“Ready for Revolution”

First Sunday after the Epiphany -- January 13, 2002

Lectionary Scripture – Psalm 29, Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17

 

I heard this week of a Christian brother who has unique message on his answering machine. After going through the usual stuff of “please leave a message…” he ends his message with these words: “I am ready for the revolution, are you?” How about that! That sounds so unusual that we smile. The person I heard this story from was trying to explain why a Christian brother would say a thing like that. But this shouldn’t be unusual at all. We must be ready for the revolution, that’s a very biblical affirmation.

            Every time, this Christmas, I sang the Hallulujah Chorus I was reminded of where one of its most powerful lines comes from. “And he shall reign for ever and ever.” It comes from Miriam’s song in Exodus 15. When the slaves were freed and were fleeing Egypt, and they came to the Red Sea, they despaired. Because here was the sea in front of them and behind them the Egyptian army was chasing them. Between the devil and the deep blue sea, they had nowhere to go. It was then that Moses asked God what to do and God instructed him to raise his staff over the sea and the waters separated creating a path for the people to walk on. They got to the other side in safety, but the Egyptian army got drowned that day. It was so incredible they could not believe their eyes. That night on the other side of the Red Sea, they pitched camp and then sang and danced. Miriam took a tambourine and danced and her song is in Exodus 15, and in it is the line: “Yahweh shall reign for ever and forever.” So, what does that mean? It means, let all tyrants and oppressors beware – your time is limited. The young man’s affirmation – “I am ready for the revolution, are you?” is made in that spirit.  I think Jesus came to the Jordan that day to announce that he is ready for the revolution.

            John was baptizing people in the Jordan River. Now, as you know, the Jordan is located Eastern at the edge of the ancient Israel. That’s the boundary of the Promised Land. As I reminded you last Sunday, the fleeing slaves after forty years of wandering in the wilderness came to the edge of the Jordan where Moses gave a powerful sermon reminding them about the covenant they made with God. That’s what we have today, as the book of Deuteronomy. When John called people out to baptize them in the Jordan, people would have recalled two events that were etched into their national consciousness. As they went in the water, they may have remembered the amazing deliverance at the Red Sea. And they may have recalled the crossing of the Jordan as their ancestors entered the Promised Land. These people getting baptized were delivered again from their oppression and they were quite literally entering the Promised Land as forgiven and renewed people.

            Many of the people crossing the Jordan to enter the Promised Land weren’t there same people who crossed the Red Sea. Forty years had passed. It was their parents and grandparents that had to face the hard taskmasters in the Egyptian brickyards. It was the parents and the grandparents who saw the amazing miracles by which God brought them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with wonders and miracles. By the time they came to the Jordan the revolution was over. Now it was just a matter of conquering the new land and settling down there. And by the time we come to the time of John the baptizer, calling people to baptism in the Jordan, those miraculous events are only a memory. The Promised Land was going to be a land flowing with milk and honey, symbols of God’s abundance and peace and prosperity for everyone. But all’s not well in the Promised Land. There was oppression and exploitation going on. There was racism and gender discrimination going on. There was hunger and poverty going on. There was killing and hurting going on. To add to the misery, they were occupied by the Romans. As we read the gospel stories, it becomes clear that there were a lot of people suffering with sickness and a lot of people living in sin.

            So, when Jesus comes to the Jordan to be baptized, I think he came to proclaim to all the people gathered there at the river, and to the world, that he is “Ready for the Revolution” – the revolution that is represented by the Kingdom of Heaven, as Matthew refers to God’s reign and with all its political and economic implications.

            Now an interesting problem arises -- a problem that is addressed only by Matthew. Jesus comes to be baptized, but John refuses to baptize him! John understands that he is not worthy to remove the sandals from his feet and urges Jesus to baptize him instead. But after some coaxing John relents and baptizes Jesus. Many scholars suggest that Matthew is using this dialogue to deal with the “messianic embarrassment” that was troubling some of the followers of Jesus in the early church. They would have asked, “why would Jesus, a sinless messiah, submit to John’s baptism, which was for the repentance of sins?”

This gives Matthew the opportunity to highlight the reason for Jesus’ baptism – not to repent of sin, but rather to “fulfill all righteousness.” Did you see that phrase in the Matthew reading? Now the word “righteousness” has different meanings. We often think of righteousness as personal piety. It indicates to us how each of us need to be righteous before God. But that’s not all there is to righteousness. Righteousness is also God’s saving action in the world. In fact it is often translated as justice. One NT scholar, Thomas Long writes, “Righteousness encapsulates God’s passionate commitment to set right the things that are wrong.” I like that! God is passionately committed to setting right the things that are wrong. Exactly two years ago, I preached a whole series of sermons on Jubilee – how Jubilee is about bringing everything in the world to the place where God originally intended them to be. That is righteousness.

So, Jesus’ submission to John’s baptism is not simply an act of personal piety. Rather, Jesus understands that John’s baptism and fiery preaching is a revolutionary declaration about a new world order where God will set right everything that the principalities and powers had turned to their own advantage.  Jesus is coming to join a mass movement that has been ignited by John’s fiery preaching. This was really a mass movement of people. People came from Jerusalem and all Judea and all over the Jordan area came to be baptized. Jesus did not go to confess his sin Jesus was going to join up with John in the revolution whereby God’s justice will be established in the world. By submitting to John’s baptism, Jesus is declaring, “I am ready for the revolution.”

            And he did lead a revolution, didn’t he? Here we are today 2000 years later, half a world away, gathering for worship, because of that revolution. And in that first century, it certainly seemed as if the church was leading the revolution. And then from time to time in Christian history, there were movements that sprang up from within the church that led world in revolutions. Next Sunday, we will celebrate the life of one such revolutionary. But you know, these days, the revolution seems to be going by and leaving the church in the dust. Rather than a revolutionary community, the church has become a therapeutic community, says Tony Compolo.

When we got baptized, we got baptized in to nothing less than such a revolutionary calling. And those of you who will get baptized in the near future must understand this. This not mere hyperbole: that man on the answering machine was onto something. We may have forgotten this – or may be we never understood it this way before, but what Jesus came to do on earth was nothing less than one of the greatest revolutions the world has seen.

So, what kind of revolutionary was Jesus? Isaiah 42 is about the best place to begin to answer that question. Jesus was strongly inspired by 2nd Isaiah. This prophet’s writings, contained in chapters 40-66 of Isaiah, include four powerful poems, which we now call servant songs about a servant of the Lord. The one we read today, from Isaiah 42, is the first one.

            Let's look at the context of this prophet. Many decades prior to Isaiah’s ministry, the people of Judah had been taken in exile to Babylon. Like the refugees running away from Afghanistan to the Pakistani border, these people were forcibly evicted, leaving behind their homes and belongings to be ransacked by the invading army. Or like people whose lives were destroyed on September 11, these people’s livelihood and community were destroyed. Worst of all, they felt abandoned by God. Now, we don’t have to be evicted by an invading army to feel exiled – many of us feel exiled in our daily life. I think one of the greatest contributors to the feeling of being exiled, is the breakages in our community. When our relationships with out loved ones, spouses, children are fractured. When significant relationships even in church are not functional. When our jobs are threatened. When forces that we can’t even see or understand prevent us from participating in the American dream – we feel exiled. This is what this church is about – we are about Building Community in Christ. We are about bringing the exiles home.

Isaiah brings a message of hope. Starting in chapter 40, he announces comfort – because they are going to be released from exile. So, just how is this going to happen, you ask? It’s going to happen through the Servant. A servant? This is like Angels Aware, when it was announced that God was going to earth as a baby – A baby? This is the thing with God, you see, God undercuts our preconceived notions about who can deliver – its not the powerful and the mighty. It’s a servant.

Many scholars think that Isaiah meant for the people to think of themselves as the servant. In a sense what Isaiah is doing is giving them a new vision, for what God seemed to have called them. We read today, the first song in Isaiah 42: 1-9. "Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit in him, he will bring forth justice to the nations."

So far, as Isaiah was speaking, in chapters 40 and 41, the people would be feeling relieved and grateful to be released from captivity. Somewhat like the slaves running away from Egypt would have felt – free. Its an exhilarating experience to be free. But now in chapter 42, they are being told that they are being released not just because God has taken pity on them, but because God has chosen them for a mission. Just like how God told the slaves at the holy mountain that they are called, because God wants them to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests to the world. (Exodus 19) Again, they are told that they are chosen, and God has put the Spirit on them, because God needs them to bring justice to the nations. So, God is going to entrust them with servanthood. Israel, however, did not live up to this calling. They didn’t after Exodus, and they didn’t after they returned from exile in Babylon. The prophets say that only a faithful remnant that is obedient to God’s calling, and the impression that one gets is that this remnant gets smaller and smaller until it focuses on one person, Jesus of Nazareth. You may remember that these same words that are at the top of this song were spoken on two occasions that had significant impact on in Jesus' own life and identity: at his baptism and at the transfiguration. Jesus as God's servant had the greatest mission in the world in his hands.

Then, we see some of the character of the servant. "He will not cry or lift up his voice; or make it heard in the street; A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice" The servant’s demeanor is calm. Sounds to me like a person who has a quiet confidence in God and not just in himself. This faith is what provides a calm strength. In his dealings with people he will not destroy the fallen or be careless with their wounds. Rather, he would carefully bandage the bruised reed so it will be healed, and pour oil in the lamp so that the wick will burn more brightly. "He will faithfully bring forth justice." Do you see an echo of this in Matthew’s story, where he says Jesus’ baptism is to fulfill righteousness – in other words to bring about justice?

And then God will sustain the servant until the goal is accomplished. "He will not grow faint or be crushed” in other words, he will not lose hope or courage till he has established justice on earth. We who have been in ministry long enough know very well, that individuals and churches do fail and are discouraged, do burn dimly and get bruised, we have the battle scars to prove it. This is why "will not lose hope or courage." The bottom line here is that even through real hardship, the servant will be faithful to the calling. And what a calling! To establish justice in the earth. Can you imagine the implications of that statement? Justice on earth! I tell you, there is no more effective way to deal with worldwide terrorism than that.

            Now, who is this calling? This is not just anyone. This is the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people up it, and spirit to those who walk in it.” So, God’s identity and credibility is established. This is not just any God. This is the creating life giving, empowering God.  Now a reinforcement of the calling. “I am the Lord, or YHWH” – now of course, that name or the miracle working covenant establishing God is reminds people of Miriam’s song Exodus 15.. YHWH will reign for ever and ever.

Hear now how God nurtures the called ones. “I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you” God does not desert the called ones. This is why the servant will not lose hope or courage. The servant is never really alone. The God who calls the servant in righteousness, also holds and keeps. But here comes that powerful calling again.

“I have given you as a covenant to the people.” A covenant, a solemn and sacred promise. God has promised the servant to the people, to be bound with the people. “And as a light to the nations” Not just in the servants own community, but as a light to the nations, why? “To open eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” Where have we heard this before? This is exactly what Jesus took as his own job description. He read almost identical words from Isaiah 61, in his very first sermon in the Nazareth synagogue that is recorded in Luke 4. Now, if the servant were to fulfill this, new things are possible, new dreams can be fulfilled, new realities can be achieved. “See the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.” Now, God can declare new things, precisely because of the hope that the servant will be faithful to the calling that God has given. You see, servanthood is not a degraded, deprived, powerless position. In fact servanthood is exactly the opposite. When we respond in obedience, rather than be degraded, we find ourselves connected with God’s glory, rather causing us to be powerless, it becomes a way of connecting with God’s power.

At the beginning of another year, I want to remind you, that God word to us for this time is in that last verse. “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.” And God says that to us, because of the hop that the servants will be faithful to the calling. First, there is deliverance. From the place of our exile, from the place of our anxiety, from the fracturing of our community, from our sin, depravation and despair, God is bring each of us, our families and our church to new place. But that is not so that we can just sit back and relax and say “OK God now you can feed me and keep me safe,” but to be engaged in God’s mission as God’s servant to bring justice. The revolution begins right here. It begins at our baptism. “I am ready for the revolution, are you?”