Advent 3 A Our Innate Worth
Advent 3 A Our Innate WorthDecember 17, 1995By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell
I don’t know about you but for me one of life’s great joys is finally seeing a truth that for some reason had not yet “clicked” in my brain. Whenever that happens it’s as though I had known the “truth” all my life. All of a sudden I see it. It’s like one of those three-dimensional computer images (Magic-Eye Pictures) that you stare at and stare at, and then a smile comes to your face…because there it is! I have learned to refer to these revelations as my “ah-ha” experiences. I have also learned to praise God whenever it happens.
I remember it happening at one of our Tuesday morning clergy Bible Studies. When I share my insight with you some will think; “Of course, how obvious.” And, that is true. It is obvious. But rather than regret my blindness, I am happy to celebrate what…I now see! As scripture reminds us, “the eyes of the blind shall be opened.”
In the bible study, after we had read the lessons assigned for the third Sunday in Advent…where James says, “Be patient until the coming of the Lord,” and Isaiah writes, “Be strong, fear not… your God will come and save you!” But then, in Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist isn’t so sure. You see, John is locked up in prison, and the “savior” he proclaimed in his wilderness preaching, isn’t doing what John thought he would do…in short, act with power and take control. So, John sends word through some of his disciples with a very telling question. John says, “Ask Jesus, are you the one, are you God’s Messiah…. or shall we look for someone else?” It’s possible that John was also thinking, will I ever get out of this dungeon alive?
Well sitting there, at the table with my clergy friends, I realized that we were also in a sense like John, locked in a particular time in history, and maybe we had some questions like; how do we know (from what we know), how God will deal with the world, and us, when it all comes to an end? That was my question to the group…. how do we know?
Three members of the group got up to fix themselves a cup of coffee. A sign of deep thought. Now, you may wonder why such a question should come up at 8:30 in the morning. Well, because the lessons assigned for the third Sunday in Advent seemed to highlight eschatological themes. Eschatology is a fancy word used by theologians to describe a field of study dealing with the last things. Like when you die. What will that be like? Will we all face God’s judgment, and will we go to heaven, or will we go to hell?
Now, before I get to my big “ah-ha” insight, let’s take a look at two points of view about what happens when we die. Some would say that life goes from bad…to worse…to death…to nothing. maybe you’ve heard… “life’s a bitch, and then you die.” The game of life is a story, by whatever means possible, to avoid thinking about the end. Blow it of…stuff it! One woman I know explained her philosophy like this: life is like putting your hand in a stream of running water, you enjoy the bubbles while they last, and when you die, it is like taking your hand out of the stream. No one will ever know it was there…. or care. What’s wrong with her thinking? It discourages living and working to add something to this world that is good.
The other point of view is that no matter how grim life may be, there is always hope that old ways will be made new, and that because someone cares, we will ultimately find our satisfaction and peace.
As you know and as we have heard again from the prophet Isaiah in today’s readings…scripture leans towards the point of view that someone cares! “Be strong, fear not! Behold your God will come an save you.” Rest assured that when God walks onto the stage of this earthly drama, things will be noticeably improved. The deaf will hear, the lame shall leap, the tongues of the speechless will sing for joy! Things in nature will respond to the delight of human existence and there will be a highway back home…home where people care for us and love us.
That theme of redemption and renewal (said one of our members), is our innate worth as God’s creatures screaming out. We all know from the moment of our birth that we are worth something. As infants we unashamedly cry out, fully expecting that someone will hear and someone will care.
This was my “ah-ha” moment: The theme of redemption and renewal is our innate worth as God’s creatures crying out, fully expecting that God will hear us, and that He will care.
That’s it! That’s how we know! It is a sad commentary of our society that even the arresting cry of a tiny baby will in some cases go unanswered. But as a creature of God the babies unanswered cries do not make the baby worth less. As God’s creatures we are all innately worthwhile, and one way or another we will have that truth be known.
So, my reason and logic tell me that it is our persistent, insistent innate claim that we are worth something that supports my belief that there is a God and that He cares! It would be a cruel hoax to make someone think they had value and then treat them as though they were nothing. it would be like creating a thirst for water…when there was no water.
As Christians we can say even more… much more. Our belief in a loving and caring God is not based simply on reasonable logic or wishful thinking. Our belief is primarily based on the historical evidence of God entering and participating in our human existence in the person of Jesus Christ. It is the enfleshment of our loving God in Christ that allows us to claim what theologians refer to as our realized eschatology. To put it in a nut shell: if we believe in God’s message through the words and actions of Jesus, then we don’t have to wait until the culmination of human history, or until the day we die, for the answer to my question at the Bible study. Remember the question?
How do we know how God will deal with the world, and us, when it all comes to an end?
We know because the judge is standing at the door. And this judge by His sacrificial death on the cross has made us worthy. Worthy now and forever.
We sometimes complain that over the years the Christmas season has picked up a lot of commercial “stuff.” And a few would argue that point. Some of the “Stuff” tries to make sure that Christmas has no gaps. The Gap between how we are appreciated, and how we wish we were appreciated. It is a time when we all become a bit more sensitive to people’s innate worth screaming out. We do our best to respond to those screams with expressions of love and compassion. The gifts we exchange are bound to help. But, no matter how many Christmas cards and gifts we receive, they can’t make us guaranteed to feel worthy. No matter how wonderful the gifts we receive, they never quite fill the gap. It’s regrettable, but for many, Christmas is a flop.
On the other hand, when we believe that we are all worthy, especially because of Christ, then Christmas never fails us….never looses its joy. When whatever we do in relationship to Christmas becomes an extension of our innate worth in Christ, then the world will come to enjoy the real meaning of Emmanuel….God is with us!
And He cares!
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