Title: Life just never seams to go as planned.
Word Count: 2993
This sermon was delivered to both congregations in St John in Girvan, and St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 15th December 2013: (both are Scottish Episcopal Churches in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Isaiah 35:1-10 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 Psalm 146:4-9
“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)
Introduction:
Life just never seems to go as planned: for example, have you ever invested years of your life in another person only to watch something go wrong: your time, your energy, and your money, all in hope; and then, something happens, something changes, and your investments all go wrong … as you watch them make one stupid mistake after another; and looking at them where they are today, you say: “this is not what I planned, … this is not what I wanted for them, … how can I make them understand”?
In interviews, I used to hate the question “where do you see yourself in 5 years time”. Eh! Because all Christians know, life is not up to us, and I like most of us here today, are not in a place that we would plan for ourselves as life has many turns: things change, people change, and we change.
Let’s look now at a young man who should have had a long prosperous life; a man who even before he was born, had an angel tell his father that, “he is going to be a great preacher and will lead many to the Lord”.
I am sure that people would have looked at him and said, “one day that boy is going to be somebody; I remember his birth”; but … even though his father was a priest, something happened and he did not follow in his footsteps.
His mother and father were now both dead, as they were very old when he was born, and now, for some reason, he was living alone in the desert, probably feeling sorry for himself, wearing a rough camel haired coat, and eating locusts and wild honey.
People had long forgotten his so called miraculous birth and his alleged mission from God; and now in his twenties, he must have been praying, (as we have probably done), “Lord, this is not what I had planned, it is certainly is not what our parents had in mind. How can this be your will for me”?
But John stayed with the Lord regardless, even when the people around him said, “Look at him now, the Lord’s chosen one” as they laughed behind his back!
But then one day, John’s prayers were answered, and “he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”, … “a voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”.
John preach a storm; people came from all over to hear … and his message was simple … “get your act together, get yourselves sorted and repent, because God is about to bring forth judgment.”
John was not afraid to tell the religious leaders, that they too must change, he called them “snakes in the grass trying to get away from the fire”; … and John shamed all, he shamed the crowds, he shamed the tax collectors and the soldiers; telling them all to stop what they were doing and change, … because the day of the Lord was at hand; stop lying and stealing, and start loving each other the way that God had intended.
It was all good fire and brimstone preaching, with Hell is just around the corner … and if they did not change, then Hell is where they were going.
Yet, the people kept coming … they responded through shame and guilt … and they would fall on their knees in repentance before God. They would even received baptism from by John and his disciples … the crowds getting bigger all the time; in fact John baptized so many, that they called him John the Baptist.
Nothing like this had happened before, and so some started saying that John might be the Messiah; but John firmly said “No”, because “there was one coming after him who is more powerful. … And that he … even he, was not worthy to untie his shoes. This man that was coming was different; because he would baptize them with the “Holy Spirit … and with fire.”
One day John the Baptist saw Jesus, and he said, “There He is, the lamb of God, the one I am telling you about, the one who would come after me, Christ the Messiah”, ... and they all watched … as the Holy Spirit descended upon him, as a dove from heaven.
And so, some of John’s disciples deserted him, and began to follow Jesus, like Andrew … Peter’s brother, who had been a long time disciple of John.
But John continued, … he had been anointed to preach, … but John started to fall away as he was no match for Jesus, … but he wasn’t too bothered, because he knew that he was not here to compete with Jesus, but to, “prepare the way for him” … to let Jesus “increase, as he must decrease”.
And John kept on preaching; … and one day he preached a hell fire sermon on marriage and divorce; … the very day that Herod just came passing by.
This Herod, (not Herod Antipas the Great), was married, but there was a scandal, as he had become involved with his brother’s wife, Herodias and wanted to marry her, with both their spouses evicted from the palace. What a mess … and so Herod found himself very unpopular with the Jewish people, as this new proposed marriage was against Jewish law … and condemned as incest. But the religious leaders were afraid to say anything public about this relationship … because they knew Herodias would … probably have them killed.
John however was not afraid, his position was authorised by God himself, and as such … he was willing to call a sin a sin … no matter what it was … or who was doing it. And once word got out, that John had publicly condemned their marriage, Herodias was outraged and decided to kill John. However, Herod did recognise John anointing … and became afraid of him … knowing that he could motivate the people against him.
So Herod hatched a plan, a simple plan to silence John, a plan that that did not involve killing him, but disposing of him quietly in some dungeon, well out of harms way. And so after a month or so of darkness and damp walls, John must have prayed to God, “God, is this your will for me … is this prison the best you have for me”?
The first month turned into two, the two into four, and the four into eight; and the large crowds that John once preached to were only a memory for him; … and he was a memory for them. So John must have thought, “Why isn’t my cousin Jesus doing something to get me released”?
The eight months in prison turned into twelve, then into eighteen; can you relate to that … not in this extreme, but you know what I am talking about; when we are going through a hard patch, we get by, but it drains the very life right out of us. Our hopes fade, and we too pray to God, “is this really your will for me; how can you possibly be allowing this to happen”?
John then managed somehow to call on his disciples and ask them “what is happening in the real world”; … and I am sure they told him of how the people were seeking out Jesus in their droves: and instead of preaching “Fire and Brimson” sermons like John, they must have told him how Jesus was preaching grace, and mercy and forgiveness and love: … and this must have confused John because he was probably a strong rugged man, who avoided pleasure as discipline; … whereas Jesus was seen going parties and enjoying himself, even to the extent of eating with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus even welcomed little children, and worse, he made the prostitutes feel welcome in his company.
But Jesus never spoke publically about Herod’s scandal, and so to John … Jesus was cowardly avoiding John’s fate in that prison. John’s mind must have been overactive hearing these things … as he was the one obeying God … and in doing so, he was the one in prison, while the so called son of God was out “enjoying himself”.
So John had to ask, “Is he truly the one”? And he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if there is another … one who will come to bring forth the judgment of God, and not this namby pandy love stuff.
John’s disciples went to Jesus, but instead of Jesus reassuring them, he said, “hey, take it easy, stay here for a while ... and watch, and listen … and then go back and tell John what you see”. Jesus knew John need encouragement, and a word for him this time was not enough. John needed to hear from his disciples themselves just what Jesus was up to.
And so they witnessed the blind receiving sight … and the lame walking … and the lepers cured … and the deaf hearing … and even the dead being raised; with the good news of the gospel being preached to the poor.
Jesus then said them, “now go and tell John what you have just witnessed, and John will understand”. … And they did, and John then knew that Jesus was the messiah, because John knew the Scriptures … John knew Isaiah 61, “The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn”.
John then knew that Jesus was the Christ … and although the scripture does not record this, John must still have asked: “what about me … is this prison the best you have for me”?
… As John prayed, there was a party going on in the palace, Herod had invited all the local officials and dignitaries, and they started getting high on wine and other things; then Herod’s step-daughter, Salome, came into the room and danced the dance of seven veils, … probably a striptease, to please and cajole Herod into submission, … a deception that had originated from her mother, … and ended up with the head of the John being delivered on a platter. … There is no way we can make sense out of John’s death … I will not try … but the death of Jesus was different, Jesus died to restore man to God.
Commonalities between John and Jesus
But both John and Jesus lived to do the will of God; both were anointed by God before birth; and neither could be manipulated by peer pressure; or of what others might do to them. Both were men of conviction, and both stood by it unto the point of death.
Differences between John and Jesus
But John and Jesus were poles apart in their ministry. John the greatest man who every lived in the Old Testament: lived by the law; John did is best to keep the law, and … there is little if anything in John’s life that would I would like for myself.
Jesus however was so different, he lived by Grace: he knew that he did not have to keep the law … for he knew God loved him regardless; in fact he was constantly in touch with that love from his father; and as such, Jesus was constantly doing his father’s will … and I am sure Jesus paid little attention to sin and guilt, as communion with his father did not allow him to sin: … and so with Jesus, we see great power and authority in his ministry, … we see miracles happening, healings taking place, and people being delivered.
John ministry however, … was to preach hell fire and damnation:, … that if his followers they did this, this and this … and refrained from this and that, then maybe, maybe God would bless them: … where as Jesus, under the New Covenant would say, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all love you, we all love you, because of Jesus death on the cross.
We could reply, a but yes, but we have sinned, we are constantly sinning, … we will sin again in the future; but God in three persons would reply … I know that … but you are not in charge of your life as you think: through Jesus I decide what happens, I am responsible for you. … Yes I know you have sinned, but I am taking that responsibility for your sin on myself … and I am putting your life in order … I am in control … and I decide what is best for you … I decide what is best for me.
How do worry about others
I started of this morning by saying that life just never seems to go as planned, and we do have many disasters; not least to watch those whom we have nurtured make one stupid mistake after another. Well the answer to that question is in the question itself, because what we are saying, is what we have done for them, what we have planned for them, and as such we are not taking into account what God has planned for them.
God has only let us nurture them to his purposes and glory, and it is now time to let them go their own way; and if we don’t let them, we are going to make them a prisoners of ourselves. They must learn to let them fly as they were born to be, and they must let God manifest himself in themselves, without us interfering.
Bluntly, we must decrease in them, as he must increase. I know, if we could only see God’s plan, then we would be happy to let them go, but that is faith; and that is where we start developing it. God is watching over them as he has his purposes for them … but sometimes … and I know the answer is obvious and I don’t like it but … the route of the prodigal son for some, is the only way.
We worry about ourselves too.
And this is not only true for others, it is true for us, as many times I am sure, like me you have said, “God is this really the best you have for me”, because life’s trials and tribulations are not easy, and they do get us down; and for some reason we also get more than our fair share, but it is these trials that make us, that develop us, and mould us to be more and more like Christ every single day.
But every time I complain … I am always directed back to the scriptures which say God is in control of our lives … he has our best interests at heart; … and it is all about him. I am also reminded how far I have come … and what I was like before, and how I would hate to return to that person I was, selfishly living for myself.
Because when you sit down and think about it, God sent his own son, … to die for us, … to set us free from sin and death, … and to prepare us … for a world to come, … and all we can say, “is this the best you have for me”. Before we ask the next time, and that includes me; I think first we thank him first that we belong to him, and then recognise that wherever we are … whatever we are going through, he is ultimately in control, and watching over us, … and as such that will be safest place of earth, because he is there, right beside us. So wake up and face Christmas with thanksgiving … knowing that our God is well and truly with us … and in us just as the scriptures say.
Amen, let us pray.
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he died for us all those years ago.
We thank you that through Him we are free from the law of sin and death, and that you are guiding and watching our lives constantly … we are sons and daughters of yours.
Father let us put of those things that are worrying us … those burdens we are carrying … those fears that we are hanging onto … and … let go, those whom we have been nurturing.
Father please strengthen our faith in you … and re-assure us of your love for our loved ones, that through our faith in Jesus, they too are under your protection.
Father even though we do not know your will for us, let us rejoice in you; that you have our best interests at heart, particularly this Christmas as we wait to celebrate the birth of your son, in whose name we humbly
