Rev. Roland J. Wells, Jr. - Pastor
The Third Sunday in Advent - December 14, 2003
Lessons: Zeph 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3: 7-18
"The Lord is at Hand"
Our Second Lesson is one of my favorite Bible passages; it's one we're probably all pretty familiar with. Even so, even though I've used this verse in sermons and Bible studies for more than 30 years, when I was studying this passage for worship planning, one phrase popped out at me that I had never really noticed before.
It's a long list from Paul about how to live the Christian life. He gives all these instructions, but keep asking yourself the question- "Why?" The answer is in the reading. I'll read that short passage again; as you listen to Paul's list, listen for the answer to the question, "Why?"
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. 6 Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
What was the "Why?" - The Lord is at hand! I've read that tiny phrase hundreds of times, but I don't remember ever letting it sink in. The Lord is at hand! All of Paul's instructions in Philipppians make sense because of that one phrase: The Lord is at hand! We can rejoice in hardships. The Lord is at hand! We can have peace. The Lord is at hand! We can expect our prayers to be answered. The Lord is at hand! We can have patience and strength. The Lord is at hand! He will meet us in our anxiety. The Lord is at hand! He will keep us. Why? The Lord is at hand! These are promises. These are pure Gospel.
When I went to the Greek New Testament to study this text, I was surprised again. The Greek word here doesn't say anything literally about "hands." The Greek word, "enggus" ("engus") means really, really close. Almost on top of you. It's virtually touching you. Right there. This passage literally tells us, "The Lord is right there right now."
The other day I heard an interview with the Tony Kushner, author of the Broadway play and television series "Angels in America." He's an agnostic, and writes the play claiming that God took off one day, he got fed up and just disappeared, leaving the angels behind to take care of a more and more chaotic world. And the Angels don't know what to do. Looking at the world today, an agnostic might believe that.
In 55 AD when Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, the world was in chaos. Christians had already been persecuted. Jesus had not come back right away. False teachers had come in and messed up Paul's work several times. I'm sure Christians must have been tempted to doubt; they didn't have any written New Testament Scriptures yet; in fact, this letter might be the first piece of the New Testament written down. It was a pretty crazy time. Yet, in the midst of chaos, Paul says one thing is important to remember. The Lord is at hand! At all times, whatever you face, the key is this- The Lord is at hand!
God hasn't gone away. He's not senile. He's not busy. He's not uninvolved. The Lord is at hand!
It can be argued that the civil religion of America, which is sort of a practical Unitarianism, is based on a radically different understanding of God. The god of the Enlightenment, of Thomas Jefferson, was an imagined god, who created everything, gave people a moral law, and then took off. The god of the American civil religion is a distant god, who sits far away and watches. Bette Middler sang of this god in her song, 'From a Distance." She sings,"god is watching us, from a distance." That's a distant, uninvolved god, who watches, leaving all in human hands.
That's not the living God, the revealed God, the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is a personal God who is actively chasing, pursuing, seeking, loving, desiring, jealously hungering for a relationship with every human being on the face of the planet. Including you. The Lord is at hand!
The God the Bible teaches is a God who came into this world in a tiny body, the same way you did. He experienced the hardest sorts of things, the most painful things of life- emptying himself, to take the form of a servant to all people. The God who created the Universe- wearing a wet diaper. Cold, hungry, persecuted, chased to Egypt, a refugee, in poverty. Are you hurting? Are you vulnerable? The Lord is at hand!
That's the mystery of the Incarnation. That's the joy of Christmas. That's the promise of a Lord who came for you, remains by your side and is returning to take you to be with him forever. The Lord is at hand!
You can trust a Lord like that. Amen.
December 14, 2003 - The Third Sunday in Advent
Zeph 3:14-20
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has cast out your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear evil no more. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18 as on a day of festival. "I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you together; yea, I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says the LORD.
Philippians 4:4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. 6 Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Luke 3: 7-18
7 He said therefore to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 And the multitudes asked him, "What then shall we do?" 11 And he answered them, "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"
13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than is appointed you."
14 Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."
15 As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ,
16 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
18 So, with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people.