Patience in Hopeful Joy!

Discipleship Questions for Sunday

December 16, 2007

Scripture Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm: 122

Second Reading: Romans 13:8-14

Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44

Isaiah 2:1-5
¹The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ²Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. ³Many people shall come and say, " Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ⁴He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. ⁵O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD. -- NKJV

Psa. 122:1

          I rejoiced with those who said to me,

                   “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

2        Our feet are standing

in your gates, O Jerusalem.

Psa. 122:3

          Jerusalem is built like a city

that is closely compacted together.

4        That is where the tribes go up,

the tribes of the LORD,

to praise the name of the LORD

according to the statute given to Israel.

5        There the thrones for judgment stand,

the thrones of the house of David.

Psa. 122:6

          Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

                   “May those who love you be secure.

7        May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels.”

8        For the sake of my brothers and friends,

                   I will say, “Peace be within you.”

9        For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

                   I will seek your prosperity.

Romans 13:8-14
⁸Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁰Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ¹¹And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. -- NKJV

Matthew 24:37-44 
³⁷But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴²Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. -- NKJV

Discipleship Questions:

1. Please discuss the following taken from my sermon script: Well today while we remain in the penitential season our focus shifts slightly from getting ready – that sense of purging and preparation - to the associated idea of “waiting” but with this idea comes the whisper of hope and with that hope - joy.

Today is Gaudete Sunday and it’s on this Sunday that we’re reminded that our waiting is never without hope and even joy!

It’s on this Sunday that we experience anew the essential paradox of the Advent season:

· light in darkness,

· presence in absence,

· fulfillment in the midst of longing.

To quote Lucy Shaw, “The paradox of joy in the midst of desire is embodied in a practice involving the Advent Wreath. The candles that ring the wreath are traditionally purple in color – all except one. The third Sunday of Advent is represented by a rose-colored candle – a hint of the joy to come. On the other three Sundays we light purple candles, the color of repentance and preparation. But on Gaudete Sunday we get something of a break from our acts of spiritual discipline and receive a foretaste of the grand celebration that will soon take place. Similarly, the clergy are permitted to wear rose-colored vestments on this day.” (God With Us – Edited by Greg Pennoyer and Gregory Wolfe, Paraclete Press, p 74).

Ah! Anticipation lifts the heart doesn’t it?

Desire is created to be fulfilled not dashed!

2. Please read and reflect on then discuss the following: In our Old Testament reading we head Isaiah speak his words of joyful anticipation at a time when all that could literally be seen was a desert of spiritual barrenness and thirst! Listen once again to just a few of the hope-filled verses:

Is. 35:6

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

Is. 35:7

The burning sand will become a pool,

the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

These are words of anticipation aren’t they!

Now listen to just a few of the words from our Psalm – Psalm 146 – words of hope:

Psa. 146:5

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Ah! Hope – we hope in our sovereign and good Lord!

3. Please read and reflect on the discuss the following: In the New Testament Epistle of James we heard these words:

James 5:7

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.

Ah! Patience as we wait in hope – just like the farmer who waits for the rains. He is patient as the corn forms. Patient in verdant hope!

It’s this hopeful patience that has captured my heart and mind this week as I reflected upon the sermon for today!

Eugene Peterson writes magnificently about this in his paraphrase of Romans chapter 8:20-25:

Rom. 8:20

Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in 21 until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

Rom. 8:22

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. 23 These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. 24 That is why waiting doesn’t diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. 25 But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Ah! Let me read those last two verses once again and tell me who, in this congregation, this probably resonates the most:

24 That’s why waiting doesn’t diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We’re enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. 25 But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

“The longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy!”

I think Sarah and Eric can truly relate to this experience don’t you!

“The longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy!”

So this morning God is reminding us that He who is Immanuel – God with us - is growing weightier and weightier within us as we continue to open ourselves to Him – as we continually allow Him to do His work within us.

4. God is calling you and me to wait patiently for Him – for His movements in our lives – We are to wait like Sarah is waiting! We mustn’t fight our condition but wait patiently in hope! - expecting God’s loving intervention in our lives! Do tell God what to do and when to do it! Wait patiently!

I want to quote once again from Jucy Shaw to explore this idea even further:

Though the protracted waiting time is often the place of distress, even disillusionment, we are counseled in the book of James to ‘let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete.’ Pain, grief, consternation, even despair, need not diminish us. They can augment us by adding to the breadth and depth of our experience, by enriching our spectrum of light and darkness, by keeping us from impulsively jumping into action before the time is ripe, before ‘the fullness of time.’ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope!”

So what do we take from all of this?