Readings: Matthew 3:11-12, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:15-20 (Throckmorton §4-5)
Luke's Gospel has a much fuller account of John the Baptist's preaching than the other two gospels. I was drawn for some reason to Luke 3:18 this morning, which is missing from the other two Synoptic gospels: "So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people." Don't we all love good news? I was watching television recently and saw an advertisement for Publisher's Clearing House's latest sweepstakes - $5,000 a week forever. Wouldn't someone coming to the door telling you that you have won that jackpot be good news? But let's look at the "good news" that John the Baptist is bringing: John the Baptist says that he is not the Messiah, but One is coming soon who is "not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals" (Luke 3:16, cf. Mark 3:7, also Matthew 3:11-"carry His sandals"); this One will baptize not with water as John is doing but with "the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16, cf. Matthew 3:11, also Mark 1:8, just says "baptize you with the Holy Spirit); this One will separate the wheat from the chaff and the chaff will be burned with "unquenchable fire" (Luke 3:17, cf. Matthew 3:12, note absence from Mark). At first, I am not sure I would consider this message "good news." I am reminded the late Rev. Peter Gomes who once remarked, "Just because it's called the Good News doesn't mean it's good news for you." (See, for example, Herod, who John "rebuked" for his sins with his sister-in-law and "all of the evil things that Herod had done" - Luke 3:19.) There's a lot of what we call the Good News (the Gospel) that does not sound like good news to us. This Good News runs afoul of our cultural preferences of accommodation and nonjudgmentalism.
But here is why it is truly good news to John the Baptist and to us: God wins. Remember John the Baptist's last words as recorded in John's Gospel: "He must increase and I must decrease" (John 3:30). That's the cry of his heart, and it ought to be the cry of our heart. The word fire is used twice, but largely in the same way: the One will baptize with fire and will burn the chaff with fire. In both cases, fire is used as a means of purification and destruction. In the ancient world, one of the ways fire was used was to purify precious metals, which by nature are filled with worthless impurities. It is impossible to simply dig them apart with tools or human hands. But by using fire, the impurities could be separated away from the gold or silver. In doing so, the gold or silver's value would increase dramatically. So it is with us. The Old Testament prophet Malachi, when speaking of the coming One says, "For He is like a refiner's fire" (Malachi 3:2b). That's why the Holy Spirit has historically been associated with fire. When John talks about the chaff being burned, I do not think he is talking about Hell; rather, I think he is talking about those impurities from our sin nature that the Holy Spirit promises to burn away and destroy. In that way, Jesus will increase in our lives as our self-centeredness decreases. May that be so for each of us.
Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and kindle them in the fire of Your love. May all those things that do not please You burn away that we may be pure treasures for the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ, through whose Name we pray, Amen.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Day 2 - John the Baptist Preaching Repentance (Matthew 3:7-10, Luke 3:7-14)
Readings: Matthew 3:7-10, Luke 3:7-14 (Throckmorton §2-3)
Yesterday, I wrote about how John the Baptist came to prepare the people for Christ's ministry. For John, the message was repentance. Today's readings expand on this subject. It may surprise us that when John preached his message of repentance, people came! But, then John behaves in a way that we probably would not; instead of welcoming them and congratulating them on making that next step in their lives, John asks them, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7, Luke 3:7). You might imagine that they would have responded: "Well, you did!" But that's not the point. Remember, John asks them to "bear fruit worthy of repentance" (Matthew 3:8, Luke 3:8a). This has caused some consternation among Protestant Christians, since we emphasize Christ's free grace for salvation. But John is not asking them to do anything to receive forgiveness (you do not have to show fruits in order to be saved). Instead, he is saying that if you really were repenting, you would show a change in your life. You see, it is not John who truly called them to repentance, it was God. Repentance is not a program of self-improvement; it is a response to God's grace in our lives. Because of our human nature, we are not willing to repent just because someone tells us to (after all, we have plenty of reasons to think we are doing just fine on our own - see Matthew 3:9, Luke 3:8b). Frankly, we cannot even be scared into repentance. But the good news is that through Jesus, God is breaking into the world to defeat our sin nature to allow us to realize the mess that we are in on our own, realize our need to change, and then respond to the message we hear. Telling that bit of good news is the job of all Christians so that others can see grace that is already working in their lives. So repentance comes when we say "yes" to God and "yes" to the work he wants to do in our lives.
Prayer: Almighty God, we thank You that when we turned away, and our love failed, Your love remained steadfast. We thank You that You called people who told us of Your love for us, and may we be faithful in telling others of Your love for them. May we stop attempting to be better people by our own power, and instead be better people by responding to Your grace in our lives, and through that, truly bear "fruit worthy of repentance." We pray this through Christ our Lord; Amen.
Yesterday, I wrote about how John the Baptist came to prepare the people for Christ's ministry. For John, the message was repentance. Today's readings expand on this subject. It may surprise us that when John preached his message of repentance, people came! But, then John behaves in a way that we probably would not; instead of welcoming them and congratulating them on making that next step in their lives, John asks them, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7, Luke 3:7). You might imagine that they would have responded: "Well, you did!" But that's not the point. Remember, John asks them to "bear fruit worthy of repentance" (Matthew 3:8, Luke 3:8a). This has caused some consternation among Protestant Christians, since we emphasize Christ's free grace for salvation. But John is not asking them to do anything to receive forgiveness (you do not have to show fruits in order to be saved). Instead, he is saying that if you really were repenting, you would show a change in your life. You see, it is not John who truly called them to repentance, it was God. Repentance is not a program of self-improvement; it is a response to God's grace in our lives. Because of our human nature, we are not willing to repent just because someone tells us to (after all, we have plenty of reasons to think we are doing just fine on our own - see Matthew 3:9, Luke 3:8b). Frankly, we cannot even be scared into repentance. But the good news is that through Jesus, God is breaking into the world to defeat our sin nature to allow us to realize the mess that we are in on our own, realize our need to change, and then respond to the message we hear. Telling that bit of good news is the job of all Christians so that others can see grace that is already working in their lives. So repentance comes when we say "yes" to God and "yes" to the work he wants to do in our lives.
Prayer: Almighty God, we thank You that when we turned away, and our love failed, Your love remained steadfast. We thank You that You called people who told us of Your love for us, and may we be faithful in telling others of Your love for them. May we stop attempting to be better people by our own power, and instead be better people by responding to Your grace in our lives, and through that, truly bear "fruit worthy of repentance." We pray this through Christ our Lord; Amen.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Day 1 - John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-6, Mark 1:1-6, Luke 3:1-6)
Readings: Matthew 3:1-6, Mark 1:1-6, Luke 3:1-6 (Throckmorton §1)
After the birth narratives, the Synoptics all turn to the introduction of John the Baptist. He's an odd character, to say the least. Matthew and Mark give us an idea of how John looked: "John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey" (Mark 1:6, cf. Matthew 3:4). It must have been quite an image. Then, to add to all of this, John comes with a single message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2, cf. Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3). What does that mean? Most of us may have heard the traditional definition: to turn around and go the other direction. But a couple of years ago, I was challenged to think of it in a different way: to radically rethink what we are doing. After all, you cannot change where you are going if you do not rethink where you are going. I think that's what John is saying: we need to rethink who we are and where we are going in light of the fact that the Kingdom of God is coming. What will that change about your life?
Prayer: Almighty God, we thank You that You sent John to announce the way of the Lord. We thank You that You invite people to rethink their lives in light of Your glorious Kingdom. May we hear that call and rethink our lives so that in our lives we can bring You glory; through Christ our Lord, Amen.
After the birth narratives, the Synoptics all turn to the introduction of John the Baptist. He's an odd character, to say the least. Matthew and Mark give us an idea of how John looked: "John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey" (Mark 1:6, cf. Matthew 3:4). It must have been quite an image. Then, to add to all of this, John comes with a single message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2, cf. Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3). What does that mean? Most of us may have heard the traditional definition: to turn around and go the other direction. But a couple of years ago, I was challenged to think of it in a different way: to radically rethink what we are doing. After all, you cannot change where you are going if you do not rethink where you are going. I think that's what John is saying: we need to rethink who we are and where we are going in light of the fact that the Kingdom of God is coming. What will that change about your life?
Prayer: Almighty God, we thank You that You sent John to announce the way of the Lord. We thank You that You invite people to rethink their lives in light of Your glorious Kingdom. May we hear that call and rethink our lives so that in our lives we can bring You glory; through Christ our Lord, Amen.
The Journey Begins
Today, we begin the online portion of The Year with Jesus. This is a ministry of Jonesville and Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Churches in northern Kentucky. We are two church communities who are looking for where God is calling our congregations in ministry. I believe that the Holy Spirit has reminded me that wherever we are called, we are called to go as the Body of Christ. If we are to hope to follow in the example of Christ, it is critical that we under who Jesus is, what He taught, and what He did. This is something that our church culture often gets wrong. This year, we are endeavoring through detailed study of all four gospels to see who Jesus really is. I hope we will remain open to possibly seeing a different Jesus - an unsettling Jesus, perhaps - than we have previously known. Will you join us?
This is how we plan to go through The Year of Jesus:
You are warmly welcomed and invited to join us.
This is how we plan to go through The Year of Jesus:
- Every Sunday, the sermon will move sequentially through the Gospel of John.
- Every day (excluding Sunday), we will have a daily reading from the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) from the order in Burton Throckmorton's Gospel Parallels <<http://amzn.com/0840774842>>. I will write a short daily devotional for the reading on this blog.
- Every Thursday night, we will meet to discuss the readings from the Synoptic gospels for the week.
You are warmly welcomed and invited to join us.
- We meet on Sunday morning at 9:30 for worship at Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church (230 Golds Valley Road, Dry Ridge, KY) with Sunday School following at 10:30;
- We meet on Sunday at 11:00 for worship at Jonesville United Methodist Church (4485 Stewart Ridge Road, just west of KY 36, Jonesville, KY) with Sunday School for all ages preceding worship at 10:00.
- We meet Thursday night at the Jonesville Church for Bible Study at 7:00 PM.
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