Changed Forever

Do you remember a day in your life when you were conscious that your entire life had been changed forever?  For many of us, September 11, 2001, was just such a day.  On that day, something happened that pulled us away from the hum-drum routine of daily life… forced us to look at our own lives and re-assess our priorities… and we talked to others about its significance.  Three years later, we are still talking about the impact of that day.

September 11^th was a tragic day… just as November 22, 1963, was for those of us who remember the day that President Kennedy was assassinated… and just as January 28, 1986, was for those of us who remember the Challenger disaster.  Other dates of great tragedy that folks may remember include December 7, 1941 – the bombing of Pearl Harbor; June 6, 1944, D – Day, the invasion of Normandy; and August 6, 1945 – the first atomic bomb used as a weapon of mass destruction.

But significant days do not need to be tragic.  They can also be joyful times.  Many older folks remember May 8, 1945 (VE Day), and August 15, 1945 (VJ Day), as significant days at the end of World War II.  Some of us remember July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon.  It is estimated that one billion people around the world watched that first step…knowing that life on our planet would change forever as a result.  Others of us remember November 9, 1989, the day the Berlin Wall fell.

And then, there are the days that change our lives forever… that don’t matter to anyone else except us.  The day we graduated from high school… or college… the day we were married… the day our first child was born… or the day that someone close to us died.  Most of the time, these critically important days happen before we are fully aware that our lives will change forever.  Despite all the planning for my wedding, for example, I did not know how my life would change after those vows were pronounced.  Even when I was eight months pregnant, I had no idea how my life would be different after my son was born.  And, despite all the chaos of the past few weeks… and the months of preparing and planning for my new role here…I have no clue what my life as a pastor in Stephenville will be like.  What I do know is that nothing will ever be quite the same again.  My life has changed forever.

Think about a day in your life when you knew that life would never be the same again.   In our text today, John the Baptist is talking about just such a day.  The Messiah is coming.  The Kingdom of God is near.  Nothing will ever be the same again!  The message in Isaiah is similar:  The Messiah is coming… and the radical new life that he will bring will include such strange sights as wolves living with lambs, leopards lying down with baby goats, lions and calves together… And, as our choir shared with us a few moments ago, a little child will lead them all!   Have we ever known a time when cows and bears could be together… or children could play with poisonous snakes and not be harmed?  Can we imagine a time so peaceful that all living things could exist together without hurting or destroying each other?  Isaiah says that it will happen when the earth is full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.  On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the people.  And our lives will change forever.

It is interesting that Isaiah uses the metaphor of a shoot coming out of the stump of Jesse.  Jesse was, of course, the father of King David.  But David’s kingdom had long disappeared before Isaiah came along.  After David’s son, King Solomon died, the kingdom divided into two kingdoms, and each kingdom went its own way, competing with each other for wealth and resources.  They drifted further and further away from God until, eventually, both kingdoms were defeated and the wayward children of God were taken away into exile in Babylon.  A dried-up, broken-down dead stump was all that remained of what once was a great monarchy.

But Isaiah says that a new shoot will grow up out of that dried-up stump of David’s majestic dynasty.  And, when that happens, all these other wonderful things will come to pass as well.  That’s Isaiah vision… and it may yet come to pass.  But John does not believe that it is for everyone.  “No,” he says, “The kingdom of heaven is near and, therefore, it is time to repent.”  He talks about the wrath that is to come.  He says that the axe is even now at the foot of every tree. He talks about the chaff that will burn with unquenchable fire.  Why is John’s message so harsh and demanding… so judgmental… when Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah’s reign was filled with pictures of peace and tranquility?

I think that there are two things that we need to consider here.  First of all, John knew that his job was to prepare people for the coming of the Holy One of Israel.  Remember that John and Jesus were cousins and that John’s mother, Elizabeth, was a relative, close friend and confidant of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  John had heard the story of Mary’s annunciation and Jesus’ birth told and retold at family gatherings through the years.  John knew the prophecy concerning his own birth.  All the weight of the Hebrew scriptures weighed down upon him… the one chosen to prepare the people for God in their midst… Immanuel… God with us.  What an awesome responsibility to rest on the shoulders of just one man!  And how many times during his youth and young adulthood did he look around and ask himself whether these people were ready to meet their God face-to-face?  He must have felt the urgency of his message so strongly… but how do you tell people that God is coming?  How do you convince them of the reality of their dreams… and, at the same time, impress upon them that the one who is coming is holy… is righteous… filled with justice… and, according to our scriptures, cannot abide with complacency… injustice… sin… or any evil at all?  This man had a tough job to do.

The second thing that we need to remember is that the gospel of Matthew was written during a time of persecution in the early church, soon after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Matthew needed the faithful to stand firm in their faith… to recommit themselves to their life as Christians in the midst of this chaotic time when Christians were being hunted… jailed… beaten… and even martyred for their faith. Matthew, too, felt the pressure to communicate the urgency of the message to his parishioners.

So, what does any of this ancient history have to do with us today?  Well, if we look at the two factors that provided a sense of urgency for John the Baptist and Matthew, the writer of the gospel story, and think about our society today, I think we can find a lot of parallels.  Let’s take the perspective of Matthew, the writer of the gospel, first.

Matthew’s sense of urgency came from the persecution of the church and his belief that Christians needed to rededicate themselves to living a life as Christians in the midst of persecution.  When I look at the principles upon which this country was founded… deeply imbedded in the Christian faith… and the way that those principles are being undermined today by a determination to wipe out any sign of Christianity in public places, it saddens me a great deal.  When the Constitution talks about Congress not doing anything that would interfere with the free expression of religion, it did not mean to eliminate religion from our society… simply to allow folks to freely practice their religion as they choose to do so.  Instead, I see a society that is becoming one where religious principles are being whitewashed from our walls and nothing exists to replace it.  Instead of becoming an ecumenical melting pot where all religions peaceably co-exist, we run the danger of becoming a society without any moral principles at all.  Yes, it is time for us to recommit ourselves to our faith and to question how long we will stay silent in the face of ever-encroaching legal constraints.  We are not going to solve this problem today, but I want to put it on the table as a discussion point.

Now, let’s look at the perspective that John was dealing with in preaching to the crowds in the wilderness.  John’s job was to prepare these people to meet the Messiah… to meet God Incarnate.  What he found, I’m sure, is the same thing that we would find if we had the same task today.  He found people who were complacent about their faith.  He found those who went through the motions of practicing their faith, but did not truly believe.  He found people who were so caught up with their jobs… their possessions… or their leisure activities that they had no room for religion in their lives at all.  He also found those who were looking for more, but did not know where to find the answers that they sought.  And, he found those who desperately wanted to believe, but were so battered by life that they could not conceive of a God who loved them… or would want to live with them.  Wouldn’t we find all these same people in Stephenville if we had John’s job to do?  And, perhaps, more to the point… aren’t we one of these people? 

Are you ready to meet God face-to-face?  When I say that, I am reminded of that country-western song that asks whether you would have to clean up your living room if you knew that Jesus would be calling on you today… whether you might have to hide some of the magazines that are on the table there… whether you would have to find the family Bible and dust it off… and so on.  You see, Jesus is coming!  And we are eagerly preparing for our celebration of that day.  But, as we hang the lights… and bake the cookies… and play those popular Christmas CD’s… and make plans to be with family… are we remembering that the baby in the manger is also our God and our King… the Holy One of Israel.  Are you truly ready to meet God face-to-face?  Are you ready for your life to change forever?  As we come to the table today to share the feast that our Savior shared with us, let us prepare our hearts… and our lives… to receive him… our God and our King!  Amen.