December 28th Patience Part 2

Two weeks ago we started a two part discussion of patience.

God desires us to be patient with ourselves and those around us – even the difficult people we don’t like. Today we look at various places in the Bible in order to grow in patience.

Let’s begin by looking at the patience of God.

Peter writes (3:9), “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.”

Impatient people are quick to judge, but God does not judge quickly. Instead he waits patiently for us to choose to turn from wrongdoing and receive his love and forgiveness.

Paul writes to judgmental impatient people when he says in Romans (2:4), “do you despise the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

God shows patient love even to despicable people.

He can do this because of his character of love and his place in eternity. God is love, and love is patient. It doesn’t force its way on people, but constantly and consistently shows love and waits patiently for love to be returned. In the face of unrequited love, God waits…

God dwells in eternity. For him a day is ten thousand years. He lives in a world where time is not scarce – in eternity time doesn’t exist as we know it. This maximizes God’s potential for patience.

God is patient because he is love and he dwells in eternity. We rightly praise God for his patience and we can use his example to help us gain patience with ourselves and others.

I don’t know about you, but my problem with impatience begins with myself. I’m actually less patient with myself than I am with other people. Let me give you an example.

Karen is our secretary here at church and like every other human I know she gets the occasional illness. She faithfully reports in and tells me when she’s ill. Guess what I tell her. I express genuine concern and tell her to take good care of herself and not to worry about work. I tell her, “We have you covered.”

When I get sick, I tell myself things I’d never tell Karen. “Get to work! You don’t have time to be sick! People are relying on you; you can’t be sick! If you admit to being ill people will think you’re weak. Fight through it and drive in!”

Can we at least be as patient with ourselves as we are to others?

How patient are you with yourself?

Is there something you want to do, but won’t because of how much time it will take?

In talking with people about how they want to spend their lives of work I often hear impatient answers.

“I’d like to be a teacher, but I haven’t gone to college, and that would take me at least four years!”

“I’d like to get into business, but any good position requires an MBA and that would take me at least two years.”

“I’d like to become a counselor, but it would take me six years to get the education required.”

2 years, 4 years, 6 years are nothing in light of our entire lives. If God has given us a desire in our hearts, what amount of time is too much to spend pursuing the goals he’s given? Is 20 years too much? Is 50?

We see time as a scarce commodity – as a limited resource to be spent wisely. But isn’t this a carnal view of time? What would be a more spiritually accurate view of time?

We talk about receiving “eternal life” in Christ. Normally we view this eternal life beginning when we die, but it starts now. I mean, if death is only a transition into a different type of living, don’t we live eternally now?

Christ defeated death in the resurrection, so when we enter into his life we enter the realm of eternal living. We gain an eternal kind of life now.

If we live in Christ, time is not scarce, it’s abundant.

Being sick isn’t a waste of time – God can move in us even when we’re ill. We need not worry about how long pursuing God’s mission for us takes if we have an eternal view of this life.

One final note on being patient with ourselves; Christians have always been people on the way. We are works in progress. God’s patience and gentleness allows us to go through the process of character development, and it’s a bumpy road.

When we fail, instead of impatiently saying, “How could I have done that?!” and beating ourselves up, we can have God’s perspective of ourselves – his love and patience. We can simply say, “I’m not perfect yet. I still need God’s grace every day.”

In patient self-love, we can ask meaningful questions about our failures. What causes me to mess up? What do I need from God to avoid this error in the future? What change is required?


Just as we attempt to view ourselves in the light of God’s patience and eternity, we can view other people in the same light and be more patient with them.

Our patience with other people is tested in a variety of ways.

One truth of personality theory reveals that not everyone gets along naturally. Some people will rub you the wrong way. Certain people will annoy you. Because you are the way you are and they are the way they are, you will not like them.

Our local body of Christ will have people in it that you don’t like. For the sake of unity, we must be patient.

Paul writes (Ephesians 4:1-3) I…beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Each of us will have people we must simply “bear with.” Pride makes us attempt to change them to make them the way we want them to be, but patience causes us to bear with them.

When we find ourselves in the presence of someone we do not naturally like we can do several patient things to maintain peace and unity.

We can let them be who they are. We can listen to their message behind the things that irritate us.

When in the presence of a person who irritates us we should always pause before speaking and choose our words carefully in order to maintain peace.

We don’t need to be friends with everyone, but we must maintain our unity as one Body in Christ.


Another test of patience comes when people disappoints us.

After telling us to clothe ourselves with patience, Paul writes in Colossians (3:13) “Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

We can’t expect perfect consistency from people. We know ourselves to be imperfect and continually receive God’s forgiveness. Because of this, when someone disappoints us, we can respond with patient forgiveness. We can acknowledge we are all people on the way and forgive even as God has forgiven us.


Not getting our way also tests patience.

The great “love chapter” in 1st Corinthians puts it this way: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful…”

Love does not use force – physical, psychological, intellectual, or even spiritual force to get its own way. If we force our way, we love impatiently and imperfectly.

I learned the hard way that love does not insist on its own way while serving as the Associate Pastor of Redeemer Covenant Church. One day I got a phone call from someone we’ll call George.

He wanted my support in banning women from the Sunday evening basketball game. He didn’t like that a woman from the community had been coming to play. It wasn’t that she didn’t play well…in fact she was better than most of the guys...It was that she was a she.

He argued for the importance of men getting together for fellowship without women present. He feared that she would be uncomfortable playing with a group of guys. He asked, “What if someone guarding her accidentally touched her inappropriately?”

I disagreed with him vehemently. I told him, “It’s great that several people from the community are coming to the church and it doesn’t bother me that one of them is a woman. If she is comfortable, she should not be excluded.”

I argued based on the mission of the church. I even argued based on the Kingdom of God.

Because George was in charge of the event, I told him he could do whatever he wanted, but that he would be making an un-Christian decision if he forbade her from coming to play.

I really put George in his place…and I lost a friend. I insisted on my own way and created disunity. I exploded a small issue and made it powerful enough to divide a community.

I knew I was right, but my response was so wrong.


Patience demands that we do not insist on our own way. I could have listened patiently, expressed my view quietly, and let him decide. Instead I attempted to control another person. Patience does not insist on its own way.


A patient person also knows that waiting can be an act of faithfulness. I’m a man of action. I want to do something to help, but sometimes being present and waiting is most needed.

The powerlessness we feel when someone is grieving a loss sometimes prompts us to impatiently propose a solution. We say ridiculous things. If someone grieves the loss of a boy or girl friend, what do we say? “There are other fish in the sea.” Do you know how stupid that sounds? They don’t want just any fish. They want the one they just lost.

What wisdom do we give to the person grieving the loss of a loved one? “Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.” Craziness! Sure it’s true, but it doesn’t ease the pain of loss. Truth isn’t always a healing balm.

Grieving or depressed people need our presence, not our wisdom or advice.

Parker Palmer, the great educator and teacher of teachers recounts a story of a deep depression he found himself in and his friends’ responses.

“Various friends tried to rescue me with well-intentioned encouragement and advice: “Get outside and enjoy the sunshine,” or “You have such a good life – why be depressed?” or “I know a book that might really help you.” For all their good intentions, these friends made me even more depressed.
They did not understand what I was going through, did not understand that there was no easy “fix.” Their advice served only to distance them from me, leaving me even more isolated.

“In the midst of my depression I had a friend who took a different tack. Every afternoon at around four o’clock he came to me, sat me in a chair, removed my shoes, and massaged my feet. He hardly said a word, but he was there, he was with me. He was a lifeline for me, a link to the human community and thus to my own humanity. He had no need to “fix” me. He knew the meaning of compassion” (The Active Life, 85).

Palmer’s friend patiently abided with him. He didn’t try to force his agenda on him. He didn’t try to position himself above Palmer as the expert advice giver. He didn’t shower him with wisdom; he patiently showed love.

Conclusion

We worship a God of profound patience. He is love and he dwells in eternity. Because of this, he does not judge quickly. He reveals his love to us and waits patiently for us to respond appropriately.

God asks us to have his perspective on time as we live in Him. We live in Christ eternally so we can know the abundance of time and remain patient with ourselves and others.

God desires us to “bear with” people we don’t naturally like in order to maintain the unity of his community. We can offer patient forgiveness to people because God has patiently forgiven us.

Faithfulness sometimes demands patient waiting and a ministry of presence. Sometimes people just need our availability, not our advice or rescue.

The only way we can be patient for a lifetime is if we know the patience and love of God.

Mark 1:1-8 "Prepare" December 7, 2008

This text is rougher than most since I did not edit it (sick with sinus infection)...

Mark 1:1-8 “Prepare” December 7, 2008

What do we do to prepare for Christmas? What are you doing these days to get ready for Christmas?

Let me tell you what my family and I do. We buy a Christmas tree. This year we went to Home Depot and bought a tree and a stand since I couldn’t find the one I know we have in storage somewhere.

We brought the tree home, decorated it with lights and ornaments, and poured water in the stand. Then the kids had great fun playing with the pine needles decorating the floor.

We bring out special candles and light them. We display snowmen and bring out other red and green decorations to celebrate that Christmas is coming.

As an extended family we establish the complicated formula of family gift exchanges. We draw names and set price limits on gifts. We buy gifts and wrap them. We bake Christmas goodies.

We orchestrate the timing of our family celebrations and attend parties to re-connect with old friends.

I imagine we all do stuff like this. But are we preparing for Christmas? If the reason for Christmas is Jesus, are we truly preparing to celebrate Jesus as our Messiah on December 25th?

It seems to me we’re preparing for each other. We’re getting our houses clean and buying presents for each other. We’re maintaining and deepening our relationships with our friends and family. These are great things, but isn’t Christmas about Jesus?
An online author writes, “When we hold our efforts up to the Scriptures, we become aware how misdirected we are. We are like sailors on the Titanic, busily rearranging furniture when we need to be steering the doomed liner around the iceberg.

Could it be that we miss the coming of Christ and the gifts He brings to our lives, because we fail to prepare properly? If so, what is the biblical pattern for readiness to accept the Christ who comes to us?”

Let’s look at the Biblical pattern of readiness in accepting Christ by considering the preparation ministry of John the baptizer as found in Mark 1:1-8

Text

“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."


In just eight verses, Mark, the author of this gospel identifies Jesus and tells us some things we need to do in order to prepare for Jesus’ arrival. The words are all about Jesus and our readiness to meet him.

Mark identifies Jesus as the “Christ” and the “Son of God.” What does he mean by these identifying words?

If you ask kids what Jesus’ last name is, what will they say? They’ll say Christ. Jesus’ last name is “Christ, Jesus Christ.” But we know Christ is not Jesus’ last name or his middle name. It is his identity and his ongoing role in history.

Christ means Messiah or Savior. Jesus is the Messiah. Mark identifies Jesus as the Messiah, but not the messiah of human origin or for a humanistic salvation – like salvation from economic crisis. Jesus is the Savior of souls.

Mark calls Jesus the Son of God. Jesus is the Messiah – the only begotten Son of God. Jesus was not made by God; he existed with God from the beginning and now enters human history by taking on flesh to be our Messiah.

This is the Jesus whose arrival we celebrate this Christmas.

John the baptizer further identifies Jesus’ stature when he says, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals."

For us, untying someone’s shoelace isn’t such a big deal. But in their time, loosening the strap of a man’s sandal was deeply humiliating.



Slaves took care of their master’s feet. They untied their dirty, dusty sandals and washed their master’s sweaty stinky feet. But not God’s slaves! Because this task is so demeaning, God’s law forbade Hebrew slaves from untying their master’s sandals.

John says “The one who comes after me; I’m not worthy to loosen the straps on his shoes.”

John’s telling us that if we were nurses in a hospital and Jesus was a patient there, we wouldn’t be worthy to clean out his excrement laden bed pan. Jesus is so glorious, so wonderful, so highly esteemed; we would not be worthy to serve him.

Do we realize just how remarkable Jesus is? Are we preparing to receive our Messiah – the Son of God – rightly this year?

It’s OK to deck the halls with boughs of holly. It’s OK to consider Christmas to be Jesus’ birthday. Some of our families even sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, because we view Jesus as our friend, but maybe we’ve gotten too buddy-buddy with our Messiah.

Jesus is the Messiah of God. He’s not a friend like you and I are friends; he’s a friend more powerful than any human. He is the God-man. He’s our creator of the world friend. He’s our Savior of the world friend.

This is the Jesus we prepare to receive anew on Christmas. How do we prepare?

John the baptizer prepared people to meet their Messiah. His ministry fulfills the prophecy Mark recounts, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"

John wears the garments of a prophet – a camel's hair robe tied with a leather belt. He eats the food of a prophet – locusts and wild honey.

His prophesies that the Messiah of God is coming. Prepare for him! Prepare for the arrival of your Savior! Prepare through repentance and a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Repent and be baptized.

Repentance refers to a change of mind and to a wholehearted return to God. It implies abandoning our ways and adopting God’s ways – abandoning our wrong ways and adopting God’s right ways.

It means experiencing remorse for what we’ve done wrong and turning from those things toward God. Repentance implies a total life re-orientation!

John tells people to reorient their lives in order to prepare to meet their Messiah.

John also calls the people to be baptized.

We’re so familiar with Christian baptism that John’s baptism doesn’t seem novel to us. But John’s baptism is unique. There are no rules for this sort of baptism in the Hebrew law.

There was a community called the Qumran community that practiced ritual cleansing. The Qumran community left us the Dead Sea Scrolls and the people of that community immersed themselves in water for the cleansing of their lives of sin. They did so three times a day.

But John’s baptism is different. It is once and for all and it was performed by another person in anticipation of meeting the Messiah.

The people must have believed John because they came out in droves. They confessed their sins, turned from them, and were baptized by John. His baptizing ways became so well known that he was named John the Baptizer.

John deflects all of this fame and points to Jesus. “I have baptized you with water; but the one who is to come will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John compares himself and his ministry with the coming Messiah. In the same degree that John is not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal, Jesus baptism will be greater than John’s baptism.

John says, “I baptize with water, the Messiah will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” I cleanse you with water after you repent of your sins, but Jesus will baptize you with the cleansing agent of the Holy Spirit of God.

That’s why when we bring people here for the sacrament of baptism we pray, “Jesus, as we baptize with water, baptize with your Holy Spirit.”

How can we prepare in new ways for the arrival of Jesus the Messiah – the Son of God? How can we do Advent differently this year?

As John helped people prepare, he didn’t ask them to get their houses clean and well decorated. He didn’t tell them to host parties and exchange gifts. He said, “Turn from your wrong ways toward God. As you repent, be baptized and receive forgiveness for your sins.”

Instead of spending all our time this advent season preparing our homes, interacting with friends and family, and buying gifts to exchange, maybe we should spend time preparing our lives to meet Jesus.

Let’s acknowledge the obstacles in our relationship with God. Let’s spend time allowing God to search us and know us and see if there is anything foul in us. Let’s repent of the things that hinder us from receiving Christ, and turn away from them.

Pray.

Sermon text of Isaiah 63:7-64:12 November 30, 2008

Isaiah 63:7-64:12 “Rend the Heavens” 11-30-08

The sermon text this morning is Isaiah 63:7 to 64:12 on page 605 of your pew Bible.

Read Text

“I will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD, the praiseworthy acts of the LORD, because of all that the LORD has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely"; and he became their savior in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

But they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit; therefore he became their enemy; he himself fought against them.

Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put within them his holy spirit, who caused his glorious arm to march at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like cattle that go down into the valley, the spirit of the LORD gave them rest. Thus you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and glorious habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The yearning of your heart and your compassion? They are withheld from me.

For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our father; our Redeemer from of old is your name.

Why, O LORD, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.

Your holy people took possession for a little while; but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. We have long been like those whom you do not rule, like those not called by your name.

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!

When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.

You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

After all this, will you restrain yourself, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?”


This text is a song of communal lament most likely sung at the site of the burned down temple in Jerusalem. The whole community of God gathered in the temple rubble and sang this song of grief, repentance and plea after the Babylonians destroyed their place of worship.

The people of God – the chosen ones of God – have been dealt with harshly and they reel. They beg God for answers.

Where are you God?
Where is your help?
Where is your presence in our time of need?

Even with this in mind, Isaiah begins this song by remembering what God has done by praising him. He recalls the steadfast love of the Lord.

He recalls the very presence of God saving Israel – how He lead the people through the wilderness, parted the Red Sea, and shook the world when Moses brought the 10 Commandments down from Mount Sinai.

Isaiah calls to mind the way God parted the Jordan River for his people to walk into the Promised Land. God gave the people rest and prepared to make the Name of the Lord glorious.

What happened to destroy the peace?

Like rebellious children, the people of God disobeyed their Heavenly Father. Isaiah laments, “We have long been like those whom you do not rule, like those not called by your name.”

This grieves the Holy Spirit of God and makes God the enemy. So God fights against his own people and allows his holy temple to be destroyed.

Even still, Isaiah entreats God, “You’re still our Father. Even though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us, you are our Father.”

Your name is “Redeemer of old.” Unless you show up, we can’t turn from our wicked ways. Unless you soften our hearts, they will remain hardened. You are the potter, we are the clay.

O that you would rend the heavens and come down!

Isaiah sings for God not simply to see them, but to come down. “Break through the domed firmament and the clouds and intervene” (Blenkinsopp, 264). Draw near!

Come down like fire that causes twigs to burn and then makes the pot boil. Come down like an earthquake. Be the God of the unexpected!

For our part, we confess and repent. We have all become like a person unclean and even our good deeds are filthy rags.

Sin has become continual, defiling, destructive, and barrier producing. It has separated the people from God.

Now the people feel like a withered fall leaf blowing in the wind.

Can I reveal the depth of the people’s sin with the danger of grossing you out a little bit? In this section, Isaiah is talking about a woman having her period. He’s saying that the people of God have become unclean and their good deeds resemble a dirty tampon. Instead of white as snow, they are as unclean as a maxi-pad.

Even in this state, Isaiah calls the people to sing, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.” He leads them in singing, “Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember our sins forever…we are your people… will you restrain yourself, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?”

The people call on God to draw near to them. “Don’t stand back, God. Don’t be aloof, come near! Have mercy! Speak! Move! Act!”

How do we respond to this song of corporate lament?


It might seem like a strange text for the beginning of Advent, but this season before Christmas is a season of repentance. It’s a mini-Lent on the church calendar. It’s a time for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.

What is our standing with God these days? How near and dear is our God to us? What is the condition of our hearts before God?

Turning from personal sin toward God must be done this Advent, but today, we look at our corporate sins. To prepare our hearts and lives for the coming of Jesus, what do we need to turn from? As a people, what has made even our good deeds filthy rags?

I contemplated these verses while watching Mumbai burn. Over 170 people died at the hands of terrorists. It made me pray, “How long O Lord?! O that you would rend the heavens and come down!”

I turned on the 6 o’clock news to see some coverage and only saw local stories of lost cats, local theft, and a back alley murder.

I know 6 o’clock is the local news time, but are we so apathetic to suffering in the world that we can’t delay local news in the face of an international crisis? If this attack had happened on American soil it would still be leading the news and our trite local news would wait. The terrorists targeted Americans!

Maybe apathy is one of our corporate sins. Maybe we need to repent this advent season for our lack of concern – our lack of love in action for others.

A mere 10 billion dollars would solve the number one killer of people worldwide – unclean or insufficient water. It causes death by disease. It causes death by thirst.
10 billion may sound like a lot of money, but we spend 10 billion every month fighting in Iraq. Why isn’t there the political will in this nation to end the leading cause of death worldwide?

We are loveless and apathetic.

As the video showed, we spend 450 billion dollars celebrating Christmas. If we want God to rend the heavens and come down, maybe we need to get our hearts re-oriented. As we contemplate the humility of Christ, leaving the throne of heaven to come as a baby, maybe we need to humble our hearts and show the same love he did.

Instead of exchanging gifts this Christmas, maybe we should simply give them to those in greatest need. If the politicians won’t spend our tax dollars to help the least of these, maybe we need to spend our money mercifully.

In preparation for Christ’s birth, Jodi and I will be exchanging gifts with family and friends, but this year we will donate an equal amount of money to feeding the hungry and providing clean water for the thirsty.

Will you join me? Will you give an equal amount of money to those with nothing as you do to your friends and family who have everything they need and most of what they want? It might mean giving smaller gifts to your family. But it does mean giving life to the dying.

$10 buys a Christmas card and a paperback novel, but it can also provide clean water to a child for their entire lifetime.

We need to repent of our apathy in preparation for Christmas.

So I’m watching Mumbai burn. Imagine the bitter irony of seeing the next story on my screen. A temporary employee of Wal-Mart unlocked the doors at 4am on Black Friday and didn’t get out of the way fast enough. She was trampled to death.

This wasn’t local news. I read the story on CNN.com while watching the Mumbai coverage.

Even on Saturday morning the story of death by greed was still front page on the BBC news website. The BBC! This news goes global…our greed is famous!

Children living in poverty on the streets of Addis Ababa hear this story. Children living in refugee camps around the world hear this story. Do they joke amongst themselves, “I want to go to a country where the only reason they kill each other is because of a department store sale.”

Or maybe our greed so repels them that they resolve to live differently when they get here. I know immigrants who make minimum wage and can still send large chunks of money to their families living in poverty in their native lands.

More controversially, do foreigners see American greed as part of the reason why some people hate America…part of the reason terrorists target us on the streets of Mumbai.

As a nation we have worshiped the god of wealth and the security and power it brings for too long. The consequences of our greed is not the city lying in ruins and the temple in ashes as it was in Biblical times. So far we just have a mortgage and credit crisis.

We lived on the edge of our means. We mortgaged our houses and re-mortgaged our houses to maximize our capacity to consume never thinking our homes could lose value.

We maxed our credit, never thinking the economy would stall. We spent our resources on ourselves and look where we are.

If we repent and turn from our greed, will God rend the heavens and come down? If we start enjoying what we have and not wanting what we don’t have, will God come near?

Conclusion:

This song of corporate lament can be our song. We can confess our apathy and greed as a people. We can cry out to God for his return. We can pray, “O God as we turn, please draw near!”

O that you would rend the heavens and come down.

Pray