It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times

The New Year provides a time to reflect and project. We reflect on the past and project what we hope for the future. Last week, Lee led us in looking at who we will be in the coming year by reflecting on the “wise men from the East”. We are engaged in a lifelong calling to become who God wants us to be. We are engaged in a lifelong quest to worship God fully. We are engaged in a lifelong effort to find faith – faith in God, a faith that we find most fully in the pain and suffering of life. [Lee posed these three questions: Who are you going to be? How is God present in your life? Where do you find faith as you travel in paths unknown?]

We read two passages this morning, one from Isaiah and one from Matthew. These were taken from the lectionary, and I have included the lectionary reading from Acts 10 as well, as we also look towards the future and ask who God wants us to be. We begin by considering the biblical texts, and then we ask what they have to say to us as we also reflect on our lives and project what we wish for the coming year.

Isaiah 42

These verses comprise one of Isaiah’s “servant songs”, referring both to Israel, who was to be God’s Servant in their world and to the coming Messiah, who would also be God’s Servant.

In this Servant Song, Isaiah tells us that:

·         God’s Servant brings justice with gentleness and peace.

·         The Creator will not rest until the Creation is filled with righteousness (another word for justice), freedom, and Shalom. [Isaiah does not use the word, but he clearly has this concept in mind.]

·         God resists all human efforts to take God’s place.

We see, then, that hope for the future comes through God’s Servant – both through Israel as God’s People and through the Messiah. In today’s context, our hope for the future rests in Jesus the Messiah and in the Body of Christ, the Church.

Acts 10

We did not read this passage earlier. Verses 34 to 43 come in the context of Peter’s vision, showing him that he can eat freely of any food – “Don’t call unclean what God has made clean.” Cornelius was a Roman centurion, who prayed regularly to God. He also had a vision, in which God told him to send for Peter. He did so, and Peter came and spoke to the people in his house.

Peter said, reflecting on his dream of clean and unclean animals:

·         Clearly God wants all people as God’s own – there are no favourites in God’s Realm.

·         God’s call rests on the death and resurrection of Jesus [you/we killed him; God raised him from the dead].

·         Jesus has sent us out to preach “forgiveness of sins”.

This term “forgiveness of sins” reminds us that God’s desire is for all people to live in the peace and harmony and justice that Isaiah had described, but humankind has rebelled against her Creator. God wants peace and justice, therefore God sent God’s Son into the world, but we rejected him. As John’s Gospel puts it: “He came to his own, but his own did not accept him.”

We are in the season of Epiphany, the light shining on our celebration of Christmas. We sing the Christmas Hymns, rejoicing at the birth of the Baby Jesus – it is indeed the best of times. In this time of joy, we listen to the news. There is conflict building in the Middle East. In the country of my youth, Zimbabwe, the shelves are bare and the electric and water power off. Australia is burning, without hope of relief. The problems all around us tell us that today may be the worst of times. The problems we face all come from humankind’s rebellion against God. We want to be in control of everything around us, and our efforts to take God’s place separate us from God.

When Jesus was born, the wise men brought myrrh (among other gifts), reminding us that Jesus was born in order to die for us. We [all humanity] killed him, and God raised him from Death. God heals the rebellion of our world, and God sends us out to preach this healing, “the forgiveness of sins”.

Matthew 3

We come to the gospel reading from Matthew 3, which describes the baptism of Jesus. Some weeks ago, Lee preached on this passage, pointing out that the baptism points us to God’s sovereignty, God’s rule in this world.

These verses answer the question that John himself asks:

·         Why? “To fulfill all righteousness.” This note of righteousness connects to the passage from Isaiah, in which the Servant brings justice/righteousness and peace.

What happened when John listened to Jesus? God appeared and approved. This event celebrates and seals the appearance of God in the world in the person of Jesus. Jesus is Lord!

Synthesis

At the beginning of a new year (and, according to some, the beginning of a new decade), we face a time full of trouble and reasons for despair. What about hope? Where does hope come from? What can make our future full of peace and justice?

·      In Isaiah, hope comes through God’s Servant – through God’s People and through the Messiah.

·      In Acts, hope and salvation really are for everyone, through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

·      In Matthew, hope begins with listening to Jesus.

We face a choice. Will we seize the New Year and force everyone to do what we want? Or will we submit to the presence and person of Jesus and receive the justice and peace that come through embracing his death and resurrection?

Synthesis Expanded

As I reflected on this basic idea, bringing the texts together, my thoughts took a direction I didn’t expect, stimulated by current events in the Middle East. I don’t quite know how to develop what I am going to say now, but I hope we can work at that together in the Going Deeper time. Here’s the thought. The USA government killed an Iranian military leader on January 3. The Iranian government responded with grief and outrage, culminating in a series of rocket attacks last Tuesday. On Wednesday, a rocket fired by Iran may have been the cause of the crash of the Ukrainian flight 752, killing 176 people, including 63 Canadians.

I have no interest in discussing the rights or wrongs of American or Iranian or Iraqi actions this morning. I mention this series of events because of how clearly they illustrate the normal way that human beings act. We want control of our lives, and we are willing to use any level of force to exercise control. Although both the American and the Iranian governments say they do not want war, no one related to this conflict considers the act of becoming a servant as part of the path to peace and justice in the Middle East.

Governments use lethal force, but we are not so different in our own ways when it comes to life in Steinbach, politically or individually. We normally use power to get what we want. This use of power is not bad; in fact, without it, nothing good can happen. For example, when I take my car to the garage, my willingness to pay for the repair is a form of power. Without my payment, the garage would go out of business, so I have leverage to get the service I need. Similarly, the mechanic identifies the repair that is needed. The mechanic’s expertise gives the garage leverage to compel me to pay to get my car back.

This is an ordinary use of power, the sort of thing that we do all the time. It is good and it is necessary. The problems begin when one of the parties involved in the exchange feels cheated. If I begin to mistrust my mechanic, I may think that I am being overcharged. I may use words like “cheated”. As I spread the word that my mechanic cheated me, I exercise the power of the consumer to hurt the business.

We could go through similar scenarios in the political realm and in the educational realm; in fact, in every area of life, we use power to get what we want. In this context, we hear Isaiah’s language of the “Suffering Servant”. A servant is defined by the lack of power. We hear also Peter’s language in Acts 10, in which he tells us that the opportunity to become one of these powerless servants is available to everyone. Finally, the gospel reading portrays Jesus taking the step of baptism, signifying his complete submission to the will of God.

We are servants. We cannot avoid the exercise of power, but we use power as servants, as people who are not in control of what will happen. As illustrated in the killing of the Iranian general, the human desire is to be in full control. We want to take control of the process and impose our will on others. We find it really hard to give up control and wait for orders from someone else. I know I am this way. I have taken personality tests that remind me of my deep resistance to authority – if someone tells me I must do something, I respond almost automatically with “No!”

What Do We Do?

You may wonder if I am making too much of the fact that Isaiah refers to the “servant of the Lord”. Is this just a title, rather than a description of who we are to be? In the passage from Acts 10, Peter clearly goes against his own understanding of who belongs in God’s kingdom. He obeys the voice in his dream, because he obeys God as king. In the baptismal passage, Jesus also demonstrates obedience for the sake of all his followers.

Two other passages from Paul’s letters state this way of living clearly and directly. In Ephesians 5: 21, Paul says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” He illustrates this mutual submission by considering the way that wives submit to their husbands, the way that husbands love their wives, the way that parents discipline their children, the way that children obey their parents, the way that bosses rule their workers, and the way that workers serve their bosses. In all these situations, filled with power dynamics, Paul counsels mutual submission.

In Philippians 2, Paul says, “Be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” The last line suggests a simple and practical way forward; it is also difficult. “Don’t look out for your own interests, but look out for the interests of others.”

Earlier, I used the example of taking my car to the garage. This principle means that the garage owners and mechanics place my interests as the car owner above their own interests in the garage. Similarly, as the customer, I place the interests of the business above my own. I suspect that many of us say “Yes!” the first and grimace at the second. How do we do that? Come to the Going Deeper time to find out! I’m counting on the combined wisdom of the group, because I don’t think I can answer the question fully.

Conclusion

This is a new year. It may be “the best of times”; it may be “the worst of times”. Our future is not in our own hands. The choice we have is whether or not to live intentionally as servants of God and servants of each other. We may find that the same events are both the worst and the best, and God gives us joy and strength to live well when our circumstances are hardest.

The peace and righteousness/justice that our passages describe are a further theme, and I believe that the kind of commitment I am describing leads to greater Shalom in our world. I might suggest that the best path to such a world, filled with justice and peace, is the path of the servant. That would take another sermon, and for this morning I invite you to join me in living a life of service to God and service to each other, submitting to each other and looking out for each other, as together we serve God, in whose hands all our days rest. Amen.

Steinbach Mennonite Church

12 January 2020 

Texts

Isaiah 42: 1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. ² He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; ³ a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. ⁴ He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

⁵ Thus says God, 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 upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: ⁶ I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, ⁷  to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

⁸ I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. ⁹ See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

Acts 10: 34-43

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. ³⁷ That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹ We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰ but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹ not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Matthew 3: 13-17

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Going Deeper Questions:

1. How does a real servant act?

2. How can we act as real servants in our church community?

3. How can we act as real servants in our community and world?

4. Mennonites don’t like to exercise power (at least, we don’t like to admit that we are using power), but the use of power is simply a reality in daily life. How can we use power appropriately as followers of Jesus?