Reclaiming The Past, Proclaiming The Future
Sermon
Between Gloom and Glory
First Lesson Sermons For Advent/Christmas/Epiphany
What do you do when you need to pick yourself up and move forward into a difficult situation? How do you get yourself ready to face troublesome circumstances or trying moments in your life? I know of a person who likes to look at old photo albums the day before an important meeting or a difficult presentation. He was a basketball player in high school of some ability. He was an all-league player. He kept quite a few scrapbooks and albums full of photos and newspaper clippings. He swears that when he looks over this old collection of memorabilia he is able to get up and get ready for the events of the next day, no matter how tough or difficult they may be. It helps him, he likes to say, "get his game face on."
I know of another person who will sit down with an old book, one of her favorites from childhood or her teen years, and read through it the night before. She says that it helps to take her mind off the worries of the next day and it also helps to remind her of a time when the world looked big and friendly.
The Israelites did something similar in their prayer lives. The opening words in this prayer are a recital of the great work of God in the history of God's people. These verses are reminders to the faith community of what has happened in their past. This passage is also the beginning of what is known as a complaint song. The verses we read are the opening lines of a prayer, maybe even one that was spoken in worship by the worshiping community. You might not guess this because today's text represents just the introduction of this prayer, but if you read all the way through to Isaiah 64:12 it will become fairly obvious that this is a petition to God during a time of distress.
The praying community asks, in 63:17, "Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?" Then in 64:1 the prayer continues, "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down...." It is a prayer asking God to intervene into their lives. The word "tear" implies a fast and furious action on God's part.
This prayer, as I said a moment ago, is also a complaint. The people want to know when God is going to get involved in their lives. They want to know when God is going to come down from the high loftiness and safety of heaven and walk among the people again.
There are elements of confession in this prayer, too. In 64:6 the community admits, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth." This prayer is both a bold request and an honest confession. It pulls no punches about the needs of the people, but it does not avoid the difficult problems that they are responsible for themselves.
There is also some complaining that their sin and iniquity are a result of God's absence. This is reminiscent of Adam's complaint to God, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate." Unlike Adam though, the community does own up to its own particular guilt and does not point a finger at a figurative Eve or an uninvolved God.
This is an open, honest confession, complaint, and petition for help. The prayer does not steer away from challenging God to intervene and restore. But before it gets to any of these elements it is first and foremost a recitation of praise and thanksgiving for the way God has worked in the past.
As I said at the beginning, I think this is a way for the one praying to build his or her confidence in the true nature of God and therefore give him or her the determination to move forward with the prayer and confess both the sins of the community and the desire for heavenly help. This passage of scripture and its opening words of praise serve as a reminder to us that the praying group of believers needs to recount the great things God has done among them in order to give them the courage they need to move ahead in their lives and ministries together.
I know of a church in a major metropolitan area that fell on hard times recently. At one time in their fairly recent past, the last 25 years or so, they were considered one of the great churches in their community and in their denomination. They were a cutting edge church -- a place that was willing to push the envelope and consider new and creative forms of ministry. In recent years, however, their numbers had declined. Their membership had fallen from a high of 1500 to a low of about 350. They were depressed. Their self-image was extremely low. "We just aren't who we used to be" and "we can't get things done they way we used to be able to" were the main statements heard in board meetings and adult Sunday school classes.
A new minister came in to their situation a couple of years ago and said to them, "This is a great church. This church is known throughout the denomination. I jumped at the opportunity to come here because of the outstanding reputation this congregation has had for many years. I want to remind you all, at the beginning of my ministry, that this is a great church!" This was surprising to many of the people. Some wondered out loud if he had been given an accurate picture of the situation. Some of the staff who had remained on board were surprised too. They wanted to cut back the budget and eliminate some of the activities of the church. Some had met privately with the new minister asking him to reduce the programs to a bare minimum of activities. They did not believe the fragile ego of the church could survive the failure of new ideas and ministries. They were seeking safety in the "less is more" approach to ministry.
The new minister was not dismayed by this reaction. He said to them, after being there a few months, "I know that we are not who we used to be, but I want us to claim the greatness of our past so that we can move into the new opportunities God has set before us. My number one priority, for the first six months of my ministry here, is to remind you all of the things God has done through you before. We need to reclaim, not repeat, this past, and prepare ourselves for the ministry that we are being led to in the future. The future, by the way, is now."
By approaching their ministry in this way they did not deny the troubles of the present. As with any urban church there were many problems: a changing community, traffic, income, parishioners moving away to the out-lying suburbs, general confusion concerning theological issues, and much more. But by reclaiming their past and the greatness of it, they were able to claim their future.
This is the first Sunday after Christmas, and sometimes after a wonderful celebration filled with joy and festivity there is a natural tendency for a let down to set in and affect our view of the new year. The new year can be both an opportunity for renewal and a chance for dread. Many times the problems of work or family are ignored or put away during the holidays. But when the parties are over and the wrapping paper has been thrown away, all of the old stuff can still be seen. It may have been metaphorically swept into the corner or under the rug, but we know where the problems are.
Maybe we can learn something from today's text and carry it with us into the new year. Perhaps a review of the past twelve months and the many things that happened to better our lives should become a part of our new year's rituals. Maybe the church should find a way to look back over the year appropriately and celebrate what it has accomplished. This shouldn't be done as an activity that ignores the concerns of tomorrow, but rather as a way to encourage us to move forward with confidence into the new year. If the past twelve months haven't been too terrific, then we need to go back farther and find the reminders in our lives that demonstrate the way God has worked and moved among us.
By reviewing the gracious work of God in our lives we can dare to dream of the year ahead. We can dare to seek God's presence in our lives and the forgiveness that God has offered to all of us. Recognizing God's grace, confessing our sin, and naming our dreams, are the beginning of the story and not the end. The next step, actually living with our eyes looking forward to tomorrow, will give us the opportunity to become more like the people we say we are. The promise of the God of the universe is that something new is being created, something new is begun every day in our lives.
A rabbinical story tells of the moment Adam first opened his eyes. He looked at creation and he said to God, "This is utterly fantastic!"
"I know," said God.
"But tell me," Adam asked, "what is the meaning of it all?"
God, taken aback, replied, "You mean it has to have meaning?"
"Of course," Adam answered.
"Well, I am sure you will think of something," God said and sauntered off.1
The new year before us is an open, blank book waiting to be filled in with the stories of our lives. I am sure we will think of something to give it meaning. This year will be given meaning not only when we invite God into the process, but also when we honestly look at who we are and give our whole selves, warts and all, to God. Billy Graham once said that "being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion -- it's a quiet, daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ."2
Some of us may yearn for an instant change in our lives and the situations that surround us, and some of us may even be blessed with change that comes with no sweat. But we know, don't we, that the courage to show up every day and live within the sphere of God's deliverance is, in the long run, much greater and much more satisfying than anything that might happen in some magical incantation. For we follow a God who does the same, a God who lives with us in the context of each day of our lives. There are probably more miracles at work in the mundane everyday-ness of things than in all the bright flashes and amazing changes the world has to show.
There is much more to do and say, but right now it is time to pause for our prayers.
May the God of grace hear our prayer and make known the heavenly ways, on this and every day of our lives. Amen.
____________
1. Herb Miller, Connecting with God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), p. 49.
2. As quoted in Pulpit Resource, Vol. 23, No. 4, October, November, December, 1995, p. 54.
I know of another person who will sit down with an old book, one of her favorites from childhood or her teen years, and read through it the night before. She says that it helps to take her mind off the worries of the next day and it also helps to remind her of a time when the world looked big and friendly.
The Israelites did something similar in their prayer lives. The opening words in this prayer are a recital of the great work of God in the history of God's people. These verses are reminders to the faith community of what has happened in their past. This passage is also the beginning of what is known as a complaint song. The verses we read are the opening lines of a prayer, maybe even one that was spoken in worship by the worshiping community. You might not guess this because today's text represents just the introduction of this prayer, but if you read all the way through to Isaiah 64:12 it will become fairly obvious that this is a petition to God during a time of distress.
The praying community asks, in 63:17, "Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?" Then in 64:1 the prayer continues, "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down...." It is a prayer asking God to intervene into their lives. The word "tear" implies a fast and furious action on God's part.
This prayer, as I said a moment ago, is also a complaint. The people want to know when God is going to get involved in their lives. They want to know when God is going to come down from the high loftiness and safety of heaven and walk among the people again.
There are elements of confession in this prayer, too. In 64:6 the community admits, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth." This prayer is both a bold request and an honest confession. It pulls no punches about the needs of the people, but it does not avoid the difficult problems that they are responsible for themselves.
There is also some complaining that their sin and iniquity are a result of God's absence. This is reminiscent of Adam's complaint to God, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate." Unlike Adam though, the community does own up to its own particular guilt and does not point a finger at a figurative Eve or an uninvolved God.
This is an open, honest confession, complaint, and petition for help. The prayer does not steer away from challenging God to intervene and restore. But before it gets to any of these elements it is first and foremost a recitation of praise and thanksgiving for the way God has worked in the past.
As I said at the beginning, I think this is a way for the one praying to build his or her confidence in the true nature of God and therefore give him or her the determination to move forward with the prayer and confess both the sins of the community and the desire for heavenly help. This passage of scripture and its opening words of praise serve as a reminder to us that the praying group of believers needs to recount the great things God has done among them in order to give them the courage they need to move ahead in their lives and ministries together.
I know of a church in a major metropolitan area that fell on hard times recently. At one time in their fairly recent past, the last 25 years or so, they were considered one of the great churches in their community and in their denomination. They were a cutting edge church -- a place that was willing to push the envelope and consider new and creative forms of ministry. In recent years, however, their numbers had declined. Their membership had fallen from a high of 1500 to a low of about 350. They were depressed. Their self-image was extremely low. "We just aren't who we used to be" and "we can't get things done they way we used to be able to" were the main statements heard in board meetings and adult Sunday school classes.
A new minister came in to their situation a couple of years ago and said to them, "This is a great church. This church is known throughout the denomination. I jumped at the opportunity to come here because of the outstanding reputation this congregation has had for many years. I want to remind you all, at the beginning of my ministry, that this is a great church!" This was surprising to many of the people. Some wondered out loud if he had been given an accurate picture of the situation. Some of the staff who had remained on board were surprised too. They wanted to cut back the budget and eliminate some of the activities of the church. Some had met privately with the new minister asking him to reduce the programs to a bare minimum of activities. They did not believe the fragile ego of the church could survive the failure of new ideas and ministries. They were seeking safety in the "less is more" approach to ministry.
The new minister was not dismayed by this reaction. He said to them, after being there a few months, "I know that we are not who we used to be, but I want us to claim the greatness of our past so that we can move into the new opportunities God has set before us. My number one priority, for the first six months of my ministry here, is to remind you all of the things God has done through you before. We need to reclaim, not repeat, this past, and prepare ourselves for the ministry that we are being led to in the future. The future, by the way, is now."
By approaching their ministry in this way they did not deny the troubles of the present. As with any urban church there were many problems: a changing community, traffic, income, parishioners moving away to the out-lying suburbs, general confusion concerning theological issues, and much more. But by reclaiming their past and the greatness of it, they were able to claim their future.
This is the first Sunday after Christmas, and sometimes after a wonderful celebration filled with joy and festivity there is a natural tendency for a let down to set in and affect our view of the new year. The new year can be both an opportunity for renewal and a chance for dread. Many times the problems of work or family are ignored or put away during the holidays. But when the parties are over and the wrapping paper has been thrown away, all of the old stuff can still be seen. It may have been metaphorically swept into the corner or under the rug, but we know where the problems are.
Maybe we can learn something from today's text and carry it with us into the new year. Perhaps a review of the past twelve months and the many things that happened to better our lives should become a part of our new year's rituals. Maybe the church should find a way to look back over the year appropriately and celebrate what it has accomplished. This shouldn't be done as an activity that ignores the concerns of tomorrow, but rather as a way to encourage us to move forward with confidence into the new year. If the past twelve months haven't been too terrific, then we need to go back farther and find the reminders in our lives that demonstrate the way God has worked and moved among us.
By reviewing the gracious work of God in our lives we can dare to dream of the year ahead. We can dare to seek God's presence in our lives and the forgiveness that God has offered to all of us. Recognizing God's grace, confessing our sin, and naming our dreams, are the beginning of the story and not the end. The next step, actually living with our eyes looking forward to tomorrow, will give us the opportunity to become more like the people we say we are. The promise of the God of the universe is that something new is being created, something new is begun every day in our lives.
A rabbinical story tells of the moment Adam first opened his eyes. He looked at creation and he said to God, "This is utterly fantastic!"
"I know," said God.
"But tell me," Adam asked, "what is the meaning of it all?"
God, taken aback, replied, "You mean it has to have meaning?"
"Of course," Adam answered.
"Well, I am sure you will think of something," God said and sauntered off.1
The new year before us is an open, blank book waiting to be filled in with the stories of our lives. I am sure we will think of something to give it meaning. This year will be given meaning not only when we invite God into the process, but also when we honestly look at who we are and give our whole selves, warts and all, to God. Billy Graham once said that "being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion -- it's a quiet, daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ."2
Some of us may yearn for an instant change in our lives and the situations that surround us, and some of us may even be blessed with change that comes with no sweat. But we know, don't we, that the courage to show up every day and live within the sphere of God's deliverance is, in the long run, much greater and much more satisfying than anything that might happen in some magical incantation. For we follow a God who does the same, a God who lives with us in the context of each day of our lives. There are probably more miracles at work in the mundane everyday-ness of things than in all the bright flashes and amazing changes the world has to show.
There is much more to do and say, but right now it is time to pause for our prayers.
May the God of grace hear our prayer and make known the heavenly ways, on this and every day of our lives. Amen.
____________
1. Herb Miller, Connecting with God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), p. 49.
2. As quoted in Pulpit Resource, Vol. 23, No. 4, October, November, December, 1995, p. 54.
