Sunday, December 9, 2007
Advent 2A
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
PREPARING TO WELCOME THE CHRIST CHILD
When I served as a pastor in Illinois in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Willow Creek, a non-denominational mega-church in suburban Chicago, was considered the model of a successful congregation. Attending Willow Creek has the feel of attending a major sporting event. Participants are welcomed by attendants in the massive parking lot. Buses shuttle people to the main auditorium. The auditorium holds thousands of people. It is equipped with the latest in audio-visual equipment.
For years pastors and congregations across the country have been intrigued with the Willow Creek strategy for church growth. As scholar and author Diana Butler Bass writes, “most every pastor knows about Willow Creek and its wildly successful seeker-oriented, market driven church growth program— and many pastors have labored to re-create such programs in their own churches or denominations.” [1]
It is striking, therefore, notes Bass, that Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of Willow Creek, reported recently that he and other Willow Creek leaders have concluded that “participation in programs did not inculcate Christian discipleship and that they had spent `millions of dollars’ on programs thinking they would help people grow—only to find out that there was no real increase in parishioners’ love for God or their neighbor.” “We made a mistake,” says Hybels. “What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and became Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become `self-feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their Bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.” Bass points out that the Leadership Journal blog affirms Hybel’s insight: “Spiritual growth doesn’t happen best by becoming dependent on elaborate church programs but through the age-old spiritual practices of prayer, Bible reading, and relationships.”
The temptation for some of us in the mainline churches may be to say, “We told you so.” But many mainline congregations have not done a good job of attracting new members with programs or of encouraging people to engage in spiritual practices. It is interesting that in the initial conversations of our Associate Pastor Call Committee small group ministry seems to be emerging as a priority. The Willow Creek experience suggests that the needed small group ministry will focus on spiritual practices such as prayer, Bible reading, and cultivating relationships.
Diana Butler Bass has become an authoritative voice on the role of spiritual practices in deepening spiritual maturity and in revitalizing congregational life. In January she will be the main presenter at our Oregon Synod Bishop’s Convocation. The key finding in her research has been: “Congregations that intentionally engage [in] Christian practices are congregations that experience new vitality.” She defines a “vital congregation” as “one where all people—including the pastor—are growing members of an organic community of spiritual practice.”
During this Advent season we are preparing to welcome the Christ child into our midst. The good news that the Lord is near heightens the importance of preparing for his coming. The best preparation for his coming is to engage in tried-and-true spiritual practices. Our three Bible readings for this morning help us identify a number of such practices.
The first practice may seem so obvious that we can easily overlook it. According to Matthew 3 people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region along the Jordon were flocking to hear John the Baptist preach. We are told in Matthew 4 that people flocked to hear Jesus proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. In our time going to church to hear the Word of God proclaimed is as basic a spiritual practice as there is. As Paul implies in his letter to the Romans, how are we to believe in Jesus Christ if we have never heard of him?
It is not enough simply to take in the Word of God. We need to digest it thoroughly. This points to a second tried-and-true practice: the study of God’s word. The study of God’s word can take a number of forms: meditating on devotional texts; reflecting on Bible readings; engaging in group Bible study; reading biblical commentaries. On Tuesday mornings the Men’s Breakfast discusses the sermon from Sunday.
This gives them a chance to digest the sermon more thoroughly. This is an excellent spiritual practice or discipline.
In Isaiah 11:10 the prophet announces that the nations will inquire of the promised Christ child. “To inquire” means to seek to learn by asking. We go to the written Word of God to learn who the Christ child is and what God is accomplishing through him. An inquiring mind is essential to our spiritual growth.
A third practice is at the heart of John the Baptist’s message: repentance. John proclaims: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” The nearness of the kingdom of heaven is a wakeup call. It compels us to examine our relationship with God and with one another. Repentance entails more than being sorry for sins or feeling regret. As Richard Donovan writes, “repentance involves turning around— a new direction— a change of heart—a new commitment.” “John calls for people to repent,” explains Donovan, “because only when we face sin squarely and renounce it can we be freed from it.” [2] When we repent, we turn from a self-centered focus on ourselves to a focus on God and our neighbor. We believe that repentance is not a one-time event. As baptized children of God, we engage in daily repentance and receive the gift of forgiveness. Daily repentance opens us up to the grace of God. It prepares us to receive the Lord when he comes.
John the Baptist
was not simply seeking individual repentance. In the prophetic tradition he wanted the
whole nation of
Our second lesson from Romans 15 lifts up a fourth practice: peacemaking. In verse 5 Paul encourages the Romans to live in harmony with one another; and then in verse 7 he exhorts the Romans: “Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you.” Paul offers here his interpretation of what it means for Christians to practice shalom. The Hebrew word shalom is often translated as “peace”. But it means more than the absence of conflict or war. Shalom entails well-being of mind, body, and spirit, hospitality and harmony in our relationships and in the communities to which we belong. What better way to prepare for the Christ child, the Prince of Peace, than to make peace this Advent season.
The prophet Isaiah announces that this peacemaking extends to the whole creation. He casts a vision of the peaceable kingdom: “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” Through the Christ child God has reconciled human beings and the whole creation to himself. For this reason we are to practice peacemaking not only with our fellow human beings but also with the creation. Our human responsibility to care for creation, therefore, is nothing new. However, we are in a time where we have become acutely aware of how we have sinned against the whole creation. Will the Christ child find peace in God’s creation when he comes?
A final practice to highlight is worship of God. Together, says Paul, we are to praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who worship together will be prepared for the coming of the Christ child. We will be prepared to praise and glorify God with the shepherds and to join the angelic chorus in singing “peace on earth, goodwill to all.”
Advent is a season of hope. The apostle Paul prays that the Roman Christians may “abound in hope.” These spiritual practices make it possible for people of faith to abound in hope. Paul traveled all over the Mediterranean world establishing new churches. These churches were not going to thrive with participants who dabbled in Christianity. No community of faith will grow and mature without participants who engage regularly in spiritual practices.
Here at St. Andrew we need to build a larger team of growing, maturing disciples, so that we can move forward with our ministry and mission. We will not turn away those who merely dabble, but we actively seek people who desire to grow and mature as disciples of Jesus Christ. During this Advent season we are mindful that the very practices that prepare us to welcome the Christ child will renew and vitalize the life and ministry of our congregation and make it possible for us to abound in hope. This is God’s tried-and-true strategy to make disciples and build the church.
In Jesus’ name, AMEN.