Sermon 12/16/2007

God’s Advent Song: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice! Psalm 146:5-10 

Last Sunday between the time our Chancel Choir left the sanctuary from their practice for tonight’s concert, and the youth groups came to Christmas carol, shots rang out at a Colorado mega church.  By now you know that 24 year-old Matthew Murray was on a killing spree.  12 hours earlier he had knocked on the door of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) hoping to spend the night there.  When there was no room at the inn, he opened fire killing two young missionaries.  Fleeing that scene he showed up after Advent services at 10,000 member New Life Church with a high-powered rifle.  Entering the foyer he opened fire.  Then he went out to the parking lot and shot two teenage sisters.  About 7000 people were on the church’s campus at the time.  Ashley Gibbs was getting into a car with David Harris when they heard gunshots—“sounded like someone kicking ice from the side of a car,” she said.  David said that Matthew’s eyes looked dead serious.  Ashley and David stayed in the car and prayed.  Thank God that Jeanne, an armed security guard, helped put Matthew and the church out of their misery.  What a terrible tragedy in God’s house!  How could this happen in the bosom of the church?

What’s to prevent this from happening in our parking lot during the Christmas season?

To answer we must understand the killer’s profile, God’s profile and the church’s profile. 

My concept of the profile of a young serial killer is a bullied loner from a broken family. That is somewhat true.  Neighbors describe him as a loner who was very quiet and didn’t talk to anyone.  Matthew was home-schooled.  But his family didn’t seem to be broken.  Father a prominent M.D. in the community, and the family was very religious  Wouldn’t religion provide him comfort in his troubles?  Or were they extreme since one neighbor described them as “very, very religious?”  His pastor/uncle spoke on behalf of the family pleading for forgiveness.  We’re guessing that he was motivated by revenge because shortly after this 2002 picture was taken he was kicked out of YWAM for mental health reasons.  Since then he had been sending YWAM hate mail.  Last Sunday morning he posted this statement, copied from Columbine, on a website for anti-evangelicals: 

God, I can’t wait till I kill you people.  Feel no remorse…no shame.

I worry about kids who are taught a vengeful God.  I worry about the kid who sits alone on the bus and to whom no one will sit next in the lunchroom.  I worry about the kid who plays long hours on the computer alone, whose dad never remembers to visit.  Is it just me, or as a society are we breeding a lot of young serial killers lately?  Why?

But Matthew Murray was raised in the faith.  What was the profile of his God?  Somewhere in his religious upbringing he missed the God of the Advent song of Psalm 146.  Did his uncle never preach on the God of the Christmas Carol: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice!  Psalm 146 begins the series of the last five Hallelujah Psalms.  You can hear that theme in verse 5…  And then notice the list of people who can find help in the true understanding of the almighty…

What do you notice about this list of people?…

What does it say about God that the true God and father of Jesus helps these folk?… 

I think that what this says about God is that God is the God of the Christmas story: the almighty who stoops to be born in a barn. The infinite in diapers!  And so Psalm 146 tunes us to sing the praises of our God whose power is made perfect in weakness.  What if Matthew Murray had been taught about God’s power in weakness?

But God cannot just be taught from a pulpit, God must be embodied in human community!   As the Word became flesh, so we see Jesus in others.  What is the church’s profile?  I wonder if Matthew ever felt God’s love in church:

I wonder if anybody invited him on the youth group hayride?

I wonder if a teacher ever coaxed him out of the corner in Church School?

I wonder if a Deacon ever sat down with his parents to urge him into counseling?

As Christmas people we are not a cliquey, closed community, but cradling the Christchild makes us an open community.  We are a people of the open hand—to receive God’s grace to our weakness and to give God’s grace to both weak and strong.

So embodying that we praise God’s power to weakness not just by word this morning, but by deed.  After service we will talk to someone we don’t know before we look for our friends.  At coffee hour no one will be standing alone.  And, if we’re standing alone, we’ll go look for a Matthew.  At church school today we’ll invite the quiet kid to next Sunday night’s youth Xmas party.  Our small groups may decide to include a special needs person.  In the lunchroom tomorrow we will sit by someone who will not better our social status, but who will better our soul’s status.  And God is praised.

And as we grow into this body of Christ, this community of wounded healers, you know what we’ll find?  We’ll find gems, like Charlotte who though she may be hard of hearing, she can really listen.  And then we’ll find that God is not creating any Matthew Murray’s here, but God is creating a safe community where even Matthews are loved. 

Sermon 12/2/2007

God’s Advent Song of National Hope Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Every four years America stands at a crossroads. Leading up to November 4, 2008 we are approaching another fork. For the next 11 months we will watch Hillary and Guliani, Obama and Romney let their elbows fly. And fly they must because America has some tough problems to solve. Think of our national problems:

A troubled economy—the economy having forecasted 13 out of the last 15 elections;Exploding health care costs, Social Security for Boomers and beyond…

Then think of some of the international problems that America faces:

Climbing cost of Iraq War (now @ $500B), nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Iran & Pakistan—not to mention Pakistan’s instability, and Climate change. I don’t want to be an alarmist here, but where does the US church find hope in `08? The Hebrew people found hope in the song that the High Priest announced:Let us sing Psalm 72!As the trumpets sounded and harps strummed the introduction, the Levite choir gathered on the platform. With the choirmaster’s downbeat the choir began: Give the king your justice, Lord! The new king walked down the aisle in flowing robes for the enthronement ceremony. The worshipers’ chests swelled with hope that God would grant the new king wisdom to deal with their national problems and international enemies. Incense enveloped the congregation flowing heavenward to symbolize this prayer for a new start.

For what did the Hebrew people pray in this song of hope? 3 things:

vv. 1-2… justice for all—especially the underdog,vv. 3…prosperity for all–especially the poor, and,vv. 6-7…peace for all—especially creation.

I believe that this prayer can give hope today! Justice for all, especially the underdog reminds me of what I pray to happen in the Israeli Palestinian negotiations to reduce terrorism and bring peace. I don’t believe that God calls us to support only Israel. Pros-perity for all—especially the poor reminds me of what I pray for our fine state as it looks at the school funding formula. I pray we strike a balance between tax reduction and fun-ding poor districts. Peace for all, especially creation reminds me of what I pray Google can accomplish by their ambitious goal of making renewable energy as cheap as coal.

Was Israel’s prayer answered in such a way as to give hope? Yes and no. If you understand Psalm 72 to be written for Solomon’s coronation, like many scholars, then since Solomon’s reign was very prosperous: Yes. Yet, his construction projects, like the temple, put such a heavy tax burden on the people that the nation eventually split; so No.

Do prayers for justice, prosperity and peace have a hope of being answered today? Yes and no. Yes, I think that an increased emphasis on prayer from the church for the US will increase God’s reign of justice, peace and prosperity. As valuable as debating our friends over the most hopeful candidate might be, prayer to God is even more valuable. But let’s be realistic that no amount of prayer will help even the best candidate solve all of our problems this side of heaven. Our next leader may choose to ignore the SS mess.

How does prayer for justice, peace and prosperity give us hope if not completely answered? Though it won’t be 100% answered by these folk, it will be fully answered by Jesus when he returns. And that above all makes Psalm 72 an advent song of hope.