SCRIPTURE: Matthew 3:1-12
TEXT: 12b “he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary…” THEME: INTRODUCTION Last week we began our Advent journey, towards the birthday celebration of Jesus, with a look at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. It talked about being awake as we wait for Jesus’ second coming. Waiting requires our paying attention to what God is doing in the world. God is always on the move and is, as the slogan of the United Church of Christ says; “still speaking”. So be Awake. In today’s passage, we have two different ways to reconcile our relationship with God; one at the temple in Jerusalem, and the other is at the Jordan River. SCRIPTURE This week, We are introduced to John the Baptist the prophet, speaking God’s words to the people of God, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has come near.”. Matthew dresses John like the Old Testament prophet Elijah in camel hair cinched with a wide leather belt, eating locusts and honey in the wilderness. Then puts the words of the Prophet Isaiah are in his mouth, “Preparing the way of the Lord, making his way straight.” The People of Jerusalem of Judea came to be baptized by John in Jordan, confessing their sins. After being captive in Egypt as slaves, the Jordan river was the entrance way into the promise land. Repenting the direction of their lives towards God, baptism is the sign of this new commitment with God. Reconciling with God in this way, people let go of their sins as they confess them, entering a new beginning with God. This was the same life-giving ministry that was done by the Pharisees and Scribes at the temple in Jerusalem. Only without the exchange of currency to temple money, the purchasing of a sacrificial animal as a payment for their sin, and the intercessory of a priest to petition their reconciliation with God. To right ourselves before God in Jerusalem had become ritualized and expensive. While what John the Baptist offered, although remote, was unregulated and free. The Pharisees and Scribes showed up to be baptized. John called them a brood of vipers trying to escape a coming tribulation. This is not the reason to be baptized. What will save is a heart turned towards God. Not even tracing a lineage to Abraham will save. Here is a bit of foreshadowing of Jesus’ Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as John says that God can create a people of God from lifeless stones. The old way of connecting to God through a family’s ancestral tree is not a substitute for having a relationship with God, that way is being chopped up and thrown into the fire. The only way to bear fruits of reconciliation is to turn our focus away from ourselves and place the focus of our lives on God and God’s ways. Then John points them towards Jesus, “The one coming is so great even he is unworthy to untie his sandals. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Baptism is like a signature on a contract. Our turning towards God is signed with a water Baptism. Our participating in the mission of God is signed with a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. Our lives are shaken up in this way from living for only ourselves to living in relationship with God like how a winnowing fork will shake up the wheat on the threshing floor. Wheat has the potential to be a life-giving grain (seed) or just a husk, rubbish, chaff. We are all wheat with the potential of producing life or chaff, seed or rubbish. As we turn towards God what do we do with the rubbish in our lives and how do we live in life giving ways? APPLICATION Are you beginning to see how precious and valued we are to God? Our story with God is unique, and so is the love we share with God. Coming to God does not need to be harder than it has to be. So, salvation is moved away from the temple and back towards God. For John the Baptist at the Jordan, away from the trappings of the temple, all it took, was our turning towards God (and God would do the rest). How do we live as Seeds full of the potential of life? Turning towards God is being open to change. How God loves and forgives us, influences the way we love and forgive others. As our relationship with God changes, from running away from God and hiding, to running towards God and enjoying God’s company. As a result, our tastes, enjoyments, investments, values and company changes. Our perspective changes. We live with the realization that we are seen as Good and loved by God. This is why God sends Jesus; to us. To Earth, to live among us, to teach us how to live with God, not just obey God, but live for Christ in the community, at our work, in our schools and in our families. As the way we live affects others, and they influence others in the same way, in the many areas their lives touch, spreading the Reign of Christ broader and nearer. God does not see us as Junk, as needing to be fixed, but as valued and needing to be loved. That is why Noah and his family with all of the animals are saved. God’s loving us is life giving not death escaping. So, when we become unafraid of death, we can be freed to Live the best life that we can with God. Pray, read your Bible, use your imagination, be awake to what God is already doing, be creative, listen to God’s “still speaking” voice. Talk to others of faith, read the Christian thinker of the day and discern the will of God and have faith to live. CONCLUSION The week before last, I went around with a group of ladies from our church taking care of administrative business of our church. At every office we went to, they engaged the personal in fun conversation and then invited them to come to our church. They were not pushy, evangelistic, or judgmental. They were engaging, funny and inviting. They showed the fun they were having living their lives for Christ at our church. I was happy to see them in this light. Last week I met this guy who was invited by his relative to come to a church. He did, was called up to the stage and gave his life to Christ. His life was transformed. He is rough around the edges but his heart is for good, honestly, hard work and God. He has many stories of what it means to live according to God’s ways in his daily life and at work. He is by no means perfect, but who is? We are all being worked on in our relationship with God as the handiwork for Christ. These are seeds of grain taking to life. Sharing the life, they have found by turning towards God, in how they live. Alive
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Pastor robbSermons Archives
May 2024
|