Advent 2
Dec 4, 2022
Fr. Phil Eberhart
The Promises
of Word and Spirit
Today is
the second Sunday of Advent, the season of anticipation – of preparation – of repentance. That was the message of John the Baptist,
Jesus’ cousin, at the Jordan river: Repent
for the kingdom of heaven is “at hand”.
It’s close enough to touch! This
is the message that had been preached by prophetic types for hundreds of years,
from Isaiah on down to Malachi. John
picks up the messages of God’s judgement on evil and wickedness as the FORERUNNER
for the Messiah, his cousin Jesus of Nazareth.
John’s
recognition of Jesus began early in his life – actually intra-uterine! Never let anyone say that life doesn’t begin
until birth – John recognized Jesus, actually Jesus’ mother’s voice, and jumped
in Elizabeth’s womb!! Proof of life at
conception! If you wanted it. It’s free!
Today and today only!
John was
last of the line of Old Covenant prophets, and the FORERUNNER of the Messiah –
he referred to himself as the Friend of the Bridegroom! One of his greatest lines in the light of
Jesus’ ascendancy in ministry, is “He must become greater; I must become less.” Jn 3.
Today’s
readings bring out the promises that were preached for many hundreds of years
about the Messiah:
2 And the
Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him,
the
Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the
Spirit of counsel and might,
the
Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear
of the Lord.
for the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord
as
the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the
root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him
shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
The other theme that seems to be coming up is judgement,
based on the justice and righteousness of God – judgement that will be executed
by The Son. This is a judgement that
begins “with the House of the Lord.” This
is one of the reasons that both John in our reading and later, Jesus, were so
hard on the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious “professionals” of their
day.
As I said, the judgement of God, through Christ,
is based entirely on the concept of God’s Justice and on His Righteousness. It is the character of Jesus that
forms the basis of the judgement that He brings. The call of John the Baptist was to
self-examination and repentance, in light of the coming Kingdom of Heaven; something that had been longed-for for 700
years, and now was “near enough to touch!”
“At Hand…” So close that it’s in
the very next verses in Matthew 3!
Jesus is revealed by John as “the lamb of God
that takes away the sin of the world!”
Jesus’ person and His mission are prophecied in these early words by cousin
John at the river and by the very voice of God at His baptism. We’ll celebrate that in a few weeks! The Prophet Isaiah spoke of Him early as
having the Spirit of God resting on him – Jesus himself is assigned to read this
passage as he reads in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth in the months
to follow… another one of those “lectionary” coincidences? He read to his friends and neighbors…
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;[a]
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are
bound;[b]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
And in Luke 4 he adds, “Today, in your hearing, these Scriptures
are fulfilled!”
At the end of the reading this morning, John promises that Jesus
will send the same Spirit on us as was on Him!
He describes is at “fire.” And that
prophecy came to fulfillment at the empowerment of the Church at Pentecost. And
it comes to fulfillment for us as we are confirmed in the life of the church
and as God’s Spirit dwells on us, individually and corporately, through the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
We at REZ, expect this experience as a norm for
our life together, and we expect to see its fruit in our midst, both in
character and in fruitfulness in ministry that is empowered by the Spirit of
God, as has been promised here. We
expect FIRE!
I want to circle back and highlight again what
Jesus was prophetically given, sometimes referred to as the “Sevenfold” Spirit
of God:
SEVENFOLD
GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
Wisdom: The
application of knowledge… to judge what is important, meaningful and to know
what to do with the knowledge of God… Sometimes coming with maturity.
Understanding: Tied
to Wisdom because to truly understand something is different than just
knowing something. We refer to is as the 18” drop, from head to heart!
Counsel: to be
able to differentiate between right and wrong, and to share it with others.
Fortitude: courage
and endurance in the face of “longsuffering”
Knowledge: based
in experience which helps us to know God actually. This is actually delineated
by two different Greek words in the NT.
Piety: practices
of a proper reverence for God; to obey a Holy God out of love.
The Fear of the
Lord: to have an inner awe of
God's presence; His holiness, goodness and unfailing love, that leads to a
disdain for sin.
And we circle back here, because the Psalmist
tells us over an over that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom!”
We see these kinds of lists in other places in
Holy Writ:
Galatians 5:22 in the listing of the Fruit of the
Spirit – the inner character that the believer can expect to manifest in a life
“led by the Spirit.”
“Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness, Kindness,
Faithfulness, Gentleness & Self-control”
That’s a whole different sermon series!!
Paul delineates the Gifts, Workings and Effects
of the Spirit in 1 Cor 12, more things that we expect to see in our midst, as
we “keep in step with the Spirit of God” moving among and through each of us.
“Words of Wisdom, Words of Knowledge, Faith,
Healings, Miracles, Prophetic Words, Discernment of Spirits, Gifts of tongues
and interpretation of tongues”
All given “for the building up of the Body of
Christ” unto a mature “man”.
Finally, Peter tells us that we are given the
Spirit of God AND the Word of God in order that we may become PARTAKERS IN THE
DIVINE NATURE. This is another sermon
series!! Peter gives us steps, sometimes
called the Ladder of Virtue:
A similar list again reflecting the character and
virtue of Jesus and of the Father:
“Add to your Faith; Goodness;
Understanding; Self-control; Patient Endurance; Godliness; Mercy and Unfailing Love.”
Sound familiar?
Over and over and over and over again we are
given the charge by God to live lives that reflect who HE is – that SHINE with
the light of HIS FACE, reflected in and out of our lives, lived here in the church
and outside the church as we go about our daily lives. If we did this, would we stick out? Uh huh!!
There would be no question. We would look SOOOOOO different, that the
world around us could not help but take notice.
Peter, in his first letter put it this way: “Set apart Jesus as Lord, and be prepared
to give an answer to those who question the source of the hope that is in
you! Always be ready to explain your
faith – with gentleness and respect.”
Friends, God wants to be in you – as close as your very breath. God has given his “breath” – His Spirit, to
rest upon you, to dwell with you and to
be “In You!” He is the source of the
life of God that is manifested in you, through His Spirit, resting on you and
dwelling in you.
May we
open ourselves today to His Spirit – His FIRE – given as Gift to bring us to
the fullness of who HE is and Who We Are IN HIM.
In the
Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
