New Temple and New Life

There are fires and drought in Australia, and rising sea levels in the Pacific Islands;

The unemployment rate is 18% amongst people aged 15-19; [i]

Wages are stagnating and interest rates on investments are close to zero;

I am not surprised that people wonder what is going on with the world.

We read in the Scriptures how the people of Israel

were slaves in Egypt,

escaped to wander in the desert for many years

invaded and taken into exile

released by King Cyrus of Persia

They too must have wondered what the future held for them.

They left for us some of their reflections on what was happening to them, scripture – narrative, poetry and law. “They give voice to their grief, anger, fear – the whole range of human experience; they testify to the abiding presence of God with them and, most importantly, to their repeated discovery – a discovery that only comes through life and death struggle – that the realm of God is always infinitely larger than human imagining.” Rev Jane Fry Insights Summer 2019

In Ezra, we find the future was not a return to the past.

The temple, the beautiful temple that Solomon had overseen, is destroyed. The people returning for exile, as well as those who stayed in Jerusalem are looking at a different future.

 “The Jews in Ezra are trying to determine what it means to live into a new future that God is creating in their midst. But what that future looks like is only beginning to emerge, and with mixed results.” [ii]

When I first read the Ezra passage, the thing that clicked with me was the rebuilding of the temple. The first Temple was big and spectacular, built with slave labour. The second temple would be built by people who had been in exile, people who had been unable to fulfil the religious rituals.

This time the resources need to build the temple would be given, rather than taken.

Still the future was unknown, they were still under foreign rule, though foreign rule that left them alone much of the time.  And they were still on the trade crossroads, a small nation vulnerable to attack.

What would the future be like?

What did God have in store for them?

The Luke reading is set for next week, but I included it this morning.

Zechariah is in the Temple, doing his priestly duty. Priests were from the tribe of Levi. Zechariah would not have been on duty all the time, but on roster.

With the bushfires at present, I wondered what would be rebuilt first if the Peninsula went up in fire. Would it be individual homes?

Community facilities?

Shops?

Businesses?

Schools?

Hospitals?

The answer to the question is biased today because of money and insurance and uneven access to resources. I would hope that as a community, decisions would be made on the basis of need not money. That school and hospitals would have priority, that community spaces and shops and places of employment would quickly return.

That the good of all, rather than the individual, would prevail.

The people returned from exile and set up a space to worship God.

The people are restored - not to reclaim the land, but to worship God [iii]

Being able to worship, to offer sacrifices, was important to the people of Israel.

Is worshipping as a gathered community important to you?

Zechariah was in the Temple while people were praying. The people of Israel are again under foreign rue, this time the Romans, who kept a close eye on what was happening.

God had not deserted the people. While Zechariah was fulfilling his duty, an angel appeared and told Zechariah he and Elizabeth would have a child. His response reminds me of Abraham and Sarah – we are too old; this is not possible. Next week we will hear of another person who told an angel – this is not possible.

When we read the scriptures, particularly the Old testament, we see the best and worst of humanity, we see how they dealt with personal and national crises. We read of the place of worship and the Temple in their lives. and continually we read of people who have heard God speak, who have been visited by angels, who have done the impossible.

The people were looking for a future without slavery and imprisonment, a future with freedom and peace.

We know that future is in Jesus,

in a life without slavery to sin,

with peace that the world cannot give,

life that is always listening for God

waiting for God

moving with God

life that is free to serve and love

as we are loved and served by Christ.

During Advent we wait, we wait to hear the stories of Christmas again, but we also wait for the renewal of creation; for the coming of the Kingdom of justice and peace.

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[i] https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/young-and-out-australia-s-hidden-scourge-of-youth-unemployment-20180622-p4zn4k.html

[ii] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2570&fbclid=IwAR3QQ26t2rT-nX-uQLPRT1h4l45bsKXksbNiOxPvKo-u5nD804aEUtrJWmY

[iii] https://www.pulpitfiction.com/narrative-notes/2-15?fbclid=IwAR1x0r5nctdGwzDzepE8tcg4hfL0oGRs8FkSqljb0H6E_IDQ4_tc5wkgK5Y

Where is the Good news?

“With many other encouraging words, he told the Good News to the people.” Luke 3: 18

The good news?

being called a snake,
threatened with unquenchable fire
judgement

Where is the good news in this?

When people were coming to John, to listen, to be baptised, the country was close to a crisis situation.

The people of Israel had been in slavery to Rome for many years. They remembered the stories of the exodus, the liberation from slavery to Egypt. But this time there was not to be an exodus, they were slaves in their own land.

The people were looking for one who would lead them to freedom, freedom to worship God, freedom from oppression and poverty.

When we look at what is happening in many places around the world at the moment, including on Australia, there is still poverty, oppression and fear. With the advances in communication and social media, we know a lot more about what is happening in other parts of the world.

While statistics reported on websites vary, and the number varies each year, something like 50 - 80 woman are killed in Australia each year by a current or former partner.

At a meeting on Friday we heard about some of the consequences for people who had been victims of sexual abuse while attending church schools. Another session we heard about some of the consequences for indigenous people who were in children’s homes. They were not pretty stories.   

Where is the Good news?
Where is good news in times of violence, war and addiction?
Where is good news for the lonely, the grieving and those living with chronic pain?
What is the good news we are looking for?

I doubt it is being called a snake!

John is reminding people that you can’t just say that you worship God, belong to God or believe in God – whichever way you want to express being in relationship with God. Faith isn’t just about words, faith is about action.

The good news is that the judgement separates the chaff from the grain – both from the one stalk. Judgement in this sense is not that a person is good or bad – both reside within each of us. The grain, the fruit is kept, the chaff, the refuse is destroyed.

The judgement here isn’t about your status as baptised or member or born again. The judgement is how you live.

“Do those things that prove that you have turned to God and have changed the way you think and act.” [Luke 3:8 GNB]

And of course the crowd asked: how do we do that?

Basically share what you have. If you have more than you need, share.

Tax collectors and soldiers are two groups who were outcasts in Jewish society. They were collaborators with Rome, and so despised. Tax collectors and soldiers also had the opportunity to charge extra, to ask for bribes or favours.

John doesn’t tell them to quit their jobs, but tax collectors should only take collect is required; and soldiers be content with their wages, which meant no more extortion.

I can remember when I was much younger, and very new Christian, it seemed that all that mattered was saying the ‘right’ prayer to commit my life to Jesus, and then getting other people to pray that prayer. If I could manage that, everything would be great.

The gospel however tells us that being a follower of Jesus is more than saying the ‘right’ prayer. Being true to our name of Christian is about living in a way that shows the fruit of the spirit in our lives.

I came across this quote this week:

“Religion says God will love us if we change
The Gospel says: God’s love changes us”

Are you trying to change so that you will be acceptable to God? That is a waste of time and energy. Allow God’s love to seep into your life, to wash through you, to shine in your life. Then your life will change.

Still looking for the good news in this passage?

If you have no coat and someone gives you one; that might be good news. Remembering that in this time this was written, a coat meant warmth at night as well as protection during the day.

If you have no food and someone shares their food with you; that would be good news. And there were no freezers for long term storage.

This part of the reading, about sharing our excess, reminds me of the judgement at the end of Matthews’s gospel, the story of the sheep and the goats. Jesus comes to us in other people. Would you give Jesus your spare coat if he was cold?
Give it to someone without a coat.

Just as in the time when John was preaching and Baptising, our world needs to be turned right-side-up.

Advent, the time of anticipation and expectation, a time of waiting, is also a time of renewal. A time to reconsider what is important in our lives. A time to think about where peace and joy and hope come from in our lives.

The third Sunday of advent we think about joy. Joy is no happiness quick fix; joy comes from deep within us. Paul is writing from prison when he tells the people of Philippi to rejoice.

In the midst of a world that seems bent on destruction,
where people vie for power,
where violence is the first response to every problem
where home is not a safe place for many people
where life is devalued
we have a different story to tell.

We have a story about God who decided to come in human form
to usher in a new kingdom:
where life is valued
where everyone can feel safe
where power is shared
where peace reigns

During Advent we re-hear the stories of John the Baptist,
the speech of Zechariah,
the song of Mary,
the words of the prophets.
We re-imagine a world turned right-side-up
where no-one is hungry
or cold
or living in fear.

REFLECTION:

Where do you find joy in life?

What is the good news you are longing to hear? 

Justice - how is it lived?

The passage we just heard is from the book of Isaiah. While it is one book, it is generally thought that it written in three different sections. First Isaiah finishes at the end of chapter 39, and deals mainly with God's judgement of the people of Israel, and warning the people of what is about to happen.

Second Isaiah, which starts with chapter 40, is a hope filled section, a time of coming back to Israel and to God. It speaks of a future for Israel that those in exile would find difficult to imagine.

The third section of Isaiah starts at chapter 56, at this point in time people were again living in a restored Jerusalem and here there are reminders for the people to be a community that is inclusive, just, caring for the socially marginalised – that is the homeless and poor.

 

So this reading today it's in this section where the people in exile are being told that there is a future back home,  that they can go back to Jerusalem and build a nation built on God's call.

 

This chapter is part of the so-called suffering servant readings from Isaiah, and as such we often read it in the context of the servant being Jesus. There are different opinions among scholars, it could be that the servant is in fact the people of Israel. It earlier parts of the Old Testament Israel is called to be different to the other nations, Israel has been blessed by God to be a blessing (Exodus 12) we are also told that Israel has been chosen to be a priestly nation (Deuteronomy 19). This kind of prophetic literature can easily have two or more ways of being read. The servant called in fact be the nation of Israel, and still point to Jesus.

 

God continually calls the nation of Israel to account, for not living up to their high calling as the people of God, a covenant nation. We too are called by God to give an account of how we live out gods call in our lives.

The word that is translated into English as justice, can also be translated as judgement or right order. Often when we think of justice we think of retribution, or revenge; the idea of getting even or giving back the harm that we believe has been done to us.

But that is not the image we see here in Isaiah. The message of Isaiah reminds the people that all of the world, and all of the people in the world, are part of God's good creation. The nation of Israel is to continue to be different, the nation of Israel is to continue to be a beacon of light, a beacon of hope, a place of justice and inclusion.

Israel never managed to live up to its high calling, I can't imagine any nation ever will, as I said this was spoken to the people of Israel and refers to the nation of Israel as a servant of God; it also refers to Jesus in whose life we see these values of justice and inclusion and compassion.

 

The gods of empires in the days of Isaiah were aligned with the powerful and the mighty [i]. The God of Israel was not a God for the powerful and mighty, but God of all people and God for the outcast and the marginalised. I wonder how we would hear these words of Isaiah if we were living in a homeless shelter;

if we were struggling to feed our family;

if we were living in an aboriginal homeland;

I wonder how we would hear these words of Isaiah if we were a small Pacific nation;

or a person trafficked into slavery;

a family fleeing from war.

I wonder what these words would mean to us?

 

I wonder what it means for us to read of the one who will not bruise the crushed reed or blow out the dimly burning wick.

who are the fragile, the desperate in our nation and the world?

do we trample over them, or do we treat them gently?

 

One of the articles I read this week is called ‘You don't want to be a prophet, but be one anyway‘ [ii]. Prophets are people of vision, people who can imagine a different world to the one we currently live in, who sees signs of the kingdom of God amidst everyday life. This article commented that our society is capable of implementing almost anything, but not visioning. There is a reason that totalitarian regimes are scared of artists, musicians, playwrights, people who deal in imagination, because imagination, visioning, is uncontrollable by state or royalty. ‘It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing futures alternative to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.’

The reason you don't want to be a Prophet, is because it is an uncomfortable place to be, you can get arrested, imprisoned, killed.

 

These words of Isaiah were written about 2 1/2 thousand years ago to a community coming out of exile, reminding them that God has called them to be different :

“ I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations,  to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” [Isaiah 42:6 – 7]

 

We believe that God has also called us to live in righteousness,

that God takes us by the hand and leads us,

we are called to live in covenant relationship with God and all of God's creation,

to be a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

and offer freedom for those who live in darkness.

 

This is the third Sunday in advent, a time where we usually think of joy, yet today we hear of justice and transformation – and I wonder if transformation and justice lived out might bring joy to ourselves, to the community around us, and to God.

 

As we move towards  the coming of the Christ child, to celebrate yet again the birth of God made flesh, are we prepared to walk with God into the dark places of our world who need the light, the hope, and the joy that comes when we live as God's transformed people, when we live out the justice of God, Justice that is inclusive and compassionate and all-encompassing.

 

other resources: working preacher webpage and podcast

http://otl.unitingchurch.org.au/index.php?page=isaiah-42-1-9

Spill the Beans

 

 

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[i] A Story of Loss and Hope by Walter Brueggemann, Sojourners Nov Dec 1998

[ii] Rethink Church, email 12.12.2014