"Re-Assurance" October 22, 2017

Exodus 33: 12-23 Matthew 11: 1-19 Recently I had a wedding, where the couple wrote their own vows, and the Groom began by saying to his Bride: “Thank you for coming. I really don’t know what I would have done if you had not come here today.” I am very thankful YOU are here. There are times I wish that preachers were prophets knowing the needs and circumstance of the congregation so well as to choose passages for their context. But for a hundred years, preachers developed a barrel of their favorite sermons and recycled like old curriculum. Instead following the Lectionary, at times we receive blessings even when we need challenge, and at times we receive condemnation when we desire comfort. Although I am routinely in awe of how well the three year rotation of passages does apply to world events and our particular circumstance. Two weeks ago, we had Jesus’ Parable of the Vineyard, where the Gardener kills all those laborers who rejected the Messengers and the Son. Last week, we read the Worship of the Golden Calf, in response to which Moses instructed the Levites to each kill their brothers, neighbors and neighbors kin. Like Shakespeare’s Tragedy, I searched your faces, seeing those who looked beaten, without the joy and affirmation customary in our worship and sermon conversations together. Then the Lectionary directed we read Matthew’s Parable of the Wedding Feast, where those who do not attend are put to death, and one who does come is thrown into the dark! First today, I am glad you came back… Also, I have a confession to make... This Gospel passage is not the one appointed for today... Instead as I read Moses’ asking for assurance to see the Glory of God, and I was reminded of Jesus asking the people “What did you go out to see?” “What do you seek?” As a preacher, I wish I could get away with perpetually telling you “No Bad News”, but that would not be honest, and faith needs to be both real and honest, as a sign of what is to come. There has become a regular plot device in Action Movies. Building to a climax, the Bad Guys always hide in a warehouse, and do not know that the Good Guys are right outside, meanwhile, if it is a Western: behind the barn, if it is Modern day: behind a stack of wood pallets, the Hero says “Wait for a sign.” The others, and the audience are left waiting and wondering “What sign?” When suddenly there is an explosion as the Hero drives a truck through the front wall. I have been searching a long time, and thankfully there has yet to be an explosion of a truck driving through the Chancel wall. More often, our lives are actually like Moses’ experience. In childhood, when all the children of Egypt were killed, Moses was saved. When Moses acted in anger, somebody died & Moses started over as a Shepherd. Witnessing The Burning Bush, Moses’ take away was God’s commissioning, not that he had witnessed a miracle. Moses was the instrument of God 10 times, in plagues of God’s power over Pharaoh. Raising his arms Moses parted the Red Sea saving Israel and destroying their enemy. The people thirsted, the people hungered, the people were attacked, and over and over again God provided miracles as proof of God’s power, majesty and love. The entire Nation were afraid to go near God, but Moses spent for 40 Nights alone with God, receiving the 10 Commandments, secret wisdom of the fashioning of the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle, and all the elements of Ordained worship. God was angered at being shamed by people, and Moses CHANGED the mind of God! Through all of this, Moses never said “Wow!” Instead, after everything, Moses says “I need proof.” Not proof of the existence of God, but ASSURANCE God can be trusted, a sign: God will continue ahead of us. While there are a plethora of different religions, if asked “Do you believe in God?” more today will answer Yes than ever before. We do not want or need proof of the existence of God… we believe… But we long for signs that God can be trusted. With all the miracles in our lives, we look for a sign that God will go ahead of us. There is a wonderful simplicity and irony in that sign. We are not able to see God face to face, or as humans to know where God is going, or what God intends. But we are able/blessed to witness miracles, to be part of a great company celebrating miracles in ordinary life, …and yet still we seek proof of trust. Routinely, we are comfortable with living life, but when crises arise, when we are filled with anxiety, that is when we seek ASSURANCE from God. John the Baptist had been a powerful Prophet, truly a Man of God. Like Elijah and Moses, he had called people to believe, and the world had responded! John the Baptist called people to Repent Be Baptized: ALL JUDEA came to the Jordan. John stood up to Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, stood up to the religious authorities, soldiers and guards, calling them a Brood of Vipers, an Incestuous Nest of Blood Suckers, and his faith was not shaken. John the Baptist saw Heaven ripped open at John’s Baptism of Jesus, saw a Dove descend upon Jesus, and heard the voice: My Beloved Son: I AM Well pleased! John the Baptist had the faith, and the chutzpah to call out King Herod, the same Herod who would condemn Jesus to Pilate… John the Baptist attacked King Herod, as having lusted after his own sister-in-law, murdering his own brother, taking his dead brother’s wife as his mistress, then lusting after her daughter/his niece. None of what the Late-Night Comedians have said about Harvey Weinstein is as risky as what John did. For which John was arrested. Being put into a dungeon, was not a minimum security prison. Dungeons were carved out of solid rock, without windows, without light or fresh air, prisoners chained to the walls, beaten, starved, and afterward being dropped 20 feet through a hole into a pit. Knowing how fragile his life has become, knowing the end of life will come soon, John sends a message to Jesus: “Are you he who is to come, Messiah sent by God, or should we seek another?” As RE-ASSURANCE, Jesus sends reply: The Lame Walk, Blind See, The Deaf Hear, Captives are Set Free, the Dead Rise. Jesus does not describe worlds ending, or Nations going to War, He does not invoke Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Fires, or Violence. Instead Jesus describes very intimate, personal ASSURANCES of people. I never set out to be a pastor who was in one location so long, but one of the things I have learned by doing so, is that all of us seek little things as RE-ASSURANCES. When those who have gone in mission service to South Sudan return, we make a point of being at the airport to welcome them home. This summer, when Choir members went to Scotland, we drove up to the airport, as a simple and personal welcome, that You are expected, others are here to greet you. In my first year with you, I introduced you to StuBear, who spent a week with each family or individual, going everywhere as a reminder of our “stewardship”. StuBear has been to Northern NY, to South Sudan, to General Assembly, to Puerto Rico and Scotland. At every celebration of worship, after we have confessed our sins and confessed our faith, and had anxious moments of silent prayer, we have an Assurance of Pardon. Long before you were born, long before you were a gleam in your grandfather’s eye, Jesus Christ came as the incarnation of God’s love, and died and was resurrected, as ASSURANCE of our forgiveness by God. That RE-ASSURANCE is as simple as this: “Brothers and Sisters, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.”