December 8, 2002

Second Sunday in Advent

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

It is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—

“a voice of one calling in the desert,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’”

And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Sermon: Vision for the Long Haul

From Bill Bright: "The way each day will look to you all starts with who you are looking to. Study the attributes of God. Once we understand how awesome God is, we will not hesitate to believe great things for God's Kingdom."

Indeed, study the attributes of God. That is where vision begins. In our culture visionaries are usually thought of as people who are always coming up with something new, provocative, even scandalous. But in the Bible we see a different kind of visionary. When God gives His people a vision it is a renewal of truths that are as ancient as the creation itself.

Vision isn't always about something new. Sometimes the most challenging visions God gives us are about things we already know, have always known, but have never applied.

Sometimes the most difficult vision to embrace is not the one that calls us to step into a new work, but the one that calls us to step up higher in our obedience to old, eternal truths that we have been ignoring.

A few months ago when we went through that sermon series on Galatians 5, St. Paul's list of the "works of the sinful nature" this is exactly what we were talking about. That list was composed under the direction of the Holy Spirit 2000 years ago, and it is still in effect. But some of us still haven't got the message. If you are living in sexual immorality, if you are dabbling in other religions, other philosophies, looking for answers from some power other than God, if your mood is determined by alcohol or drugs, if you are looking for revenge, if you are focused on anger and bitterness, if you're gossiping about your neighbor- all of these are warning signs of a part of your life that is still not submitted to Christ. And if you allow it go on, it will drag your whole life down into the pit.

How far will God have to go to bring you back? What Jesus revealed about the Father is exactly what was always known about the God of Israel. His mercy, His justice, His holiness, and most of all, His long-suffering compassion for His people.

In the Old Testament the word for this is "hesed", which means more than mercy. It is long suffering love. This is the primary description of God's attitude toward His people.

Think about that. What if this "hesed", the long suffering love of God is the vision? What would it mean to us to become a people of "hesed"? What would a church look like that adopted a vision that required this kind of long suffering love of them?

Primary Scripture for St. George's: Phil 2:5-11

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7 but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

How's that for a vision of your life? I dare say there aren't too many people in our pampered churches today who are ready to sign up for that kind of quest. This is the unique character of our God. I know of no other religion that presents God as one who is willing to suffer for the sake of His people in order to do for them what they could not do for themselves.

And I know of no other religion in which the followers, having been offered so much, make so little use of it!

One of the great preachers in America today is D. James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. A few weeks, on his daily radio show, he said something that really surprised me.

He was teaching on the subject of salvation, how we can know that we are saved, that we will go to heaven, only by knowing that we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, not by our good works, nor by our church membership. And then he said, "I am under no delusions about this congregation. I have no doubt that there are some right here in this church who believe that they are going to heaven but in fact are not. I am sure that it is true that there are some of you who are trusting in your church membership to get you into heaven, when in fact the only thing that can ever get anyone into heaven is the very thing you have been putting off, a relationship with Jesus Christ."

I recall thinking at the time, "Wow, that's a pretty gutsy thing to say to your own church." To look out on your own congregation, the people you love and work with, the people you counsel, the people you pray for constantly- to look at them and say, "Some of you aren't going to make it." That's a hard message to give.

But I also knew immediately that he was right. It's true of every church. We are at many different places on our spiritual journeys. Some of you have truly trusted Christ for your salvation. You have put your lives in His hands and know that He will take you all the way through, and you make it your aim to listen to Him and follow Him in all things. And then, some of you are not so sure about this. You are impressed with the message of Jesus, His extraordinary power, His grace, His love, His truthfulness. You are moving closer, making some changes in your life, but you haven't yet given your life over to Him. And then there are some of you who are still just spectators. You come to watch and see a little more, hear a little more, learn a little more. But you don't want your life to change from the way it is now. You think you're doing fairly well on your own, but it's nice to come to church and be part of something good.

It's like John the Baptist. He came to a people who trusted too much in their religious traditions rather than their relationship with God. He warned them severely. He called them to repent. He told them "Do not say to yourselves 'We are Abrahams' children' for I tell you God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The ax is already laid at the foot of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire."

That is not the kind of preaching you hear today, is it?

Here's the point. Sitting in a church doesn't make you a Christian any more than sitting in a barn makes you a cow. And some of you need to open up your Bibles and check this out. There is not one single word in the Bible that says you will go to heaven because you have your name on a mailing list, or because you have certificate that says you received some sacrament, or because you go to a church service at least a few times a month, or because you are on a church committee. This may be what you believe, it may even be what some churches out there are preaching, but it is not God's Word.

No, in the Bible there is only one prescription for salvation, and it is this. You must know that you are a sinner, and that the penalty for sin is death. You must know that Jesus Christ came into this world and offered His life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. And finally, you must freely, by your own will, ask Him to be your Savior, invite Him to come into your heart right now and set you free from the power of sin. Ask Him to show you how to live for God, on God's terms, not yours.

Then you need to commit yourself to seek God's will in your life. It isn't enough to simply say these words. You must follow through on this decision if you want to see God's power. You are going to need to study the Bible because this is the primary place where we find out what God's will is. And you're going to need to have some Christian friends around you to pray for you, to help you, and to warn you when you are getting off track. That is why the Church is here. To help you do everything you need to do to draw near to God.

Abraham Lincoln once said, "I told God that I had done all that I could and that now the result was in His hands; that if this country was to be saved, it was because He so willed it! The burden rolled off my shoulders. My intense anxiety was relieved and in its place came a great trustfulness."

What about us? Have we done all that we could, to the point where we know that it all depends on God now? Let's pray about that.