November 28, 2009

• What has you excited about the future?

  We have entered the season of anticipation.  Children anticipate the coming of Christmas; retailers anticipate increased sales; some anticipate the parties and family gatherings, and some even anticipate significant snow events.  Some are anticipating weddings and some are anticipating the arrival of a new life into their lives.  We all need to have something in the future to anticipate.  Anticipation is hope and people without anticipation are without hope.

   

  Jeremiah was a prophet in Judah over a span of time that went from the nation believing its future was secure because they were the chosen people of God through the time when Judah was conquered by Babylon and the people driven into exile.  The leaders of Judah despised Jeremiah because he predicted the fall of Judah because they had lost sight of God’s purpose for them.  They only wanted prophets who told them all was well and they could place their confidence in God’s protection no matter what they did.  The people anticipated the future with false hope and they were disheartened when what they anticipated did not happen.  When the destruction of Judah came, Jeremiah predicted that the Jews would come back to the promise land and God would restore them because God is faithful to God’s word.  Jeremiah anticipated the future with confidence because he placed his hope on that which was true.

   

  It is easy for people of faith to think they have no responsibility for the future because it is in God’s hands.  There are religious leaders who insist we have no need to worry about global warming or any other environmental issue because God will take care of the earth.  Some even anticipate the destruction of the earth as a sign of the imminent coming of Jesus.  Some people of faith similarly have the attitude toward taking care of themselves and planning for their future that they don’t have to plan because God will provide.  Some churches also approach the future as if they don’t have to work to keep the church open because it is God’s church and God will take care of it.  These people are like the people of Judah who anticipated the future with a false hope and they will be surprised when the future turns out different than what they expected.

   

  We, as people of faith can anticipate our future with greater confidence and with joy if we are intentional about being about the work required to bring about God’s desire for us.  As a community of faith we can face even an uncertain future with the confidence God is in that future and will guide us in the way we should go.  We know even in the bleakest part of winter, life is going on in the earth and in the plants and with patience and faith we will see the earth burst forth with abundance.  As a people of faith we are not called to sit like spectators waiting for God’s dominion on earth to suddenly appear.  We are called to be active in the work of preparation to birth God’s dominion upon the earth.  Jesus tells us the dominion of God is closer than we imagine.  I don’t believe Jesus was talking about the splitting open of the eastern sky and Jesus descending to usher in the dominion of God on earth.  I think Jesus was talking about the splitting open of our lives and God reigning over our lives in this world and in this time.

   

  In this season of the church year and in this season of this church, we are invited anticipate the future.  To anticipate the coming of God into the world in new ways and bringing the dominion of God to us in ways we have never imagined.  We anticipate God birthing something new in this church.  The challenge for us is not to miss the real joy of this season because we are insisting on the gift coming in one particular way.  Most the world missed the joy of the first Christmas because they thought they knew how the Messiah would come and a poor child born in a manager to an unwed mother was not what they anticipated.  We too can miss the joy of what God is birthing here if we insist it be born the way we want instead of allowing the gift of God to come to us in God’s way.  Amen.

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