“Expectation of Great Things"
December 9, 2012
The 2nd Sunday of Advent
Baruch 5: 1 – 9/Psalm 126/Philippians 1: 1 – 11/Luke 3: 1 - 6
His Eminence
The Most Reverend Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
and
Primate
of the
National Church in the Philippines
and
the Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
In our society today, probably more common is anxiety and stress rather than peace. When the prices are announced to go up, when the taxes are going to be increased, when they are going to put a sin tax on us, when things just seem like it is not what we want, amazingly how we immediately translate that into something difficult or not good.
Many times, things that had happened eventually turn into good. The moment, because we are shaken from our tradition or normal habit, we oppose what is taking place. We don’t see it as something that could be good for us. We don’t see that it is something beneficial in the beginning.
Sometimes after the event takes place, we begin to realize, “This wasn’t so bad at all.” Our first reaction was opposition, that which we didn’t like or appreciate. With God, His promise to us is great things. He said that He would never put us to shame. Yet, in our lives, there are times when we find things not so pleasant, not so great, and we think, “What happened to God’s plan?” It is one of those things that maybe the beginning or the situation at hand is just a stepping stone into something greater.
The children of Israel were coming out of Egypt for forty years in the wilderness because of their rebellion. They would not believe or accept what was taking place. At the end of forty years, they were taken into the Promised Land. God fulfilled His promise. He did what He said He would do. It would have been much sooner had they been a people of faith, if they had believed and obeyed, but they made a choice. Because of anxiety, of fear, of being used to Egypt and the garlic and the leeks, of being used to slavery and being told to do, they didn’t see that anything could help them or be greater for them. They had been set free, but they did not appreciate the freedom.
In our lives, Christ has also set us free, but many of us are still frustrated with the life God has given to us because we have not yet allowed Him to show us the fullness of the life that He has given to us.
In our first reading, Baruch was a secretary of Jeremiah. Israel, in Jerusalem, was in exile at this time. They had established communities in Babylon and they were growing together and helping one another. They were being a strength to each other. Jeremiah had warned Israel and Jerusalem that these things would happen and they wouldn’t listen to him.
When Babylon came in and destroyed Jerusalem at the temple, they had to leave and they went out to the territories of Babylon and they established their own living quarters. Baruch came from Egypt and he went to the people that were in these communities. They begin to minister and encourage them to soften their hearts toward the things of God because they had hardened their hearts. He was encouraging them to return to obedience to the Lord. He told them, “Take off your garments of sorrow and the oppression and put on the beauty of God and live out what God has done for you.”
This is the challenge that is for us today: take away the oppression, the sorrow, the sadness, and the unhappiness and put on the beautiful garments that God has given to us. He gave us freedom from sin. He gave us joy and peace that comes from God. He has given us so much - everything pertaining to life and godliness. Why then do we find difficulties? Why then do we find things hard? Can we not put on the garments of ability? Can we not put on the garments of confidence in God and allow Him to lead and to direct us in the way we should go?
“Put on the crown of glory. Look eastward. God is restoring you.” They couldn’t see anything where they were. Baruch says that God is working to restore them. He is not going to leave them there forever. He is not going to leave them in captivity. He is going to restore but they have to do their part. They have to put on the garments of obedience. They have to begin to listen to Him. Soften your heart so that He can work with you. Put on those things which will take away oppression and sorrow.”
In the midst of oppression and sorrow, you lose your strength. You lose the ability to comprehend. You lose your ability to move ahead. There becomes a heaviness and it pulls us down when we are in oppression. When we are in anger, we lose our strength. In all of these things, Baruch was telling them, “Have joy. Have that awareness of what God has done for you and be thankful for it. Walk in it; put on the crown of God’s glory because you are His people. You are the ones that He has brought forth. God is restoring you.”
This is a message that is vital for us today because we don’t see God at work in much of our lives. Somewhere behind the scenes and somewhere behind the shadows, God is there and He is working. He doesn’t fail. Isaiah says that His government is increasing. More and more He is taking over. We don’t see it because our eyes perhaps are darkened by doubt, by sorrow, and by shame when in reality God has given us a much better life than that.
In our Epistle, the church in Philippi was the first church that Paul built in Europe. It was a faithful body of believers. They were living out the example of what Paul had taught them. At the time of this letter, Paul was imprisoned. He had need and in writing them, he encouraged them because they had sent to him needs. They had sent to him someone to take care of him. He was encouraging them not to give up this message that they were working through. It was proclaiming who they were. He said to them, “Don’t worry about this because God will not fail you. God will not forsake you. He who has begun in you will complete it. He will bring it to a point of excellence and you will be the servants of the living God.” If we only walk with God, if we only walk in the provision of His compassion, then we will bring forth that which will bring new life and new provision for us.
The Gospel today in Luke 3:1-6 talks about how Christ is bringing forth this new life to us, the provision of His ability. We see here a story of Simeon. I see this as something very important for us to learn. Simeon was a man of faith. He wanted to see the Messiah. He was desirous that the Messiah would come. He wanted to see Israel set free. The Spirit had told him, “You will not die until the Savior comes. You will live until that time.” There was a time when Mary and Joseph took Jesus for circumcision. When this event was set, the Spirit drew Simeon to the temple so that he would witness Christ. Amazingly, he immediately knew this was the Savior, the one that was going to save Israel. His confession when he saw Jesus, “My eyes have seen Thy salvation.”
Simeon spoke to Joseph and Mary and said to them, “Behold the child is anointed for the fall and the rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed. A sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that thoughts from many hearts will be revealed.” God was speaking, revealing, and identifying Christ and the work that He was to do. It shows that even Joseph and Mary were amazed that someone knew more than they knew about the ministry of Christ and what was going to happen.
They were amazed of the things that were being told and said about Him. The Spirit was quickening the awareness of that which Christ was to be. We see that this was to be brought forth from there and to be a part of what God was doing. Luke 3 tells us that the baptism of repentance was for the forgiveness of sins. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight, ‘Every ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough roads smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Here was the presentation of that which God was bringing out. It wasn’t coming to Jerusalem. It was going to go to the wilderness. It was going to reach beyond the religious façade of the temple. It was not open for what was going to happen. John the Baptist was going out to the wilderness and he was going to bring the message of salvation preparing for Christ when Christ was old enough to do His ministry. He was making ready the way of the Lord.
Here is the task that is ours today – making ready the way of the Lord. For most of us, we are looking only for the benefits that we can get and yet there is the necessity of making ready the way for these things to happen. It is taking time to set the provision, the preparation, the goals, the plans so that these things can take place. It takes our effort and our faith to believe that it is going to take place.
John went to the district around Jordan preaching the baptism for repentance, making ready the way of the Lord. It doesn’t tell us to be the one to cause it to happen, but we make it ready. We open the door. We straighten out the paths. We fill in the ravine and we bring down the hills and the mountains. Any obstacle that would be against what people would want, we remove them so that Christ can minister to them and Christ can be what He intends to be.
Simeon was a man of faith. He was listening to God. He was sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Because he was sensitive, he was privileged to be the one to announce the ministry of Jesus Christ. He was one to tell Joseph and Mary what His ministry would be because he was sensitive to the voice of then Spirit.
In many of our lives, we don’t have time to listen to God. We are so busy with our activities, with our own functions that we literally do not find time to know that God really cares and wants to speak to us. In reality, God desires that He would guide and lead us so that we would not fall into the pit. We would not get involved in the pains and the sorrows. Most of the time, we don’t listen. Most of the time, we think, “It is just my thought. I don’t need to pay attention to this.” When in reality, it was God speaking to us. He desires that we would find that which is good.
John saw the potential. He was preparing for that which was to come. He wasn’t the Christ. He did not have the ability of Christ, but he was preparing for Christ to come. He knew He was coming, so therefore, he put his whole ministry, his whole heart, his whole being into preparing so that people would receive Christ.
When Christ finally did come to the ministry of John in the Jordan River, John immediately announced, “Here is the One that we have been talking about.” When Jesus wanted him to baptized Him, John said, “No, You should be the One to baptize me.” He was not looking for fame for himself. He was not looking for attention for his own sake. He was there for one purpose: preparing the way of the Lord.
This is the task that belongs to us. This is our responsibility in our lives – the way we live our lives; preparing the way of the Lord; letting people know how God has helped us, how that He has given provision for us so that we can find in Him the assurance, the hope, and the peace.
The world is needing peace today. Forty-nine of our nations are in war of one kind of the other – about 25%. We need the peace that can only from God, through Christ. We can have a part in that by the way we live our lives, by the things we do. Crying out in the wilderness. We say, “Oh, there is no hope. It is the wilderness. Nothing good can ever come from this.” But there is when you make ready the way of the Lord because that is where the need is.
John didn’t go into the city of Jerusalem. They had the temple. He went out in the wilderness, to the Jordan River where people would join him and find the peace they knew. Much in the way of Baruch. Baruch came to the Jews in exile. He proclaimed to them that which was going to take place and that God was bringing them back together. He was restoring them. You have to see this; you have to believe this; you have to prepare for this. They were in sorrow; they were in sadness; they were oppressed and they were not ready to do anything because they had no energy, no strength left. But Baruch encouraged them and surely they were restored. God restored them because He loved them. He was committed to them.
In our lives, this speaks to us: expect something great regardless of what it seems at the moment. When the doctor says you have cancer, normally, you immediately panic and think of death. We think of all kinds of things. Can we not think of life? Can we not believe in life? Can we not see the ability to conquer? Can we not see the ability to overcome? Can we not see something great can happen with God?
We have had so much negative information about things. We put those things as priorities. We put those things as the thing that really will happen, when in reality, with God, all things are possible. We need not be in fear and anxiety. This is what we look forward in the coming of Christ. Everything is going to be made perfect. Everything is going to be made excellent because He is going to take care of the lack that we have in our lives.
LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
THROUGH
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