The God of the Living

Sermon November 10, 2013 The God of the Living

Old Testament – Haggai 1:15-2:9

Haggai was one of three postexilic prophets who arose in Judah after Persia became the dominant power in the ancient Near East (539 BCE), and Jews were permitted to return to their homeland. Haggai’s oracles can be narrowed down to the three to four month period between August and December, 520 BCE, making him a contemporary of Zechariah, who prophesied from 520-518 BCE. Malachi was active a century later.

The message is the church cannot live on the past. Something quite fitting for our Church Charge Conference. The central theme of this years Conference has been a living tree. Which means we are active and still alive and growing.

Haggai declares that god is with them, working with and through them which should give us courage. (v.5) My spirit abides among you, says the Lord of Hosts: “do not fear”. Secondly God has all of the resources. There is no need to worry about the future. God is the God of Now. God will provide. The last point of Haggai’s theological thinking is:  the presence of God is evident in the glory of God, which is where the real glory of Haggai’s people lies as well…not in the former glory of the temple.

God is there to guide and stay, even though it may not be obvious to anybody besides the prophet.  Be encouraged, God is with us.

Psalm 145 : 1-5, 17-21

Psalm 145 forcuses on the vast creative power of God in creation, a power that compels the singer to acknowledge god’s providential bounty, strength, and justice.

God is splendid and glorious, but also kind, watching over those who love God.  All of these attributes of God make God worthy to be praised; but in addition, God is praiseworthy simply for being God, just as a beautiful flower is praiseworthy simply for being itself.

As we orient our lives toward praise of God, making praise our first and last word, we affirm the political statement made by this psalm.  We declare that we believe God is indeed the only ruler of the Universe, the only one capable of protecting and providing for us, and thus the only one ultimately worthy of praise.

Epistle  2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Evil has been present in the world since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. Today we see evil like never before because we have technology that reaches around the world and we know events instantly now.  Will God stand up one day and say “Enough!”? yes  some day it will happen.  Evil will lose its power in the world. Sin and injustice, sickness and despair –even death itself –will come to an end. That is the promise.

How do you live for that Tomorrow?  Do you put on your long white robe and sit on the hill and wait? Of course not. Some have given dates, some have sold all they had and waited.

Apparently that was the thinking of the church in Thessalonica. Folk were so sure that the big event was just around the corner that they quit working and moved to full time waiting.  Paul has to tell them it could be a long wait.

Paul points out that there will be an accounting for those who rebel against God.  Deep inside, each of us knows that there are times when, despite our best efforts, we do deny God’s rightful place in our lives.

Rather than speculate about the who and the when of Christ’s return, we need to tend our own souls.  Rather than try to identify the lawless one, we need to recognize our own tendency to play that role.

The promise of Christ’s return and the defeat of evil have been used as weapons to send the message, “ If you do not do whatever you will burn in hell…..” Jesus didn’t use scare tactics to scare people into the kingdom.

The promise is that evil will be defeated.  Evil will not rule the world. As the scriptures point out Christ is the King of Kings. He is the ruler of the Universe and we will rule and reign with Him.

Evil is present. Evil is all around us. But God has given us the tools to fight against it. We need to make ourselves aware of the fact that we must be about the Fathers business. We must do what he says to do. We must say what he tells us to say. We can only do that by knowing his Word and meditating in it both day and night.

God’s favor will fall on those who feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, clothe the naked.

If we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves we will do that God has commissioned us to do.

Gospel Luke 20:27-38

Luke’ s passage open with intrigue as the Sadducees, who have a clear understanding that there is no resurrection, are asking Jesus questions about the resurrection.

Jesus seizes the moment of questioning as a teachable moment about the nature of heaven.  Rather than taking the question as a personal attack, Jesus uses this moment as a time to teach about the love and mercy of God.

Jesus answers the questions by describing how heaven and earth are not the same.  The ways of God are not the ways of humanity.  God’s judgments are not our judgments.  Things do not work in heaven the way they work on earth – thank God. 

Jesus answers the question by saying that in heaven even the lowliest of society would be considered “like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection” (36).

The radical statement of the gospel, that in heaven there are no sociopolitical strata, is good news even today. The mystery of the resurrection revealed by Jesus is that heaven is a place where those who have been dehumanized will be restored; those who have been oppressed will be set free; and those who have been treated as inferior will be raised up and called beloved.

Jesus said in v.38 that God is the God of the living- the God of newness, forgiveness, and liberation.  Oppression on earth does not dictate the reward of heaven..

Slavery in North America is considered one of the most inhumane and dehumanizing systems of oppression every foisted upon a people by others.

During this time of forced labor and exploitation, enslaved African people were forbidden to read or write, by penalty of disfigurement or death.  If persons were caught with a  book especially a bible severe penalties would be exacted.

Slave owners would cut off hands, gouge out eyes, or give severe lashings with a bullwhip.

This time of brutality and violence would have brought genocide to the people, had it not been for their faith that [God] is God not of the dead but of the living. In other words, the faith of the enslaved Africans told them that things in heaven would be different than on earth. This steadfast belief is captured and articulated clearly throughout the spirituals.

The good news of Jesus Christ is that God is the God of the oppressed, and the children of God will not be forsaken even in death.  We have this wisdom from Jesus, we have examples of this faith and belief in our tradition, and we are strengthened for our own lives here on earth as we walk this Christian journey.

Resurrection is, especially for the least, the lost, and the left out, a place of honor and respect as we experience the joy of God’s love in the resurrection.

Words from the spiritual-

“I’ve got a robe, you’ve got a robe, All God’s children got a robe. When I get to heaven goin to put on my robe. Goin to shot all over God’s heaven….

“All God’s children got a rob.”