Sermon 7/5/2020 “Christ is coming”
Preacher: Jo J. Belser
Location: Church of the Resurrection at VTS in Alexandria, VA
Text: Zechariah 9:9-12
Day: 5Pentecost, Proper 9, Year A, during a pandemic
I was torn about which lesson to highlight on worship today. After all:
- Our first lesson from Hebrew scripture brings hope, a commodity in very short supply in our world today. The ancient prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the coming Messiah reminds us the Messiah Ezekiel foretold has already come.
- By Ezekiel’s prophecy, the Messiah rules in righteousness and justice—just what our world seems most to lack, righteousness and justice for all, the hope of oppressed peoples throughout history.
- By Ezekiel’s prophecy, the Messiah has more than just his own internal resources at his disposal. Instead, according to Ezekiel, the Messiah is saved by God. This certainly was our human experience; those who witnessed Jesus of Nazareth asserted even during his lifetime he was and is God. At first, they said Jesus was adopted by God, but even before his crucifixion and resurrection, his disciples knew he was God-come-among-us, the Messiah, come in person. Even his enemies knew this; that is why they feared him and put him to death. We don’t know exactly how God accomplished this miracle of incarnation, but God not only came, he came as one of us. But ultimately,
- By Ezekiel’s prophecy, the Messiah is humble and gentle. Well, he WAS gentle except when needed to chase out those who would incorporate and copyright God. He overturned the money-changers’ tables in the Temple and critiqued those who, in the Name of God, prevented those at the margins from seeking salvation from their oppression. Yes, the Messiah would be and remains gentle, humble, not boastful or proud, but ready to do righteousness and share justice for all.
The “problem” with preaching about Ezekiel’s prophecy today is that the Messiah has already come. Well, THAT part’s not the problem. The problem is that today’s lesson reminds us that Christ Jesus said he would return again. Any hope engendered by this scripture for us today is the hope that this very same Messiah who came insists on righteousness and justice. THIS Messiah is the one who will “be right back,” coming we-know-not-when, to—the Gospels say—to judge our righteousness and judge our sharing of his hope with those on the margins, to judge our gentleness and humility.
Ooh, now you see the “problem” of Ezekiel’s message today. Well, one of them. Many devout and faithful Christ-followers just do not believe in God’s judgment. I have half a foot in that camp myself. While I believe devoutly …in… God’s judgment, my hope is in God’s ultimate mercy. And this Messiah that Zechariah foretold ignites my hope anew: a righteous and just Messiah come as one of us will not only understand his creation from a design standpoint, but will have the advantage of “walking a mile in our sandals: for understanding the challenges we humans encounter in our broken world.
I know—as Rev. Daniel shared so well with us at Forum two Sundays ago, that God knows all and didn’t actually need the experience of becoming human to know all about us. But I actually need God to have become human. A God-become-human who experienced rejection, marginalization by the church, and a very painful death should put to rest once and for all whether God suffers with us, suffers for us.
God showed in Christ Jesus he suffers right here with us. So, when the going gets tough, when I am reminded there are people in this world—supposedly people of God—who don’t want me to breathe, I remember Ezekiel’s Messiah, our Messiah, Jesus the Christ, is right here with us, with me. And I trust, as painful as this experience is, that God is right here with us, with me, working God’s work through this to bring more righteousness and justice to our world.
I was tempted to duck this next bit, but I cannot. Christ Jesus is coming back. There’s a whole “left behind” theology we Anglicans take much stock in, except in our fears. Those of us who were raised in evangelical homes perhaps revert to old fears the quickest. So I ask, “Can you imagine a world where God had removed all people of God and the innocents and the young?” Imagine a world where God took all his own to him and left the ungodly here on Earth for seven harsh, tribulation-filled years to give these left-behind people a second chance?
I can’t imagine this world, unless our tribulations today are a small glimpse of what a left-behind world would be like:
- Freedom run rampant: no humility and no gentleness
- Denial of Truth and living obedient to Untruth
- Toxic air
- Sin-infected people who want to reserve all breath for themselves
- Bad water everywhere
- Crazy weather as the Earth screams its pain and warning
- Our relations as strained as our patience
I could go on, but this is supposed to be Good News today, the Good News of the Messiah and of salvation. I will confess though I checked out CDs of Tim LeHaye’s and Jerry Jenkins’ original “Left Behind” books. The best thing I can say about THAT is, if we really are now at the crossroads to the End Times before Christ Jesus’ return, there’s time to rededicate ourselves to living and sharing our hope in a righteous and just, a gentle and humble Christ Jesus.
Ezekiel was one of the last-named prophets before the 500-year prophetic hiatus that led up to the births of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. Ezekiel stands before us today at another crossroads in human history: Do not be left behind.
So, nearing the end: it’s a good thing I didn’t preach about Ezekiel’s message today, isn’t it? In our epistle lesson Paul tells us in a confusing brilliance of words we can’t put our hope in the Law. We knew that from the Pharisees’ witness to us. And our gospel lesson says, more or less, “There’s no hope in our intellect, either.” Perhaps that something we today are learning. But this only leaves Ezekiel and his hope in the Messiah’s imminent coming and the Psalmist’s praise of God’s grace and mercy. On those, I rest my hope.
