December 6, 2009

 

2009 12 06

Look Out Below!

Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 1:68-79
Luke 3:1-6

 

Directions for Communion:  the ushers will be passing the trays of bread and cups.  Please take the bread and hold on to it until you also have a cup.  Then when everyone has both, then we will partake of them together.

 

Right about this time last week, our family was in Wilmore, KY.  This is where Asbury Seminary is...the place where Jen and I first met.  We knew that we needed a place to stay on the way back from Florida.  I had made plans for us to stay in Louisville, but when I realized how close we would be to Wilmore, I quickly changed our plans.  We stayed at The Asbury Inn, right on campus.

 

We spent four years there.  So Jen and I have a lot of memories from that place.  We spent time roaming the campus with Katie and Ben in tow.  All the places we worked, studied, and worshipped together.  We made a quick trip to Shaker Village on Pleasant Hill to show the kids where I asked Jen to marry me.  When we left Wilmore and started home, we couldn't wait to drive up US 68 to Lexington. 

 

Wilmore, KY is a small town, and if you needed something or simply wanted to go somewhere, you went to Lexington.  And US 68 would take you there.  Along 68, there were all these horse farms along the way with white fences, large stables, and giant beautiful homes.  We also remembered the drive for something else.

 

US 68, like many Kentucky roads, had always been a twisting, turning road with lots of dips and sharp curves and with little room for error.  It was a dangerous road.  One of our classmates died while driving it at the time we were at seminary.  However, it was the main road between Wilmore and Lexington. 

 

So, it was very strange to drive that road as we left Wilmore last Sunday.  We came into town in the dark, and by a different route.  So we had not seen all the changes that have been made. 

 

Over the course of several years, they have been cutting out much of the hills and straightening out the curves.  They are turning it into a four-lane road, so that more people can drive it...safely.  In reality, they are building a completely new road.  In many places you can't even see the old road anymore.  It is a couple hundred feet off to the side.  When the project is completed, it will be a smooth, graceful, beautiful way for people to get where they need to be.

 

In this season of Advent, we prepare our hearts for the celebration of the birth of Christ.  That is in essence the theme of Advent: Getting ready...preparing.  Some two thousand years ago, God sent his son, Jesus, to earth.  The earth was filled with darkness.  Although God had created the earth, and filled it with light and goodness...disobedience and sin and defiled it...darkened it.  Through the judges, prophets, and the occasional faithful king in the Old Testament, God gave the earth a flicker of the light that had once been upon the earth.  Through the Law, God gave humanity a glimpse of what faith, love, and righteousness could and should be.  But it wasn't enough.

 

The Son of God would come to earth to bring light to the world once again. The world would need to be prepared for his coming.  You have probably heard the saying, "if I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake?"  God did not want us to be ready for him in those respects.  God did not want some kind of welcome back party with cake and ice cream.  God wanted the people to be ready in their hearts for the coming of Jesus.  And the one who would prepare the way for him was John, the Baptist.

 

Take a moment, and think of some of the stories of Jesus that you might remember off hand from the gospels:  Jesus dealing with his disciples.  Jesus healing the sick.  Jesus refuting the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Jesus teaching everyday people.  In dealing with all of these groups, Jesus knew who they were and what they needed...because he knew their hearts.  The uneducated would receive wisdom.  The proud would be brought down and humbled.  The sick would be healed, and the lost would be found.

 

The Son of God would come not to know the people by their actions, because he already knew them by their hearts.  Malachi said in 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.

 

Jesus was coming to earth, not to make things right, but to make our hearts and our lives right...with God.  He was coming to bring salvation into a world that had tried too long to save itself.  And if anyone would come before Jesus...if there were anyone to prepare the people of the world for his message of hope and peace, he would have to come with a message that would change the hearts of the world. 

 

And this is what John did. In the second half of chapter 3, verse 2, "the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."

 

This may not seem like news to you.  It may not seem like some earth-shattering revelation...but it is.  To the people of this time, it was revolutionary.  There was NO forgiveness of sins.  If you committed a sin or did something wrong, you went to the temple and made a sacrifice of atonement.  The sacrifice of an animal's life could be made.  The animal would in essence take your place.  You were "covered".  You would still be guilty of your sins, but you were no longer subject to the penalty of sin. 

 

Now John is preaching forgiveness of sins through repentance.  How many sacrifices had been made over thousand of years with hearts devoid of repentance?  Sin 100 times...make 100 sacrifices.  Sin 1000 times...make 1000 sacrifices.  Whatever it takes.  But John's preaching is meant to touch the heart.  The repentance...the turning away from the sin and turning to God...is preparing the hearts of the people for the one who is coming.  The one who can forgive all sins...Jesus Christ.

 

^3:5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. ⁶ And all mankind will see God's salvation.'"

 

This story of John the Baptist really is like that construction project we drove on in Kentucky.  When they proposed this project, there were a lot of upset people.  The main opponents were the horse farmers.  This project would cut through some of their farms.  They would lose many acres of property, and if you raise thoroughbreds (like they do), you must have so many acres per horse.  Miles of beautiful wooden and stone fences, some hundreds of years old would have to be moved or removed altogether.  Let's just say that this project was very unpopular among the rich and powerful.  But then again, so was John's message.  John the Baptist paid for this message with his life. 

 

Through his preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, just like a paved four-lane highway, John opened wide the path of salvation.  Jesus would come, and his word would be like a refiner's fire, burning away the filth, purifying and making holy those who have faith in him.  But this message of salvation would NOT be limited to a person or a group of persons.  Everyone is capable of repentance.  Everyone can cry out for forgiveness.  And now through Jesus Christ, all peoples...any time, any place, any circumstance...can know this forgiveness of sins and receive a new life from Christ. 

 

Jesus is the bringer of hope and peace to the world, but it is through the messenger, John, that the world was first able to hear of God's immeasurable grace.

 

Luke 1:76-79 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

 

John came to prepare the hearts of the world for the coming of the savior.  As we head into a time of Holy Communion, we need to prepare our hearts for Jesus' return. 

 

2009 12 06-Service of Holy Communion

 

Prayer for the Elements

Father, we pray for your blessing upon the loaves and the cups.  May this act of remembrance draw us ever closer to you, O Lord.  Through our communion with you and with each other, may we know firsthand the forgiveness of sins and the life eternal.  Through Christ our savior and Lord.  Amen.

 

621-Be Present At Our Table, Lord
Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with Thee.

 

We offer an open Communion.  All who wish to partake of it may do so.  But much like John the Baptist, Paul reminds us that hearts must be pure before doing so.

 

1 Corinthians 11:24-29

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. ²⁷ Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

 

Prayer of Confession:

In order that we might worthily and rightfully partake of Holy Communion, let us repent and confess our sins before God.
Most merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name.   Amen.

 

If all minds are clear...all hearts are pure...and all sins are forgiven, the table is set for you.  If you have prayed for forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ, then your sins are forgiven you.  Come forward as the Lord calls to you.

 

Blessing - 1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.