Included in your weekly E-pistle was
an article entitled “Seven Reasons to Ban the Lord’s Prayer.” The title of the article is a little
misleading as it was written by a bishop in England who is actually advocating for the public use of the Lord’s Prayer
after it was announced that a 60 second commercial that recited the Lord’s
Prayer would be banned from movie theater previews because it was thought that the
prayer would be offensive to some.
The article went on to name how counter-cultural the words of the Lord’s
Prayer actually are. Ultimately, the
article talked about the seven ways in which our culture has already banned the
Lord’s Prayer based on how we live our daily lives. I’m not going to go in depth this morning but
highly recommend the article. This
article was another reminder of just how counter-cultural the gospel of Christ
actually is.
I am especially mindful of the counter-cultural message of the gospel
during this time of year as we gear up for Christmas. The secular world is telling us that we need
this and that and everything else to have a Merry Christmas while God is
telling us that we already have everything we need and more in Christ. The secular world is telling our kids that
only the richest kids get the biggest and best gifts while God is telling us
that he is making his love known most clearly to the poor and lonely and
forgotten child.
If we take seriously the counter-cultural message of the gospel, then we
must take seriously the truth that at some point something has got to
give. At some point, the message of the
gospel will shatter the false promises of the secular world. At some point, the message of the gospel will
force us to rethink how we have always operated in our daily living. At some point, the message of the gospel will
put us at odds with the ideas and values that our secular world has trained us
to believe in. At the end of the day, the
truth of the gospel will collide with the false messages of our culture and
create chaos.
Our gospel lesson for this morning gives us that final and ultimate
vision of what will happen when the gospel message and the message of the
secular world collide. Scripture says
there will be distress among nations. A
modern day hearer of this scripture might do well to imagine 5 a.m. on Black
Friday when the clerk at Belk unlocks the doors. When this happens, there will be sheer
pandemonium—no order, no direction—just complete and utter chaos.
(A fight in a Kentucky mall on Black Friday)
Scripture says this collision will cause people to faint from fear and
foreboding. All this chaos will happen
when the Son of Man comes to establish his reign on earth. Life as we know it will be completely turned
upside down when God’s Son comes to rule the world.
Jesus goes on to say that not only will chaos ensue but everything in
this life will pass away—even heaven and earth will pass away. Then he says, “but my words will never pass
away.” In the end, the only thing left
standing is the promise of God’s Word—not our civilization, not our homes, not
our communities, not even creation as we know it—only God’s Word will
survive.
Because of the cosmic nature of this lesson, it would be easy to
distance ourselves from what is being said here. Oh well, that isn’t going to happen on my
watch! It would be easy for some to get
caught up in reading the signs in the sun and moon and stars. There are plenty of Christians out there who
have made it their life mission to predict the end times based on Jesus’
warnings in scripture.
But I am not sure there are enough Christians out there who are taking
seriously the last part of this passage, the part that says, be on guard, don’t
let the anxieties of this life distract you from your true calling, be on
guard, don’t let fear and foreboding rule your heart.
So to help make this passage less cosmic and more personal I want to
ask, “What would happen to your world if the Son of Man came to rule in your
heart?” What kind of chaos would ensue
in your life if you let Christ direct all your doings? What kind of things would fly out of your
grip if you operated using only the love of Christ? What kind of panic would ensue in your own
world at the prospect of Christ ruling in your heart?
If this sermon was presented as an infomercial for a prescription drug,
this would be the point when the fine print and the fast talking would take
place. Warning! Following Jesus may not be for everyone
especially those with serious heart problems.
If you want to know more about following Jesus, talk to your spiritual
director. Tell your spiritual director
about all the false idols you worship including sports, earthly leaders or
values, drugs, alcohol, and even family members.
Serious side effects may include but are not limited to being more
interested in the needs of others than the needs of yourself, putting yourself
in grave danger, being labeled as crazy by friends and family, and not getting
everything you ever wanted in life.
Report any adverse side effects to God on a regular basis.
Friends, letting the love of Christ rule your heart forces you to name
seriously all the false promises and ideas that your heart has grown to follow
over the years. These false promises and
ideas can be hard to detect because most of them are socially and culturally
acceptable.
But the good news is God in Christ has come to shatter the illusions we
are often too blind to see. The good
news is God in Christ has come to show us a different way to live—a way that
doesn’t depend on following false promises, a way that is everlasting, a way
that can endure the destruction of life as we know it.
At first, the shattering of these illusions might be a little
startling. Think about spring cleaning
for a minute. You look around the house
and take inventory. Everything looks
decent enough but it could look a little better.
You start by cleaning the couch.
You pick up on of the cushions and you see some peculiar items. You pick one up and yell, “Hey, honey what’s
this?” You both take a hard look. She says, “looks like a yellow crayon.” You investigate further and discover it is a
McDonald's French fry that has been preserved for over a year.
You notice a dust bunny under your chest of drawers. So you move it away from the wall. Your daughter comes running in the room and
points at the floor and says, “Mommy, Daddy, what’s thaaat?!” You both sort of stare at the floor in
disgust. And your daughter blurts out,
“It’s a gray blanket! Let me put it on
the bed!”
The season of Advent is a little like spring cleaning in your spiritual
life. While the season of Advent is
advertised as a quiet and peaceful season in the Church year, it starts out
with a bang. So as we begin this season,
I want you to think about something St. Augustine said. He said, our hearts are restless until they
find rest in God.
The season of Advent is first about discovering the restless nature of
our heart. Advent is about noticing the
difference between our heart and the heart of Christ. During the season of Advent, God is opening
our eyes to see just how counter-cultural the message of the gospel is. Advent is a time when we get to do a little
spring cleaning.
And the good news is that Advent prepares our hearts to receive the
only gift that can make us truly satisfied in this life and the life to
come. I invite you, therefore, during
the season of Advent to make known the counter-cultural message of the gospel so
when Christ comes again the world may receive her King. Amen.
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