Advent 4 (A) Our Part in Salvation

 

Advent 4 (A) Our Part in Salvation

December 21, 1980

By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell

Let’s Pretend….

Let’s Pretend I am…. before I say the next word, I must turn my back to you because no mere mortal can bear to see the glorious splendor of my being. I am the creator of the vast expanses of all the galaxies, as well as the particles that make up the nucleus of the atoms. I set all the stars on their courses and established the multiplication of guppies. I know the deepest secrets of all men’s hearts, and I have the capacity to forgive and love them all beyond the wildest stretch of their imaginations.

Now, are you ready? Let’s pretend…. I am God. Because I am God, and because I was in on your creation, I want you to know something of my heart. I want you to know that when you live your life according to my will and purpose, you will experience abundant life now….and always. I can understand why you have difficulty in believing my word…. Because that’s the way I made you. you like to touch and feel and see things with your own eyes, and experience joy in your own hearts. If you knew me better, you would believe. But getting to know an all-powerful, omnipresent God, isn’t easy. It would be like sending the sun down to the earth so your scientists could come to a batter understanding of it’s mysteries. All they dare now is a very careful and guarded peek. If the sun is too bright for your mortal eyes to behold, then think of the splendor of the sun’s creator…the source of all light.

Now, I want to stop pretending. When I turn around, you’ll see that it’s just me…Father Ernie. It’s hard to feel close when you’re almighty God. 

God’s idea for the human race was that we would love and serve one another. He realized that at times some would have to make sacrifices to keep that love alive and moving. But…. we got off the track. Instead of sacrificing for the sake of love, we started grabbing as much love for ourselves as possible… (we became greedy) ….and then we kept that love for ourselves until almost everyone was calling almost everyone else…selfish. We have all learned from experience that if all you can find are hearts filled with greed and selfishness, it turns into a very sad world and a lot of God’s precious children get hurt.

God loves us so much He decided to help us mend our ways. But, how could He get close enough to show us?

We have a very wise and resourceful and patient God. He sent His Spirit into the hearts of men, who were then strongly moved to preach that God would send a savior….and when this person came, He would be called Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty Father, Prince of Peace. The Prophets preaching got people expecting that someone very special would come to lead them. Then, when the people were ready, God promised a child to Zaccariah and Elizabeth, who later (when he grew up) served God’s plan by strongly preaching that everyone should repent for salvation was near. Six months later God’s Spirit visited a young woman named Mary, and told her that she was going to bear a very special baby, who would be called ‘God with us.’ Then Joseph learned in a dream that he was to be like a father to this child and that the child should be named Jesus – which means Savior. When Jesus came, and when men were willing to let Him into their lives and hearts, they found new power to love. To describe this change, the church has used words like; Healed, Saved, Converted, Born Again – but they all mean the same.

Our distant unapproachable God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ to demonstrate His way of love and to invite every person in the world to have a personal relationship with Him.

That was God’s part in our salvation, our healing…. but what about our part? What is it that we can do to cooperate in God’s wonderful love action. How shall we respond?

Let’s take a look at Mary’s response. God had a gift for the world, Mary allowed herself to be a receiver. She offered herself as an empty chalice and simply let the love of God fill her life. Her openness allowed the ultimate joining…the joining of Spirit and matter. In Mary’s YES to God, heaven joined Earth.

Can you imagine what wonderous things could be born on Earth if we could merely empty ourselves and say YES to God? as Disciples of Jesus, we are called to put ourselves at ease and allow God the opportunity to have a word with us. Then to allow His world to enfleshed…lived out…in our lives. 

Example) The funny thing about meditation and prayer. When spending time in the quiet, listening for the voice of God, waiting to hear his guidance for me…I heard…. “Take your wife out to dinner.”

Not very profound…. true. but what if I didn’t hear that word because I was too busy sorting through life’s minutia. 

Mary was receptive and when God spoke, she said, “Yes!” and in her YES heaven touched earth.

Joseph was not nearly as open and receptive to God’s plan. Jospeh reasoned things through, and had made up his mind to end his relationship with Mary because of her “mysterious” pregnancy. Joseph was a man of honor and logic. And, if he was not the father of her child, then Mary was not the woman he wanted for his wife.

Then, when Joseph was asleep, and all his logical defenses were down, God came to him in a dream and explained his part. No doubt Joseph gave more weight to his dreams than most of us do in this time. He not only didn’t dismiss it as another “silly dream” – he was obedient to it.

It’s possible for anyone of us to get an idea in our head, which to us is perfectly logical, and to be so stuck on that idea we become blind to any other way. When that is true, it maybe that the only way left to for God to get a message through to us, is when we are asleep and can’t argue back. What if in fact there was no such thing as a silly dream? But that they were another way for God to speak to us. Our part in salvation might be to listen to our dreams – especially any persistent dreams – to try to hear what they might be saying to us. 

Mary was receptive. Joseph was obedient. God became flesh and dwelt among us.

And we beheld His glory, and were not overwhelmed by it, but were saved by it.