Sermon Prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church
For the 8:30 Contemporary Service – 12/3/00
by Gregory S. Kaurin
Associate Pastor for Spiritual Care and Development
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Texts: John Jeremiah 33:14-16 & Luke
21:25-36
The
Sermon:
Read through the
first lesson from Jeremiah again. What
words or phrases jump out at you?
[Accept answers; especially clue in on “execute justice and
righteousness.] What are justice and
righteousness? Let’s start with
justice, because, really, God’s justice leads to righteousness.
One of my friends
and I were discussing this passage, and he mentioned something that he had
heard, that “justice is being faithful to the demands of our
relationships.” Justice is being
faithful to the demands of our relationships.
Ever since Adam
was introduced to Eve, ever since God placed humanity in the world and told
them to be its stewards, ever since we were commanded to love the neighbor, we
have been called to be in relationship with all and each other. Justice is being faithful to the demands of
our relationships.
Loving the
neighbor, that is justice. Caring for,
supporting, healing, feeding, visiting, educating and sheltering all the people
that God loves—all the people—that is justice.
This may be a bit
hard to hear this time of year: God’s justice pushes us beyond our usual
seasonal charity of dropping change in the Salvation Army bell-ringers
pots. Charity IS important and critical
and necessary. Second to salvation,
charity just might be the best work of the whole Church in the world. Real justice is inspired by the spirit of
charity, and real charity should lead to justice. But God’s call for justice pushes us beyond charity.
There is a story
about justice and charity. (I can’t
remember where I first heard it, so I can’t give credit.) It’s a story about a town somewhere in the
boonies. It was at the end of a
twisting road. Not far from the town
the road took a sharp bend, and there was a huge boulder in the middle of the
road.
Of course, all the
town folk knew about this boulder. As
they came around the corner, they would slow way down and drive around the
boulder. It was the out-of-town visitors
who had the problem. Every once in a
while, the townsfolk would hear the screeching of tires, and the sound of
impact, and they knew what had happened.
Another visitor had a run-in with the boulder.
So they would all
rush out. They were very kindly
folk. They’d help the person, bandage
and heal any injuries, fix the car, and house them as long as necessary.
Finally, they
decided it was getting out of hand. A
large group of them got together. They
worked out a plan, and successfully removed the boulder and repaired the road.
You see, when they
went out, healed and helped the people who had hit the boulder, that was
charity. When they removed the boulder,
that was justice. Justice is working to
remove the problem that creates the need for charity. Justice may be a grass-root change of heart, or a change of power
structure. Justice may be placing the
last first, lifting the voice of the minority and listening.
We need both. The spirit of charity can lead to justice,
and justice without charity would be like a good and well-behaved family
…without love. Justice should affect
your life. It should affect the way we
speak about others, the way we vote, and the groups, committees and causes that
we have. It should affect the places
we’re willing to go, the people we’re willing to talk to, to visit and help.
Justice, it sounds
like a huge, monstrous task. It
is. And it is a challenge for each of
us. But, before we run out to find our
just causes, or before some of us throw up our hands—giving up in the face of
the enormity, I have three pieces of good news.
First, what God
wants you to do in the name of his justice he will put in front of you. Ask him.
He’ll show you. And don’t
over-scrutinize. It’s probably right
there in the people you live with, see and meet normally from day to day. If you ask and remain open, God will lead
you. God brings the works of his
Kingdom…to us.
Second, working
God’s justice includes whatever you do in faith, one thing at a time, one vote
at a time, one person at a time. God’s
justice includes what we might call charity. But through it, in good faith, God works justice.
That leads to the
third: God’s justice belongs ultimately and finally to God. Thank Goodness for that! Otherwise it is too big to complete for any
one person, group or generation.
Anything we do in
faith, God takes and shapes into a puzzle piece. He puts it together into his complete Justice, and we won’t
really be able to see the whole puzzle, until that day that we are united with
God in the New Kingdom.
Look again at the
first lesson. Who is the subject of the
action? “The days are surely coming,
says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise!” Who fulfills it? God.
“I will
cause a righteous Branch to spring up.”
Who is that Branch? Jesus.
“…a Branch to
spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in
the land.” Who executes justice and
righteousness? Jesus.
I said at the
start of this sermon that God’s justice leads to righteousness. “Righteousness” is about being right with
God. It doesn’t happen except that God
makes it so. He did it by sending us a
“righteous Branch,” Jesus.
Going onto verse
16 it reads, “In those final days, the people will be saved and Jerusalem will
be renamed.” Jerusalem’s new name (in
other words, our new name) will be “The Lord Is Our Righteousness.” It isn’t “We Are Righteous,” but the
Lord, “The Lord Is Our Righteousness.”
And now look again
at our lesson from Luke’s Gospel. We
are in the season of Advent, and “advent” means, “toward the coming.” It is about preparation for the coming of
the King: the Child King of Bethlehem, but also the Victorious King of our
Salvation. It is a season for preparation. But that really means that it is season
where we open ourselves to God’s preparation, not ours. God prepares us.
I can’t fully
explain Jesus’ statement, “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away
until all things have taken place.”
It’s true, we’re still waiting for all things to take place, even though
many generations have come and gone since those words were first said and
written down. There are quite a few
possible explanations.
But, explanations
aside, I am very glad it’s there, because it is a message for all time. It is the expectation that every generation
should have. We should expect that
Christ’s revealed Kingdom is just around every corner.
And for each of us
that is true. Christ’s Kingdom is just
around the corner of each of our lives.
We can be sure that the Kingdom is, in fact, very near.
So, I offer this
challenge and promise at the beginning of our Church year, this first Sunday in
Advent. As we look toward the coming of
the King, God asks you to allow him to prepare you. Be open to his Spirit and guidance, from now until that day.
On that last day
that other people may dread, you know something different. It’s written in the middle of our Gospel
lesson. It will be a day that the Son
of Man will invite each of us to: “Stand up and RAISE …YOUR …HEADS!”
As we raise our heads,
we will see our redemption: smiling from the face of Jesus Christ our Lord, our
righteousness. And together we will be
given a new name. We shall be called
“The Lord Is Our Righteousness.” Amen.
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