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November 29, 2009
“Come!”
Revelation 22: 10-17 & 20-21
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Today the decorations in our Sanctuary and some special elements in our Worship Service announce to us that we have entered a new season. Today we begin the Season of Advent. During advent we think about the events surrounding the first coming of the Messiah otherwise known as the Birth of Jesus. During this Advent season we will be looking at Scripture passages which describe prophecies about the coming of Jesus and others which describe events and conversations that took place just before his birth.
But there is another element in Advent celebrations. Christians believe that the resurrected and glorified Jesus is coming back to this earth to claim those who believe in Him, issue his final judgments of all who have ever lived, and establish his final kingdom. During Advent we celebrate the two advents or comings of the Christ: the first one that occurred about 6 BC in Bethlehem and the second one that is yet to occur.
This morning we are looking at the final verses in the bible to be reminded of that second coming and how we need to prepare ourselves for it.
The last book that is presented in our Bible is the book of Revelation or the Revelation delivered to the Apostle John, or the Apocalypse of John. It is a very interesting book. It is the Apostle John’s description of a vision that he saw and heard on the Island of Patmos when he was an old man.
John had been exiled to the Island of Patmos by the Roman Authorities. We think he was sent there because Rome was trying to suppress the church and make it less active. John was seen as one of the main leaders of the church at this time so he was exiled to Patmos so he could not lead the church.
It is perhaps a sign of God’s sense of humor as well has His power that it was during this exile that God sent to the church through John one of the most inspirational and powerful books the church has ever received. This book gives great hope to all Christians. The promises that are contained in this book have inspired Christians to defy persecuting governments and openly declare themselves to be followers of Christ. The predictions of this book have kept Christians alert and hopeful about the return of Jesus for over 1900 years.
This morning we are looking at the last verses of this great book. These verses contain no details of the return of Jesus to earth. Those have already been given in earlier chapters and verses. What is contained in these verses is information as to when and for whom Jesus will return.
The when is any day now. As our passage begins, John is conversing with the being who hosted him during his journey through the vision. This guide told him not to seal the words of the prophecy. In prophetic literature, sealing a document meant that it was for a later generation. Not sealing it meant that the prophecy was for the then current generation. Some of the events described in the book of Revelation were about to happen shortly after the prophecy was received. It was given to the Christians of that generation to give them comfort and courage during the difficult times which were coming their way.
The persecutions and victories and defeats that are described through the symbols and signs in Revelation were to begin in that generation and continue into and beyond our own day. How do I know they are to continue into and beyond our own day? Because the end of the vision describes the return of Jesus, and that has not yet occurred.
And the next to last verse of Revelation reads “The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon””. Now of course, the flow of human history since then indicates that He did not come soon after the publication of the prophecy. Some 1900 years have passed since then. But in a sense, Jesus does come to us as we go to him at our deaths. That is never much more than 100 years off for any of us.
And we need to remember that after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the next important event is his return. All is ready for it.
We also need to remember that in God’s time, a second can be equal to thousands of our years.
So Christians are supposed to expect Jesus to arrive on earth to judge us at any time.
How are we to prepare ourselves? The answers to that question are given in 11-14. in the last part of the 11th verse we read, “let the righteous still do right and the holy still be holy.” And in verse 12 we read “See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.” So the obvious answer to the question is Get Busy! Do good and holy deeds that will please Jesus when he judges.
But the scriptures teach us that we cannot be saved by our works or deeds. We have all sinned and we cannot make up for our sins by doing good. So in verse 14 we read “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.” The city here is a symbol for the Eternal Kingdom of God. And while good and holy deeds are important, no one gets into the kingdom unless they are purified by being forgiven by the sinless and perfect Jesus. In an earlier passage in Revelation the reader is told that there were some folks who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. That is the kind of washing that is referred to here. By his death Jesus purchased our forgiveness. Unless we turn away from our sins and accept his forgiveness of them, we cannot be a part of God’s kingdom.
But this passage has something to tell us about how this world will be until Jesus comes again, and this condition of the world is something that we notice at this time of year.
Until Jesus returns we are to be doing holy and good deeds, but the objective of those deeds is given in verse 17. The Spirit and the bride say “Come”. And let every one who hears say “Come.” And let everyone who is thirsty come, Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.” Some bible scholars have thought that the subject of the “Coming” here in the first two clauses is the return of Christ, that the Spirit and the bride are to say “Come”, to Christ. But in the light of the third clause “let everyone who is thirsty Come”, I think the ones who are to come are those people who have not yet come to Christ, those who need to “take the water of life as a gift”. And by the way, the bride, who is to invite people to come, is the Church of Jesus Christ.
Our good and holy deeds are to be done to help others come to Jesus for forgiveness. As the Christmas season begins and progresses and you get involved in the shopping and partying and decorating and attending concerts and other Christmas programs and services, remember that Jesus is coming again. Remember to do righteous and holy deeds and speak righteous and holy words that will help others come to Jesus and into his final kingdom.
In this passage Jesus is referred to as “the bright morning star”. He is the one whose coming will mark the beginning of a new eternal day and a new eternal kingdom. He is the one who is quoted in verse 20 as saying “Surely I am coming soon”. We better get busy.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47905
Posted by faithpres at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2009
“The King of the Jews?”
John 18: 33-40
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Our Worship Service today varies a little from our normal practice. You may have noticed that ordinarily the Hymns deal with the same theme or subject as the Scripture passages. Today that is not the case. This morning we find ourselves in two different seasons. Our secular season is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in the United States is a political holiday declared each year by our President. In case you missed the memo, This Thursday will be Thanksgiving and we will of course have our annual Thanksgiving Eve Service this coming Wednesday Evening. This season of Thanksgiving is reflected in our Hymns this morning. It is always appropriate to sing hymns of Thanksgiving to God and there are several good ones in our hymnal. We will sing four more this coming Wednesday.
But the selections of our Scripture readings today are not focused on Thanksgiving but on Kings. That is because on the Presbyterian Ecclesiastical Calendar today is Christ the King Sunday. This holiday is celebrated on the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent. It is a time for Christians to acknowledge the royalty and authority of Jesus before we begin to think of the events leading to his birth and the great expected event of the Second Coming.
Our lectionary gospel reading for today also provides a bit of a reality check for us before we get involved with Messianic prophecies and Angelic visitations and announcements. Today while the stores are decorated with Santa’s and reindeer and elves and festive decorations and as some of us are looking forward to shopping on Black Friday, we are looking at a passage that describes a part of the day we Christians know as Good Friday. This passage describes the dialogue that took place between Jesus and Pontius Pilate on the morning of the day Jesus was killed.
It is an interesting dialogue and not one that is easily understood.
As Pilate summoned Jesus to appear before him, he had been told by Jesus’ accusers that Jesus was proclaiming to be a King and was therefore a threat to the Emperor and the Empire. Pilate probably expected Jesus to be a person with a royal bearing and perhaps a tall frame with some obvious qualities that would attract followers.
My daughter called the other day and told me about her flight to Pittsburgh from Atlanta. She said the that flight attendant was a male who had a voice like the voice that laughed at the end of the Michael Jackson song “Thriller”. She is too young to remember the actor Vincent Price whose voice that was. It was probably that kind of voice that Pilate expected to hear from one whom others thought was a king.
On this occasion, Jesus seemed to have had neither a royal bearing or appearance or a booming voice. Jesus was not hoping for an acquittal, he knew that his time to die had come. He was also concerned about those who were not in the room, His Apostles and Disciples. He wanted to act in ways that would keep them safe and not attract persecution of them.
So when Pilate met Jesus and asked him if it were true that he claimed to be the king of the Jews, he was somewhat incredulous that such a man would make such claims or that any one would believe those claims and follow him. The Greek words that form his question communicate his incredulity. The question is properly read “Are YOU the king of the Jews?”
Now I must tell you that when I was a much younger person who liked to challenge authority, I was proud of Jesus’ answer to Pilate. At first reading it seems to have been a challenging answer. Our NRSV version translates it as “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me? In my rebellious youth I used to think that Jesus was saying “Who wants to Know?” And in a sense that is what He was asking, but not in a way that would challenge Pilate’s authority.
The term “King of the Jews” was Pilate’s way of expressing what the Jewish leaders had told him. They understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, the King whom God would send to the Jews. But they also understood that this King was to be a shepherd who would gather in and protect God’s flock. And they understood that he was to be a suffering servant. But when they presented their case to Pilate, they stressed the King part and left out the meek servant shepherd parts so Pilate would see Jesus as a threat and rival king to the Emperor.
So it was important for Jesus to know where the question came from. Pilate responded by asking Jesus the rhetorical question “I am not a Jew, am I”? That answered Jesus question. Pilate was asking the question as a Roman Governor who was not at all concerned about Jewish Messianic ideas and ideals, but he wanted to know if Jesus was planning to lead a rebellion against Rome or was challenging the authority of Rome in any way.
Jesus then answered, “My Kingdom is not from here.” He then assured Pilate that His followers were not fighting and would not fight to keep him from being handed over to the Jewish leaders or to Pilate for judgment. Pilate understood that Jesus was not a threat to the Empire or his position as the Roman Governor of Judea. We know this because he later would declare to the Jewish crowd “I find no case against him”.
But before he spoke those words to the crowd, he continued his conversation with Jesus. He said, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered that he was born and came into this world to be a king and that he came to testify to the truth.
Pilate asked “What is truth?” but unfortunately he did not expect an answer and did not wait for one. By doing so he implied that as far as he was concerned there was no ultimate truth. Just things that were taken to be true because of the worldly power that was behind them.
But Jesus was speaking of an ultimate truth. One truth that was greater than all other truths and would exist after many lesser truth’s ceased to be true. The laws or truths of physics will only be true as long as this physical creation exists. The ultimate truth will last forever because it proceeds from the eternal God. That truth is this: There is a God who loves everyone who has ever been born on this earth and he sent his Son to be the King of all those who love God and love the Son. To those who love and honor Jesus as King He will give eternal life in his Eternal kingdom.
Now I want to back up a little and look at some of the things that Jesus said from a slightly different angle. Jesus told Pilate that his Kingdom was not from this world. Nor is it for this world. Christ’s kingdom is other worldly. In it’s final form it will not be based on or in this world and it will not and does not depend on the powers of the nations of this world. Some Christians have not understood this and have mistakenly believed that they could make certain nations or districts a part of the kingdom of God. We cannot. We and our world are too corrupted by sin. Neither can we use the powers of this world or the military forces of this world to promote or increase the kingdom of God. People have been making that mistake ever since Constantine. We can instill peace by military and national power, and we can make laws for nations that reflect the laws and standards of God, but we cannot make parts of this world “Christian”. Only individual persons can be come Christian. Only individuals can be parts of God’s kingdom, not nations or districts or even families. God’s kingdom is comprised only of individuals who allow Christ to rule over them as King.
And that brings me back to that first question that Jesus asked Pilate. When Pilate asked Jesus if he was the King of the Jews, Jesus asked if he was asking that on his own or if he was repeating what others had said.
None of us have met Jesus in person physically. All of us first heard about Jesus from others who told us about the Bible or read to us stories about Jesus directly from the Bible. Since that is true, When you proclaim that Jesus is your king, I want you think about Jesus’ question to Pilate. Do you really mean it for yourself, or are you merely repeating what others have said? Do you really accept Jesus as your king from the center of your being, or is it just something you believe mentally in your thought process to be true. Before you answer, remember what Kings do. They Rule. If you are not trying to live your life in obedience to Jesus as your king, then maybe He is not really your King.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2009
“When God Heard Hannah”
I Samuel 1: 1-20 & 24-28
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The events that are described in our second lesson this morning occurred a little over 3,000 years ago. To get an over-view of the situation of Israel in those days you can take a look at chapters 6-21 of the book of Judges. I will summarize the contents of those chapters by saying that the situation of Israel was not good.
It had been about 300 years since the Israelites had entered the Promised Land. The Jews had conquered parts of the Promised Land and established cities and villages in their various territories. But they had not conquered all the land. In between their settlements there were still some of descendants of the old Caananite populations. One particular group, the Philistines was particularly strong and terrorized and occasionally ruled over the Jews who lived among and near them.
The Jews during this period were also attacked by the nations surrounding the Promised Land, the Moabites and Ammonites are mentioned among others.
This period was also marked by many of the Jews becoming practicing polytheists. In other words, they worshipped more than the God of Israel. And they sometimes worshipped the God of Israel with rites and feasts and rituals that God had forbidden.
So this period could be described as one in which the Israelites were attacked from without and crumbling from within. As you read the pages of the book of Judges you will find a repeating theme of five steps: 1)The Jews have fallen away from the true worship of God. 2)God raises up an enemy to punish them. (this enemy might come from within or from beyond their borders.) 3)The Jews cry out to God for help. 4)God answers their prayers by raising up in one of their territories a Judge, who is really more like a General, who defeats their enemy and brings in an a few years of peace. 5)After a few years, the Israelites again worship other Gods and/or worship the true God in forbidden ways. Then the cycle repeats.
There is a summary of the period of the judges that is given twice in the final chapters of the book of Judges. In 17: 6 and at the very end of the book in 21:25 you find this summary. It reads “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”
It was into this unstable, apostate, politically weak culture that Samuel was born. You might have noticed that he was also born into what we 3000 years later would call a dysfunctional family. There was a father and a mother who had many children. There was also another wife who had no children. This situation alone could cause many problems, but to make matters worse, the husband had declared that he loved one of the wives more than the other. If there had been “reality” TV shows in those days, this would have been a great subject family.
The lesser-loved wife in the family used every opportunity to make the more loved wife feel inferior to her. The fact that she had born their husband many children while the favored wife had born him none gave her many opportunities. Even when they took their annual family vacation to Shiloh to worship at the tabernacle and offer sacrifices and eat big sacrificial meals there, the verbal and psychological abuse continued.
As a part of the sacrificial meal each wife was given the food for her children. Penninah was given several portions to give to her sons and daughters and one for herself. Hannah was given two portions, a double share, but still felt inferior to Peninah. This situation would usually make Hanna unable to eat any thing.
Her husband tried to console her, but with little success.
Every once in a while I have thought about writing down some of the stupid things that men have said to women. Ladies, we try to say appropriate and helpful things to you, but sometimes we can’t help saying stupid things. Anyway if I ever compose the book of the 1,000 most stupid things men have said to women, Elkanah, Hannah’s husband will be in there with “Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than 10 sons?” Even I know that children and husbands are two entirely different categories and one cannot make up for the loss or lack of the other.
Anyway, after the helpful comments from her husband, Hannah went to take her case to God. She went into one of the rooms adjacent to the tabernacle to pray. She was agitated and the High Priest Eli thought she was drunk and told her to put away her drunken ways. She explained her circumstances to Eli who then blessed her and hoped that God would grant her petition that God would allow her to have a son.
God answered her prayer and she gave birth to a son whom she named Samuel, because God heard her. She brought Samuel to the tabernacle when he was about 3 years old, and from his childhood on he was trained to serve God in the tabernacle. He lived there for most or all of his youth.
Now, given the political instability and the recurring apostasy of that time and place, I would imagine that a lot of prayers went up to God in those days. And when God heard Hannah’s prayer and gave her Samuel, it turned out that Samuel was also the answer to a lot of those other prayers.
Samuel would not spend his entire life in Shiloh at the Tabernacle. He would later move back to his hometown of Ramah. And from that place, he traveled throughout Israel and made some great changes in Israel.
He provided leadership at the Tabernacle for a while after the corrupt priesthoods of Eli and his two sons were brought to an end by God.
He also became the last judge, leading the Israelites to several decisive victories over the Philistines. And he became the first of the Great Prophets of Israel. As the last of the old order and the first of a new order, Samuel ushered in a new era of political stability and superiority for Israel. He announced God’s selections of those two men who would be the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David. He would pave the way for David’s successful reign.
He would also purge a lot of the false Gods and false worship practices in much of Israel.
When God heard Hannah’s prayer and answered it, He blessed her and all of Israel by giving her Samuel as her first born son. Once Samuel served God in Israel things were never the same again.
I wanted to talk to you about Hannah and Samuel and God this morning as we have less then two weeks until Thanksgiving for a couple of reasons
First, I hope you will take advantage of this time of year as you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving to count your blessings. As you do, I hope you will look for some new blessings. You might see that some of them have come disguised as challenges. Some of your blessings might come in the form of people or children from dysfunctional families. Samuel was from one of those. Never turn your back on a blessing from God just because it comes from a surprising place or home.
Second of all, I hope you will be thankful for the prayers of abused, disadvantaged, frustrated, jobless, and/or homeless people in our day. When God answers their prayers, we might also be blessed by the answers he gives them. You might also have an opportunity to be a part of God’s answer to them. Look for these opportunities.
This Thanksgiving comes to us at a time when many have reasons not to be too thankful. As we offer our thanksgiving to God we need to remember those who need help from God and ask God to bless them so they will have reason to be more grateful next Thanksgiving.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2009
“The saints of God”
Ephesians 1: 1-16
Sunday, November 1, 2009
There is a national chain of restaurants or sports bars called Champps (spelled with 2 Ps). There are two of them in the state of Indiana, both of them in Indianapolis. There is also a restaurant/bar in Lafayette named Champs with one P. It is not a part of the national chain. It is a much different kind of place than the Champps that are spelled with two Ps. Having the same name does make people or things identical.
On the official Presbyterian Program Calendar today is listed as “All Saints Day”. In the Roman Catholic Church, today is also All Saints Day. Although in both churches something special is celebrated, what we actually celebrate is quite different.
The root of that difference is the understanding or definition of the word Saint. In the early church, all Christians or at least all Christians who were considered worthy of the name were considered to be saints. You will find that word used, (with a small s) in both of the Scripture Lessons which have been read in our Worship today. The word saint in these texts means one who is holy. It was the understanding at the time that Christians were called saints not because they were Holy or pure of their own accord or abilities or accomplishments, but because they were made or rather considered to be holy as a result of a long process.
That process is described in Ephesians 1: 3-14 of our second lesson. There we discover that God chose us to be in Christ and Holy and blameless before Him before the foundation of the world. Before the world existed, you were on God’s good list. You were chosen to be “in Christ” to be one who would be redeemed by the Messiah. As such, you were chosen to be pure and blameless before God. Now, before I notice your heads begin to swell because of the thought that you are pure and blameless, let me direct you to the words “Before Him” or Before God. We are not actually pure and blameless, We are considered to be pure and blameless by God because of what Jesus, the aforementioned Messiah has done for us. I will speak more about that in a few minutes.
But first, I want you to notice something else we were destined for. In verse 5 we read “He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ…”. I hope you were listening during the Children’s message as I informed them and you of this great privilege and responsibility that we have been given as His children.
There were many steps in the process of our being adopted into God’s family and being made saints. Many of them occurred in time before we were born. The pivotal event in this process was also predestined before the beginning of the world: the death of Christ. It is because of this act that we have redemption and forgiveness of our sins. So on this day when we honor others and ourselves as those who have been made holy it is proper for us to celebrate the sacrament that commemorates the death of our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins.
But none of this explains why our celebration of all saints day is so different from the celebrations that take place in the Roman Catholic Church on this day.
It has to do with their definition of the term saint. After the New Testament era, for the next few hundred years, many Christians died or were martyred because they proclaimed themselves to be Christians. The church felt that the anniversaries of the deaths of all martyrs should be honored. After their number reached over 500, they instituted a Martyrs day when all could be honored. Then as the martyrdoms became less frequent, other noteworthy Christians who had died natural deaths were recognized for their achievements. These and the Martyrs began to be referred to as Saints with a Capital S. The day of the Martyrs eventually became All Saints day and many Christians began to believe that these Saints had influence with God and began to pray to or through them for help from God.
At the time of the reformation some of the practices the reformers found fault with involved the recognition and veneration of certain deceased Christians as Saints with a capital S.
They called their churches to return to the practice of referring to all Christians as saints (with a small s) not because of their perfect holiness but because God considers them holy because of the righteousness and sacrifice of Jesus.
So All Christians have an All Saints Day, but those who are honored on that day in different churches vary. For us, all saints day is a time to thank God for considering us to be holy and to express our gratitude to God for the Christians of previous generations who believed in and served our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is fitting on this day to celebrate in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper the act that made us all Holy in God’s sight. It is by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross that we have been made holy and become saints.
But I have one more thought. I had a friend who served in Patton’s army in WWII. He had an interesting military career. Because of his intelligence and bravery he kept getting promoted to corporal, then Sergeant, then because of his doubts about the wisdom of his orders and those issuing them, he kept getting demoted back to private. He made sergeant three times. He could not live up to the role of sergeant.
As a believer in Jesus you have been promoted to the rank of saint, one who is considered to be holy by God. Now it is your duty to live up to that title, to live and act and think as would befit a saint.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)