SCRIPTURE: Malachi 3:1-4
TEXT: 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. THEME: Jesus gives us Hope that things will change for the future. INTRODUCTION As we prepare for the reign of Christ at Christmas, we are exploring what it means for peace to reign, for hope to reign, for love to reign of love, and for joy to reign. Last week we looked at the reign of peace that came about with the defeat of Israel by the Babylonian army. Their inability to let go of their hard held beliefs prevented them from considering another perspective, feelings or values. They drew hard lines of intolerance to defend against attacks. They created divisions that lead to a civil war instead of coming to an understanding. Their self-righteousness closed them from recognizing even the voice of God, as feelings of intolerance and superiority grew. Whatever factions or bickering they held against each other were brought to an end with their defeat at the hands of the Babylonians. At peace with each other they now had a common enemy, were exiled in the Babylonian Captivity. as a common people, by a common enemy. They put their differences aside in order to survive and to have a hope for the future. SCRIPTURE When God reigns, things are going to be different. God sends a messenger to prepares the way for what God is going to do. The people are caught by surprise when the Lord comes to the temple. This is a commentary on their state of worship, where they did the perfunctory movements but never expect God to show up. God being able to show up in our midst gives us a sense of appreciation for the forms and style of the past that have kept and preserved our faith. Often times when we do things year after year, we forget their meaning and the tradition becomes more important than what they represent. Getting back to what they really mean gives us the opportunity to revive, adapt, accommodate and create. Remember when the Tongan Congregation was worshiping in our sanctuary? The men would dress to the ’T’ in black suits, each Sunday. A custom from back home, even in our summer heat. Younger members asked for a change but the elders held fast, as keepers of the tradition. It is about honor, respect, coming into the presence of the royal holy one. How they dress showed their veneration and honor to God their king. But they forget the welcomed shepherd at the stable’s manger where the King of Kings, is a different type of king. When the Lord suddenly appears at our worship, is what we are wearing really going to matter? Real worship is not window dressing. There is a refinement and washing of temple worship to bring our hearts back in line with God’s intent. Our worship practices are redeemable, but we will have to be willing to change from what they are, to evolved into something new. “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”4 a pure heart, the right intent, communion with God and neighbor. Are we willing to let go of what has become culturally familiar to align ourselves more perfectly for God? During the Pandemic we have had to use Facebook and YouTube, now we may have to look at other platforms. We cut out the Gloria Patri, Reach Out and Take a Hand. We cut verses out of hymns, we took out anthems in order to keep our posting lively and short, to keep the attention of our viewers. The competition to gather an audience on the internet is greater because there is so much more on line. The difference being we know you and you know us from before. And we are beginning to make new friends. And strengthen other connection in this way. APPLICATION When the church was engaged in strategic planning, at the end of the 1990’s, the consultants said that depending where we were, we might have to make a few adjustments. But if our mission and actions did not line up, then we will need to have engage in a systematic strategic plan. Then we were asked to identify our Constituents, our Context, our missional Heritage, and how we were organized. We worked on discerning the will of God and what God was calling us to participate in. This has given us a Missional outlook on who we are and what we do. We looked at our Heritage through the eyes of mission, we looked to see what God was doing around us, because God is still on the move. We listened to what scriptures were surfacing because God is still speaking. We began to imagine different images of the church. 1. The People of God being the people of God in how they lived, spoke and acted, 2. A people on a journey, traveling together, and learning how to be a community along the way, caring for each other and learning about God. 3. A medical ship where we went to different places and tended to those who needed healing, spiritually, physically, with caring and acceptance. Some whom we helped join us on the ship and others departed the ship to be part of the communities we reached. 4. A surrogate family. We recognized that our church started with those who came from elsewhere to live on Maui and left their extended families behind. So, we have become their Aunties and Uncles, Grandparents, and relatives on Maui. Then lastly, we saw ourselves as the back side of a tapestry. We are different bits of string, colors, textures, lengths all knotted together and, in a mess, but on the other side, was a beautiful picture. After prayer and meditation, we were able to discern the picture on the other side of the tapestry was of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It held all of our images of; journey, being, healing, caring, family, community and belonging in this one scripture from the Gospel of Luke. Seeing this image of the church, enabled us to let go of somethings and begin to move towards something, instead of just trying to keep all of our old pieces together. With appreciation of the loving expression of our church, we took that foundation to build into our future. Jim Bradly, my Church History professor at Fuller, talked about the monasteries during the Dark Ages with appreciation. Although we may disagree with their theology and how ritualized Christianity had become during this time, it preserved the faith so that the Reformers has something that could be reformed later rather than lost. CONCLUSION We are building on the faith foundation of this congregation. We honor the old forms but we are ready to the something new. In some ways, living through the Pandemic has purged, refined, and condensed our resolve as a church. We still are doing the Wailuku Mission Housing project. We still love and care for each other. We still worship and pray. We still do the preschool and the food pantry. And we will have another Maui Outstanding Piano Amateur Festival this coming February. But what we will look like in the future is like crossing a bridge where the other side is hidden by a dense fog. All we know is traveling together, and we will get into the future of what God has, together. We will figure what God wants us to do along the way and when we get there. Christmas brings a Reign of Hope into our lives with Jesus and all of us.
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May 2024
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