Second Sunday In Advent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle B
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Isaiah 40:1-11 (C, E); Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 (RC)
This poetic oracle begins what is generally thought of as ñTrito-Isaiah,'' apparently addressed to returnees from the country of Babylon. While in exile there, many of the Jews remained firmly faithful to their own culture, having nothing to do with the Babylonians. Many others, though, had allowed themselves to be integrated into the local culture. But there was a third group, those who didnÍt quite fit into either group. These people were confused, unsure of their own status in GodÍs eyes, fearful that they might be subject to divine retribution of one kind or another. In the words of this text we have an exalted statement of a loving, forgiving God. ñComfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,'' God counsels the prophet.
The prophet assures the returnees that God will help them as they resettle in their own land. They are to ñmake straight in the desert a highway for ... God.'' On the one hand, their lives are limited, analogous to grass which flourishes briefly, then dries up and blows away. Yet ñthe word of God will stand forever.'' They need ñfear not.'' God will gather them up as a shepherd cares for lambs. They need not fear, for they will henceforth be in the care of a loving God. So we see the redeeming nature of God as understood by the writer of this powerful work.
Lesson 2: 2 Peter 3:8-15a (C); 2 Peter 3:8-14 (RC); 2 Peter 3:8-15a, 18 (E)
Peter uses apocalyptic style imagery to make his point that the earth will, in due time, be destroyed in its present form. With any luck I wonÍt be here to find out if Peter meant this literally or not, but even if Peter believed that, not many theologians do today. More likely this is more vivid poetic imagery, familiar at the time perhaps, which dramatizes the need for all of us to understand that this world is GodÍs world, that God will determine its outcome, and that things can be very dicey, as the English say, for those who fail to take this fact seriously.
Understood symbolically, this passage makes more sense. We all live in an inner world, one of the spirit or the mind, as well as in a physical world. I think back to the emotional turmoil I experienced during the year or a bit more in which I was trying to decide between a career in business and a call to ministry. Many a miserable walk in the dark preceded my decision. These words of PeterÍs, ñthe heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat,'' could well have described how I was feeling. Maybe all of us are destined to experience something like this as part of the process of growing up, maturing, deciding what we are to do with our lives. Thank God, then, for ñthe new heavens and the new earth'' of the soul.
But Peter also warns that this will exact a price: ñrighteousness will be at home ...'' I must accept that the new conditions are not really those of heaven unless I am willing to try to be a righteous person. And as I fail, for I do more often than I wish, I am to return in penitent plea for forgiveness and renewal.
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8 (C, RC, E)
WeÍll be talking about John the Baptist in another place, so letÍs concentrate on the message: that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Dr. Rawlinson has observed that of all the Gospels, Mark most convinces scholars that the gospel story is ñrooted in history.'' ItÍs likely that John did, indeed, make this promise. But it leaves us asking ourselves just what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This may be a dividing point between liberal and conservative theology, though there are probably many of us with one foot in each of those camps. Clearly, we know from many other Bible passages that we can (arbitrarily, for our little minds) think of God in three Persons, ñBlessed Trinity.'' Thus, the Holy Spirit is God himself, manifest among us.
LetÍs start with the fact that there are many different personality types among us. I have good friends who are very emotional, very susceptible to moving stories and sad situations. I have other friends who are not. I know one football coach who tears up when he hears about a needy family. I also know a war hero who seems impervious to such things. Yet both are fine people, men who live honorable lives. Clearly, to experience Christ will produce radically different reactions in those two, and in all of us. My point is that while some people become quite emotional about their religion, others are stoic when Christ enters in. I submit that both are equally recipients of the Holy Spirit, and what we all need to do is get over the habit of judging others based on our own experience.
Okay, then to be ñbaptized by the Holy Spirit'' must mean to have been granted a sense of the presence of God „ by God. For some, there will an overwhelming sense of newness of life which will express itself in enthusiasm, in verbal witnessing to anyone who will listen. To others there will be a quiet, inward sense of renewed confidence and hope. But the latter may be exceedingly reticent. ItÍs important not to set ourselves up as judges of those who report the experience differently than we.
To be baptized by the Holy Spirit is to be ushered into the presence of the living Christ, or if you prefer, the sense of GodÍs presence with a life-changing awareness of the activity of God in our lives. What is important is that the individual realize that God has acted in his or her life, and that a new joy and empowerment has been granted, but also, that a new set of expectations and requirements has come into play.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñOur Hope For Years To Come''
Text: Isaiah 40:1-11
Theme: Three basic elements dominate this passage. God will be faithful in forgiving and leading his people. God expects them to prepare their own way, and to remember the fleeting nature of life apart from the divine presence. And God pledges to guide and strengthen them in any difficulties which may lie ahead.
1. God is faithful and forgiving. Here we have the nature of God as it will be even more movingly revealed in Jesus. The Jews to whom this is addressed already had a sense of confusion and possible wrongdoing. God has guided the prophet to assure them that he will not turn from them. We all have times when we have become aware of our faults and failures. It behooves us to withhold judgment from others and to courageously confront our own selfish natures. The stress of life frequently tempts us into wrongdoing of one kind or another. Even those who refrain from overt wrongs easily fall into that even more onerous sin of self-righteousness, of judging others. Yet true repentance sees the fault in that kind of attitude, and itÍs when we repent that the forgiveness promised here becomes ours.
2. God, through the prophet, reminded the people of their own mortality. We are like grass which withers, or the flower which fades. As we grow older, this truth becomes increasingly evident. In younger years, especially the teen years, itÍs easy to feel invulnerable. Then is when many have their downfall. It certainly doesnÍt follow that we want to undercut feelings of self-confidence and healthy willingness to attack life and its problems. It does, however, mean a warning against self-importance and disdain for those less fortunate, less endowed with physical or mental capabilities. This leads one to be sensitive to the needs of people who are vulnerable in any way. Life has a way of bringing us low when we fail in this.
Quite a number of years ago, my wife and I stayed in a hotel in Banff. As we were walking through the lobby, I got behind two elderly people who were walking very slowly, and my wife got ahead of me. I was frankly irritated, muttering to myself about these slow-moving nuisances. The next day my wife and I decided to go horseback riding. The ride lasted four hours and I hadnÍt been on a horse for twenty years. The following day I was barely able to walk, and that with great pain. As I walked through the lobby I had to laugh. God had gotten me, I thought. I was moving even more slowly than those elderly folks, but it taught me a much deserved lesson in humility.
3. God pledges to lead the way safely. Not safely in the physical sense perhaps. Obviously, God doesnÍt protect us from injury or illness. Yet anyone who has learned the power of prayer will understand that thereÍs a sense in which we do go safely. For one thing, Paul would say it later: all things work for good for those who love God. Also, while difficulties may beset us as they would the Jews from Babylon, we would never walk alone. We will be enabled to surmount the worst, and to find our way to a rightful and joyous destination.
Title: ñInto A Marvelous Light''
Text: 2 Peter 3:8-15a
Theme: I propose a three-point outline based on the assumption that this passage is not to be read literally, but poetically, just as when Isaiah referred to humanity as like the grass which withers or the flower which fades, he was writing symbolically. Thus:
1. Patience is necessary in facing life. Somewhere thereÍs a story about the fellow who was exhausted from what he imagined to be his burdensome problems. He prayed urgently to God like this: ñOh, Lord, I know you have many things on your mind and all, and I know that a day and a thousand years are the same to you, but these problems are getting me down. CanÍt you do something?'' God, according to this story, replied: ñSure, Charlie. IÍll take care of it tomorrow.''
Well, we get the point. Here again, as in an earlier passage, we find ourselves counseled to be patient. God knows our needs, but sometimes an important growth process lies ahead for us as a result of our problems. All of us preachers can think of situations in which seeming unhappiness or pain has resulted in blessings. Effective prayer always requires patience.
2. Peter urges us to be morally faithful. ñYour lives should be holy and dedicated to God'' wrote Peter. That needs a bit of interpretation, since not too many people in my acquaintance are at all holy, and only a few think of themselves as dedicated to God. Some, maybe. But this is a goal. It was Browning who wrote: ñA manÍs reach should exceed his grasp, or whatÍs a heaven for?'' Most of us have a varied assortment of faults and foibles which disqualify us as being holy in the conventional sense of the word. Still, if that shines out there in lifeÍs distance as something we wish to be, then God will accept that.
3. We can expect the best. ñLook on the LordÍs patience,'' promised Peter, ñas the opportunity he gives you to be saved.'' There we have a word which needs defining. In some circles the word ñsaved'' is not popular. Too many images of the overbearing person who is religious in the worst sense of the word coming on to us with ñHave you been saved?'' have regrettably robbed the word of some currency. And yet, once you rise up from some gigantic inward struggle, renewed, refreshed, realizing that God has answered your prayers and empowered your life, you begin to realize exactly what that word really means. I record below a wonderful example of this from Sports Illustrated a few years ago.
ThereÍs a relevant sermon in this passage then: If we are patient in prayer, and are sincerely trying to live by what we know to be the moral rules of life, we will discover that though there may be dark and painful days in our lives, we will never be abandoned by God. We will be saved, through Jesus Christ.
Title: ñHearts Inspired''
Text: Mark 1:8
Theme: There are times when IÍm with my more conservative friends when I get the idea they use ñHoly Spirit'' as kind of a code word for a very intense sort of religion, something like having had an old-fashioned conversion experience. Now thereÍs nothing wrong with that. ItÍs desirable, I suppose, and yet most of the good Christian people I know have never had such an experience.
I have never completely decided whether that sort of thing happens to people of a particular personality type who are open to emotionality, or whether God selects certain people for an intense sense of Presence, or whether thereÍs something each of us is supposed to do in order to have a sense of the Holy Spirit. One or two people I know act as though one is not really a true Christian unless one can claim an intense encounter with the Spirit. Somehow, I canÍt quite accept that. What I do believe is that the words ñHoly Spirit'' are words which mean simply ñGod is present with us.'' Really, the whole Trinitarian formula is a grade school level effort to help us understand God. We were created by a divine Being (God) who revealed to us his nature (Christ) and promised always to be near us (Holy Spirit). What it does promise is:
1. Assurance. I know that with God as my ever-present savior, I can face anything. Paul said it well: ñI can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.''
2. Guidance. Sometimes I find myself faced with decisions which are difficult to make. I pray. Eventually, I make a decision. IÍm not saying IÍm always right, and IÍm not blaming God for wrong decisions on my part. Yet, I find that things always seem to work out if I pray as I go along. ñLead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom'' is a request I have never felt denied.
3. Strength. I have always felt that we each have capabilities we fail to utilize, perhaps are not even aware of until some extraordinary situation calls them forth. I have found that often God empowers me to draw upon capabilities which he has already given me yet I seldom use. My father used to tell of the time his family home caught on fire. Grandma had a prized piano, and her great fear was that it might be damaged. Dad called across the street to a friend, and the two of them moved that piano out of the house. When the fire was extinguished and the firemen had departed, those two young men could hardly budge the piano. They had to call several other friends to move it back into the house. Dad always told us boys that story to make the point that we can do all sorts of things when we really need to.
My point is not that God helped move that piano. My point is that God has already prepared us for most problems and enables us to draw upon our own resources. But I have found that on occasion I get in over my head. Then, especially in the matter of inner courage and resolve, I am able to draw upon a Higher Power. ThatÍs what I mean by the Holy Spirit.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Some time ago, Sports Illustrated printed an article about a football player named John Reaves. He was a star quarterback at the University of Florida. He graduated and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as their backup quarterback with a potentially great future in the NFL. But by his own admission, he soon began taking drugs and was quickly addicted. He married a lovely young girl, Patty, and she too became addicted to cocaine. In spite of his large salary, they were a hundred thousand dollars in debt, selling off furniture and jewelry to support their habits. Their lifestyle was completely destructive. Reaves described himself as ña crazy man.''
One day, Patty became involved in a church and accepted Jesus Christ into her life. It changed her completely. She gave up drugs and alcohol. She said that one significant effect of her newfound faith was the fact that she had previously come to hate her husband, but now, her hatred was replaced by compassion. However, the two of them now faced the exact problem Jesus had predicted. Patty had a new faith, a new lifestyle. Her husband was still on a collision course with self-destruction. As Jesus predicted, they were now set against each other.
We see here the change which takes place in a person when one genuinely begins to follow Christ. Hatred is replaced by love and understanding. Destructive habits beyond our control start to lose their power over us. Now we want to be a different person, and itÍs only natural that we want the same for those whom we love as well.
That article continues, however. John Reaves had heard Patty tell of the change in her life because of Jesus. One day he woke up in jail, sharply aware of the way he had ruined his life. And, he accepted Christ. The article quotes Reaves as saying that though his addiction had possessed him completely until that time, from the moment he accepted Christ, he was able to quit drugs entirely. His life was changed. But before the peace, a sword.
John Reaves won a reprieve. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Bandits of the then new United States Football League. Sportswriters predicted that he would be a poor football player because of his history. As of the writing of the article I quote, he had led his team to five victories in six games.
Jesus said he came to bring not peace, but a sword. We need to understand that the ultimate effect of faith can be inner peace. Patty and John Reaves seemed to have found that. But before the peace there usually occurs an inner battle between opposing forces of life and death, good and evil, selflessness and selfishness.
____________
William James in his The Varieties Of Religious Experience, in referring to a conversion experience, used the analogy of snow on a barn roof. It builds up and builds up, and at some point, one more snowflake makes the difference, and the roof collapses. Thus, we may go through life for many years having a wide variety of experiences which still leave us unconvinced of the Christian faith. Then some event, some encounter, not major in itself, may precipitate a conversion experience. The point here is that being badgered by well-meaning friends is useless. When the right situation occurs, God will do the work. Heavy-handed evangelism does, if anything, drive people away until the time is right.
____________
Dr. Weatherhead told of an experiment performed years ago in England. A Dr. Hadfield had a large group of men squeeze an instrument designed to measure the strength of their grip. The average measure of this test group of men was 101 pounds. He then brought in a hypnotist. The men were all hypnotized and, while under hypnosis were told that they were weak and inadequate. The men were then awakened from their trance and retested. The average score was 29 pounds. Just think of that, think of the loss of sheer physical strength by those men because they had lost confidence in themselves.
Dr. Hadfield then had the men hypnotized again. But this time, they were told how strong they were. Now they were told that they were stronger and more capable than they had ever previously realized. Once more awakened from their hypnotic trance, they were tested a third time. This time the average score was an amazing 142 pounds. This incredible experiment demonstrated that a personÍs strength is nearly five times as great when one is filled with confidence and faith in self as when one is discouraged and has lost faith in self. IÍm not talking about ñpositive thinking'' in the commercial sense. IÍm saying that God put you and me here in this life to do something important, and by that IÍm not necessarily referring to success as the world measures things. IÍm speaking of a worthy life, one in which we maximize our abilities and opportunities in becoming the people God wants us to be, in doing what we are here to do. IÍm suggesting that every one of us has capabilities of mind, body, and spirit which we often fail to use because we donÍt have faith in ourselves, and we donÍt have faith that Jesus Christ can enable us to use our powers.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 (C); Psalm 85 (E) „ ñThou hast pardoned the iniquity of thy people.''
Psalm 84:9-14 (RC) „ The supreme psalm of the sanctuary.
Prayer Of The Day
Prepare us, O God, for the arrival of thy Son, in our everyday lives, in our homes, and in our hearts. Amen.
Lesson 1: Isaiah 40:1-11 (C, E); Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 (RC)
This poetic oracle begins what is generally thought of as ñTrito-Isaiah,'' apparently addressed to returnees from the country of Babylon. While in exile there, many of the Jews remained firmly faithful to their own culture, having nothing to do with the Babylonians. Many others, though, had allowed themselves to be integrated into the local culture. But there was a third group, those who didnÍt quite fit into either group. These people were confused, unsure of their own status in GodÍs eyes, fearful that they might be subject to divine retribution of one kind or another. In the words of this text we have an exalted statement of a loving, forgiving God. ñComfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,'' God counsels the prophet.
The prophet assures the returnees that God will help them as they resettle in their own land. They are to ñmake straight in the desert a highway for ... God.'' On the one hand, their lives are limited, analogous to grass which flourishes briefly, then dries up and blows away. Yet ñthe word of God will stand forever.'' They need ñfear not.'' God will gather them up as a shepherd cares for lambs. They need not fear, for they will henceforth be in the care of a loving God. So we see the redeeming nature of God as understood by the writer of this powerful work.
Lesson 2: 2 Peter 3:8-15a (C); 2 Peter 3:8-14 (RC); 2 Peter 3:8-15a, 18 (E)
Peter uses apocalyptic style imagery to make his point that the earth will, in due time, be destroyed in its present form. With any luck I wonÍt be here to find out if Peter meant this literally or not, but even if Peter believed that, not many theologians do today. More likely this is more vivid poetic imagery, familiar at the time perhaps, which dramatizes the need for all of us to understand that this world is GodÍs world, that God will determine its outcome, and that things can be very dicey, as the English say, for those who fail to take this fact seriously.
Understood symbolically, this passage makes more sense. We all live in an inner world, one of the spirit or the mind, as well as in a physical world. I think back to the emotional turmoil I experienced during the year or a bit more in which I was trying to decide between a career in business and a call to ministry. Many a miserable walk in the dark preceded my decision. These words of PeterÍs, ñthe heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat,'' could well have described how I was feeling. Maybe all of us are destined to experience something like this as part of the process of growing up, maturing, deciding what we are to do with our lives. Thank God, then, for ñthe new heavens and the new earth'' of the soul.
But Peter also warns that this will exact a price: ñrighteousness will be at home ...'' I must accept that the new conditions are not really those of heaven unless I am willing to try to be a righteous person. And as I fail, for I do more often than I wish, I am to return in penitent plea for forgiveness and renewal.
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8 (C, RC, E)
WeÍll be talking about John the Baptist in another place, so letÍs concentrate on the message: that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Dr. Rawlinson has observed that of all the Gospels, Mark most convinces scholars that the gospel story is ñrooted in history.'' ItÍs likely that John did, indeed, make this promise. But it leaves us asking ourselves just what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This may be a dividing point between liberal and conservative theology, though there are probably many of us with one foot in each of those camps. Clearly, we know from many other Bible passages that we can (arbitrarily, for our little minds) think of God in three Persons, ñBlessed Trinity.'' Thus, the Holy Spirit is God himself, manifest among us.
LetÍs start with the fact that there are many different personality types among us. I have good friends who are very emotional, very susceptible to moving stories and sad situations. I have other friends who are not. I know one football coach who tears up when he hears about a needy family. I also know a war hero who seems impervious to such things. Yet both are fine people, men who live honorable lives. Clearly, to experience Christ will produce radically different reactions in those two, and in all of us. My point is that while some people become quite emotional about their religion, others are stoic when Christ enters in. I submit that both are equally recipients of the Holy Spirit, and what we all need to do is get over the habit of judging others based on our own experience.
Okay, then to be ñbaptized by the Holy Spirit'' must mean to have been granted a sense of the presence of God „ by God. For some, there will an overwhelming sense of newness of life which will express itself in enthusiasm, in verbal witnessing to anyone who will listen. To others there will be a quiet, inward sense of renewed confidence and hope. But the latter may be exceedingly reticent. ItÍs important not to set ourselves up as judges of those who report the experience differently than we.
To be baptized by the Holy Spirit is to be ushered into the presence of the living Christ, or if you prefer, the sense of GodÍs presence with a life-changing awareness of the activity of God in our lives. What is important is that the individual realize that God has acted in his or her life, and that a new joy and empowerment has been granted, but also, that a new set of expectations and requirements has come into play.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñOur Hope For Years To Come''
Text: Isaiah 40:1-11
Theme: Three basic elements dominate this passage. God will be faithful in forgiving and leading his people. God expects them to prepare their own way, and to remember the fleeting nature of life apart from the divine presence. And God pledges to guide and strengthen them in any difficulties which may lie ahead.
1. God is faithful and forgiving. Here we have the nature of God as it will be even more movingly revealed in Jesus. The Jews to whom this is addressed already had a sense of confusion and possible wrongdoing. God has guided the prophet to assure them that he will not turn from them. We all have times when we have become aware of our faults and failures. It behooves us to withhold judgment from others and to courageously confront our own selfish natures. The stress of life frequently tempts us into wrongdoing of one kind or another. Even those who refrain from overt wrongs easily fall into that even more onerous sin of self-righteousness, of judging others. Yet true repentance sees the fault in that kind of attitude, and itÍs when we repent that the forgiveness promised here becomes ours.
2. God, through the prophet, reminded the people of their own mortality. We are like grass which withers, or the flower which fades. As we grow older, this truth becomes increasingly evident. In younger years, especially the teen years, itÍs easy to feel invulnerable. Then is when many have their downfall. It certainly doesnÍt follow that we want to undercut feelings of self-confidence and healthy willingness to attack life and its problems. It does, however, mean a warning against self-importance and disdain for those less fortunate, less endowed with physical or mental capabilities. This leads one to be sensitive to the needs of people who are vulnerable in any way. Life has a way of bringing us low when we fail in this.
Quite a number of years ago, my wife and I stayed in a hotel in Banff. As we were walking through the lobby, I got behind two elderly people who were walking very slowly, and my wife got ahead of me. I was frankly irritated, muttering to myself about these slow-moving nuisances. The next day my wife and I decided to go horseback riding. The ride lasted four hours and I hadnÍt been on a horse for twenty years. The following day I was barely able to walk, and that with great pain. As I walked through the lobby I had to laugh. God had gotten me, I thought. I was moving even more slowly than those elderly folks, but it taught me a much deserved lesson in humility.
3. God pledges to lead the way safely. Not safely in the physical sense perhaps. Obviously, God doesnÍt protect us from injury or illness. Yet anyone who has learned the power of prayer will understand that thereÍs a sense in which we do go safely. For one thing, Paul would say it later: all things work for good for those who love God. Also, while difficulties may beset us as they would the Jews from Babylon, we would never walk alone. We will be enabled to surmount the worst, and to find our way to a rightful and joyous destination.
Title: ñInto A Marvelous Light''
Text: 2 Peter 3:8-15a
Theme: I propose a three-point outline based on the assumption that this passage is not to be read literally, but poetically, just as when Isaiah referred to humanity as like the grass which withers or the flower which fades, he was writing symbolically. Thus:
1. Patience is necessary in facing life. Somewhere thereÍs a story about the fellow who was exhausted from what he imagined to be his burdensome problems. He prayed urgently to God like this: ñOh, Lord, I know you have many things on your mind and all, and I know that a day and a thousand years are the same to you, but these problems are getting me down. CanÍt you do something?'' God, according to this story, replied: ñSure, Charlie. IÍll take care of it tomorrow.''
Well, we get the point. Here again, as in an earlier passage, we find ourselves counseled to be patient. God knows our needs, but sometimes an important growth process lies ahead for us as a result of our problems. All of us preachers can think of situations in which seeming unhappiness or pain has resulted in blessings. Effective prayer always requires patience.
2. Peter urges us to be morally faithful. ñYour lives should be holy and dedicated to God'' wrote Peter. That needs a bit of interpretation, since not too many people in my acquaintance are at all holy, and only a few think of themselves as dedicated to God. Some, maybe. But this is a goal. It was Browning who wrote: ñA manÍs reach should exceed his grasp, or whatÍs a heaven for?'' Most of us have a varied assortment of faults and foibles which disqualify us as being holy in the conventional sense of the word. Still, if that shines out there in lifeÍs distance as something we wish to be, then God will accept that.
3. We can expect the best. ñLook on the LordÍs patience,'' promised Peter, ñas the opportunity he gives you to be saved.'' There we have a word which needs defining. In some circles the word ñsaved'' is not popular. Too many images of the overbearing person who is religious in the worst sense of the word coming on to us with ñHave you been saved?'' have regrettably robbed the word of some currency. And yet, once you rise up from some gigantic inward struggle, renewed, refreshed, realizing that God has answered your prayers and empowered your life, you begin to realize exactly what that word really means. I record below a wonderful example of this from Sports Illustrated a few years ago.
ThereÍs a relevant sermon in this passage then: If we are patient in prayer, and are sincerely trying to live by what we know to be the moral rules of life, we will discover that though there may be dark and painful days in our lives, we will never be abandoned by God. We will be saved, through Jesus Christ.
Title: ñHearts Inspired''
Text: Mark 1:8
Theme: There are times when IÍm with my more conservative friends when I get the idea they use ñHoly Spirit'' as kind of a code word for a very intense sort of religion, something like having had an old-fashioned conversion experience. Now thereÍs nothing wrong with that. ItÍs desirable, I suppose, and yet most of the good Christian people I know have never had such an experience.
I have never completely decided whether that sort of thing happens to people of a particular personality type who are open to emotionality, or whether God selects certain people for an intense sense of Presence, or whether thereÍs something each of us is supposed to do in order to have a sense of the Holy Spirit. One or two people I know act as though one is not really a true Christian unless one can claim an intense encounter with the Spirit. Somehow, I canÍt quite accept that. What I do believe is that the words ñHoly Spirit'' are words which mean simply ñGod is present with us.'' Really, the whole Trinitarian formula is a grade school level effort to help us understand God. We were created by a divine Being (God) who revealed to us his nature (Christ) and promised always to be near us (Holy Spirit). What it does promise is:
1. Assurance. I know that with God as my ever-present savior, I can face anything. Paul said it well: ñI can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.''
2. Guidance. Sometimes I find myself faced with decisions which are difficult to make. I pray. Eventually, I make a decision. IÍm not saying IÍm always right, and IÍm not blaming God for wrong decisions on my part. Yet, I find that things always seem to work out if I pray as I go along. ñLead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom'' is a request I have never felt denied.
3. Strength. I have always felt that we each have capabilities we fail to utilize, perhaps are not even aware of until some extraordinary situation calls them forth. I have found that often God empowers me to draw upon capabilities which he has already given me yet I seldom use. My father used to tell of the time his family home caught on fire. Grandma had a prized piano, and her great fear was that it might be damaged. Dad called across the street to a friend, and the two of them moved that piano out of the house. When the fire was extinguished and the firemen had departed, those two young men could hardly budge the piano. They had to call several other friends to move it back into the house. Dad always told us boys that story to make the point that we can do all sorts of things when we really need to.
My point is not that God helped move that piano. My point is that God has already prepared us for most problems and enables us to draw upon our own resources. But I have found that on occasion I get in over my head. Then, especially in the matter of inner courage and resolve, I am able to draw upon a Higher Power. ThatÍs what I mean by the Holy Spirit.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Some time ago, Sports Illustrated printed an article about a football player named John Reaves. He was a star quarterback at the University of Florida. He graduated and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as their backup quarterback with a potentially great future in the NFL. But by his own admission, he soon began taking drugs and was quickly addicted. He married a lovely young girl, Patty, and she too became addicted to cocaine. In spite of his large salary, they were a hundred thousand dollars in debt, selling off furniture and jewelry to support their habits. Their lifestyle was completely destructive. Reaves described himself as ña crazy man.''
One day, Patty became involved in a church and accepted Jesus Christ into her life. It changed her completely. She gave up drugs and alcohol. She said that one significant effect of her newfound faith was the fact that she had previously come to hate her husband, but now, her hatred was replaced by compassion. However, the two of them now faced the exact problem Jesus had predicted. Patty had a new faith, a new lifestyle. Her husband was still on a collision course with self-destruction. As Jesus predicted, they were now set against each other.
We see here the change which takes place in a person when one genuinely begins to follow Christ. Hatred is replaced by love and understanding. Destructive habits beyond our control start to lose their power over us. Now we want to be a different person, and itÍs only natural that we want the same for those whom we love as well.
That article continues, however. John Reaves had heard Patty tell of the change in her life because of Jesus. One day he woke up in jail, sharply aware of the way he had ruined his life. And, he accepted Christ. The article quotes Reaves as saying that though his addiction had possessed him completely until that time, from the moment he accepted Christ, he was able to quit drugs entirely. His life was changed. But before the peace, a sword.
John Reaves won a reprieve. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Bandits of the then new United States Football League. Sportswriters predicted that he would be a poor football player because of his history. As of the writing of the article I quote, he had led his team to five victories in six games.
Jesus said he came to bring not peace, but a sword. We need to understand that the ultimate effect of faith can be inner peace. Patty and John Reaves seemed to have found that. But before the peace there usually occurs an inner battle between opposing forces of life and death, good and evil, selflessness and selfishness.
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William James in his The Varieties Of Religious Experience, in referring to a conversion experience, used the analogy of snow on a barn roof. It builds up and builds up, and at some point, one more snowflake makes the difference, and the roof collapses. Thus, we may go through life for many years having a wide variety of experiences which still leave us unconvinced of the Christian faith. Then some event, some encounter, not major in itself, may precipitate a conversion experience. The point here is that being badgered by well-meaning friends is useless. When the right situation occurs, God will do the work. Heavy-handed evangelism does, if anything, drive people away until the time is right.
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Dr. Weatherhead told of an experiment performed years ago in England. A Dr. Hadfield had a large group of men squeeze an instrument designed to measure the strength of their grip. The average measure of this test group of men was 101 pounds. He then brought in a hypnotist. The men were all hypnotized and, while under hypnosis were told that they were weak and inadequate. The men were then awakened from their trance and retested. The average score was 29 pounds. Just think of that, think of the loss of sheer physical strength by those men because they had lost confidence in themselves.
Dr. Hadfield then had the men hypnotized again. But this time, they were told how strong they were. Now they were told that they were stronger and more capable than they had ever previously realized. Once more awakened from their hypnotic trance, they were tested a third time. This time the average score was an amazing 142 pounds. This incredible experiment demonstrated that a personÍs strength is nearly five times as great when one is filled with confidence and faith in self as when one is discouraged and has lost faith in self. IÍm not talking about ñpositive thinking'' in the commercial sense. IÍm saying that God put you and me here in this life to do something important, and by that IÍm not necessarily referring to success as the world measures things. IÍm speaking of a worthy life, one in which we maximize our abilities and opportunities in becoming the people God wants us to be, in doing what we are here to do. IÍm suggesting that every one of us has capabilities of mind, body, and spirit which we often fail to use because we donÍt have faith in ourselves, and we donÍt have faith that Jesus Christ can enable us to use our powers.
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Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 (C); Psalm 85 (E) „ ñThou hast pardoned the iniquity of thy people.''
Psalm 84:9-14 (RC) „ The supreme psalm of the sanctuary.
Prayer Of The Day
Prepare us, O God, for the arrival of thy Son, in our everyday lives, in our homes, and in our hearts. Amen.
