"Grace Upon Grace" Christmas Day, 2005

“Grace Upon Grace”
John 1:1-18 Christmas Day, 2005


God loves us so much! That’s expressed in many places, throughout John’s gospel. Here’s an example, perhaps the most familiar verse in all of Scripture: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Those are words you could say by heart, aren’t they? They’re from the third chapter of John.

This morning, we read the first 18 verses of the gospel of John. God so loves the world that the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

The gospel of John does not include a story of Jesus’ birth. Instead, the gospel writer begins with a prologue, an introduction to his story proper, about what Jesus said and did. It’s that introduction that we read this morning. It situates the importance of the birth of Jesus, in the context of God’s entire history of salvation.

The gospel writer begins at the beginning – with creation! "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being." God spoke creation! “The Word.” All was created by God, all is created by God, speaking the Word of love and grace!

God loves us so much that God has created all that exists, by grace, and has made human beings to be the crown of creation, again by grace. And here is what we see, throughout the Bible: all that God wants is to be in relationship with us. God loves us so much!

But God’s human creatures continually turn away from God. We see that throughout the Bible, as well. We see that in Genesis, in the creation stories, and in the stories of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Jacob and Esau, and all the rest.) And so, because we turned away, God spoke the creating Word of grace in the law, through Moses. Was that enough?
We still turn away. And so, God spoke the creating Word of grace through the prophets. Was that enough? We still turn away.

God loves us so much! All that God wants is to be in relationship with us, to have us as conversation partners! And so God continued speaking the creating Word of grace, and this is how: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. … From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. "

And the Word became flesh, in Jesus the Christ. This is what we celebrate on this Christmas Day. Since we human beings are incapable of turning towards the God who created us, God became human flesh, to create relationship with us. It is all by grace. "From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."

God loves us so much! I keep saying that – because we often do not believe that. (If we did believe that, we wouldn’t work so hard to save ourselves! If we did believe that, we wouldn’t be so hard on ourselves for falling short of what we think we should be!)

God loves us so much! I keep saying that on this day because that feeling of falling short can become an especially cumbersome burden at Christmas time. How often do we hold up an idealized idea of Christmas? How often do we fall short of “the best Christmas ever.” Bad relationships, family members who are fighting with each other, grief, loved ones’ illness – all of that weighs more heavily at Christmas time than at other times of the year.

And so, especially at Christmas it is important to receive grace-filled gospel from the God who created us and who has done everything to be in relationship with us! We are God’s beloved!

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." Last night, we lit candles and held in our hands those symbols of our faith that the light of Christ does indeed shine in the darkness, and that the darkness of this world will not overcome the light.

"And the Word became flesh and lived among us." All things were created by that divine Word. Now the gospel writer announces that the Word has become flesh in Jesus the Christ. Jesus, the Word of God, brings into our human fleshly life all of God’s creativity.

And so we pay attention to what God is creating, in our human flesh. You and I who work so hard to handle it ourselves, who think we actually can handle it ourselves: we notice how God creates softened hearts within us, as we receive the grace that is spoken. We become honest about our need for God. We stop resisting God!

God has done all that is needed to repair the brokenness in our relationship with God, to restore us, to re-turn us to God.

It is all by grace. From the fullness of the Word become flesh, we have all received, grace upon grace.

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

"Joy Is Ours!" Christmas Eve, 2005

Joy Is Ours! Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20
Christmas Eve, 2005


Last Saturday I spent much of the day out in the yard behind our house. I raked piles of leaves. And I cleaned up the perennial garden behind our house, cutting back perennial growth that long ago had become brown and brittle, dead to the ground.

This is the time of year when, to all appearances, there is nothing living in the garden. Everything that grows from the earth has retracted into its roots or its trunk. The St. Francis statue and the bird bath stand alone. About 10 days ago, a flock of Robins descended upon the yard, and we enjoyed watching them drink from the bird bath, and grub around for food. But since then, there have been hard frosts. Birds are hunkered down. Squirrels are squirreled away.

How different it is for us human beings! This is, perhaps, our busiest time of year! Trips to the mall and baking and cards and decorating and parties (given and gone to), and not enough time to do all that we want to do …

One reason, I think, why so many feel so frenzied during December is that we push and push ourselves at precisely the time when hibernation would better suit our genetic make up! Electricity and urbanization have allowed us to defy the natural rhythms of life, so that we have our annual rhythm of activity exactly reversed. Think of it: we’ve come to believe that we should rest during the summer. But that’s when the longest periods of daylight encourage the most biological activity! This is the time of year when, biologically, we would be healthy to let the soil of our souls go fallow.

This is the time of year when we need the most sleep! That’s because there is much more darkness than light at this time of year. It is dark for 14 of every 24 hours. And the darkness becomes a metaphor for what many people struggle against during these weeks. There is much more depression at this time of year, compared with other seasons. Many people struggle with grief at this time of year, especially.

How wonderful it is that, in the 4th century, when Christians finally decided it would be important to celebrate Jesus’ birth, that they chose this time of year! It is during these periods of longest darkness that we celebrate God born into our cold and dark; born into our human flesh when life seems least viable.

Tonight, in Luke’s story of Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph are beleaguered by the darkness of much that is uncertain and frightening.

Mary is pregnant – but she and Joseph aren’t married. They are engaged. You’ll remember, then, that this is taking place during the year-long period that was the custom of the time, between the agreement of the marriage (reached between Joseph and Mary’s father), and the finalization of that marriage (which will happen when Joseph takes Mary into his household).

Joseph has not trespassed on the betrothal period. Mary is not pregnant by him. And so, to all appearances, Mary should be put to death. (That’s the penalty in the religious law for a woman who commits adultery, which is certainly what appears to have happened here.) Imagine the tremors that pass through Mary as she contemplates such dark consequences of what God is doing with her.

Meanwhile, Joseph hasn’t insisted on the death penalty. In fact, he is sticking with Mary! Imagine how that looks to all who know Joseph! Imagine the ridicule. What humiliation he is enduring. What darkness.

There’s more. Mary and Joseph are powerless in the face of civil authority. They are making their way to Bethlehem, (despite the fact that Mary is due to give birth any day) because they’re forced to obey a directive, from the Roman emperor, to be counted in a census. (The Caesar wants to know how many captive subjects he has in his empire.)

There’s more darkness! Bethlehem is packed with travelers who have arrived to their ancestral town to be counted in the census. Joseph and Mary can find no accommodations. They have to sleep in a stable.

Consider this: into the frightening darkness experienced by a teenager with her betrothed husband, pregnant in a way impossible to understand, who goes into labor while away from home, in the middle of a night spent among barnyard animals (with all their smells!), God enters our human flesh!

Where the darkness is greatest, where life seems least viable, that’s where God enters in.

Indeed, in this story, it is as if God looks for darkness to enter into. Who does God first tell about the birth of the Christ child? Do the angels proclaim the news to the religious leaders of God’s people? Do they announce the gospel to the emperor? Or even to the local Roman governor?

Of course not. (You know the story!) "In that region there were shepherds living in the fields." Shepherds: coarse men of no account. Unclean, according to the religious law of God’s people. They are out in the fields, in the middle of the night, in darkness so total that when "the glory of the Lord shone around them,…they were terrified!"

Perhaps it is where the darkness is deepest, and where life seems least viable, that we most notice God entering in. The times of struggle, the experiences of loneliness, and sadness, the regrets and disappointments, the griefs we have accumulated. That’s what the darkness is.

We are walking in darkness – and so, how electrifying are these words of announcement we read tonight from Isaiah:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined.

Tonight is close to the longest night of the year. It has been dark for seven and a half hours. It will be dark for six hours more.

Against that darkness, we light candles tonight – to celebrate the light of Christ that penetrates our darkness! The birth of Jesus does not eliminate the darkness. The birth of Jesus illuminates our walking path through the darkness.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined.

Joy is ours!

That’s not because only good things happen to us. The joy we proclaim at Christmas is not contingent on “how good a year we’ve had.” Whether we’ve had job promotions and salary increases or we’ve been caught in corporate flux, joy is ours. Whether the surgery is successful or the oncologist’s news is pessimistic, joy is ours. Whether we’ve celebrated the birth of a new baby or mourned the death of a loved one, joy is ours.

Joy is ours because the brilliant light of the Christ child shines on the path we are given to walk through the darkness. Joy is ours because the darkness does not overcome that light.

Joy is ours because, indeed, on the path we are given to walk, there is God! Jesus is God, born into human flesh; present with us, physically, in our human flesh! In the Holy Communion meal of our risen Savior, we eat and drink God’s physical presence! (No other religion on earth makes claim to such intimate presence of God.)

Joy is ours because of the child that has been born to us! We celebrate the birth of that child on this night with bells and singing and candles. We glimpse that child’s coming reign each day of the year, whenever there are performed acts of justice and mercy. (Those acts of mercy are as lights, illuminating the darkness, beacons on the path we are given to walk.)

Joy is ours!

For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

In the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

“Holy Fear, Hopeful Fear” Luke 1:26-38
Fourth Sunday of Advent December 18, 2005


There is so much fear.

Some fear is over-hyped to the point of comedy. For instance, have you ever watched the TV weather report when there might be a chance of snow flurries a week from Tuesday? Other fears are serious and real.

Some fear for their personal safety. As a late-evening event breaks up in our College room downstairs, students ask questions like, “Who’s going to Dupont? Can we walk together?” Another example. I was talking with a woman this past week who is a brand new driver – and who has been in two accidents in the past two weeks that were not her fault! Can you imagine how fearful she is, even to turn the ignition key again?

Some fear is mean-spirited, and exaggerated to manipulate people. Republicans tried to make people fearful enough to vote against John Kerry, by declaring that he would not effectively protect us from terrorists. Democrats reacted to President Bush’s proposals for Social Security reform, by encouraging people to fear for their finances in retirement. The National Rifle Association keeps its members fearful that banning “Saturday night special” handguns today means banning hunting rifles tomorrow. According to abortion rights groups, if Samuel Alito is confirmed as a Supreme Court Judge, it will be the end of civil rights as we know them. In his gubernatorial campaign, Jerry Kilgore tried to make people fearful that Tim Kaine would not carry out the state’s capital punishment statutes.

The use of fear is very effective! But it’s also coercive and deadening. It polarizes. It prevents dialogue and consensus. It closes us off from hope.

I begin with all of this because fear and anxiety plays a huge role in the gospel story this morning! (You might miss that, unless you really enter into this familiar narrative.) An angel comes to Mary. Do you remember that one of the first things he has to say to her is, “Do not be afraid, Mary”?

What kind of fear are we encountering here? Is this the kind of fear that closes us off from hope?

How would you have reacted if you had been Mary? The angel Gabriel bursts in and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But, we read, she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

I hate to dispute the romantic images on the front of Hallmark Christmas cards, but this angelic visitation was terrifying. (Enough of you have heard me speak from this soapbox, so I won’t say much this morning. Suffice it to say that our idea these days of angels who are beautiful, gentle women is not at all Biblical – because, in the Bible, angels are always male, and are always frightening! We’ll see that again, in the story from Luke on Christmas Eve.)

Listen, again, to the angel Gabriel’s scary message:

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

You see, Mary was 12 or 13 years old. That is the age when girls were eligible to be married in that culture. Mary is not actually married. She is “engaged,” as the NRSV translates it, or “betrothed.” That means that Mary’s father and Joseph have reached the formal agreement of making the marriage. They have done this in the presence of witnesses, and Joseph has paid to Mary’s father the bride price they have agreed upon. Sometime in the next year, the property transaction will be completed. Mary will be transferred from her father’s house to Joseph’s. But even now, but Joseph possesses property rights. If Mary is pregnant when she is transferred to Joseph, she will be damaged goods. The worst case scenario would be that Mary’s father would have to refund the bride price, and that Mary would be put to death by stoning. (That is the punishment for a woman who has engaged in sexual intercourse out of wedlock.) So Mary’s fear is, quite literally, for her life.

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (If this is “favor with God,” then I hate to think about how God treats those who are enemies!) Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel does not address the fear in Mary’s question! He keeps on with what he has to say! Listen again, and ask yourself whether the angel’s further message will bring consolation or further fear to the young girl?

The angel tells her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” There, now, you who have put yourself in Mary’s position. Do you feel more secure in what’s going to happen to you? Or is your fear increased?

Here’s the thing. We are encountering fear in this passage that is much different from the fear created by political svengalis like Karl Rove. Mary’s fear is a holy fear, because she is coming to understand that this is something that God is doing. What we find in this story is the hopeful fear that God provokes within us. God is doing something mysterious, and beyond our control, and it threatens to turn our lives upside down, but it is what God is doing, and God is doing something new! And so, our holy fear opens us to wonder. It opens our hearts to hope. Fear and faith exist, side-by-side, in our hearts.[1]

It seems to me that this is a primary purpose of the evangelist who composed the stories in the first chapters of Luke: to stimulate our wonder and hope. The gospel writer is trying to excite our faith in the God who can do anything that God wants to do!

Look at how the gospel writer is doing that, as he structures the first chapter of Luke. There are parallel stories of two frightening angelic visitations, with news of two impossible births. The first visit is to Zechariah. (Do you remember this story?) Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, has not borne a child, which was a source of shame for a woman in that culture. And now, Elizabeth is too old to hope for a pregnancy. In fact, Elizabeth is so old, that when the angel tells Zechariah that she’s going to have a son, Zechariah doesn’t believe it! And so the angel punishes Zechariah’s faithlessness by making it so that he can’t speak until the baby is born!

What a great story! You see what the gospel writer has done: he has made us think about Sarah, the wife of Abraham, in Genesis, who was 89 years old, and had never been able to bear a child. But at age 90, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Impossible! In this first chapter of Luke, you see, the news that Elizabeth and Zechariah are to have a baby is every bit as fantastic as what the angel Gabriel has to say to Mary!

Gabriel uses that news as his clinching argument to Mary. He tells her, “And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God."

There it is. That’s the point. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Holy fear is hopeful fear. Our lives are turned upside down! But it’s what God is doing, and God is doing something new!

And so, the angel Gabriel waits. How long do you think the silence lasts?

Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Kathleen Norris writes this about Mary’s response to the angel:

She does not lose her voice but finds it….she asserts herself before God, saying, “Here am I.” … Mary proceeds – as we must do in life – making her commitment without knowing much about what it will entail or where it will lead. I treasure the story because it forces me to ask: “When the mystery of God’s love breaks through into my consciousness, do I run from it? Do I ask of it what I cannot answer? Shrugging, do I retreat into facile clichés, the popular false wisdom of what “we all know”? Or am I virgin enough to respond from my deepest, truest self, and say something new, a “yes” that will change me forever?”[2]

Let us approach the Christmas celebration with “a holy fear, full of wonder, mystery, and surprise”;[3] with the faithful confidence that nothing is impossible with God!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

[1] Stephen R. Montgomery: “Beyond Fear, Fundamentalism, and Fox News: The Active Hope of Advent” (Journal for Preachers, Advent, 2005), page 13. [2] Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith (New York: Riverhead Books, 1998), pages 76-77) [3] Montgomery, op.cit.

“Paying Attention To Time In the Wilderness”

“Paying Attention To Time In the Wilderness”
John 1:6-8, 19-28 Advent 3 December 11, 2005


We like to be in control, you and I. We like our lives to be orderly, according to schedule, and convenient. We like it when our children have only good news for us, and when they don’t disturb our schedules, because then we feel as if we’re in control.

We like being healthy and youthful and energetic. We don’t like to have to go to the doctor, or to have to figure out the new Medicare drug plan, because, when we’re sick, we can’t pretend we’re in control.

We like comfort and security. We like jobs that pay well and offer generous retirement benefits. We don’t like news about poor people, or about war, because that makes us uncomfortable and then we don’t feel in control.

We like our cars to be comfortable and reliable and safe – because those other drivers are out of control.

We don’t like surprises, especially the scary experiences of being out of control – because that reminds us that, in reality, we are never really in control; that that’s just an illusion. But we cover that up quickly when things settle back down, and we believe the illusion again, and everything is fine again.

Or is it?

In the Bible, a chief metaphor for being out of control is to be in the wilderness. The wilderness is a hostile place. It is a dangerous place. In the wilderness, life is hard.

That’s where John the Baptizer is, in this morning’s story from the gospel of John, when the Jews [send] priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He’s in the wilderness. He’s beyond the Jordan!

It’s important to notice, in the story, that the priests and Levites come out from Jerusalem. That’s where the temple is – in the city, in civilization. In the holy city, the religion of God’s people is set, securely and comfortably. The religion is organized according to a system of laws stipulating purity and proper behavior and worship. It’s easy, then, in Jerusalem, for the priests and the Levites to think they have God under control; that God is captured by the system of the religion.

But in the wilderness, nothing is under control. In the wilderness, everything, by definition, is wild! Including God! And John the Baptizer, in particular, frightens the priests and the Levites!
At the time, there had been at least two centuries of wild expectations of the coming Messiah. That kind of thing does not fit neatly into a system of well-controlled, well-defined, well-organized religion. It is a scary thing, if God is working through John the Baptizer!

And so, the emissaries from the systematic and organized and under-control religion of Jerusalem ask John questions having to do with those expectations of a Messiah. “Are you Elijah?” they ask. (You see, since Elijah was transported into heaven without dying,[1] some of God’s people expect him to return just before the coming Messiah.[2]) John tells them, “No.”
So they ask, “Are you the prophet?” (This is probably the expectation of an end-time prophet-like-Moses to come.[3]) Again, John the Baptizer says, “No.”

Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us.” (“Those who sent us”: in other words, those back in Jerusalem who are anxious to recover the illusion of control, that God is acting according to their expectations.) “What do you say about yourself?" they ask John the Baptizer, trying to identify, to define who this guy is who’s making them so anxious!

In response in the story, Isaiah 40:3 is adapted to become messianic prophecy. John the Baptizer declares:

"I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
'Make straight the way of the Lord,' "
as the prophet Isaiah said.

John makes striking use of this verse out of Isaiah. He understands himself to be preparing a way, out in the wilderness: out where life is anxious and scary and out of control. Notice: It’s a way not for people to come to God, but so that God can come to the people! Because that’s how it works, out in the wilderness. John the Baptizer sees himself called to soften peoples’ hearts to God, leveling peoples’ pride so they will become open to God. (Are you hearing the themes of Advent in all of this?)

What softens your heart to the advent of our God?

Are you ever really open to the coming of God when everything is neat and tidy, and under control? Be honest, now! I’ll simply confess that, for myself, when I’ve got everything in a box, even though I maintain a discipline of prayer and reading, time set aside to focus on God’s presence, I’m probably only focusing on my idea of a God who is warm and fuzzy and comforting. But God is wild! God is beyond our control! God is way beyond any idea we have of God. And so, God is scary! God stretches us, and pulls us, and challenges us!

I forget that about God, when I’m back in civilization, where everything is organized and according to schedule. I forget about God’s wildness when I am not in the wilderness, out beyond the Jordan. Is that true for you, too?

Because, for absolute sure, God leads you out into the wilderness, at least occasionally. Those are frightening periods of time. In the wilderness, you and I desperately need that way to be straight – that way that Isaiah and John the Baptizer talk about – so that God can come to us. Even though it’s a scary thing to do, you and I need to enter into and to pay attention to time in the wilderness – to understand our need for God, and to understand who God is, and to understand what it is that God is doing with us in the wilderness.

And so, for instance, parent is in the wilderness when his child is struggling with addiction. (That’s a sign of the demonic.) A parent is in the wilderness when her children are not speaking to each other, or to their parents, because of some grudge that they won’t let go. We need to pay attention to time in the wilderness, as scary as that is, to be open to God’s advent. How desperately do parents and children in conflict need God to come to them along the straight way, through the wilderness of such anguish!

A person is in the wilderness when he is enveloped in depression. We need to pay attention to time in the wilderness, to be open to God’s advent. How desperately does he need God to come to him along the straight way, through the wilderness of such sadness!

A person is in the wilderness when she is enclosed in grief. We need to pay attention to time in the wilderness, as scary as that is, to be open to God’s advent. How desperately does she need God to come to her, with the Good News of hope and joy, along the straight way through the wilderness of such heartache!

Here’s what I suspect. I suspect that we prepare best for Christmas when we pay attention to time in the wilderness.

A preacher named P.C. Ennis said this:

What is it we expect – really expect out of Christmas – as we await the one who comes? Someone has observed that people tend to make out of life pretty much what they make out of Christmas. … So, if Christmas means little more than the annual midwinter solstice, a break from winter doldrums, bonus time, Christmas carnival time, a boost for the economy, entertainment for the children, and an increasing endorsement of American consumerism – if that is all we expect from Christmas – then life – once life returns to normal, returns to the meantime – life will probably amount to little more.[4]

But what if you and I look for Christmas to be the radical entrance of One who literally wants to change the way the world thinks, and operates, and perceives reality?

Isn’t that what God wants to do?

Could it be that it is only when we are in the wilderness, when life is out of control, that we are aware of our desperate need for God, and alert for how it is that God comes to us?

We need to pay attention to time in the wilderness.

In the name of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia
[1] See 2 Kings 2:11.
[2] See Malachi 4:5.
[3] See Deuteronomy 18:15.
[4] P.C. Ennis, “Waiting” (Journal for Preachers, Advent 2005), page 24. Wording in the next paragraph also comes from this article.

What Sort Of Persons Ought You To Be In Leading Lives Of Holiness And Godliness?

“What Sort Of Persons Ought You To Be In Leading Lives Of Holiness And Godliness?
2 Peter 3:8-15a Advent 2 December 3, 2005

Advent is a season of urgency. It is a season of expectation. It is a season of hopefulness.
During Advent, the Scripture readings call us to live each day according to God’s future, when all of God’s promises for peace and justice and joy will be fulfilled. That’s what’s happening in the verses we read this morning, from Second Peter.

The anonymous author of Second Peter is addressing five congregations in Asia Minor.1 He is confronting false teachers in those congregations who are encouraging members not to believe in the parousia, or the end of all things. That’s because the first generation of Jesus people have died, but the end has not come! There is no parousia, these teachers are saying; there is no end of all things; there is no judgment!

What is the prevalent belief about that today, in our 21st century American comfort? How many people are motivated to live, today, by the belief that God is bringing to an end all things, and bringing judgment upon the earth?

The author of Second Peter expects a final, cataclysmic day to come. Listen again: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

This first century author is dealing with the same question that arises in the year of our Lord 2005: Why hasn’t that day of the Lord happened yet? According to the author of Second Peter, it is because God does not keep time as we do! It’s a mistake to have expected that the cataclysmic end would come immediately. In fact, God’s delay demonstrates God’s patience with us! Listen again: But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

So. We are in-between. Here is the key verse in this morning’s reading: Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire?
Will there be a cataclysmic end to all things? Some of Scripture witnesses to that expectation. Most of Scripture does not. (Here’s an aside. This past week, a colleague who teaches about the interplay of religion and science said that when cosmologists describe what will happen when the earth does come to an end, billions of years from now, it sounds a lot like words from Second Peter: that “the elements will be dissolved with fire,” “set ablaze and dissolved,” “the elements will melt with fire.”)
Does the prospect of such an end to the earth, billions of years from now, motivate your behavior today? I’d be surprised if it did! However, for each one of us, individually, the end will come, and very soon for each one of us, because human life is very short. There’s urgency in that.

And it can be a source of hopeful expectation for those who are faithful. If you were here last week, you may remember my suggestion (following from Luther) that, we need have no fear of a “last judgment” because that judgment has happened for those who are baptized into the body of Christ. The final judgment happened when Christ rose from the dead. We have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, and so, through our baptisms, we have been justified, and forgiven.

At the same time, of course, we are sinful! Luther writes in the Small Catechism that the old, unredeemed person in us must be drowned through daily repentance. We must return to our baptisms, daily! In that return, that repentance, our sinfulness is judged, daily. We are found guilty, daily. And we are forgiven, each day!

And so, to use the words from Second Peter: what sort of persons ought we to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness? How are you and I are being drawn by God the Holy Spirit along the path towards holiness? Those are questions especially appropriate during the season of Advent.
Luther puts it this way: “This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road. At present everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed.”2

What sort of persons ought we to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, as God the Holy Spirit is doing all of this? The author of Second Peter, in chapter one, identifies signs of being drawn by God the Holy Spirit along the path of holiness. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.3 None of that is possible without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

St. Paul’s theology was much different from that of the author of Second Peter. But he can be used as commentary, in Galatians, with what he calls “the fruit of the Spirit”: By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.4 That’s how we act, when the Holy Spirit moves us to be the sort of persons we ought to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness.

The future belongs to God, when all of God’s promises of joy and peace will be fulfilled. This morning’s passage from Second Peter ends with these words: But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. That means, of course, that this is not now a place of righteousness.

And so, there is urgency for us to become more and more people of righteousness! God the creator has intervened into our human flesh as Jesus the Christ, and has empowered us as Holy Spirit – because God desires certain ends for creation. We become the persons we ought to be as the Holy Spirit makes that possible – drawing us more deeply into lives of holiness and godliness.

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia
1 See 1 Peter 1:1 to see the congregations addressed by these letters.
2 Luther, “Defense and Explanation Of All The Articles,” Luther’s Works, Vol. 32 (Philadelphia, Muhlenberg Press, 1958), p. 24.
3 2 Peter 1:5-7
4 Galatians 5:22-23a.

“Watch! What Is God Doing?” Mark 13:24-37

“Watch! What Is God Doing?” Mark 13:24-37

Advent 1 November 27, 2005

War, in Iraq! Tsunami, in the Indian Ocean! Earthquake, in Pakistan! Mud slide, in Guatemala! Hurricanes, along the Gulf coast of the United States! Flooding and devastation, in New Orleans!
It all sounds like Mark, chapter 13! Here’s how that chapter begins:
As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" [2] Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."
[3] When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, [4] "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" [5] Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. [6] Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray. [7] When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. [8] For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

Then in chapter 13 Jesus warns his followers that they will be handed over to hostile political rulers, and that families will be split up by conflict over Jesus, and that there will be great suffering as the days run short. And then, the verses we read this morning brings the chapter to its conclusion.

It’s a strange piece of literature! Chapter 13 is just plopped down where it is in the gospel of Mark. It interrupts the flow of the story in Mark. If it wasn’t there, chapter 14 would follow very smoothly right after chapter 12! But here we are, reading from this strange passage on this first Sunday of Advent – because the fundamental theme of Advent is included in the final verse of the reading: “And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

How do we read apocalyptic literature in the Bible, such as chapter 13 in the gospel of Mark?
Last weekend, at the Virginia Synod “Lost and Found” youth event, another pastor pointed out to me: “Some churches don’t pray for peace! That’s because they see God using warfare to bring in the last days.” One way to read Mark, chapter 13, is to anticipate that these events will happen, perhaps soon!

Here’s another way. It is to understand what was happening during the years 60-70, when the gospel of Mark was being edited and composed by its anonymous author, and how chapter 13 reflects those events. For instance, verse two had happened by the time Mark was composed: As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." Well, that had happened, during the Jewish war of AD 66-70, when the Roman army had demolished the temple along with most of the city of Jerusalem.

So another way to understand this chapter from Mark is to see it as a product of its time. Events were happening that caused those first generations of Jesus people to wonder if the time of God’s judgment had come. For those early Jesus movement people, these words would have been Good News! Jesus had not accomplished what had been expected of the Messiah, of the new King David. And now Jesus was absent from them. These words in chapter 13 of Mark carry Good News: the assurance that God will bring fulfillment of God’s promises.

Here is something important to notice. The chief message of this chapter is not to be led astray, not to panic, and not to become obsessed over figuring out when the end-events will happen. That’s because no one knows when that end time will be!

Listen again:
[5] Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. [6] Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray. [7] When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. [8] For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

And, we read:
[I]f anyone says to you at that time, 'Look! Here is the Messiah!' or 'Look! There he is!'--do not believe it. [22] False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. [23] But be alert; I have already told you everything.
It is important to know what was going on, the context out of which Mark, chapter 13 arose. But if this chapter is simply a historical relic of its time, then it would be easy to disregard. Indeed, many in the so-called “mainline denominations” have in fact dismissed this and other apocalyptic literature in the Bible. The result? There is no urgency left in the faith; no anticipation of God’s future; no hopefulness. We miss an important message of these verses: “Keep alert.” “Keep awake." That is the theme of the season of Advent.
And so, there is a third way to read this chapter out of Mark, and this is what I commend to you. We can say that it is a Lutheran reading, since it comes from Luther himself!1
The theme of Mark, chapter 13, is God’s judgment. But we have no fear of the “last judgment” because that judgment has happened for those who are baptized into the body of Christ. The final judgment happened when Christ rose from the dead. We have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, and so, through our baptisms, we have been justified, and forgiven.
Now, day by day, we are being made holy by God the Holy Spirit. Of course we are still sinful! You remember that Luther writes in the Small Catechism that the old person in us must be drowned through daily repentance. We must return to our baptisms, daily! Our sinfulness is judged, daily!

There is urgency in that! It is important to heed the urgency of Mark, chapter 13, because the end could come, any day. I think of the man who was driving down Jamestown Road last month, who suffered a heart attack and died, whose car then rolled over our bushes in front of the church building and came to rest in the hedge between our property and Mrs. Briggs’ next door. Some of us could tell of our experiences: of losing a baby to SIDS, or a loved one in a car crash; the end could come any day.

We must return to our baptisms, in repentance, daily. Our sinfulness is judged daily! But God the judge is also God the redeemer. In this baptized life we are being made holy by God the Holy Spirit. This is called sanctification. God, who is holy, is drawing us towards holiness.
Therefore: watch! What is God doing?

Our watching emphasizes our responsibility, as followers of the risen Christ, called to act in love and justice. God’s future determines our present.

Watch! What is God doing?
What is God doing in you, for instance, as you interact with the homeless in the PORT homeless shelter program? What is God doing in the life of the member of our congregation who took his coat off and gave it to one of the shelter guests who had no coat? What is God doing in your life when you feel a restlessness that you just can’t shake off? How is God calling you to holiness? What is God doing in your life when you are in a period of depression? To what work, to what behavior might God be calling you?

We are at the same time sinner and saint2 in this human life. We undergo judgment now, daily, insofar as the old life of sin continues in us. But to the degree that we participate in the new life of Christ, daily, we live already on the other side of judgment!

Watch! What is God doing?
How is God the Holy Spirit drawing you towards holiness?
In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia
1 This is pointed out by Catherine Gunsalus Gonzalez in “Advent and Eschatology,” Journal for Preachers, Advent, 2005. The next paragraphs include insights that she presents.
2 To use another of Luther’s phrases.