleak circumstances. As they left, Jesus spoke to us about the harshness of this age. What are you looking for? What is it you want? The answers have been given. The question is whether or not you will accept what has been given. Will you receive the report? All teasing about praying for patience aside, we must be patient, for what is promised is unfolding before us and our impatience gets in the way. But if one steps back – you who call yourself a person of faith, step back – you will see connections of things that begin to shape something extraordinary right before your eyes. God has been at work in your life. He has blessed you and kept you, He has made His face shine upon you and been gracious to you. He does not rail against you, even though you doubt. He lovingly points you forward, takes your hand and leads you. That is the journey through the desert of this life. This generation must wander through the desert before it comes to the promised land. Your sins are forgiven and He leads you forward. How do I know this? Ah, here we meet the skeptics of this age. They want proof. How silly they are. While demanding proof, they cling to their own idols and declare them as gods. The problem with scientific proof is that it requires a demonstrate-able and repeatable phenomena. Simply put, you cannot prove anything that you did yesterday. All you can do is tell someone what you did, perhaps show the results to someone and either they believe you or they will not. But you cannot prove it because you cannot go back to yesterday and show anyone anything. Social media, pictures and other things we may think are proofs are only a ‘witness’ of the things that were done. Our whole judicial system points to the absurdity of the demand to prove things. We may have forensics – which have become very good compared to the past – but these things apply science to evidence to verify the likelihood that what is before you is true. This is not proof, but witness. The illogic of wanting a scientific proof of things past is just so much foolishness that we have accepted and allowed to taint the witness we have received. The proof is in the eating of the pudding, often said as “the proof is in the pudding.” You were not there as it was made and you are told it is good, but only when you eat it can you discern for yourself. To get there you must trust the witness of the one who offered it to you. And what does Jesus ask of His followers? That they go and witness what He has done for them. The Kingdom of God is near. Nearer now than when you first believed. There are days when my heart soars and I know God’s presence surrounds me. There are the parched desert days of pounding heat when I feel desolated and alone. The difference? What I feel. God’s Word gives an irrevokable promise, “I am with you always to the end of the age.” My feelings mean nothing. In our sensate world, what is it that draws you? Is it not the glamourous, that which causes you inner being to desire what you see? Caviar dreams? O how the devil deceives even the faithful by getting them to think that God’s love is tied to specific circumstances. The ‘all things’ that God promises to work together for good means ALL THINGS. Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith and He knows what you need even before you ask. In this world that demands you ‘prove’ God to them, you need not prove anything. Just be a witness that the Lord is at work in your life. God was once approached by a scientist who said, “Listen God, we’ve decided we don’t need you anymore. These days we can clone people, transplant organs and do all sorts of things that used to be considered miraculous.” God replied, “Don’t need me huh? How about we put your theory to the test. Why don’t we have a competition to see who can make a human being, say, a male human being.” The scientist agrees, so God declares they should do it like he did in the good old days when he created Adam. “Fine” says the scientist as he bends down to scoop up a handful of dirt.” “Whoa!” says God, shaking his head in disapproval. “Not so fast. You make your own dirt from nothing first.” Without simply accepting the elemental things we cannot begin to come into the mysteries of Christ. Strengthen your hearts by learning to trust what God has revealed. The blind receive their sight. No transplant. No taking from another to give to the one who does not have. Something that wasn’t now is. Think about that for a moment. One side of the political spectrum sees things as a limited closed system. The haves and the have nots. God’s economy creates out of nothing something. And the evidence is before you. Everyone has more than what their forbears had. We have an abundance and it keeps coming. Those born with withered limbs received new, not recovered, but new fully functional limbs. With a Word, the sick, the infirm, the diseased were healed. The dead were raised. Ah, the final answer. The dead were raised. That which no longer could function became functional. Some who saw it even came to eventually not believe. Though the witness is right there, there are things this doubtful skeptical mind will not believe. But disbelief proves nothing, except that the one who saw refuses the witness they have received. And so are some who are in the church. Seeing, they do not see. Hearing, they do not hear. They want what they want and will not receive the report of the Lord. Let us not grumble against one another as the unbelieving do. We do not agree on all things. No one ever has. Why sometimes I do not even agree with myself. But this One thing is essential and at least here we cannot disagree upon and that is that Jesus is the Christ, the One who has come to lead us through the desert wilderness of this life evermore closely to our eternal abode with Him. Where that is, we shall see. What it is we will find out, but the first step for us all is to shake off the desert dust of this age and move forward with Him. The part of the beatitudes we love to ignore is the last -and remember Jesus said the last shall be first – we shall suffer in this age for His name’s sake. The suffering is the cauldron, the fire which the Lord uses to purify those who are His. The great witness, not proof, but witness we have received comes in many forms. You believe or you do not. The author of life, the One who can raise the dead has given us His Word that is we abide in Him, He abides in us. Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.