Introspection: Happy New Year?

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Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Happy New Year?

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NRSV)

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

From "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns

Every year on New Year's Eve, I stay up late and tune in to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve to watch the Times Square Ball drop and to count down to the start of the new year, like many other people in my time zone.  For the last two years, at the end of the countdown, I did not yell, like most people, "Happy New Year!"  Instead, I yelled, at the year that had just come to an end, "See you in hell!"  Living through a pandemic and losing three close family members made me rather eager to bid the last two years a not so fond adieu.

As I began to consider what I would yell at the stroke of midnight tonight, I realized that, for me, 2022 was not quite as bad as the two years that preceded it.  I didn't lose any more family members this year, and my life has seemed a bit more normal than it was in the last two years.

That said, 2022 still felt like a bad year much of the time.

Late last year, I realized that I do not have the abiding sense of peace that some people seem to have, so I decided that I needed to seek peace this year.  As I started praying the Serenity Prayer,¹ I realized that I needed to learn to take life as it comes and to trust God with whatever happens.  I realized that my worrying about things was not doing me any good but was just wearing me out.  Unfortunately, I didn't take the lessons I learned to heart.  I spent much of the year feeling anxious, and, instead of trusting God with whatever happened, I exerted what little control I had over my situation and made myself miserable in the process.

Before the pandemic, I rarely worried about contracting illnesses.  I might have occasionally worried about catching the flu late in the year if, having dragged my feet in getting my yearly vaccination, I heard a coworker start coughing.  This year, I could not seem to stop worrying about becoming sick, and, because I ended up equating peace with the absence of worry, I ended up avoiding people.

Summer turned out to be a rather lonely season for me.  Neither my Sunday school class nor my church small group meet during the summer; I was watching services from my church online at the time; and I was generally keeping to myself.  For a while, I felt that all I had in my life was my job, which had also become more stressful for me due to a number of retirements at my workplace.  One positive thing about the summer was that I was able to take Fridays off.  I started visiting a state park near my home and hiking the trails there.

As autumn neared, things started to change.  Receiving the updated COVID-19 vaccine made me feel a little better about being around people.  My Sunday school class and my small group resumed meeting; I started attending church in-person again; and I reunited with some of my friends.  I started to realize that, despite my anxiety, isolation was not doing me any good.

As I look back, it is starting to make sense to me that I would start sensing a lack of peace in my life shortly before Christmas.  For a time when we remember an angelic announcement of peace on earth and goodwill to all,² Christmas tends to be a very stressful time for me.  I always worry about what I'm going to give people, and the holiday itself has been tainted by a bitter argument I had with my father over ten years ago.  Because a number of different viruses were circulating late this year, I started to worry that I would ruin Christmas for my family if I caught one of them, and I ended up skipping gatherings with my friends.

Luckily I didn't ruin my family's Christmas celebration by becoming sick.  Either I worried needlessly, or my precautions paid off.  Looking back, I realize that, even if I had become sick, I wouldn't have ruined Christmas for my family, as we would have celebrated as soon as everyone was healthy once again.  Something else I'm starting to realize is that, if I am ever going to find peace, I will need to show myself some grace.  In less churchy terms, I will need to cut myself some slack.

I consider my year of seeking peace a failure since I didn't seem to find very much of it.  That said, I do think that I'm in a better place than I was one year ago.  2022 was another difficult year for me, but, since I do not consider it an especially bad year, I will not be bitterly cursing it as it comes to an end.  Normally, at this time, I would tell you about my focus for the next year.  Though I have made a concrete resolution for 2023, I do not feel that I should share it as this time; however, I will be writing about it over the course of the next year.

Whether or not 2022 was a good year for you, dear reader, I hope that that 2023 proves to be a better year for both of us.

Happy New Year!


Notes:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer
2. Luke 2:13-14

The photograph of the Times Square Ball used at the turn of the millenium was taken by Hunter Kahn, who has released it to the public domain.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Christmas Perspective: Jesus' Messed-Up Family Tree

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Jesus' Messed-Up Family Tree

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman... so that we might receive adoption as children.

Galatians 4:4-5 (NRSV)

Christ, by highest heaven adored
Christ, the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold him come
Offspring of the Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail th'incarnate Deity
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell
Jesus, our Immanuel

From "Hark! The Herold Angels Sing" by Charles Wesley

In the Gospels we read two different stories about Jesus' birth.  Immediately preceding the story in the Gospel of Matthew, we find a genealogy, which begins with the Hebrew patriarch Abraham and leads to Jesus.¹  If you are familiar with some of the names on this genealogy, you might be reminded of some rather messed-up stories.

The patriarch Abraham is remembered for his faith in God,² but he did some messed-up things in his life.  More than once, he feared that someone would kill him in order to take his wife Sarah, so he pretended that she was his sister.  These deceptions caused some bad things to happen.³  Abraham and Sarah feared that they would never have a child together, in spite of what God had promised them, so, at Sarah's suggestion, Abraham fathered a child with Sarah's handmaid Hagar.⁴  Later on, when Sarah grew resentful, Abraham evicted Hagar and her son from their household.⁵

Abraham's grandson Jacob was a dishonest man.  On one occasion, he manipulated his older brother Esau into selling his birthright to him in a moment of weakness.⁶  On another occasion, Jacob disguised himself as Esau in order to get their father Isaac to give him the family blessing meant for Esau.  Jacob then had to flee for his life, because his brother vowed to kill him.⁷  Jacob married twice and had children by four different women, and he and his father-in-law spent twenty years trying to get the better of each other.⁸

Jacob's son Judah had a daughter-in-law named Tamar.  Judah's son died, leaving Tamar childless, and, though there weren't many options for childless widows in those days, Judah had no intention of providing for her.  Later on, after Judah's wife died, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute in order to seduce Judah.  She became pregnant with his baby, as she intended, and he was obligated to take care of her.⁹

Also in Jesus' genealogy is a woman named Rahab, who lived in the city of Jericho and worked as a prostitute.  When, for some reason, two Israelite soldiers ended up in her house during a reconnaissance mission, she hid them from the local authorities.¹⁰  Later on, when the Israelites attacked the city of Jericho, they spared Rahab and her family.¹¹  Rahab is remembered not just for her line of work but for her faith in the God of the men she harbored.¹²

Probably the most famous person in Jesus' genealogy is King David.  At a time when David should have been leading his troops in battle, he had his way with a woman named Bathsheba, who happened to be the wife of one of his most faithful soldiers who was off fighting in a war.  David got Bathsheba pregnant, and, when he was unable to cover up his transgression, he sent orders to allowe her husband Uriah to be killed on the front lines.  Once Uriah was out of the way, David married Bathsheba himself.¹³  Bathsheba would later become the mother of David's successor Solomon.¹⁴

King Solomon started leading his kingdom down a destructive path by bringing idolatry into Israel.¹⁵  His son and successor King Rehoboam ignored his subjects' cries for mercy, thereby causing a conflict that permanently split the kingdom.¹⁶  Following Rehoboam was a series of kings.  A few were decent, but most of them "did evil in the sight of the Lord."  The mistakes made by the last few of these kings led to the destruction of their kingdom at the hands of the Babylonian Empire.¹⁷

The life of Jesus was scandalous in it's own right.  His mother Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph, was found to be pregnant before they were married.  Joseph, knowing that he was not involved in Mary's becoming pregnant, naturally thought that Mary had been unfaithful to him, until a messenger of God informed him in a dream that Mary's pregnancy was a miracle.¹⁸  After Jesus grew up, He repeatedly clashed with religious leaders thorughout His public ministry, until He was executed by the Roman Empire as an enemy of the state.  For nearly two thousand years, people have been scandalized by the proclamation that the crucified Jesus was raised from the dead and that He reigns above as the true Lord of this world.

For a time of year associated with an announcement of peace on earth and goodwill to all people, the Christmas season can be very stressful.  For many people, one of the most stressful things about Christmas is gathering with family.  Some of us have rather messed-up families.  Some of us have messed-up relatives who manage to make any family gathering contentious.  Some of us have lived messy lives that have drawn judgment from family members.  If you find yourself feeling somewhat stressed out about gathering with your family this Christmas season, may you find some comfort in knowing that the One whose birth we celebrate this season was born into a very messed-up family.

In a story about a Christmas pageant (which I highly recommend you read), Methodist pastor Jason Micheli quotes a late parishoner as saying, regarding Jesus' genealogy,
Emmanuel... God-with-us... comes from a family tree every bit as knotted as ours... a family of scoundrels and unbelievers... rapists and hookers... cheats and those consumed by their resentment over being cheated upon... all the way back to Abraham... who wasn't righteous... but was reckoned so on the only basis any of us are so counted, faith, alone...  Christ comes from a family just like us...  He comes from sinners for sinners.¹⁹

If you, dear reader, find yourself stressed out this Christmas season, take a moment to breathe and remember that the Son of God took on flesh and blood to be born into this messed-up world, to live among the messed-up family that is humanity, in order to save messed-up people like you and me.

Merry Christmas!


Notes:

1. Matthew 1:1-17
2. Hebrews 11:8-12
3. Genesis 12:10-20; 20:1-18
4. Genesis 16:1-6
5. Genesis 21:8-14
6. Genesis 25:27-34
7. Genesis 27:1-28:5
8. Genesis 29:1-31:55
9. Genesis 38:1-26
10. Joshua 2:1-24
11. Joshua 6:1-27
12. Hebrews 11:31
13. 2 Samuel 11:1-27
14. 2 Samuel 12:24
15. 1 Kings 11:1-13
16. 1 Kings 12:1-24
17. 2 Kings 24:1-25:21
18. Matthew 1:18-25
19. Jason Micheli.  "The Sinners' Christmas Pageant."  Mockingbird, 12/13/2022.

The Tree of Jesse illustration was based the Hortus Deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg.

Sermon: Preparing the Way (2022)

Delivered at Zoar United Methodist Church and Faith United Methodist Church in Greer, South Carolina on December 4, 2022, the Second Sunday in Advent

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Preparing the Way

Audio Version

Click here to watch the entire service at Zoar UMC on Facebook.

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit worthy of repentance.  Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.  Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 3:1-12 (NRSV)

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord
And these are the days of Your servant Moses
Righteousness being restored
And though these are days of great trial
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

From “Days of Elijah” by Robin Mark

As you probably know, there are two high holy days on the Church calendar: Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, and Easter, when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.  Each of these times of great joy is preceded by a more somber season of preparation.  Though many people jump straight into celebrating Christmas at this time of year, people who follow the Church calendar observe Advent, a season of waiting and longing.  Some people also consider it to be a season of penitence like Lent.  During Advent, we hear stories of characters from the Gospel who are associated with the coming of Christ, and we hear passages from the Old Testament that are thought to point to the event.  One of these characters is a prophet named John, and one of these passages describes a highway to be built in the wilderness.

The second part of the Book of Isaiah, in which words of warning give way to words of comfort, begins with a scene that some commentators have described as a “heavenly council.”¹  Amid this divine gathering, God calls for words of comfort to spoken to God's people, who are currently far from home.  “Comfort, O Comfort my people,” God says.  “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.”²  The people of God repeatedly broke God's law and ignored God's prophets, and, as a result, they found themselves as exiles in Babylon.  Now God is saying that they have already paid double the price for their unfaithfulness and that their long exile is finally coming to an end.

Another voice in the heavenly council cries out, “In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  The voice says that valleys are to be filled in, that mountains are to be leveled, and that rocky ground is to be made smooth, so that all people may see the glory of God.³  God is at work, and there are to be no obstacles in the way.⁴  God is going to God's people in exile to gather them, as a shepherd would gather his scattered flock, and to lead them home through the wilderness.⁵

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read a quotation from this very scene:

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”⁶

St. Matthew uses these words from the Book of Isaiah to describe a voice in the Judean wilderness named John, who cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  People come to him in the wilderness to confess their sins, and he baptizes them in the Jordan River as a sign of their penitence.⁷

It could be said that John is a bit eccentric.  He lives in the wilderness, wears strange clothes, and eats strange foods.⁸  Scholar William Barclay suggests that every aspect of John's life is an act of protest against society.  John lives in the wilderness, away from the hustle and bustle of civilization, so that he may hear God's voice in the stillness, silence, and solitude.  By rejecting comfortable clothing and donning the garb of the prophet Elijah, a robe of camel's hair and a leather belt, he reminds people of the ancient prophets who called the people to repent.  The food he forages, like locusts and wild honey, are the kinds of simple foods the poor of his day would eat.⁹

John is a fiery preacher.  To the religious leaders who come to him in the wilderness, he says, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit worthy of repentance...  Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”¹⁰  St. Luke tells us in his Gospel that, when the people who come to John ask him what they should do, he offers them practical ways of “bearing fruit worthy of repentance,” ways that they may demonstrate that they are indeed turning their lives around.  He encourages those with excess to share with those who do not have enough, saying, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”  He urges those in authority not to abuse their power.  To tax collectors, he says, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”  To soldiers, he says, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”¹¹

God is at work once again, and, in the same way that the voice in the heavenly council calls for the removal of all mountains and valleys to build a highway in the wilderness, John, the voice in the wilderness, is calling people to build a highway into their hearts by removing the sinful obstacles from their lives.

We read in the Gospel of Luke that John was born to elderly parents under very unusual circumstances.  One day, a priest named Zechariah was burning incense to God, when a messenger of God named Gabriel appeared to him.  The messenger told the priest that he and his wife Elizabeth would soon have a son who would be filled with the Spirit of God, even before he was born, and that their son would grow up to “turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God” and “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  At first, Zechariah wouldn't believe what Gabriel told him, so he was struck dumb.¹²  Nine months later, Zechariah regained the ability to speak upon naming his son John, and he began to prophesy.  He proclaimed that the dawn was about to break upon his people, who had been sitting in darkness, and he prophesied that God had “raised up a mighty savior.”¹³  To his newborn son, he said,

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.¹⁴

Something big is on the horizon, and, as Zechariah prophesied, John has a role to play in it.  Scholar N.T. Wright suggests that it is as if John is waking people up, “splashing cold water all over them and telling them to get ready for the greatest moment in Jewish history, in world history.”¹⁵

The Jewish people of John's day have been suffering with the proverbial boot of the Roman Empire on their necks, in the same way that their ancestors suffered as exiles in Babylon.  For a long time they have awaited a Messiah, a leader anointed by God to drive out their Roman oppressors, restore their kingdom to it's former glory, and reign during an age of peace and prosperity.  John, who understands that his role is to prepare the way, points beyond himself to Someone greater, lest anyone starts to believe that he might be the Messiah.  He says, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”¹⁶  John is saying that the One to come is so great that he does not consider himself worthy to serve as a slave to Him.¹⁷  It could be said that, while John only pours water on people, the One to come will pour out the very Spirit of God upon people.

he Gospel writers believe, as do we, that the One for whom John came to prepare the way is Jesus, who will go to John to be baptized before He begins His earthly ministry.¹⁸  Jesus is the Anointed One sent by God, not to save one particular people from the oppression of an evil empire, but rather to save all people from the oppression of sin and death.

John is not the only voice who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus, for Jesus has called others to do the same.  For example, in the Gospel of Luke, we read that, at one point, Jesus sends out as many as seventy-two messengers in pairs to all of the places He is planning to visit.  He authorizes them to heal people who are sick and instructs them to proclaim to all who will listen, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”¹⁹  When these messengers return and joyfully report the miracles they have witnessed, Jesus says to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.”²⁰

In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that one day, after Jesus has ascended to Heaven, His disciples are gathered together in their meeting place when they hear the sound a loud rushing wind.  Suddenly, tongues of fire appear in their midst and rest upon each of them, and they find themselves speaking fluently in languages they did not know previously.²¹  The Disciples have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, just as John prophesied, and now they are able to use their voices in new ways.  They begin to proclaim to people of all nations that the crucified and risen Jesus is the true Lord of this world;²² they invite people to be baptized in His name so that they too may receive the Holy Spirit;²³ and they urge people to repent in preparation for His return.²⁴

Advent is a time of longing, waiting, and preparing.  In the same way that the Jewish people of John's day long to be set free from their oppressors, we long for the day when the world is set to rights.  In the same way that they waited for a king to come and save them, we wait for Christ, our King and our Savior, to return.  We prepare not just to commemorate Christ's birth on Christmas but more importantly to celebrate the day when, at long last, Christ's kingdom is fully realized on earth.

So how can we respond to the Advent call to “prepare the way of the Lord”?

First, we can prepare the way of the Lord by heeding the voices in the wilderness who are calling us to change our ways.  John's announcement that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” comes with a call to repentance, because the reign of Christ will bring great change.  The Greek word metanoia, which is translated into English as “repentance,” describes a change of mind and heart that results in a change in behavior.  Perhaps best way to prepare for the reign of Christ on earth is to allow Christ to reign in our lives right now.

Remember that it is the Holy Spirit, with whom Christ has baptized us, that enables us to change.  John Wesley once said that, when we are confronted with our sinfulness, we can experience peace if we remain focused on the grace of God and on the change it will effect in our lives.²⁵  Drawing from the imagery of the wilderness highway in the Book of Isaiah, he said,
So shall the sense of the sinfulness you feel, on the one hand, and of the holiness you expect, on the other, both contribute to establish your peace, and to make it flow as a river.  So shall that peace flow on with an even stream, in spite of all those mountains of ungodliness, which shall become a plain in the day when the Lord cometh to take full possession of your heart. ²⁶

Second, we can prepare the way of the Lord by being voices in the wilderness.  As followers of Jesus, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit who has been poured out upon us.  We too can challenge people to do what is right, like John; we too can act as agents of healing, like Jesus' messengers; and we too can offer good news to all who will listen, like the Apostles.  As we look to the past and future actions of God in Jesus Christ, may we not forget that God is always at work, even now.  God was at work in the days of the Exile; God was at work in the days of Jesus; and God is at work today.  A certain morning prayer I like says that God's love is “new every morning” and that “all day long [God is] working for good in the world.”²⁷  People need to hear the good news that, as St. Paul writes, “God works all things together for good.”²⁸

For many of us, the last few years have felt like an age of exile or a long trek through the wilderness.  We might not be far from home geographically like the Jewish exiles were, but many of us, myself included, certainly don't feel like we are where we were just a few years ago.  The pandemic brought a lot of radical changes into our lives, and in many ways many of us have not quite been able to return to normal.  Many people are suffering long-term health problems, and many people have lost friends and family members.  I personally lost a grandmother and a coworker to the ravages of COVID-19, and I am still living with a lot of anxiety that I did not have before the pandemic.  People still need to hear the good news that God is at work, even during difficult times, and that the trials we face in this life are not the end of the story.

The last few years have also shown us that as a society we have reasons to repent.  When we should have been working together to get through a difficult time, we managed to become even more divided.  When we should have put our own preferences aside for the common good, we proclaimed, “My will be done!”  We treated mild inconveniences as grave injustices, and, when we couldn't support our choices with the facts, we embraced lies.  A “brood of vipers” we are indeed!  It would seem that we still have a lot to learn about denying ourselves and taking up our crosses, as Jesus taught.²⁹

God is always at work, redeeming the world.  As you remember God's sending us a Savior two thousand years ago, may you remember how God has saved you personally.  As you look forward to our Savior's return to reign and to set the world to rights, may you anticipate how the Holy Spirit will continue to set things right in your own life.  As you ponder how God is at work right now, may you consider how God might be calling you personally to help “prepare the way of the Lord.”

Amen.


Notes:

1. Joel B. Green, William H. Willimon, et al.  The Wesley Study Bible (NRSV).  2009, Abingdon Press.  p. 860
2. Isaiah 40:1-2 (NRSV)
3. Isaiah 40:3-5 (NRSV)
4. The Wesley Study Bible, p. 861
5. Isaiah 40:10-11
6. Matthew 3:3 (NRSV)
7. Matthew 3:1-2, 5-6 (NRSV)
8. Matthew 3:4
9. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark.  2001, Saint Andrew Press. pp. 16-17
10. Matthew 3:7-8, 10 (NRSV)
11. Luke 3:10-14 (NRSV)
12. Luke 1:5-20
13. Luke 1:59-79 (NRSV)
14. Luke 1:76-77 (NRSV)
15. N.T. Wright.  Mark for Everyone.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 2
16. Matthew 3:11 (NRSV)
17. Barclay, p. 18
18. Matthew 3:13
19. Luke 10:1-9
20. Luke 10:17-18 (NRSV)
21. Acts 2:1-4
22. Acts 2:36
23. Acts 2:38
24. Acts 3:19-21
25. John Wesley.  Sermon 42: “Satan's Devices.”  sec. II.2
26. ibid.
27. https://www.ministrymatters.com/files/604/An%20Order%20for%20Morning%20and%20Evening%20Prayer.pdf
28. Romans 8:28 (CEB)
29. Matthew 16:24

St. John the Baptist Preaching was painted by Mattia Preti in the 17th century.