December 11, 2022 ~ Third Sunday of Advent ~ Sermon & Zoom Worship Video Link

This is the link for the video –

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/0CtFPaYtUnn5fQFMTlgPoKZ17VSUXaEmgxflL7NWTC9sEIMCH69426g_sW4yIJQd.eoYUeph2LFHsLjBo

3^rd Advent                                                                               12/11/22—Highland—Meute

Advent Series—Based on “A Surprising God: Devotions for an Uncertain Time”

By Thomas G. Long and Donyelle C. McCray

“Rescued by Patience”

Psalm 103: 1-18; Luke 13: 1-9

Pearl: The patient, merciful God.

Function: To commend the careful way that God stirs us back to life, renewing us and reviving us.

Living in ready anticipation of the return of Christ but also aware of his presence now with us, we have the constant motivation to live fruitful lives. And we and everyone else is better for the good we do.

1. We state it in our Apostle’s Creed and it has biblical support, that Jesus will return to the earth physically.
   1. I was surprised to find that when I surveyed one small group of people on this subject, they indicated that they had doubts about whether this would happen actually happen.
   1. It is difficult to imagine. It raises questions. For example, I’ve always wondered where on earth he will touch down. How will we know that he is here?
      1. The Bible suggests that we will all know. So, there will be something so unique about it that there will be no question that it is him.
2. Advent is a season in the church calendar in which we “anticipate” Jesus’ return.
   1. Advent isn’t all about anticipating “the birth of baby Jesus,” it is a season reminding us that we live in constant anticipation of a dramatic return of Christ and a subsequent changing of things as we know it…bringing about a new world.
   1. We live, therefore, in a constant state of Advent.
      1. One sect within the church is so focused on this that they call themselves “Adventists” (7^th Day Adventists).
3. This is why so many of our Advent scriptures are of a “judgmental” nature. We think of Christ’s return some day, any day, as a time of judgment.
   1. Art is full of renditions of it. Many scary.
   1. Many people obsess on themes of judgment.
   1. I’ve said this often and continue to preach it; I don’t think God wishes to motivate us through fear. Rather, God is love. God motivates from love.
      1. Nonetheless, God urgently wants to make things better. There is much that needs correction. Much that needs fixing.
      1. God’s kingdom is present and God wants it to fill the whole earth, and every heart and every mind with goodness and wholeness.

So, God is at work, constantly “trying something” in order to revive us and renew us toward God’s realm. We Presbyterians are part of the “Reformed” tradition so we believe in constant revision, restoration, reforming, and reviving in order to come into synch with God’s reign.

1. We understand this. We look at something we are working on and we judge it as to whether it is good and whether it is what we intend. We revise and we rework. This is judgment. It is not dire and destructive in intent but it is restorative in intent. It is of a perfecting nature.
   1. It is not to be feared; it is to be welcomed.
2. We need God’s persistent prodding and training in order to be who we are destined to be and in order to bear fruits for the kingdom of God.
   1. God is always trying something new to revive us and to bring us back to life: life as intended by the Creator.
   1. An orchid was given as a gift to a couple. (I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of orchids in all of our time at Longwood Gardens. The orchid room is something to behold, and the “orchid extravaganza,” which comes in the cold heart of winter, good for the soul. Orchids are dramatically beautiful and colorful and their designs are so elaborately unique).
      1. This gift was a single-stem orchid with a beautiful white blossom.
         1. They read the instructions on how to care for it.
         1. “It needs good light but not direct sun light” they read. So, they put it in a good spot on a table near the window but not directly under the window.
         1. Three weeks later, disaster. The bloom was gone, the leaves had dropped off or were crinkled and brown, and the stem was drooping.
            1. The poor orchid had fallen victim to a simple misunderstanding. Each member of the couple thought the other was taking charge of the watering.
            1. The husband said, “We’ll know better next time; I’ll toss it.”
            1. His wife took his arm gently and said, “Let me try something.”
               1. She returned with a glass of water and began to sprinkle the water on the base of the orchid and stirred at the muddy mixture.
               1. She did this same thing every day until all of a sudden it sprang back to life.
               1. Two years later it still bears white blooms, thanks to her patient prodding.
            1. This is the way God works. God keeps trying new things to restore and to revive us and our world.
               1. The Holy Spirit is at work moving and shaping and adjusting and inspiring and motivating through love.

Cooperate with God. Let God try something in order to make new.

1. Jesus shockingly said, “Unless you repent, you will all perish as they did,” referring to two tragedies much like we see daily happening around the world.
   1. But then he followed with the story of the barren fig tree. It hadn’t born any fruit so the owner was ready to throw it out.
      1. The gardener appealed for more time to do some things to revive it.
      1. Jesus gave a reassuring word making a statement about God.
      1. God is the Gardener who keeps trying things to restore and revive.
   1. One commentator wrote, “God’s mercy is still in serious conversation with God’s judgment” (Interpretation, Craddock, p. 169).
      1. Both mercy and judgment are in play but they work together to restore and renew.
      1. I learned it once and use it often, “God’s discipline is not for condemnation; it is for restoration.”
2. Tom Long wrote “In those places in life where things seem hopeless, it is God’s patient way to ‘give it more time.’A by-product of our frazzled and contentious society is the pressure to lose patience, which, in many ways, is the same as losing hope…’Let’s toss it,’ we say. ‘Even now,’ we threaten, ‘the ax is poised to swing.
   1. But the deep good news is that God is not this kind of gardener. God’s love is patient…
      1. ‘The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting’ (Psalm 103:17).
      1. [He continues] I am especially grateful for this when I remember those seasons in my own life when the blooms had dropped away, the leaves had turned brown, and my spirit drooped.
      1. It was then that I felt the tender care of God, pouring the water of life around me, gently stirring my soil, mercifully nurturing me back to life” (pp. 52-53).
3. God is always trying something to revive us.
   1. God is always trying to bring our world back to life…
      1. Patiently giving care and attending to things…through love and by love.

Prayer

Teach us patience, O merciful God. Let us be as gentle, nurturing, and life-giving to others as you always are to us in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.