"Diadem of Grace;" Sermon for Sunday December 28th, 2014 by Nicole A.M. Collins

The Prophet Isaiah begins a beautiful metaphor of the Glory of God being revealed, he says: “¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”

Through Isaiah we hear of the Glory of God being an external process of the Law for he continues in saying: “¹For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. ²The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. ³You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

The vindication of Israel is of great external and opulent glory for all the world to turn their gaze to.  It is a very worldly optimism of seeing righteousness as restored by conquest through YHWH.  Their efforts, however, will never be or become what God is fully expecting for the Israelites to ponder and DO until today’s Gospel introduces another episode of the infant Jesus and His growing presence in the world.  Jesus presence in the world as this infant IS Grace itself—redemption and the true glory of God something beyond what anyone would have ever expected!

You can’t blame the Israelites though in Isaiah’s time; they suffered not only from oppression for many years but also from an identity crisis.  An identity crisis that was shaped by the only days that saw them doing well—being King David’s reign.  The good old days long gone make one want to “set things right again.”  Setting things right again however seen through obedience to the Law of the Old Covenant and God’s vindication upon their enemies for God’s glory.

In many ways the wedding metaphor in Isaiah reminded me of hearing those yearly statistics of how much some people lavishly spend for their weddings.  The media as usual, paints the picture that most American young people will spend an average minimum of ten grand to “tie the knot.”  But then, the glory of the moment, the showiness of it all wouldn’t mean “enough” to our worldly desires to just have the exchange of vows and the rings…

In that same stream of thought, why on earth would God choose to come to us, the Word enfleshed, as an infant? The beauty of Grace coming into the world as Jesus defies our understanding, our logic or vision of how God should’ve come into the world.  The most important thing to note though is that we wouldn’t have the gift of change—Transformation, if Christ did not come down to redeem us!  From vindication to redemption, what a great leap!  Basically the leap from Law to Gospel, with a caveat of course that we will always need to struggle faithfully to keep both at a balance—discipline in our lives to truly and truthfully be and become the adopted sons and daughters of God!

The battle, pure and simple, for us in the here and now as Christ Jesus’ disciples is living into that internal process of illumination, liberation, restoration and most importantly transformation to obediently be and become the sons and daughters of Grace to the glory of God! Through the joy of Simeon’s encounter with the infant Jesus; we are witness to the efforts of the Holy Spirit to light a flame upon Simeon’s heart to recognize, realize that Jesus is the Messiah!  He says to Mary: “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

With and through Jesus, we realize how He ushers in a new understanding of life: the Gospel and glory of Grace.  The Gospel of Grace and its glory writes a new law upon our hearts which we understand as Love.  Love received from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to defeat sin, death and the devil.  A spiritual victory for humanity to fathom throughout their lives lived in volition as a freely responsible servant of Christ.

We’re in an age, however, and we can’t deny this, where we want to and do follow our own rules. We justify our actions with showy intellectualism, worldly power, conquest and financial gain. We’ve done everything except adjust to the Law and Gospel of God’s guidance to live our lives truly and truthfully into Grace. If anything, we are slowly allowing the Evil One to frankly have success or “glory” in our fading away into godless, lawless paths…  This is a harsh perspective, but just like part of that one verse in Isaiah we should consider hearing as helpful law, that we shouldn’t keep silent and perhaps not rest as Christians on a whole new battlefield!  A battlefield where the sword to pierce your soul is either Christ Jesus’ Gospel or Satan’s temptations.

It has been a sad aspect of the closing of this year to hear of so much turmoil and violence in the world.  As we know recently in the news with the two New York policemen gunned down execution style as “vindication,” for another wrongful death. Both men never knew what hit them yet alone the one officer was engaged and leaves his bride, a widow…  An eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth is the human instinctual response to justify their “making right” the situation… Violence begets violence, period!  To whom is the glory?  Graceless behavior never sees victory more than purely our destruction!

'Adjust or Self-Destruct,' by Craig Massey is an excellent theological treatise on thinking about both spiritual transformation as well as spiritual warfare.  It’s title says our dilemma perfectly: Adjust (be or become obedient, transform, be open…) or Self-Destruct (fade into delusions of self-righteousness, idolatry, indifference and purposelessness).

So… we’ve had 2,000 plus years of getting our act together inwardly (spiritually) and outwardly (being the hands and feet of the Body in the world).  Each and every year we come to this same point, cycle in the journey of worldly days and hours of the church calendar.  We’ve made our yearly trek into the story of Grace coming into the world—Jesus.  How have we placed ourselves there in Simeon or Anna’s shoes? We have too many distractions and obstacles we’ve conveniently placed in realizing our spiritual formation at this time of year such as Santa Claus, gifts, booze and food…  “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” That’s an ironic lyric in a Dave Matthews’ song since it can go both ways.

Speaking of food, my husband and I have been fairly blessed this Christmas with a lot of donated food such as three turkeys, a ham and a multitude of other things.  Christmas comes whether you like it or not OR should I say when you least expect it, EXPECT IT! What one person may consider insignificant or just a moment in time to another it could mean something profound and priceless.  Simeon and Anna were guided by the Spirit as we all are and don’t realize it enough on our daily journeys. Adoption as Sons and Daughters of the King of Grace is a lifetime journey, nothing to take lightly or be a spectator of but to be lived.

We must become more faithfully seek and be aware of “God with Us” while we carry on in all that we do, say, be and become for the Glory of God, Our Father.  GRACE is an amazing revelation it is a blazing torch—a refining fire for the heart to not fear but embrace in order to transform!  Heart knowledge is the beginning wisdom of living into Grace.  It is through the heart we have faith sewn. It is at the center of our souls, Christ Jesus should have Lordship over.  Something greatly to rejoice as did Simeon and Anna in even seeing and holding the infant Jesus.  Head knowledge is donning that armor of Law and Gospel to fight the Good and Righteous fight of faith in a burgeoning graceless wilderness—Grace in action as our loving response to the Lord of all life—Christ Jesus.

AMEN

December 28^th, 2014; 1^st Sunday of Christmas; Year B; SOLA Lectionary;  Nicole Collins

Psalm 111; Isaiah 61:10—62:3; Galatians 4:4-7 & Luke 2:22-40

http://youtu.be/WrMDW3Xyv7A

"Soul-ception;" Sermon for Sunday December 21st, 2014 by Nicole Collins

The physical reality of a place for God began you could say in today’s lesson from Second Samuel. This would be in the conversation between God and Nathan to speak to David about building a “house” to dwell. Instead of a house, as we know Solomon built his magnificent temple and within this temple was the Holy of Holies; the actual place to where God would walk around, “be” in. You could say that the theology of the physical manifestation of “church” began.

Several hundred years later, the house God would come to choose to dwell in and spring forth from a 14 year old young girl.  Mary the Mother of our Lord led the way for the conception of Grace in the world by saying YES to the Holy Spirit to bear the Christ child, Jesus. This was a free-willed response or spiritual reception to living into the commissioning from God to give “birth” to the Good News.  This is the spiritual beginning of “church.”  This is not just because Mary said yes, but that God would risk coming into our world by implanting Himself within a young girl to be born and grow into the role of salvation for the world.

Again, we have that abstraction, that metaphysical, spiritual Word: GRACE. Grace coming into the world as we proclaim and confess: fully God and fully human would be Jesus. There are those in the “modern” theological world that would love to claim that Jesus was not only NOT born from a virgin but that the incarnation itself is not real.  Why would the eternal, almighty God creator of the universe and all beyond our capacity of understanding… come to us through our humanity? This is the mystery of faith.  It doesn’t make sense to our worldly, empirical, limited views of “life.”

“To BE or not to BE;” that was Shakespeare’s poetic question from a challenged soul trying to fathom life itself and purpose.  It is all too easy for us to get completely and ever so absorbed into the universe of ourselves. In fact we have even made our self-contained, and self-concerned reality into idolatry over and above God and neighbor. For what is the human understanding of “wisdom” for some? But merely transactional gain, experiential…only physical.  Spiritually upon St. Paul’s death bed however, from the closing remarks in his final chapter of his letter to the Romans… We learn that this former Pharisee, now converted and mind you, fully living into his conversion(!) confesses that the mysteries—TRUTH of God took his life-time to be revealed to him through his obedience—submission to what is heard (that is from the Living Word of God!)

St. Paul said Yes to God many years earlier from that solitary unfathomable, unknowable conversion experience he had where he heard Jesus speak to him to receive Him and be and become the witness to the world the early church built itself upon!  My mentor told me this past week that in order for me to grow as a pastor; I need to live truly even more into seeing, breathing, tasting the Gospel in everything and anything I say or do.  Basically he told me I needed to practice MORE into what I preach as a disciple, witness to the power of Grace active in the world—Christ Jesus and His Gospel.

Thinking so much about “church;” its reality in both senses of the meaning—had me deeply dreaming again about planting a church or a ministry. There are a lot of challenges of course as with anything… money, time, feasibility and expression!  Making that NASA footstep onto an unknown path is pretty scary; but then I ask, how do you make it real?  Are you faithfully saying yes to all God’s challenges placed before you as you sojourn into the lifestyle of Grace? Think about a poor teenaged young peasant girl from Nazareth who would go on to be the God bearer… she must have been both terrified and overjoyed that God would come to her.  Why? She wasn’t anyone special… but neither are you or I for that matter BUT God finds a way to use us; to work in, with and through us for His will and precepts for the world.

We are so limited as well as we feel the need or power to control others! The whole story of who you are the world claims to understand let alone try to control with what they feel you are to be limited to…  Then why believe if you can’t even live truly and truthfully into all of what God opens up—reveals for you on your faith journey?! Our earthly “wisdom” places us into spiritual bondage from “keeping it real:” the revelation of God to be conceived and received within the heart—soul of all of who you are.  All of who you are is the essence of life contained in that abstract place—the soul.  If you feel you are limited to truly and truthfully live into God’s plans for you; you will be living for everything but the Gospel! Welcome to being human. The challenge of being both saint and sinner.

The Lord of life works in mysterious ways.  He does reveal step by step, (when you pay attention and are aware), while you sojourn into the lifestyle of Grace where He feels it is best for you to consider…  This past week in helping a disabled couple meet with their social worker; God opened up the idea of chaplaincy to me as a path I should consider in addition to planting a ministry.  What has always been that spiritual, soulful truth from the Gospel throughout my journey thus far, is to love God and neighbor.  How more real could I make that path but through pastoral care.  Do I have the capacity to love as a wounded healer, yet alone as a former artist and a dreamer?  Yes, this is introspective but something we should not be afraid to talk about as TRUTHFUL witnesses of the Gospel of Christ Jesus.  It is definitely both a personal and communal journey to minister on behalf of the Gospel.  If you deny this or become “exclusive” about it… you are not “keeping it real or making it real…” in your life as a disciple of Jesus.

This experience in helping two congregants from the church plant I served had me both question and affirm my “yes” to God’s call in my life.  As my husband & I both tried to help her and her husband precariously walk down a non-handicapped considerate set of steep stairs and a ridiculously winding wheelchair ramp…  I thought about, did anyone take this into consideration at this office?  We got our answer when we came in the door and the curt worker at the desk said that the social worker is not in today and come back tomorrow.  Keeping to erring on the side of Grace, I pleaded with them to consider still trying to help them today since they wouldn’t be able to have a ride to come in for the next as well as they didn’t even seem to notice or care that they were out of breath and sweating from the walk down to the office.  The worker was frankly a little hostile about it but begrudgingly told us to sit down and wait while she’ll “try” to help us.

Once all their papers were signed and everything that needed to be done was done; I told the couple that I will personally help them to find an assisted living residence to move to.  They applied but have not even received a call back from anyone at the home suggested to them, so now we are planning to go up there somewhere up in Wauconda to get it done.  Why do any of this?  Why should I say yes and take on all this responsibility?  I’m not being paid. I’m not ordained yet.  Why bother?  Isn’t this the world’s challenge upon us?  Why go there?!  If I don’t how am I really being pastoral and caring to anyone?

The internal church of my heart where God planted that seed has conceived Christ at the center of my life: GRACE.  Heart knowledge is fed and led by Grace received, incorporated, LIVED and shared. Listen to St. Paul on his death bed: He says—“²⁵Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages ²⁶but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.”

Paul is telling the Romans that they need to take on the challenge of the Gospel.  Taking on this challenge all the while considering how Grace has been revealed, active and working in their lives even now as he writes! Heart and head knowledge is in a perfect world to be and become GRACE in action. Grace is the building blocks of faith; it is trusting into the mystery of God.  Trusting into a living hope that goes far beyond us into the horizon as the advent of New life—the New Adam, the New Eve.  A re-creation and reception infused with obedience (accountability) to live in the world but NOT be of it: BE of the Kingdom of God as children of Grace. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your Word.”

Nothing is impossible with God—this is the very challenge and Joy of faith. A self-hating, spiritually challenged monk in medieval Germany would unknowingly start a major reform by simply saying yes to God’s challenge to him… Martin Luther, in front of his accusers and “faith-less” hypocrites declared: “I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.” Conviction means being with belief, (& obviously Luther lived it…). Conception means with creation, reception means received.  You have been saved by Grace and are to live into this grace—a new life within you, revealed to you. May the Advent of the Christ child coming into our world renew that Grace to receive a New hope in your heart to continue on as a worthy soldier, sojourner for the Good News.

AMEN

December 21^st, 2014; 4^th Sunday of Advent; Year B; SOLA Lectionary     Nicole Collins

Psalm 89:1-5,19-29; 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 ; Romans 16:25-27  & Luke 1:26-38

 http://youtu.be/tJS0EzYi25U

"Open Field;" Sermon for December 14th, 2014 by Nicole A.M. Collins

The Psalmist speaks to the advent of our spiritual journey and its open field—wilderness of the soul: “⁵May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. ⁶Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.”  What the Psalmist would relate to us in the here and now of this time of year especially is the story of Grace entering into the world and ourselves’ reception-journey of it.

 

The Word for the notion to confess is transliterated from the Greek as “homologesen.” Homo refers to human plus loge is a root word for the Word. Can’t you hear the beginning of John’s Gospel right now?  In the beginning was the Word…and so on. Here it is to mean human plus the Word. What would that mean more concretely to us spiritually as disciples? The sense I gather from it in use not only in these texts but in other places throughout the Gospel is what do we do in, with and through the Word?  We must not forget that the Bible is the Living Word of God. Our Lutheran understanding of this incorporation is scripture alone.

 

Wait a minute… that’s too abstract to fathom!  The same could be thought of as well for the church however…  The original purpose and function of “church” is actually both quite organic as well as was supposed to be abstract(!)  We naturally of course being empirical creatures with a chronological understanding of everything around us see church as the steeple and the people and the plot of land it sets upon.  For many, it’s a pretty little building we go to only really on Sundays~  Am I hitting the cultural mindset dead on?

 

If we confess—incorporate, extrapolate and LIVE in, with and through the Living Word of God; the story of Grace, advent of its cyclical “arrival” into our lives is something quite profound and most definitely SPIRITUAL. It is to be celebrated most definitely, declared, proclaimed most profoundly with our lives turning over the soil of those barren places in our hearts to receive the LIGHT!

 

For the past eleven years of my life Isaiah 61’s initial Words connecting to the story of GRACE entering into the world as Jesus the Christ have sewn its impression upon my heart to strive to live for as a goal as His disciple! Grace as an abstract spiritual motivation for us to live through in faith is realizing God’s work in your life.  It is allowing the Holy Spirit to sew those seeds and for our lives to spiritually mature to; as Isaiah continues in verse 11: “¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”

 

St. Paul clarifies this even more for us living into the lifestyle of GRACE as: “¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit.”  Yes, we must not quench the Spirit at all; but unfortunately we do that all the time! We are like a patch of field where there are still barren, dark places where the seed has been sewn but we’ve surely avoided being good gardeners…  Another day, another dollar.  The skies are a uniform grey rolling onward with no sense of direction or motivation to really DO much of anything at all!  Some people would say, you’ve just got the annual Christmas’ “Blues…”  You’re letting everything and anything negative drag you down.

 

It is hard for many of us to till that field yet alone touch the Pandora’s box of the concept of “Joy.”  Oh Tidings of comfort and Joy… it’s not just a simple verse from a beloved Christmas carol.  How we bear forth in the world but not of the world as Jesus’ disciples who DO have the Spirit upon us and are anointed to BE witnesses, testify to the Gospel through painful perseverance! We can’t just be spectators to Grace coming into the world; we need to be introspective gardeners to till that dormant soil, stir us from placidness—O Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness!

 

I truly love that hymn: Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness.  For it was that same Spirit that gently awoke my heart, planted those seeds of faith eleven years ago at my conversion experience in a tiny little Lutheran church on the north side of Chicago… The beauty of the Living Word was planted, and is tended to through the assist of the Holy Spirit.  The story of Grace began truly for me and outwardly now as I live into being and becoming a truthful, ever-changing disciple—member of the priesthood of all believers.

 

In our text study this Saturday, we talked about or should I say, pondered about why verses five and six were left out of our reading from Isaiah 61 this week.  The plain and simple truth was that it would upstage the focus being on the story of Grace entering into the world—the advent of Jesus the Christ coming to us to BE the light of the World!  Verses five and six are about us: “⁵Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines; ⁶but you shall be called priests of the Lord, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory.”

 

Today’s Gospel text once again features John the Baptist fighting off the priests and Levites interrogating questions and simply confessing his purpose, his calling to witness—testify to the one who is coming whom he even feels he is unworthy to untie his sandal to!  What makes a powerful “voice” to and for the Good News is taking mostly seriously that internal spiritual garden of faith that teeters on the spiritual edge of being a wilderness unto itself—full of weeds, dead and dormant patches and fragile, new little shoots relying upon us to nurture, water and grow to full development!

 

Keeping it real, you could say is truly an aspect of once again journeying into being revitalized and renewed by the story of Grace coming into the world. Keeping it real as well seemed to be the sub-theme to the yearly living nativity that Phil & I take part in at the former parish of the pastor who helped to lead me up the street to that little Lutheran church I would have my conversion at.  I confess that it was a little sad to participate this year since he’s gone… but we’ve enjoyed taking part for the past seven years.  It probably would’ve been more of a downer not to do it.

 

This church isn’t necessarily wealthy but manages to scrape together several hundred dollars to call a local farm to bring in a mini zoo of sweet, semi-Biblical animals to be penned around the crèche. They still brought Jed the beloved old donkey with the ever-curious and truly precious personality.  They also brought a number of feisty black and white sheep, some baby goats and two very noisy geese.  Their antics were adorable, they did everything but try to chew on the really bad fake baby Jesus doll in the cradle.  One overly ambitious sheep did chew on the crib itself…. Thankfully it didn’t get torn apart and the children loved it.

 

There’s not too many churches in the area who still do a living nativity.  It’s becoming a creature of the past.  People can’t sit out for extended periods of time in the cold yet alone want to hang in there through the smells…. This year in particular, they had literally no volunteers except for me and my husband.  After about an hour and a half in, thankfully or joyfully I should say, a young family who attends there came by and asked to sit for a while.  It was nice to come in, have some hot chocolate and regain feeling back into my fingertips. After all it is for a good cause!  The last wave or hour of the living nativity saw its best attendance especially when the Handel Messiah CD was blasting in the background.  It was like living in a time capsule being on display and watching the world go by delighting in the innocent creatures and the perseverance of the well-padded couple seated on some bales of hay.

 

As I watched and delighted in the beauty and innocence of this simple fun gesture; I found myself dreaming about the future again.  I thought about myself as Jesus’ disciple.  How much the Lord of Grace has shaped and transformed me and how I must live for every moment in prayer and praise!  I knew as well I couldn’t let the other side of my thoughts quench the Spirit… quench the spirit of being there for others, joining in fellowship, sharing in the story in this fun and creative way. In many ways you think about it, the cycle of Grace in, with and through our lives is a constant comfort and joy…

 

Grace as the Holy Spirit—God at work in, with and through our lives is present even in what you least expected. They can be in the most trivial moments, or the most painful or as that ongoing profound hope we are to labor as those gardeners.  The garden of my soul still is tended by a wavering brown-thumb but it is a work in progress!  We are all works in progress stepping down upon those stones of doubt, indifference, sadness and fear.  We are turning the soil over as a New leaf or shoot to the foundation of the story of Grace active within our lives for His sake and out of love for our neighbor.

AMEN

 

3^rd Sunday of Advent; December 14^th, 2014; Year B; SOLA Lectionary     Nicole Collins

Psalm 126; Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

 

http://youtu.be/oEqCrI3_oBE

"Metanoiaphasis;" Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, December 7th, 2014 by Nicole Collins

I think perhaps one of my most favorite biblical characters in the New Testament would be John the Baptist. You have to admire him as both a bold witness as well as someone who is truly in transition. He never became A New Testament adoptee. His mind and his theology was still in commitment to that of the Old Testament covenant. What he does carry over for us to contemplate is that he was led by a convicted soul…

 

What I mean by that is most clearly seen in 2^nd Peter. The verses ironically missing from the 2^nd Peter lesson for this Sunday actually speak the loudest to possessing a convicted soul: Peter says “¹⁷You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. ¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

 

Growing in Grace is living into Grace as a complete life-long commitment as well as it most significantly relies upon our volition to respond in, with and through Grace which is justified by our faith—CONVICTION. I enjoyed a funny conversation with my best friend Jurek, the other day. He is Polish Eastern Orthodox. He's a lot like Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory. He loves to be instructional and always assumes that he knows everything, is always right about everything and anything even about your faith! Basically he tried to give me a “lesson” on where Protestantism has gone wrong…

 

I am for the most part a humble person but I did just graduate from six years of seminary and I think I know Protestant theology as well as Christian theology in general... This particular day’s debate we had a lovely and lengthy discussion about the need for preaching, witnessing within the context of corporate fellowship or “Church.”  He in his usual funny “snobby” way tries to rebuke the necessity of preaching in a church service that all you really need he feels is worship and Bible study and that preaching is the “Protestant’s mistake....” In regards to worship and Bible study, that's all fine and dandy. We do need to join together in worship as well as we definitely do need to be involved in Bible study not just as a group but individually. However preaching is very closely tied to teaching and is as well, a commandment tied to our commissioning as disciples of Christ to be stewards of the Living Word of God—each and EVERYONE of us!

 

After 27 years of friendship I know I could never win an argument with my friend and I usually don't really go there but this time, I couldn’t let it slide. But what this made me think about in retrospect is how much I admire people who are bold witnesses of their faith. They are bold witnesses for preparing the way of the Lord in the hearts of their neighbors! This takes however, growing slowly through a life time into truly spiritually transforming alongside God’s Living Word.

 

This week I was contemplating beginning a doctoral thesis.  In its infancy of just thinking about titles, ideas; I saw how my life has greatly begun to change through Christ who strengthens me!  I would love to do an in depth giant paper on the theology of the Holy Spirit (the big missional,12 letter word, Pnuematology) and Christian Existentialism coming from an Orthodox, Evangelical, Lutheran perspective.  Hopefully I will be embarking upon this in the near future… but this came out of just thinking of the Living Word and (The) Voice as what fueled the conviction, need, movement to DO this.

 

In almost a Marvel comic moment... If we can recall, John the Baptist never stopped talking… which as we would see tragically down the road of the story of John, that voice of his tormented poor King Herod Agrippa to the point of executing him by cutting off his head for Salome.  The voice that never stops proclaiming the Word, the Living Word of God is something we are called to partake in if we are truly and truthfully taking on the painful, transforming challenge of discipleship. John the Baptist never became Jesus’ disciple but was obedient and intentional to following God’s command to herald Him, crying out from the (graceless) wilderness through to our broken world for the advent of Hope—New life, New earth and New world to come.

 

Thinking about today's Gospel text, we have that wonderful descriptive scene of John the Baptist in action. It is an amazing scene for us to think about especially in realizing what our baptismal calling is as a member within the priesthood of all believers. The Voice long crying through the graceless wilderness to our hearts has been Jesus.  His, is a calling to us to be “with” inner change or “metanoia.”  I can’t compose a lick yet alone a sentence in Greek but what I did look up and understood of this word’s use fascinated me.  Metanoia means repentance or the “change of the inner person.”  It shouldn’t be taken lightly or figuratively as merely “a change of heart…” more than it should be taken much more seriously as a turned and renewed heart dedicated to God in service to Love Him and neighbor.

 

We must be bold witnesses in an era where culture is trying to reign over Christ and being “politically correct” for selfish and indifferent reasons also runs over and above the will and precepts of God! Being Evangelical as I consider an appropriate and truthful adjective to my “Lutheran” self is living into it truly with a fully connected and convicted soul…. But we must remember that they are adjectives to describe but not necessarily refer to “doing the Do’s of the Gospel,” as my mentor would say.

 

There's been a sad series on the news lately concerning the actor and comedian Bill Cosby. All the sudden 40 years later, a  group of women, I think 15 or so, have come forward and accused him of sexual misconduct or assault. Outside of what the media has been pondering why all this time what's it about... etc. What you have to kind of think about is that this has now painted a cloud over this man's head and what righteousness or justice is truly being served especially without all the facts confirmed? Since when does gossip become truth or visca versa?

 

Yes these are many testimonies against Cosby and perhaps we don't know. Maybe he is guilty in some way or another but what justice does it serve to place a scarlet letter over someone head in the latter years of their life? The motive as most of the media has been alluding to is most likely for money. Is that really what our motivation is for many things today to be a voice and speak up for something or is it around other vices we feel we need self-righteous vindication upon? We must remember where “The voice” could come from.  We as Peter alludes to can aspire to grow in Grace (true inner transformation for a greater Godly purpose) or we could fall prey to the Evil One’s graceless voice and stagnate in our Old Nature, worldly selves to our detriment…

 

The difference from how we view the world today first as some 2,000 years ago... The witness, Herald, voice was more towards coming from a place of virtue.  The boundaries between virtue and vice were much clearer because people had grounded themselves to God, to an unspoken rule in the heart to where the beginning of operating in the world ethically truly begins.  If Cosby is in fact guilty and has lived truly indifferently to these crimes he has been accused of; what is the most tragic about that is that he has not even remotely considered being accountable to them at all.

 

Being accountable in the things we have done, and left undone is the cost of living faithfully into our discipleship calling.  Everything we do, say, be and become are known by God the Father, our heavenly parent, provider, protector and sanctifier. As disciples of Jesus, we need to live our lives into Grace as if we were cognoscente of living into 3 different time zones of the soul.  What do I mean by this?  This means basically living your life truly and truthfully to the Gospel dealing with your past, present and future.  Not an easy task at all, but that IS what GRACE truly means opened profoundly within the believer’s soul as a powerful Voice of conviction, commitment and witness.

AMEN

 

December 7^th, 2014; Second Sunday of Advent; Year B; SOLA Lectionary Nicole Collins

Psalm 85; Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14, 17-18; Mark 1:1-8

 

http://youtu.be/CoA6xqihMoM

"A Fine Balance;" Sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent by Nicole Collins

“⁶ For we have all become like one who is unclean, ceremonially, like a leper..., and all our righteousness, our best deeds of rightness and justice, is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction.”

 

The Prophet Isaiah relays some harsh Words from the punishing parent God of the Old Testament for us to contemplate especially in thinking about what is the “true” righteousness?  If we are in an age that is justifying the self over and above God…  How could we truly “know” righteousness?  We know how to condemn and place the scarlet letter of outcast upon our neighbor for “righteousness” sake… but aren’t we more or less filling in the mortar to the graceless wilderness’ foundation Satan would have us realize?

 

A Hardened heart toward God and the neighbor can be easily reached once we’ve journeyed down that road of justifying our sin as a righteous act. This time of year normally examples our human tendencies to be concerned the world of the self, being concerned with buying things, eating and what not.  I think the banter about “Black Friday” started two weeks before Thanksgiving.  This makes you wonder, what does being grateful mean since perhaps we have “adjusted” its true meaning? This is beside the point, yesterday on the news there were shootings in two Chicago locations.  One was a suicide and attempted murder in a Nordstrom store on the Mag-mile and the other was some sort of gang-related shooting on the south side spraying the streets with over a 100 bullets…

 

Conceal and carry could be considered the culprit here among other things…  However, the general air it left me with reflecting upon was that there is a lot of unrest in the world these days.  If we really saw all the world’s news, all the politics, destruction and what not… would we be awakened out of our lives’ “little bubble” of security and dealing with our own problems, to thus arise and err on the side of Grace?  Or would we be too hastily ready to add our contribution in the guise of “righteousness” to be that mortar towards building the graceless wilderness, “advent” of destruction?!

 

It’s a fine balance we would rather spiritually avoid.  We would rather avoid the challenge of living into the lifestyle of Grace and perpetuate the development of our own “justification!”  Righteousness is not an intellectual treatise of development as we’ve conveniently made it to be in rewriting or revising the Word to affirm our point of view.  Humanity wants the world to be a yes/ no reality.  Why should we bother with the middle?  We forget, however, most gravely…. Who IS in the middle after all, this would be Jesus!  If as a disciple of Christ, you cannot see Jesus at the center of your life, let alone as the reality of Grace realized for our benefit…  What is the point?

 

Wake up people!  The true righteousness in this world is not of this world and it came from Jesus! We cannot recreate it. There was a funny post the other day on a social media site that had someone debate a quote from a Reformation figure and basically their argument was centered on coming from everything but Christ.  The person in essence had developed a self-oriented theology that justified not only cheap grace or denying the need for any kind of accountability but even thought the reformer’s comments were breaking some sort of sexual ethic…  Please… 

 

If Satan is not real, hell is not real and we should make sure to have a politically correct “eunuch” version of God… I think you are gravely missing the point!  Then what does Grace mean if Christ doesn’t even really matter in juxtaposition to our “righteousness?”  Across the country there has been wave after waves of protests on the judge’s decision impact from the tragedy in Ferguson, Missouri…  And this is not going to be a sermon talking about that or taking sides.  What about the latest with ISIS?  What about the working poor here and now? The point is; what is justice, if we justify over and above God and ignore the real places where death and destruction are truly reigning!?

 

Taking into account or becoming awake to where death and destruction are truly reigning is starting with ourselves.  We are those clay vessels created by God and filled with those filthy rags of self-righteousness, greed and indifference.  It’s a little known fact but the word for earth in Hebrew is Hadam or “Adam.”  When Luther had his epiphany upon the reality of God’s Grace active in his life; he penned that we are both saint and sinner!  The reality of growing or maturing as children of God, children of Grace is actively as my mentor would say: believing, receiving, incorporating and sharing.

 

We are saved by Grace to which we have received through faith.  Upon this reception is the natural unfolding of living into Grace which means volition.  Volition is one of those strange Words Lutherans, in particular, are perhaps scared of….  Because volition is another adjective or enhancer for the calling and commissioning for all disciples of Jesus to be accountable.  Accountability however does not have to mean “works righteousness…” for we must with a humble heart remember that we all fall short of the glory of God.

 

The beautiful attitude of Grace doesn’t take shape out of our own intellectual treatise of judgment…  It develops in, with, and through Christ who is our redeemer and example.  The New Nature planted by Grace is ready for us to tap into. Tapping into the New Nature is volition produced by Faith Alone from Grace Alone, Through Christ Alone and built by Scripture Alone.

 

St. Paul’s pastoral message to his “wayward” Corinthian congregation defines this: “⁴ I thank my God at all times for you because of the grace (the favor and spiritual blessing) of God which was bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, ⁵[So] that in Him in every respect you were enriched, in full power and readiness of speech [to speak of your faith] and complete knowledge and illumination [to give you full insight into its meaning]. ⁶In this way [our] witnessing concerning Christ (the Messiah) was so confirmed and established and made sure in you. ⁷That you are not [consciously] falling behind or lacking in any special spiritual endowment or Christian grace [the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating in your souls by the Holy Spirit], while you wait and watch [constantly living in hope] for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and [His] being made visible to all.”

 

Living into Hope could be the second name for these past few months concerning my own “little bubble” of time and space as Jesus disciple in formation.  Since July my husband and I have had more than half of our house packed up and ready to move...  This would include nearly all of our books, artifacts and whatnot stored away while we notice the dust collect and the strappling tape fail in holding our “belongings” together.

 

Being in transition in accepting the challenges or as they say “rolling with the punches” becomes a spiritual drain not only upon the faith but in wondering why and what for? It has more or less been like living in a storage unit wanting to break out and truly move forward!  A sense of urgency but oriented around my own plans and “needs…”

 

Six is an imperfect number Biblically speaking, but that was the years of study and field work I have “accomplished” in order to meet the “standards of the world” to become a pastor. Judgments have been made and we are still here.  Political righteousness served in the eyes of some but what about being missional minded, encouraging and enlightening neighbor for the Gospel’s sake, I ask?

 

Each and every “move” we make spiritually or otherwise coming from our own sense of righteousness never serves anyone yet alone the Sovereign of Grace—Jesus. In fact, it only examples the hypocrisy the Evil One would love for us to stumble over…  Moving forward spiritually or otherwise with Christ as our guide humbles us to His sense of time as well as to see and grow from His true righteousness, a saving, shaping and transforming Grace!

 

Our urgency and owning up to the task of living truthfully into the lifestyle of Grace is the “advent” of our spiritual rebirth.  This is one we cannot circumvent, yet alone deny for if we deny the very good that is within us—a process, life-time’s journey into holiness—wholeness… we build towards our own destruction.  As Jesus said to His disciples… “³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Words will not.” Allow the Living Word to be alive within you!

AMEN

 

First Sunday of Advent; Year B; November 30^th, 2014; SOLA Lectionary Nicole Collins

Psalm 80:1-7; Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 & Mark 13:24-37

 http://youtu.be/DjhlmvL0Ltg