Sermon on 1 Kings 3:5-12

This sermon was preached at Camp San Joaquin in the Sequoia National Forest, CA on Sunday, July 27th, 2014.

1 Kings 3:5-12 Audio

Part of life, and growing up, is learning to distinguish between our needs and our wants. What we want isn't always what's best for us. What we need isn't always the most enjoyable thing. Our relationships with our parents, our friends, our selves, and God influence the hierarchy of desires and needs within us. Which relationships we hold in highest esteem will determine which wants we hold of greatest value. If I care the most about the relationship I have with my parents, my desires will be for things that please them. Mostly, that's, a good education, a high-paying job, and a stable lifestyle. If I care most about the relationship I have with my friends, my desires will be for things that please them. These can vary depending on the crowds you're involved in. Sometimes it can be dangerous like excessive drinking and vandalism. Other times it can be good, like the desire to be kind to everyone and going on adventures together. If the relationship I care most about is my relationship with my self, I will want things like fame and fortune as my greatest desires. All of these first three relationships—family, friends, and self—can be influences for good or bad in our lives, but don't answer our deepest needs. Today, I want us to think about the one relationship that can properly mold our desires and needs to be one and the same. The relationship we have with God, if it is the greatest influence on our lives, will give us desires that not only satisfy us externally and physically, but internally and spiritually.

If I were to ask you right now, “what is your greatest desire,” what would it be? Health? Love? Family? Money? Would it be for somebody else? Would it be for the whole world? God asked Solomon that very question. Our Scripture today says, “At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, 'Ask what I shall give you.'” Solomon's response to God depended on his relationship with God. It depended on him putting his relationship with God as higher than anything else. It was greater than his possessions, than his kingdom, and even greater than himself. In fact, Solomon shows that all of his other relationships are dependent on his relationship with God.

First, Solomon talks about his relationship with his father, David. Solomon says to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.”

Solomon sees that his father was a man who walked “in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward God.” He recognizes his father's greatest virtue: that he had a relationship with God. For the parents here, remember that how you lead your life will have an influence on your children. The way you show your own values and desires will influences the desires of your children. If parents show a love of money, the children will value money. If a parent shows a love for certain sports teams, the children will value those sports teams. If a parent shows a love for their spouse, the children will value marital love. If the parents show a love for God, the children will value a relationship with God. Solomon was influenced by his father's relationship with God. So he desired a relationship with God.

Solomon then moves on to himself. He continues his prayer, “And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.”

Solomon recognizes his place with God. He knows that God is in charge of his life and God has established his throne. He calls himself a little child, recognizing who he is in the sight of God. He has no experience of ruling a kingdom and knows that he needs guidance to do so. His relationship with God is what determines his understanding of himself. He understands that God is the authority in his life. Only by God's guidance can he find the right path.

This path is the path not only for himself, but for those around him. He prays to God, “And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

His relationship with others, and how he acts toward them, is governed by his relationship with God. He knows that his people and the rule he has over them, are a gift from God. His relationship with them is dependent on his relationship with God. If he does not follow God's guidance, he will not be able to act rightly among the people.

We are not rulers of kingdoms, but the relationships we have are defined by God in the very same way as Solomon. All life comes from God. All true love comes from God. If we don't recognize God in our relationships, that is the first step to ruin. Our values are skewed when we begin to put our relationships with others above our relationship with God. If God is not at the center of our relationships, then he will also not be at the center of our desires.

Because Solomon defined his relationships with his father, with himself, and with his people by his relationship with God, he answered God's question rightly. God told Solomon, “Ask what I shall give you.” And after recognizing God's sovereignty in his relationships, Solomon replied, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil.”

Understanding our needs comes from understanding our relationship with God. What relationships we invest ourselves in will inevitably shape our desires. Only by investing in the relationship that fulfills our needs can we conform our needs with our desires. In Psalm 119, the psalmist shows himself to be an example of this. He prays to God, “my eyes have failed from watching for your salvation and for your righteous promise.” Though he claims, “I have done what is just and right,” he pleads to God, “turn to me in mercy, as you always do to those who love your name.”

Following God and understanding our relationship with God means knowing our need for his mercy and love. The psalmist writes, “Deal with your servant according to your loving-kindness, and teach me your statutes.” The psalmist keeps his eyes to God and everything else in his life follows from this. Defining our desires by our relationship with God reveals his love and mercy in our lives. The more we focus on him, the more we see our need for him and his faithfulness in fulfilling his righteous promise to us.

We see in Paul's letter to the Romans that when we realize our needs, that is when we will receive grace. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness,” he writes, “for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”

If we don't recognize our weakness, our needs will not be met. God is there to provide for us. He is there to lead us. He is there to strengthen us. But if we don't turn to him, he won't force us to follow him. By acknowledging our need for God, we open ourselves up to his provision. When we try to do things on our own, we are not open to receiving what he has to offer. But the moment we realize we can't answer our real needs on our own, he is there to provide.

Solomon knew what was right to ask because he knew what was truly valuable. He also knew that only God could give him what he needed. He could not govern God's people without God giving him the wisdom to do so. He could not lead without God providing the way.

Like Solomon, each of us needs to recognize God at the center of all of our relationships. We need to see that he is the only one who can fill our real needs. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Solomon did not ask for long life or riches or the lives of his enemies. He knows that the proper thing to ask of God is the wisdom to live right by his teachings.

As Paul writes in his epistle, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.”

We have an advocate. God gives every good gift. His ultimate gift is redemption in his Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our redemption. By giving his Son, he shows that he will give everything else we need. If we turn to him, we know that we are justified in death. If we trust in him, we know that we will receive the promise of new life. When the world perishes, we can trust that what we have in God will last to eternity. By faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit seals us as his own forever. No other relationship in life can provide this salvation for us. No other person or thing can fulfill our needs. No worldly treasure will last for an eternity.

By abiding in God and in his love through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit we can attain the forgiveness for sins and the salvation of our souls. If we trust in him above our own power, our needs will be met. If we place our relationship with him above our relationships with all others, he will turn to us in mercy. If we love God more than we love the world, we will enter into his eternal kingdom.

Sermon on Isaiah 55:1-13

This sermon was preached at St. Paul's in Visalia, CA on Sunday, July 13th, 2014.

Isaiah 55:1-13 Sermon Audio

Back in March, my home diocese wanted to meet with me and a few of my fellow seminarians at Trinity School for Ministry. They wanted us come down during our Spring break and meet with them in Thomasville, Georgia. There were four of us making the trip. We all packed up some clothes and piled into my friend's minivan, and drove fifteen hours from Ambridge, Pennsylvania. A local couple from the church in Thomasville offered to room us for the few days we would be in town. When we got in at around nine o'clock in the evening, we were very hungry because we hadn't eaten very much along the way. We decided it would be good to check in with the couple who was housing us before going out to get something quick to eat. When they learned of our plan, the husband pulled out his wallet and gave us his credit card. He told us there was a nice restaurant down the way and that we should eat there. When we got to this restaurant, the owner opened the door and greeted us, saying the man had called ahead and told him we were coming. He had already prepared a table for us before we got there. We went inside and realized this was anything but the fast food restaurant we had planned on going to. The tables were covered in white linens and as soon as we sat down we had nice glasses of iced water set in front of us. Looking through the menu, my friends and I very quickly realized that this was a high-end steakhouse we had been sent to. I ended up getting a ribeye, which was very good. During the dinner, my friends and I were able to relax and be truly satisfied after fifteen hours stuffed in a minivan. While we had originally thought we'd end up spending our own money on some fast food, we were able to enjoy a full, substantial meal without paying a cent.

Our passage in Isaiah opens with the call of the Lord, “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! … Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” My friends and I were prepared to spend our money on that which is not bread. Namely, McDonald's. Over and over, we all spend our labor on that which does not satisfy. We put our efforts into things that won't last. But God wants us to find real satisfaction and wholeness. He says, “Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.”

For me, the main reason I don't typically “eat what is good” is because I just can't afford it. I'm living on a student's income and don't have the money for healthy, substantial eating. And typically, I want to eat something that doesn't take a lot of effort to make. I don't have an hour to set aside just for cooking. But this is exactly the wrong kind of thinking. God says, don't waste your time and money on stuff that won't help you. And in many cases, the things we put money and time in to actually hurt us.

Instead of investing ourselves, our time and money, in empty things that will never satisfy, God invites us to be satisfied by him free of charge. It's like he is offering to give us his spiritual credit card, and pointing us to the right place to go in order to find a real meal. He knows ahead of time that we will be there. And has set aside a place for us. He will give us the living water of his Spirit which springs up to eternal life. He brings us to his Table, where the price was paid 2000 years ago so that we can come and eat and be satisfied. Are we going to keep striving for satisfaction in this world, or will we come to him and receive the eternal hope of salvation by faith?

God's promise isn't a one time offer. Once you receive his gift, it is an eternal gift. Whatever we gain in the world, however hard we work to achieve it, it will be lost. Even if we put all of our efforts into our own gain, it will only take us so far. We can only work so long until our bodies give out. Michael Jordan was considered the best basketball player in the world. Even now, he is considered to have been the greatest player of all time. But if we set up a game between him and and a player in the NBA right now, he'd most likely lose the match. Now, we aren't basketball players, but I think the example still stands. Even as the best to play the game, and working tirelessly his entire life, day and night, to achieve that goal, it came to a very real end.

Instead of relying on our own abilities, we can turn to God's promise and receive what he has to offer, which is far greater than anything we can ever hope to achieve on our own. And unlike the things we gain through our efforts, what God has to offer will never pass away. He doesn't just give us a room for the night and one good meal. His eternal gift includes adoption into his family, to live with him as children of God. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, “you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you,” and, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” His gift of satisfaction comes by his Spirit. He takes us into his house, to carry his name, and feeds us from his own Table, as his children. We are God's people by promise if only we receive him. And we can't pay him back for this gift. In fact, there is no way we can ever deserve what he gives us.

The grace of God acts contrary to the way things are done in the world. In the world, if I am offered a job, I have to go in and work to earn the my wages. An employer won't walk up to me and just offer me a full salary with benefits before I even show that I can do the job. But this is exactly the way God works. Before you can ever prove your worth, he has already invited you to come into his family. You don't need to prove your worth to God before he gives you the full benefits of being his child. You have been glorified if you receive his Spirit. It has nothing to do with how you meet up to his standard. If you say yes to God in Christ, he will give you the full benefits as an heir to his eternal kingdom.

If he didn't act this way, nobody would be saved. The free grace of God is the only way anyone can enter into salvation. Nobody can earn God's love because we are all broken by sin. But his free grace is the very thing that draws people to himself. Psalm 65 cries to God, “to you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, because of their transgressions. Our sins are stronger than we are, but you will blot them out.” It will always be God's grace that saves us, and only by relying on his free giving of that grace can we be satisfied. “Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there,” the psalmist writes, “they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of your temple.” God will satisfy us if we come into his house. He will forgive our sins and give us the strength in his Spirit to overcome our weakness.

Isaiah calls us to “seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him when he is near; let the wicked forsake their ways, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” God is calling us into his adoption. He will care for us and feed us. He will satisfy us with his glory. His Spirit will dwell within us, and lead us, as children of God. By his Spirit, we can cry out to him as our Father in our distress. This is the witness that we are children of God, that the God who hears prayer has heard our cry and has offered this gift of grace and continues to give us his grace. It is a covenant that he has made with us. He is faithful and he will not break the covenant that he has made with his people.

In Isaiah, he elaborates on this covenant. He uses David as an example of the type of covenant he will make with his people. He says, “I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.”

Being made God's own means also joining him in his mission to the world. By his grace, his children are bringers of his grace to the world. “You shall call nations that you do not know,” he says, “and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy one of Israel, for he has glorified you.” God is glorious. By being filled with his Spirit, his glory has come upon his children. We are glorified because we are one with him. His glory draws people to him. By being filled with his glory, we also draw others to him. As children of God by the free gift of grace, we invite others to join us in his grace of adoption. This is his will for those he brings in to his kingdom: that they glorify him. God's glory is shown in his grace, so to glorify God is to share his grace with others.

Back in 2011 there was a news story on CBS about a local business man in Reading, Pennsylvania. This man went out every year around Christmas time, giving people 100 dollar bills from his own pocket. Some years, he gave out more than 100,000 dollars doing this. The CBS reporter mentioned to the man, “you don't know what these people are going to do with this money,” and asked him, “do you care?” The man simply replied, “No, because one of the things that I do is I do not judge.”

When Jesus shares the parable of the sower, he gives the different scenarios that happen when the seeds fall to the ground. One group of seeds lands on rocky soil and sprouts up quickly, then dies from the sun. Another batch lands among weeds and are choked out. But some of the seeds he scatters land in good soil, and they bring forth grain. Sometimes, we can't know what sort of soil the seeds are going to land in. As Paul notes in 1 Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” We cannot judge who will or will not receive the grace of God, we can only offer it freely to those we encounter.

The business man in Reading walked up to a man sitting alone on a bench. This man's name was Thomas, and Thomas was a heroine addict who had even sold his young son's toys for drug money. But the night before this incident, Thomas, an atheist, was encouraged by his girlfriend to pray to God for a sign. When he was given the money, Thomas' first reply was “I didn't earn that.” He was very emotional, seeing that somebody would give so much to someone like him who had only ever acted selfishly in feeding his own addiction. Thomas had spent his money and his labor on that which does not satisfy. Only by receiving this free gift, an answer to this atheist's prayer, could he be transformed. He not only checked himself into a rehabilitation center, but came to faith in the God who provides.

This is the power of grace. If God only gave to those who deserved it, nobody would receive his grace. And without his grace, there is no chance for transformation. True, lasting transformation only comes through grace. We know we can trust God if we turn to him because he has already paid the price for salvation. He didn't wait for us to say yes, but because he loves us, he sent Jesus his Son to die for us. Because he loves us, he offers redemption and new life through his completed work in the resurrection. Because he loves us, he offers his Spirit of adoption to be his children, “and if children, then heirs,” as Paul writes, “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” Remember the words Isaiah writes, that “nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.”

Instead of wasting our time and effort on things that do not satisfy, trying to find fulfillment in the world, let's turn together to the one who does satisfy. It has no cost and requires nothing of you to deserve it. It is the transforming grace of God's invitation to eat and be satisfied. Come to the waters of his Spirit and drink and be glorified. Come and gain the eternal reward of life in him, which will never fade away. Be part of God's work in the world because, as the psalmist writes, when you are led by the Spirit, “you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace.”

I invite you now to accept God's invitation. If it is for the first time or the thousandth time, or the thousand-thousandth time, come and be satisfied in his unending love at his Table. He has paid the price for you to be satisfied in him. There is nothing you need to do to deserve this gift, but to come and receive it. Come, and be satisfied.

Sermon on Matthew 10:16-33

This sermon was preached at St. Paul's in Visalia, CA on Sunday, June 22nd, 2014.

Matthew 10:16-33 Sermon Audio

Commander Chris Hadfield is best known as the astronaut who sang David Bowie's Space Oddity from aboard the International Space Station. A video of this performance went viral on the internet and he became an instant celebrity. This past May, Commander Hadfield went on NPR during their TED Radio Hour, which is an information program spawned from the TED Talks series, an educational program covering a wide range of topics. This particular show was titled “What We Fear” and the host of the show asked Hadfield about his experiences going to the space station and what fears accompanied those voyages. He recounts one of his most vivid memories. He was watching a meteor burn in the earth's atmosphere from the space station window. “Immediately after admiring the beauty of it,” Hadfield says, he then recognized that it was just a “dumb rock from the universe” that came flashing between himself and the earth. He says that this dumb rock could just as easily have been 100 miles higher and obliterated himself and the rest of the crew on the space station—and there's nothing he could have done to prevent this completely random event from occurring. This randomness is what “sent a shiver [of fear] up [his] back.”

After hearing this story, the host of the show asked Hadfield why he would put himself in that kind of danger, “Why take the risk?” He asks. Hadfield responded: “I think if you're going to take any risk in life, if you're going to expose yourself to any danger, it's worth asking why. For me, if I'm going to take a risk, I want it to be for a purpose, I want it to have a reason and also something that I have some control over so that I can help to be master of my own destiny and fate at least to some degree.”

In the reading today from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus warns his disciples of the danger involved in following him. “Behold,” he says, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” He reminds his disciples that “if they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.”

Jesus gives a similar teaching in the Gospel of Luke, where he says “whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” The life Jesus calls us to lead is one of humility and self-sacrifice. Following Jesus means blessing those who curse you, turning the other cheek to those who would strike you, and giving your coat to the one who takes your shirt. Following Jesus means standing up for truth, the truth of the Gospel, even when others might revile you for doing so. Following Jesus means declaring the one way to God and humanities utter incompetence in gaining salvation by good deeds or personal righteousness. Following Jesus means pointing out the sin of the world and recognizing the sin within ourselves. And doing so means holding your reward in heaven in higher regard than anything the world can offer. It inevitably means offending those who deny the truth and receiving backlash for the name we carry with us. Because the name of Jesus signals death to those who are dying.

Talking about Jesus with those around us could break apart close friendships and cause a rift among family members. Saying there is one way to God means you are intolerant or narrow minded. Sharing the Good News of Jesus with others is forcing your beliefs onto them. In other parts of the world, people are literally giving up their lives for the sake of Jesus. People are being tortured and their homes burned to the ground because they worship the God revealed to us in Holy Scripture. There are young men and women being disowned by their parents and kicked out of their homes because they profess faith in Jesus Christ. And churches are risking imprisonment and death by meeting in secret for the chance to worship the Lord together.

Following Jesus is a risk. But it is a risk that we as Christians are all called to take. The question we have to ask ourselves is the same question that Commander Hadfield poses about his journey into space. Why should we bother to take such a risk? Is the danger—or even just the inconvenience—of the Christian life worth following Jesus? I think that the first thing we need to ask ourselves, is whether we have in Jesus a foundation strong enough for us to build our lives upon. What is the promise of Jesus? Is it something worth giving up everything we have to obtain?

After reading these teachings of Jesus, we see that following him is not about escaping suffering. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not that we can live comfortable lives and avoid the troubles of this world. The Good News of Jesus Christ is that he has come into the world to take on our suffering. He has come to join with us in our pain. He lived a fully human life so that we can take on a fully godly life. Jesus did not come so that we can escape the troubles of this world. He came to take part in our troubles.

The life Jesus chose to live brought him to the cross. On that cross, he died for the sin of the world. If we are called to be imitators of the life of Christ, do not forget that his life led him to the cross. The danger of following Jesus is that he himself was put to death. But, we also know that his death was not in vain. On the third day he rose again by the power of God the Father. His resurrection is the assurance of our hope. We will also be raised up on the last day. And our faith rests on that hope.

We don't only rely on faith and hope to conquer our fears. We have the promise of God. Jesus said that when he returned to the Father, he would ask and the Father will send the Holy Spirit to mark us as his own. This is the Spirit by whom “what you are to say will be given to you.” Jesus says that this is “the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” This same Spirit the Apostle Paul later calls “the Spirit of adoption … by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'” The Good News of Jesus Christ is not to avoid the troubles of this world. The Good News of Jesus Christ is that he has overcome the world, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against [his church].”

After his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to the crowds, “everyone who hears these words of mine will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

The promise of Jesus is not that troubles will end once you begin to follow him. The storm comes on both the righteous and the unrighteous. But Jesus promises that he will be “with you always, to the end of the age.” The incarnation of Jesus, his coming in the flesh to dwell among us, is the sign of his promise to us. He lowered himself from his throne in the courts of heaven and lived a life where he had no place to rest his head. The Word of God through whom all things were created stood outside the tomb of his friend Lazarus and wept. The Author of life who is above death, submitted himself to death's power and laid in a tomb for three days.

By incarnation, he has revealed himself to us. Because we are unable to understand the heavenly things, he came down and revealed himself as an earthly thing. “No one has ever seen God,” the Apostle John writes, but “the only God, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.” This is the one we are following. Jesus is not just a great man with great ideas. We follow very God of very God, who reveals the truth in all of its fullness and invites us to share in his glory.

Let's ask ourselves: Is it worth the risk to give up everything we have for the sake of Jesus? Is the cost of following Jesus worth the gain of salvation in him? Commander Hadfield said that if he is to risk his life, then what he does needs to have a purpose. Everything we can do in this life has only a temporary effect. But in Jesus, everything we do has eternal implications. We can have an impact on the eternity of not only ourselves, but those around us.

Commander Hadfield also says that if he is to take such a risk, he wants to “have some control over [it to] … be master of [his] own destiny and fate.” The problem is, just like with the meteor hurling through the vacuum of space at a random trajectory, we can't be in control of everything. But, we know the one who can. We know that we can put our lives into our Heavenly Father's hands, and as Jesus teaches, “not one of [the sparrows] will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs on your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Jesus is calling us to himself and assuring us of his love for each and every one. Please hear his words of comfort: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

We can calm the fears of this life in the assurance of faith. But following Jesus is still a call to radical self-surrender. Even with the assurance of salvation, how can we face the wolves when we are thrown in the midst them? How can we be sure that we won't freeze up when the time comes for us to put our livelihood on the line for the sake of Jesus—when the time comes to take up our cross and follow him?

The last time Commander Hadfield returned to earth, he did so aboard a Russian capsule moving at about 755 feet per second. He says, “in essence, you are riding a meteorite home, and riding meteorites is scary.” But Hadfield points out that twenty years before they ever got on this capsule, they learned everything they needed to know about it. They learned orbital mechanics, they learned vehicle control theory, and they went in a simulator until they could steer and land the capsule within a fifteen kilometer circle anywhere on earth. “So, in fact,” he says, “when our crew was coming back into the atmosphere … we weren't screaming. We were laughing.” What in any other circumstance would be a terrifying experience was fun because the astronauts had been trained over the last twenty years to operate the capsule to precision.

In the same way, if you throw a sheep among wolves, they would rightly be terrified. But if that sheep also happened to be equipped with the armor of God—of truth, righteousness, and faith—and also happened to be trained in wisdom and innocence, and also happened to have the Shepherd standing by its side with his rod and staff, all of a sudden those wolves don't seem so terrifying. The way to overcome fearful situations is to be prepared for when they come. “Train yourself for godliness,” Paul writes, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Jesus became incarnate to the whole world. We are incarnations of Christ to those around us. By equipping ourselves with the Word of God and being filled with his Spirit, we helpless sheep can face the most daunting challenges we come across in the valley of the shadow of death. Death poses no threat to those who are in Christ.

As we go forth into the world, let us all ask this question for ourselves: Is following Jesus worth the risk? Is his calling on my life worth the danger that it will bring to my well-being?

Jesus loves you. And he doesn't promise a comfortable life, but he does promise a life of joy and a life with him even in your deepest distress. He has shown his willingness to come and be with us in his incarnation. He has shown the fullness of his love for us in his death for our sins. He has shown faithfulness to his promises in his resurrection from the grave. Do not be afraid. Jesus has overcome the world and he cares for you. You are precious in his sight, and as no sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father, you also who have faith can never be torn from his grasp.

Sermon on John 15:1-10

This sermon was preached at Prince of Peace on Saturday, May 24th, 2014.

One of my friends over at the seminary has a five year old daughter named Norah. This past week, Norah had a bit of a cold, and wasn't feeling very well. When I walked over to their house, Norah was sitting on the porch with her mother, cuddled up in her arms, as her mother was reading a book for her. Even though Norah said had she wasn't hungry, her mother had brought out some snacks for her to eat so that she would feel better. As she continued reading, Norah wrapped her arms around mother's neck and dug her head into her shoulder.

When a child gets sick, what they really want is just to be with their mom or dad. The comforting scratch on the back or head gives them the assurance that only comes from such a close and caring relationship. Even when I got a pretty bad stomach bug last summer, I was laying in my apartment thinking of how I really wished I had a friend to be with me, to help me through my pain. Why do you think this is? Where does this need come from to have others there when we're in pain? It points to a greater truth about all of us: not only are we made to be in relationship, but we need the love that comes from being in relationship when we are at our weakest point.

While I think we can all agree on this, what I want us to consider today is this: We all need God because even right now we are already at our weakest point. We are right now suffering from sickness and hurt. Jesus came to heal that sickness, and what we can learn from this passage in the Gospel of John about the True Vine is not just about how we can be and do better, but why we need him if we want to be able to do anything at all.

Jesus says, “I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser.” He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Sometimes, we read this passage to mean that we need to do good things, and that those good things come from Jesus. We think about it selfishly, as if Jesus is giving us the secret formula for being a good person. This makes us think the way we show our trust in him is by doing more for him as proof of our love. Now, I do believe that when we have faith in Jesus, it should show itself in what we do and how we live. But, I think there is a deeper level to this that shouldn't be missed. If you'll remember little Norah who I told you about earlier; she actually had a ballet recital later on the day when I went over to visit them. Norah had been looking forward to this recital for months, and would have been devastated if she were unable to go and perform. Her mother wanted her to go to the recital, but wanted to make sure Norah would be healthy enough to do so first. There was no way that without her mother's help she would have been healthy enough to perform. Her mother gave her what she needed to heal, but also kept Norah from doing things that would actually make her sickness worse.

I think what we need to realize before we consider what sorts of things we can do for Jesus is that first and foremost: We don't abide in Jesus so we can do more, we abide in Jesus because without him we can do nothing. We are sick children in need of the love of our heavenly Father. It's helpful to think of sin as a sickness. Being in sin is not the way we're meant to live. The sinful life is not the healthy life. We were made to be holy; we were set apart by God among his creation to be made in his own image. We see Paul proclaim in Acts 17 that “[God] himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything,” and that we are “God's offspring” because he created us in his image. This truth should be evident to us because as Paul says, “he is actually not far from each one of us.”

A branch isn't separate from a vine and a young child doesn't ever actually leave their parent's house. All we as branches and children can do is disobey. It's by our disobedience to God that sin enters into the world. We were made to be the image of God, but sin distorts that image into something nearly unrecognizable. Where there is meant to be love, we have bickering and division. Where there is meant to be charity, we have selfishness and greed. Where there is meant to be righteousness, we have corruption and deceit. And this is in all of us. It's easy to point to those around us and say “at least I don't do such and such a sin!” But, we need to realize that it is all of us who are sick, not in degrees as if sin had a scale for us to measure ourselves on, but we are all terminally ill with sin.

This is why we read Jesus saying “if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Sin blocks us off from God. It is a disease which knows its own cure. And the only way it can continue to spread and destroy is by keeping the branches away from their source of life. When a vine is planted, it gives water to all of it's branches, but when something blocks a branch's veins, it cannot give water to the branch. Sin clogs our veins like a blood clot, keeping us from the living water of the Holy Spirit which brings life. And so the only thing left to do with a dead branch is to throw it away. Jesus doesn't want us thrown away, so he calls us to abide in him so that he can give us what we need to live. If we don't abide in him and receive what he has to give us, we will die because of sin. Again, we don't abide in Jesus to do more, but we abide in Jesus because we are sick and helpless and without him we can do nothing.

“If you keep my commandments,” Jesus says, “you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.” We shouldn't think about keeping the commandments as appeasing God, as if we could do anything to make him love us more than he already does. He gives his commandments because that's what it takes to be healthy. Norah didn't want to eat the fruit and cereal her mother gave her, because her sickness was telling her she wasn't hungry. When her mother said not to run around outside, it wasn't because she didn't want Norah to have fun, but because she needed to rest in order to heal. It is sin which tells us we don't want God's commandments. Sin tells us we don't hunger or thirst for righteousness. Keeping the commandments of Christ is part of the path to healing from the illness of sin. When we love God and our neighbors, we are being healed of the idolatry of self that sin has placed in our hearts. When we give to everyone who has need, we learn to let go of our earthly treasures which will be destroyed, and to exchange them for the treasure of heaven—the love of God and eternal life in his kingdom. When we rest on the Sabbath day or give up our worries about this life, we are trusting in God's provision. Because God is the only one who can truly heal our sickness.

We need to remember that sin is more than just not being good, or not obeying God's law. It's like a contagious disease that infects our human nature. We can try to beat it by ourselves, but it's so deeply ingrained in our marrow and flowing in our bloodstream that without the help of a true professional, we can only battle the symptoms, but we can't treat the disease. Sin isn't only in our actions, it's in our hearts. It's in our anger, our lust, our greed, and our pride. And fight all you want, but you will never overcome it on your own. We need the help of God, the help of Jesus Christ, if we ever want to be healed of the disease of sin. This is important: If we don't rely on God to heal us, even if we follow his commandments perfectly, we are still only treating the symptoms and not the disease. Selfishness, greed, deceit, lust, and all of these things are not the sickness, but they are symptoms of the greater sickness of sin. They are meant to be treated, but only after the main treatment has already been made. Otherwise, they will continue to spread from their source.

So now, our question is this: how do we receive the treatment for the disease of sin which is blocking us off from abiding in the True Vine?

In the famous thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians, Paul writes, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” No matter what we do, it is nothing of we don't have love—just like treating the symptoms is nothing if you don't have the treatment for the disease. And according to the apostle John in his first letter, “by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.” The treatment for sin is love, and we love by not only loving one another, but by being loved by God. We love because he first loved us. We don't measure our salvation by how much we love God or how much we do in his name, but our salvation comes by his love for us and by what he has already done in Jesus Christ. Our faith is just that: Faith. We have faith in God's love for us because he sent his only son while we were yet sinners to die for us. Even when we waver, his love remains strong. That is the assurance of faith, not that we love God but that he loves us and will continue to love us, not based on what we do or how we act, but because we are his and he has made us in his image.

When Norah finally got to her ballet recital, she was still feeling sick. But the dance was only about a minute long, and she was healthy enough to follow along in the routine with the other little girls in her dance class. She was noticeably tired, her movements were slow, and it completely wiped her out. But after the recital, her parents ran up to her and told her what a great job she did. Because even as she was sick and only had the talent that a five year old can muster, her parents saw her on stage as a beloved daughter delighting in performing for them.

God does call us to perfection, but he also delights in every attempt we make to love him. When we do good things or even when we gather here in worship, we aren't pleasing God because of our talent or devotion. We are pleasing him because he loves us the same as he always has and because he sees us through the loving eyes of a Father. We are nothing more than sick children doing a one-minute dance recital slightly off beat. Yes, we are getting over our sickness, but even if we were completely healthy, we're not even as talented as a five year old compared to God. God isn't impressed by us, but he loves when we follow his commandments because he sees us through his eyes of love. His commandments are for healing and life, not so you can boast when you follow them but so you can know God more deeply and love him more fully. When we love one another, when we love him, he sees what we were always intended to be: images of God. And we cannot do any of this if we don't abide in his love which we have through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God loves you and he wants you to be healed from the sickness of sin. The only treatment for this sickness is love and true love can only be found in him. Abide in his love because you can do absolutely nothing on your own to heal yourself. Even all that we do here is an unimpressive mess. There is no way we can meet the standards of God. But that doesn't matter. When we perform for him instead of ourselves or each other, he's delighted in our awkward dance routines because he is our Father and he loves us as a good father loves his children. And as it is written, “every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” The more we abide in his love, the more we will see come out of it. But the first thing we need to do is abide in his love and know that we won't be cut off from it by him. Only the branches that have already died are cut off. But we have life by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, once for all, to heal us of sin. Because he chose to die, now we, even if we die, will live through him. He will raise us up on the last day and bring us fully healed into his eternal kingdom. No branch that abides in the love of God will see death. And we know we have the love of God not because we are able to do great things in his name, but because he has shown his love to us through his Son. If you believe in him, abide in him, and live through him because he abides in you.

Homily on Mark 9:42-50

This Homily was preached in the Morning Prayer service at the Trinity School for Ministry Chapel on Tuesday, April 8th, 2014.

Mark 9:42-50 Homily

Yesterday, as I was waiting for lunch to start, I was over in the bookstore reading one of the Calvin and Hobbes collections Pam keeps under her desk. I'm sure most of you are aware of the comic strip—thankfully not a collection of two historical thinkers having a dialogue on civil liberties. It's the story of Calvin, an inconsiderate, wildly imaginative, and reckless child and his stuffed animal friend, Hobbes, who comes to life in Calvin's imagination. Calvin likes to go on adventures in his own mind, and he brings Hobbes along for the ride, often blaming the stuffed tiger for the trouble he gets in when his parents come around to discipline him. In other words, Calvin is a kid just like any other kid you've probably met. I have a younger sister that's going to be turning eleven this year, and I'm friends with enough of the families in our community to know that children can be troublesome, to say the least. In fact, the most discomforting sound in a household of small children is actually the sound of silence. It's usually a sign that they're up to no good. Most parents know that quiet means it's time to start calling names to find out just what sort of mischief is going on behind closed doors.

Now, if this is an accurate description of children, then we need to consider how that might influence our understanding of the teachings of Jesus in Mark which are taught while a child is with him. It makes me think of the time last week or the week before (they all kind of blend together at this point in the semester), when Rebecca did the Scripture reading with her daughter Naomi in her arms. I want us to hold onto that image while we go through the teachings of Jesus this morning, because that's the same thing Jesus was doing as he taught his disciples.

First, let's jump back a little bit in our Gospel passage. I'll be starting from the story which drove Jesus to pick up this child, where the disciples are caught arguing over who was the greatest. Jesus uses the child to emphasize the point that the one who wants to be the greatest must be the least. Does a parent holding their child consider themselves greater or less than the child in their arms? What comes first; the parent's physical toll of holding and calming a child, or that child's peace? Jesus is enacting the very lesson he teaches the disciples here by holding this child in his arms. A child may want to be the greatest, but a parent wants to serve. By his actions, holding this child in his arms, he shows the servant leadership that is expected of his disciples.

Next, John says to him that there was another person casting out demons in his name and that the disciples tried to stop that person because it wasn't one of them. But, Jesus says no one doing mighty works in his name can do so for long and still be against him. The child Jesus is holding is the example here. The child doesn't fully know who Jesus is, but wouldn't it be counter-intuitive for Jesus to use that as an excuse to not let the child come to him? This is essentially what the disciples were doing to this person casting out demons. They were saying, “you only sort of know about Jesus, so you aren't allowed to know him at all.” No, Jesus wants those who seek to find and those who ask to be given the gift of Life.

This brings us to the reading for today, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” By debating who is the greatest, we are not only harming ourselves with the corruption of pride, but we are harming those Jesus came to serve by not also bending down to pick up the lowly and serve them in parental humility. Paul calls himself a father to the Corinthian church through the Gospel preached to them. All ministers are to serve the church as a parent serves their child. I don't have children of my own, but I can venture to guess that raising a child should bring to mind your shortcomings before it does your merits as a parent. In the same way, we must lead the people of God in full humility, knowing that only by his grace are we able to be examples, and not by any righteousness of our own. The infants of the faith can teach those full-grown just as well as the other way around. By boasting about greatness, we don't just distance ourselves from those we are called to serve, but blind ourselves to the lessons they have to teach us.

Likewise, we should not cut off those who may not fully understand from partaking in the power of Jesus Christ. If Priscilla and Aquila had reprimanded Apollos for his preaching instead of instructing him in the Gospel, his entire ministry may have been erased from the Church's history. The duty of the minister is the equip the saints for the ministry, meaning all who come earnestly seeking after the name of Jesus Christ are to be welcomed and brought up in the faith to share the Gospel and encourage the saints.

Because Jesus Christ came to us when we were still insolent children and patiently dealt with us, not as we deserved, but out of his love, so we follow his example. By the redemption in his blood, which sanctifies us to be a holy priesthood, and by the promise fulfilled in his resurrection, which seals us with his Holy Spirit, we are to share in the work which he has prepared for us to walk in. Do the work set before you in the humility of Christ, fully aware of your sin. Receive those who seek after God with the love of Christ, knowing that you, also, were once lost. And be purged of those evil things which would keep you from fulfilling this call through repentance by the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.

By these things we remain in the light and are the salt of the earth. In these things we have peace as the family of God, adopted by the Spirit of Christ to be true children and heirs of his kingdom.

Homily on John 9:1-17

This homily was preached in the Morning Prayer service at the Trinity School for Ministry Chapel on Monday, Feburary 17th, 2014.

John 9:1-17 Homily

There's a certain phrase I've heard used a lot recently. It's mostly used when someone is grieving or going through hard times, and it's a phrase I have some trouble with. I know the good intentions behind it, but cannot support its assumptions. It's a short phrase and it goes like this: “Everything happens for a reason.”

This phrase is used mostly as a comfort to those who mourn or suffer. It's used as a reminder that God is in control and that he uses all things to serve his purpose. But, its message has an ugly implication underneath. It assumes that God is the cause of our suffering. Saying everything happens for a reason is saying that God intends suffering. This phrase comes about through an unwillingness to accept the meaninglessness of suffering. We ourselves, at Trinity, have a friend, a sister and mother to all of us at this school, who is currently in the midst of suffering.

Martha is suffering from leukemia and it's thrown this place into some shock. But, what amazes me, and what shows the true Gospel in the midst of all of this, is that even as we suffer together with her, we also share in her joy. I've seen evidence of many visits to her on social media, and they all have the same sentiment of love about them. Prayers are raised not only for healing, but for her ministry at the hospital where she is being treated. I've gained insight into how much Martha touches the lives of those around her. And what amazes me most is to see her still offering prayers and encouragement to others with selfless vigor.

I don't believe everything happens for a reason, because I don't want to blame God for our suffering. But I can say that everything that happens can serve a purpose. God might not have caused the brothers of Joseph to sell him into slavery, but he used that act to save those very brothers from famine. When “his disciples ask him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The sufferings of individuals are not easy for us to reconcile. But, our job isn't to give a reason for suffering. We are called to take part in suffering and share in the pain of those around us. Our calling is to point to suffering and agree, “yes, this is wrong. This is not good.” We can't justify evil with a “but God says...” or “but, you should...” Evil is bad. It's also real. And that's something we need to recognize, and not try to sweep it under the rug of phrases like “everything happens for a reason” to make us feel better about it. The only way you can combat suffering is by stepping into it and taking on the full force of it's wicked affliction.

The Philippian church could receive Paul's exhortation to rejoice because while he was in Philippi, they saw the joy he had in the midst of suffering. They knew that while he was in prison, he sang songs to God. They trusted him because of his suffering on their behalf. Paul's own example of this was in Jesus, and he wrote about it to the Philippians in his epistle, that “though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Jesus didn't need to suffer, but he stepped down from his place in the heavenly courts to take part in our suffering. The love of God was shown in that he chose to lower himself to the utmost in order to be with us. The most incomprehensible truth of the Gospel is the fact that “the Word [who was with God and who was God] became flesh and dwelt among us.” This is what draws us closer to him: the fact that he came to us. “We love because he first loved us.” And not only this, but knowing that we could not bear our suffering, he took our suffering upon himself, lifted up on the Cross and dying, very God of very God, as punishment for our sins.

This is the God we serve and worship. Over the centuries we've cried out to him, begging for an answer as to why we suffer the way we do. He didn't give a reason to make our suffering more bearable. He didn't justify who he is with our suffering, or even command us to stop complaining. He chose instead to join us in our suffering. He came down, he walked among us, and he died on a Cross.

In our passage, he says, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When Jesus rose again from the dead, he accomplished the work of God. He also assured us that the light was still in the world and not defeated by the darkness. There is no night, because the light of the world is risen. We need to trust that the light is among us, and we can still do his work as long as we have the light.

Our community at this school has been attacked by darkness. Martha is still in the hospital and still going through treatments, but the darkness cannot overcome the light. The light defies understanding, because light in the darkness is joy in the midst of suffering. The light is continued encouragement and prayers for others in the midst of personal need. The light is the Gospel. It's the truth that we serve a God who did not reason away our suffering, but came down and joined us in the midst of it. He took the punishment for sin upon himself when it wasn't required of him. Others reason that this couldn't have happened. It was Judas on the Cross because no prophet could demean himself so much. Or Jesus was clearly just a man because the God of the universe wouldn't stoop so low as to make himself like us. But for those whom the light has cured of blindness, we see his suffering and we worship him. We worship him because he didn't tell us that our suffering is alright. He didn't tell us that it was all part of his plan. He didn't tell us to deal with it and stop complaining. He didn't do any of these things, but he came to us, he wrapped us in his love, and he says to us continually, “Abide in my love.”

Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11

This sermon was preached at Prince of Peace on the weekend of December 14-15, 2013.

Expectation is part of our everyday lives. We have expectations in our relationships. We have expectations in our jobs. We have expectations of ourselves. And if you've noticed, we have a lot of expectations that are never met. Sometimes we put a financial investment in something that promises return. We expect to be healed of loneliness by beginning a romantic relationship. We expect the government to change things because we voted for a certain politician. Over and over, we find our expectations unmet. We lose our financial investment because the project failed. We find that the people we've expected to heal our loneliness are just as broken as us, and just as in need of healing. And of course, we find out that no matter the promises, no governor has the power to change the world in a single term. We have a history of unmet expectations. How can we trust the promise of expectation when time and again, our expectations are left unfulfilled?

This Advent season is all about expectation. We are in expectation of the coming Messiah. This expectation is represented by the Christmas day miracle: God made flesh as Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit from the virgin Mary. This was the long expected Messiah of Israel. He is the one to redeem the whole of creation. But, as we continue waiting through this Advent season, even after Christmas day comes and passes by, we are still waiting. We are waiting expectantly for the coming again of Jesus Christ. The season of Advent only lasts about three and a half weeks, but we have been in the true Advent from the day Jesus ascended into heaven. We wait for him to return. We expect him to return.

John the Baptist is not much different from us. He began his ministry as one calling out from the wilderness. He baptized people in the Jordan river for the forgiveness of sins. He called people to repent and be ready for the one coming after him. He knew Jesus was coming. This is what drove his ministry. He called people to repentance because the one who judges the sins of the world was near.

But what happened to him? After he baptized Jesus and Jesus took over the ministry, he slowly faded from the gospel picture. We find out that he was arrested by Herod and put in prison. Things had taken a bad turn in the life of John the Baptist. And that is where we come in on our passage for today,

“Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'”

John the Baptist, who preached the coming Messiah, and recognized Jesus as that Messiah was now questioning everything that had happened. This doesn't mean that John doubted Jesus, but perhaps he doubted his method. John probably wasn't expecting to be waiting for death in a prison cell once Jesus came around. Shouldn't the messiah be overthrowing the Roman authorities and re-establishing the nation of Israel as God's chosen people? Jesus was supposed to bring redemption, but instead John found himself at the mercy of sinful Gentiles.

Roughly thirty years after this moment, Paul is writing to the church in Rome about this same kind of experience.

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

And this is still our experience today. The expectation in the last days is like labor pains that come before childbirth. We look around us and we see that things are not right. We are in a world that is not right. We see famine and destruction. People killing each other with no remorse. There are some of us who are having trouble making ends meet. Jobs are hard to come by. Families are being torn apart. Drug abuse is destroying lives. Wars are taking even more. And we inwardly groan with all of creation in these last days. We eagerly wait for our adoption into God's household because it's hard going day-by-day in a fallen world. Jesus came with the promise of salvation, but when we look around, we don't see it. So we ask, “Is this the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

And how does Jesus respond? Our passage reads,

“And Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.'”

When we feel like our Advent expectations aren't being met, the problem is not with Jesus. The problem isn't that Jesus is forsaking us. The problem isn't that Jesus was unable to fulfill his promises. The problem is that we aren't seeing Jesus with the right eyes. We have a wrong perspective of what Jesus is doing in the world. John the Baptist, trapped in a prison cell, couldn't see past his own experience. He heard about these miraculous things that Jesus was doing in the world. If I were in John's place, I know my first reaction to hearing this news would be to ask, “but what about me?” In the dark confines of his prison cell, John was unable to see the light that was shining throughout the world. We cannot be prisoners to the darkness around us. We cannot be blinded by the walls of sin and death that surround us. Jesus is doing wonderful things in this world. His good news is spreading throughout all nations.

Our perspective needs to shift. We need to not look at the darkness, but into the light. We need to realize that the darkness isn't so dark because the light of the world has come. Death is temporary for those who have the good news of Jesus Christ. By his love, the works of God are being performed by people throughout the world. “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” Our expectations are being fulfilled in these things; our expectations of the reign of God on earth. The pains will come because the world is in the pains of childbirth. This world as it is won't meet our expectations, because we are called to heavenly expectation. As we grow in our understanding of Christ, we see how fallen the world is around us. And we see why the reign of God needs to come into the world.

It's not about overthrowing the powers that be, but lifting up the lowly. It's about sharing in the suffering of sin and death. Jesus Christ did not only come to abolish death, but to join in its misery. His cry on the cross was not only “It is finished,” but, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus took part in the suffering of the world. He took on the flesh of a man and the very nature of a human person. He lowered himself from his heavenly place and took part in our suffering. And he did not leave us alone, but gave us the promise of his return through the Holy Spirit.

We groan inwardly, awaiting our adoption into God's household. Paul writes that “in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” We need to be assured that our hope is not in this life. Our hope is not in jobs, money, or relationships. Our hope is in Christ. And we can be assured that our hope will be fulfilled because he rose again from the grave as our promise. Until then, we need to wait patiently. We must stay ready for when that time comes.

As I said earlier, Christ came into the world to suffer along with us and to bring us peace in that suffering. We as Christians must join with Christ in sharing the suffering of the world around us. We aren't called to rule over others, but to serve them. In the world we move forward by moving up. We become successful by stepping over the people below us. Money and power are our gains. But in the kingdom of God, moving deeper into God is lowering ourselves. It's taking the lowest place and valuing others as greater than ourselves. Our belongings are not our own, and so we are called to give and serve. Jesus used John the Baptist as the example,

“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’”

Jesus uses John the Baptist to show what a citizen of the Kingdom looks like. Not someone dressed in fine clothing. Not someone shaken by the wind of the social climate. John was a prophet of God who stood firm in his proclamation. But even though, “there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” Jesus teaches that “the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

We need to join in this heavenly call by changing our perspectives to heavenly values. In expectation of our Lord's return, we take part in his work here on earth. Jesus asks, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”

There is work to be finished here on earth and Jesus has set his servants to care for it. The brokenness of the world is not a sign that Jesus hasn't done his job. It is a sign that Jesus' mission continues.

“As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”

As we wait for the Lord in expectation, it means we have the opportunity to share in his work. Jesus says that the signs of his kingdom are that “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” Let's be bringers of the kingdom in this way. Let's take part in his mission to the world. Let's take care of the poor and the oppressed around us. Instead of ignoring the homeless, let's sit and eat with them. Instead of blaming addicts for their problems, let's stand by them and pray with them. And instead of scoffing at those who do not know Christ, let's share the good news and welcome them into the family of God.

This can only happen by faith in the power of the Gospel. We should expect Jesus to work in mighty ways. Even through our poor and broken selves, the glory of God can shine. We need to expect Jesus. It's easy to grow impatient when we are surrounded by darkness. But, darkness has no power over light. And Jesus, the light of the world, will keep his promise to return. We need to stay in expectation of his return. This means we need to remain in daily prayer. We need to meditate on the word he has given us in the Scriptures. We need to fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to commune by the Spirit at the Lord's table. And we need to love those whom Christ loves; the last and the least. Because these are the ones who will make up his kingdom.

It's easy to be distracted by the world, but we cannot let that take us away from our hope. Our hope isn't in investing in the right business ventures. It isn't in romances. It isn't in political powers. Our hope is in the one true God who reigns for ever and ever.

We need change our perspective. John the Baptist had trouble looking past his jail cell. We have trouble looking past the problems of this life. Our problems could be finances, relationships, or just staying stable. But you can be sure that the problems of this world will pass away. Jesus Christ has overcome the world.

We need to look to our heavenly promise. Our God is everlasting and he will bring full redemption to all of creation. Our situations may seem hopeless, but so long as God lives, there is always hope. Trust in that. Trust that with God, even the impossible can be done. Even the most hardened sinner can turn to repentance. Even the deepest mourning can turn to joy. There will come a day when he will wipe away every tear. Stay ready for that day. Stay ready by prayer. Stay ready by Scripture meditation. Stay ready by doing the work of the kingdom; serving the poor and sharing the good news. Stay ready by remembering that your expectation is not based on human works, but on the work of God: that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again from the grave. Our expectation is that he will come again and make all things new. But until that day comes, let's share in the work he has given us to do.