Why, Wait, Watch, Worship

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:2-4; 3:1-4. 17-19

Bible verses quoted are from the Contemporary English Version

The book of Habakkuk is just 3 chapters long.  While most of the prophets were telling the people of Israel and Judah that the exile was punishment from God, Habakkuk challenges God.

The world was in a mess, people lived with injustice, lawlessness, cruelty and violence. Habakkuk asks the question many people ask:

God, where are you?

why are you not doing something about the mess the world is in?

Do you not care?

Habakkuk also tells God how distressing it is for him to be looking at suffering and injustice. Sometimes it is easier to turn away.

On the news at times the presenter will make an announcement like: Warning, some people may find the following images offensive.

There is violence and injustice and poverty and oppression in the world.

Yes, that is offensive.

And sometimes we want to say: I don’t want to see this anymore

I don’t want to know about homelessness or war or abuse.

It is all too much to bear.

Join Habakkuk and his prayer of Lament; a cry to God in the midst of life, when it looks like everything is going wrong, in the world or our own lives, we can cry out to God. this is what Habakkuk does. He questions God.

And God answers.

God tells Habakkuk to wait, and God will act. Firstly, the Babylonians will take over Judah, and Habakkuk says, how will that help, they are just as bad as the current crop of leaders.

As people we so often want the quick fix. Problems like injustice don’t have quick fixes.

In a part of chapter 2 that wasn’t read this morning, there is a series of statements that start ‘You’re doomed!’

You’re doomed!

You stored up stolen goods

and cheated others of what belonged to them.

You’re doomed!

You made your family rich at the expense of others.

You even said to yourself, “I’m above the law.”

You’re doomed!

You built a city on crime and violence.

You’re doomed!

You get your friends drunk, just to see them naked.

And each section continues on with but….

you will become a frightened victim.

you will bring shame to your family and ruin to yourself

you will be disgraced.

I wonder where God would tell us we are doomed.

I wonder in what ways are we part of the problems of the world.

How do we contribute to injustice and cruelty?

How often do we store up more for ourselves, just in case, rather then sharing what we have?

In the midst of the lament of Habakkuk, the response of God is that one day, some time in the future, all this will change.

And it may not be soon,

so, wait.

Waiting can be hard. Waiting for a bus or train, waiting for an appointment, waiting in a queue for lunch. But imagine waiting much longer then that.

Advent is time when we prepare for the coming of the baby Jesus. We know the story, we know how it is going to end. The people of Israel had waited for long time for the one who would bring hope and peace and joy and love, the one who would come and bring about the kingdom of God.

But waiting doesn’t mean don’t do anything.

Waiting to start school, we get our uniform and school bag ready.

Waiting for a baby to be born, there are lots of things to get ready.

And during Advent, we wait, to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we also work towards the coming kingdom.

God tells Habakkuk to write a sign, big enough to be read by someone running past. God reminds Habakkuk that it may be a while coming, but trust God for the future and it will happen.

Reminds me of the saying “Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright it is not the end.”[i]

Habakkuk does more than waiting and trusting God. The book finishes with this wonderful song:

‘Fig trees may no longer bloom,

    or vineyards produce grapes;

olive trees may be fruitless,

    and harvest time a failure;

sheep pens may be empty,

    and cattle stalls vacant—

but I will still celebrate

because the Lord God

    saves me.

The Lord gives me strength.

He makes my feet as sure

    as those of a deer,

and he helps me stand

    on the mountains.’

Despite the doom and gloom,

      the violence in the world and in our hearts

      the pain of illness and bereavement

      the horror of child abuse

      the destruction of the environment

      the breakdown of relationships.

Despite what we see and hear, God is God.

I will still celebrate because the Lord God saves me.

As we walk towards Christmas,

may we not rush ahead

but wait for God

and in our waiting,

may we watch for glimpses of the kingdom of God,  

listen for the cries of the poor and the voice of God

may we tell of the coming one who is hope

and worship the God who came into our lives

        as a little baby

        who showed us how to live

        who died and rose

so, we might know salvation

and the value of waiting on God.

Despite what we see and hear, God is God.

This Advent may you wait and watch for God,

may your days be filled with hope

may you know the joy of salvation.

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[i] ― Deborah Moggach, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/739398-everything-will-be-alright-in-the-end-so-if-it

Seeing and Hearing and Obeying

This morning we meet two people with names that are unusual in our culture: Habakkuk and Zacchaeus.

Habakkuk is one of the prophets. Prophets were people who reminded the people and nations of Israel and Judah to return to God’s ways.

In this passage, we hear Habakkuk asking God why did he have to see so much violence and injustice.

On the news at times the presenter will make an announcement like: Warning, some people may find the following images offensive.

There is violence and injustice and poverty and oppression in the world.

Yes, that is offensive.

And sometimes we want to say: I don’t want to see this anymore

I don’t want to know about homelessness or war or abuse.

It is all too much to bear.

Join Habakkuk.

The book of Habakkuk is 3 chapters long and well worth reading in one sitting.

Chapter one is basically a list of problems in the world, and Habakkuk asking God why the world is in the shape it is in;

Chapter two is mainly God responding.

 “I, the LORD, refuse to accept
    anyone who is proud.
Only those who live by faith
    are acceptable to me.”

…

You’re doomed!
You made your family rich
    at the expense of others.
You even said to yourself,
    “I’m above the law.” [Habakkuk 2:9]

………..

Let all the world be silent—
the LORD is present
    in his holy temple. [Habakkuk 2:20]

chapter 3 is a prayer of Habakkuk:

    “I know your reputation, Lord,
and I am amazed
    at what you have done.
Please turn from your anger
    and be merciful;
do for us what you did
    for our ancestors.” [Habakkuk 3:1-2]

…..

And even though the harvest may fail:

“but I will still celebrate
because the Lord God
    saves me.” [Habakkuk 3:18]

I will still celebrate because the Lord God saves me.

Despite the doom and gloom,
      the violence in the world and in our hearts
      the pain of illness and bereavement
      the horror of child abuse
      the destruction of the environment
      the breakdown of relationships.

Despite what we see and hear, God is God.

And sometimes we need to be still and silent.

The hymn[i] we sang a few minutes ago is about a God who has spoken through the words of the prophets,
and through the life of Jesus
and still speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit.

How do you respond when God speaks to you?

The second person we meet this morning is Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus, the short man, the tax collector, one of the unpopular people in town.

A friend wrote some comments on this reading, and suggested that it would be strange for us to see a man in a suit up a tree. [ii]

We have all been to parades; small local parades, or large parades; some sombre, some festivals. Anzac Day, football final, Melbourne Cup parade. 

Sometimes you will see a child on the shoulders of a parent or grandparent, so the child can see over the crowd and see what is happening.

Zacchaeus must have noticed the gathering crowd, being short he looked for a way of being able to see what was happening.

As Jesus travelled around, people come to see and hear him.

They came out of curiosity,
they came looking for healing
      for sight
      for salvation.

Some just wanting to see this man they had heard about, others desperate to get close enough that Jesus might touch them, renew them, make them whole and holy.

We don’t know why Zacchaeus was wanting to see Jesus, or if he wanted Jesus to see him. But Jesus does see him, and says: Come on Down!

“Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus.”

The text doesn’t suggest that Zacchaeus is upset or ashamed to have Jesus come to his house.

Jesus doesn’t mention guilt, shame or sin.

It is the crowd boo and hiss! Why him! He is a sinner!

Jesus is going to the house of the villain!

I wonder do you ever find it easier to look for the bad in a person or situation, rather than looking for the good?

The crowd are upset that Jesus is going to the house of Zacchaeus, but it is Zacchaeus who responds by saying – hey, I’m not that bad. Look “I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”

How would you respond if Jesus said to you: Come on Down, I’m going to your place?

I asked this question in a group at one time. I was thinking, Jesus can’t come home, the house is a mess, what is there to eat? I wasn’t the only one worried about those kinds of things.

The children had completely different ideas. They were thinking about what Jesus might like to eat. One child was going to make pizzas with Jesus so Jesus could choose what he wanted on his.

How would you respond if Jesus said to you: Come on Down, I’m going to your place?

Zacchaeus found that Jesus was looking for him, even as Zacchaeus was trying to get a glimpse of Jesus.

Habakkuk found that God was aware of the situation.

At times, we may feel that the world is a mess. We don’t want to see or hear about the reality of poverty and injustice. But just as God named the injustice and violence, we too need to name what is happening in the world.

And we need to stop and be still and listen for the God who still speaks to us today.

And with listening, come obeying.

What is God saying to you this morning.

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[i] God Has Spoken by His Prophets George Wallace Briggs

[ii] https://talbragar.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/tree-change/

Habakkuk verses from the Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Increase our Faith!

This week I have been thinking about faith. Like the disciples, our prayer is often “increase our faith!”

But these same disciples had left their workplace and home to follow Jesus, how much faith do they want! The picture we have of the disciples from the gospels shows us they didn’t always understand what Jesus was talking about, they were often confused by his actions, but they still followed.

“Faith is not believing that certain claims or statements about God are true. Genuine faith presumes a relationship with God. It implies a radical trust in God, faithfulness in one’s relationship with God, and a way of seeing the world as life-giving and nourishing rather than as hostile and threatening. “ [i]

Faith allows us to join Habakkuk in saying: For crying out loud, LORD! – What is going on in the world, or why is my life such a mess.

Faith is waiting for God, listening for God.

Faith is trusting that what God says will come true, even if not in my lifetime.

Without faith in God, we wouldn’t be so open and honest with God about how we feel,
about how we feel about injustice in the world,
about we feel about the pain in our lives
about how we feel about evil.

Faith isn’t a magic wand that we wave and everything is suddenly OK.

Faith is trusting that God is present when things are going against us, when we are in pain, when we are confused.

Sometimes we think about the so called giants of faith, the people who seem to have been given a double dose of faith.  Faith “is simply and humbly doing what needs to be done, big or small, great or mundane, just because it needs doing.” [ii] Faith is simply the willingness to do what needs to be done, to respond to the call of the Spirit in our lives. It isn’t a commodity to be hoarded, it isn’t a scarce resource.[iii]

The rest of the Luke reading is a story about a slave and master, this is an image that might not resonate with us.

But if I said, you go to work for 8 hours a day, you come home and do some housework, look after children etc. That is life. You don’t get a medal for doing your job. Same deal with being a disciple, offering hope and love and grace, living in faith, that is what a disciple of Jesus Christ does, so what do you expect, a Parade! 

I wonder what it really means when we pray Lord, increase our faith.

What is it we are looking for?
- a bigger God?
- courage?
- recognition?
- a way out?

Biblical Scholar Tom Wright comments that this is not so much about having a big enough faith in God, but faith in a big enough God.[iv]

There is a wonderful story, “Mister God this is Anna”. One story Anna tells her friend is why she won’t go to Sunday school anymore. She has sensed that the Sunday School teacher tries to make God small, because Sunday School teacher is scared of God.

Are there ways in which we try and make God smaller, easier to understand?

In the letter to Timothy we read:  “God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.”

Maybe rather than praying for more faith, we need to recognise the faith we have, and live out that faith.

That doesn’t mean doing something major and heroic.
It means being honest with God and ourselves.

In response to the request for more faith, Jesus tells the disciples that faith the size of a mustard seed – which is small - is enough to uproot a tree and plant it in the sea. This isn’t literal, I mean why would you uproot a tree and plant it in the sea except to show off, and faith isn’t about showing off.

I think Jesus is saying that we have enough faith, enough faith to live as the people of God.

Faith is an action, it isn’t being able to recite the Ten Commandments or knowing the Apostles Creed of by heart.

Faith is not measured in the quantity that we hold for ourselves, faith is not something that we can store away for a rainy day. Faith, enough faith, is when we act.

Faith is living out the love, the forgiveness and the mercy that God shows us. Faith is trusting that God is God. And that will show up in a myriad of ways in our lives.

I encourage you to think about when you acted in faith this week.

- have you listened when someone needed to talk?
- have you volunteered at a local charity
- have you written a thank you note to someone who has done a kindness
- have you cooked dinner
- have you prayed for a neighbour who is having a hard time.
- have you spoken a word of encouragement to someone who needed it

None of these is any big deal, and yet it is just these kinds of acts that occupy so much of our lives. They are acts of faith.[v]

And faith means sharing in bread and juice and allowing that something happens when we eat this bread and drink from this cup. Not something magical, but something significant.
Somehow we grow close to God, somehow we connect on a different level with God and each other and Christians around the world.

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[i] Br. David Vryhof Society of Saint John the Evangelist email 1/10/2106

[ii] In The Meantime , David Lose

[iii] In The Meantime , David Lose

[iv] Spill the Beans

[v] In The Meantime , David Lose