City of Hope

Sermon manuscript for Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

for December 10, 2016

The gospel of Luke begins the story of Jesus with the birth his cousin, John the Baptist.

Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were old. And they were childless. One day Zacharias was doing his duty as a priest in the temple when an angel showed up, scaring him nearly to death.

“Fear not, Zacharias,” the angel said. Your prayer has been heard, and your wife, Elisabeth, is going to give birth to a son. When he arrives, give him the name John. You will have joy and happiness, of course. And many others besides you and Elizabeth will also experience great gladness at his birth, because he will be a great man of God. He will never touch any form of alcohol. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. He will turn many people to God. His ministry will remind people of the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and inspire wicked people to follow the wise path of justice. He will help people prepare to be with the Lord.”

Nine months passed and sure enough Elizabeth gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard the good news and came to celebrate. On the eighth day when it was time to circumcise the child, all the neighbors and relatives assumed the baby would be named after his father Zacharias. But the parents said no. His name is John.

For the entire pregnancy the dad, Zacharias, had been unable to speak, having been struck dumb by the same angel that announced the birth of this son. But now his speech was restored and he gave a grand prophecy:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

God has come to save us from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

God will perform the mercy promised to our fathers.

God will remember his holy covenant;

To grant us deliverance from our enemies so that we might serve him without fear,

In holiness and righteousness all the days of our life.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest.

You will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,

To his people knowledge of salvation and forgiveness of their sins.

God in his tender mercy will bring the light of heavenly dawn to our dark world

To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

To guide our feet into the way of peace.

Peace shows up again at the birth of Jesus. The night Jesus was born there were shepherds out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks in the darkness. Suddenly they were enveloped in light. First an angel appeared and announced the birth of the Messianic child. Then a whole choir of angels appeared and sang a glorious anthem. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth . . . peace.”

The text here is ambiguous. Did the song promise peace and goodwill to humans or did it promise peace to humans of good will?

I think the ambiguity is deliberate and instructive. Guiding feet in the path of peace was the work of John the Baptist. It was the work of Jesus the Messiah. It is the work of all their spiritual descendants.

What is the path of peace Zacharias saw as the center of the mission of his son and the Messiah?

The Gospel describes the ministry of John the Baptist this way:

John began preaching in the desert and huge crowds came to hear him. His preaching was riveting, convicting.

When the people asked, “What shall we do?” John said, “If you have two coats, share with someone who has no coat. If you have plenty of food, find someone with less and share.”

Tax collectors asked about God's call on their lives and work.

“No corruption.” John said.

Soldiers, members of the Roman occupying army, were also moved by the preaching. What about us? They asked.

“Don't abuse your power. Don't strong arm people. Don't accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.”

John's preaching was so compelling people wondered if he were himself the Messiah.

What is the path of peace? How do we prepare to be with the Lord?

Share. Practice generosity. Resist the allure of corruption. Don't misuse the power that lies in our hands. Do right. Make peace.

We prepare to enjoy peace with God by making peace on earth here and now. We deepen our enjoyment of the generosity of heaven by practicing generosity on earth.

This has important political implications. If our greatest concern is free loaders and how to exclude them, we have not yet learned the culture of the City of Peace. In the City of Peace, the greatest concern is to make sure that no one is poorly served. Yes, freeloaders warp their souls and damage the larger community. And it is appropriate, necessary, to limit the problem. But the threat of freeloading by poor individuals is small compared to the threat of discovering that we, the wealthiest nation in the history of humanity, failed to care for the disabled and disadvantaged, or to use biblical language, failed to provide for the fatherless and widow and foreigner. The threat of freeloading by poor people is far less than the threat of gaming the system by the rich and powerful.

To guide our feet in the path of peace.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth . . . peace.

Peace is one of the essential fibers of the cultural fabric of the City of God. Our city is a City of Peace.

The Gospel begins with such promise. John's sermons were so inspiring people imagined that he himself was the Messiah.

Then Jesus appeared, and thousands of people showed up for his rallies. Thousands of people found hope in preaching and healing through his touch. It was a luminous time. The world was full of light.

But the religious conservatives grew increasingly uncomfortable. Jesus was too generous. He made God appear too gracious. Jesus threatened the privileges of the powerful.

Eventually, the religious conservatives managed to seize control of society. They came up with a plan to shut down the generosity of Jesus.

This is the reality that lies behind today's New Testament reading.

Jesus had been preaching and healing for three years. He is heading into Jerusalem in the heart of a grand, enthusiastic procession. People are shouting words from the Psalms. They are euphoric.

Glory to God in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna!

Jesus lets the people sing and dance. Why not. It is true that he carries the divine promise that generosity and grace will eventually displace acquisition and vindictiveness. Let's us keep that in mind. It's worth singing about.

But even Jesus is not able to always keep the ultimate triumph of goodness front and center in his mind.

As the procession reaches the top of rise and the road heads down toward Jerusalem, Jesus sees the entire city spread out before him. It is supposed to be the City of Peace. It is supposed to be the Beautiful City, the City of God. But it has been taken over by religious conservatives and power elites determined to preserve their privileges. They will eliminate Jesus at the end of the week. Their continued resistance to the path of peace will turn their city, forty years in the future, into the City of Death.

And Jesus looking and knowing, weeps.

If only you had known, you of all people, at this time, this moment of opportunity, the path to peace. But it is too late. Your eyes are blinded. You cannot see the path. You cannot find the way to peace.

In less than seven days, Jesus was dead. The world was dark. Peace suddenly seemed very far away.

That's the way our story goes. The path to peace is long. It is sometimes very difficult.

But the gospel does not end there.

Resurrection morning comes. And the Gospel of Matthew ends with the stirring challenge from Jesus: Go into all the world and teach them what I have taught you. Guide their feet into the way of peace.

We rehearse the Christmas story, the story of the birth of the Prince of Peace, to give ourselves courage. Peace will triumph.

We rehearse the story to give ourselves wisdom. What do we do in the face of the apparent triumph of swaggering power? We practice peacemaking.

What do we do when the media amplifies voices of hostility, rudeness, and aggression? We sing again the Christmas songs.

Glory to God in the highest.

And on earth

Peace.