"Double Secret Predestination", January 19, 2014

Isaiah 49:1-7 John 1:29-42 Seven days ago, I was able to do something, preachers never do! Larry preached, and I sat in the pew to listen. We are extremely blessed as a Church. With all that this community has to offer, as healthy and vital as this congregation is, in addition to ordained and installed leaders, the Holy Spirit has gifted Lay Preachers like Larry Weiss, and Gustav Niebuhr and Mary Margaret Biss, our former Secretary Gail has gone on to become a Lay Pastor at the Church at Amboy Belle Isle. These are transitions, Calls, that have come not only to these individual, but through the nurture and faith of this Church. Listening, I heard a transition occur, that the scholars simply assumed we all accepted, without explanation. For a Century the Church has followed 2 cycles Christmas/Easter. Each having a season of preparation: Advent and Lent; a season of celebration: Christmas and Easter; and a season of reflection: the time of Epiphany and the season of Pentecost. However, about 20 years ago, a priest realized that while Christmas and Easter are actually seasons, Epiphany for 1900 years was celebrated as A Day, Shakespeare's 12th Night, and Baptism of the Lord is a Day, and Ascension a Day 40 days after Easter, and Pentecost a single day literally Pentecost = 50 Days after Passover, after the Resurrection. All the remainder, from January 7th until Ash Wednesday, and from Pentecost in early June until Thanksgiving, when we again prepare for Advent, were and again now are described as Ordinary time. Ordinary does not make these Secular or Profane days, or Tax days, but the Latin “Ordinal” identified days for the ringing of bells and prayer 7 times a day. That transition, from seasons of Epiphany and Pentecost, to only a Day for each does not make them cease to exist, but identifies anew what each represents and the importance of our lives. In 2008, Scientists reclassified our Solar System, and Pluto which was the furthest from our sun, ceased to be a planet. Not that it was destroyed, or its moons spun off in space, just simply that the Dog Planet was now too small to have the purpose of being a planet. It is this same re-purposing, Calling anew, that is described in Isaiah 49. In American culture one of our most dearly held beliefs is in Destiny. The American Dream, that every person has within their being the ability to advance beyond their station in life, to become far more. We have come to believe American Exceptionalism is easy. How many Reality Shows do we now have, where all it takes is applying, in order to be discovered, to be Famous, or Infamous? To be America's Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Who wants to be A Millionaire? All are based on the belief that within us is a superstar, a hero nobody knew. In 3 weeks, each of us will transcend to miraculously know more about sticking a landing, speed skating, curling and snowboarding than any of the Olympic judges. Our dreams are a coping mechanism, that like Walter Middy, inside each one of us is a polished arrow, a secret weapon waiting to be called. Malcom Gladwell the author of books like the Tipping Point, Blink, The Story of Success, and also David & Goliath, claims that to master anything takes one simple thing, 10,000 hours of doing nothing else. Unfortunately, few if any of us have that devotion, that is what sets some apart. But the point of Isaiah 49 is that for the Exiles of Israel wanting, praying, wishing, hoping to be claimed by God, to be that polished arrow in God's quiver, suddenly to realize that the point, the whole point of your life, the purpose of our Nation as Elect, is not for our own power, prestige or authority. The people of God are here for Salvation of the rest of the World! The common misunderstanding about us as Presbyterians is that from Calvin, we believe in Predestination, or even Double Predestination. Let me disillusion you to say "No, What we believe in is Double Secret Predestination." Predestination, at the time of Calvin was belief in the Moral Depravity of humankind. Left to our devices we are selfish and sin. Double Predestination, is that God does not leave us alone, God offers Grace to All the World that you can turn your life around and find Salvation. The Secret part of Double Secret Predestination is not that some are elect to receive and some are not, but the secret is that in caring about others we are redeemed. The Gospel of John is different from all the others. Not because he tells parables the others do not, although he does. Not because he has more miracles, though he does. John's Gospel was written long after the others. Because of this The Gospel of Mark begins with Jesus silencing Satan until Jesus can figure out what it means to be Christ; the Gospel of Matthew begins Jesus' Ministry offering the Sermon on the Mount; Luke begins with Jesus preaching a passage from Isaiah that today this prophecy is fulfilled. John begins with John The Baptist proclaiming Jesus is the Lamb, and Jesus asking the disciples, asking each of us as readers: What do you seek? What are you looking for in life? It is a question worth wrestling with for us as individuals, as professionals, in our marriages, as parents, as a community, as the Church? What will make us happy? What do you seek? Here the Gospel of John gives us two answers. The disciples responded to Jesus “Where are you staying?” When I was learning to read Greek, we psychoanalyzed this, that two of John's disciples heard John on two occasions heard him identify Jesus as The Lamb of God, so they hid behind walls and corners and barrels, watching him, and when they got caught following Jesus, he asked What do you seek? And they responded “Where are you staying?” But the point is more complicated than where is the best hotel in town. In Greek, the phrase is “mevnw” which has a sense of permanence, like David wanting to build a permanent Temple to worship God... Where can we find you when we need, where do you endure forever? Like the identity “Emmanuel” prophesied in Advent, Jesus says “Come See”. But also, the Gospel describes Andrew went and found his brother and called him. One of the ways we find faith, is in sharing faith with others. Christian faith is not private or exclusive. One of the core beliefs of Christian faith from the very beginning is Hospitality. But the Romans practiced Hospitality, they invited influential people to their homes, in hope of being invited to their homes in reciprocity. The Greeks practiced Hospitality, believing that you needed to welcome strangers, and offer them a hearty meal and place to rest before asking their name, because in this way you may entertain Angels or Gods. Christians instead practiced a Promiscuous Hospitality. Christians intentionally cared for and served those who were excluded, the poor, the prostitutes, the sinners, and here we are not spiritual-izing this to say “Those who have prostituted themselves after things” or “those who have stumbled and sinned without knowing.” And these were not invited because they needed faith more than anyone else. Salvation is for all the world if we will accept it. Jesus intentionally called and invited those who were marginalized and exiled by society, the Lepers, the Blind, the Lame, and welcomed them as being the ones we are called to serve. How often we are invited to events, to groups. At least once a day, I receive a Facebook invite to join a Group, to Like what someone said. In the mail, we receive keys to a car, we receive invitations to come to an opening. I am told the Kiwanis give out awards for who invite the most new visitors. Would that not be a great assignment for us as a Church? To live extending Promiscuous Hospitality.