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Discipleship as boundary-breaking
Jesus’ kingdom embodying mission cut across the boundaries that commonly divide humanity. The model of Jesus is of a mission that embraces all humanity and one that tends to be offensive to the religiously minded.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew has skillfully constructed Matthew 8–9 into a series of mighty acts of Jesus. The initial segment (8:1-17) is instructive for seeing Jesus’ kingdom signifying actions as involving the shattering of religious and cultural boundaries. Jesus performs three explicit miracles in this segment: cleansing of a leper (8:1-4), the healing of a Centurion’s servant (8:5-13), and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (8:14-15).

It is significant to reflect on the reason for Matthew reporting these initial three events as he does. All three of the persons whom Jesus engages in his mighty actions represents a group marginalized in some fashion in the pious circles of first century Judaism. The leper was ritually unclean and forced to exist on the fringes of society as an unwanted outcast. The Roman centurion represented the hated Empire and was a tangible reminder of the ongoing Exiled condition of God’s people evening their own land. Likewise the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law is significant because women enjoyed much lower status than men in the culture of the time. But throughout the Gospels, Jesus associates freely with women. This was uncommon for a spiritual leader.

The importance of boundary breaking is not merely symbolic or politically motivated. It is central to the values of the kingdom. The Gospel is for all humanity. Moreover the Gospel advances through its introduction to outsiders. When former outsiders become insiders through the Gospel, they become new conduits of God’s grace to previously unreached people. Jesus’ boundary breaking created new mission driven people. Reflect on the three groups mentioned in Matthew 8 (lepers, Roman centurions, and women). All of these groups serve as unexpected witnesses for the power of the Gospel. Jesus sends the leper immediately to the priest to serve as “a testimony to them” (8:4). Immediately after Jesus’ death on the cross, the centurion’s present at the crucifixion exclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God.” This is profound in that their confession mirrors Peter’s earlier declaration at Caesaria Philippi (Matt 16:16), but unlike Peter who balked at an understanding of Jesus as Son of God that involved death on a cross (Matt 16:21-23), the centurions recognize the reality of Jesus’ identity after watching how he died. In essence, they are the first truly public witnesses of Jesus and they are outsiders. Likewise (and perhaps unsurprisingly in light of God’s mission) women serve as the initial witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection (Matt 28:1-10 cf. Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, and John 20:1–18). Deploying women as heralds of the good news of God’s victory is profoundly significant and subversive. Women were unable to serve as witnesses in legal disputes yet God unleashes them to be the first proclaimers of the Resurrection. Their message ultimately changed the world.

Thus, by engaging such persons actively and without reservation, Jesus models a cross-cultural and boundary exploding mission that can run against the current of societal prejudice and injustice. The Gospel is liberating and egalitarian in outlook. God’s mission involves extending the message of the Kingdom to all people, especially to those marginalized by society or by religious insiders. Boundary breaking mission also keeps social justice on the front-burner. Jesus demonstrated through his life that God is radically for the marginalized, the poor, the sick, the dying, the foreigner (even representatives of the privileged empire), and the outcast. Christ followers of today would do well to heed this model as they plot to launch to communities of faith.

Perhaps reflection on these question: Where would Jesus establish new communities of faith today? What people in our social location represent outsiders? A missional reading reminds God’s people that a biblical model of missional outreach will always include persons different from us.

1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Don’t miss the power of this familiar story. Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes is one of his best-known miracles. To some it sounds too far fetched to be credible in any literal way. To others it is too familiar to listen to again carefully. But in its audacity we will find an abundance and a potent message.

In God’s Kingdom there is no scarcity. There is no need for force or violence. There is no effort required. We simply come to dine at a table set up in an oasis in the wilderness of our life’s journey. We don’t even have to serve ourselves. The Risen Jesus comes to serve us the real meal that we’ve desired all of our lives. All that we must do is come hungry and eat to our heart’s fill. As we walk from this table, we are invited to return and bring others with us. There will always be enough for us all.

Do you believe this? Or are you caught up in the scarcity of the world around you?
As our world continues to meander forward waiting for the end of the seeming never-ending economic difficulties, we have grown accustomed to belt-tightening and living with less. Real estate markets continue to teeter. Families struggle. Jobs are tough to find. Workers toil harder for less. More and more people fear that the future will not be better than the past. It is a temptation to believe that scarcity defines our lives. This would be a mistake. Let us engage Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 with fresh eyes and find renewed hope.

A People Looking For Abundance

Our text finds Jesus in the company of a great multitude. The crowds have gathered precisely because in Jesus they have experienced something alien to their normal existence—powerful signs from God and authoritative teaching that offers more than the typical fare received from the religious leadership of the day. In Jesus they recognize one in whom they can find a real meal of substance and true sustenance for the journey of life. Later in the Gospel, Jesus will say, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

The gospels consistently present Jesus as the One sent from God for those who are desperate for that which only God can grant. Already in John’s Gospel, Jesus has transformed the life of a Samaritan woman and a healed man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Following on the heels of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, these actions served as signs to the dawn of a new era of God’s work in the world. In response, the crowds gather around Jesus hoping to see the abundance of God’s salvation. They will not be disappointed. Significantly, the time to celebrate Passover was near. God’s people would be remembering God’s mighty deliverance of his people from Egypt. This action was the decisive saving event in the Old Testament. The Exodus demonstrated God’s love, mercy, and power. In Jesus’ day God’s people celebrated the Passover in remembrance of the original Exodus and in the hope and anticipation that God would again act to bring renewed hope, peace, justice, and good in the present. The stage is set. In this season of anticipation and remembrance, Jesus stands ready to reveal a new outpouring of God’s salvation.

But our text reveals much more than Jesus’ readiness to perform a sign during a key season. It also demonstrates his willingness. Close to 5000 people have followed Jesus to a mountain near the Sea of Galilee. They have gathered in expectation of more signs. But Jesus is going to do more than merely heal the sick among them. He was to touch personally each life before him. There has been no request for food but Jesus demonstrates God’s care for all and the truth that God knows what we need before we even ask. Just as God fed the Israelites in the Wilderness after they had been delivered from Egypt now Jesus stands poised to offer not simply bread for the day but bread for all eternity to those who have gathered.

Expanding the Imagination of His Closest Followers
After seeing the large crowd Jesus calls together his closest followers. He inquires about purchasing bread for them to eat. Our text calls this a test. As usual, the disciples are clueless and experience an epic fail. Philip comments that a half year’s pay wouldn’t be enough. Andrew, probably with sarcasm, observes a small boy with five loaves and a couple of fish and adds wryly, “But what are they among so many people?”

This cuts to the root of the problem. Jesus sees and offers possibility but too often his followers are blind to all but scarcity. Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off of the goal.” The disciples have already witnessed Jesus turning water to wine. They watched him cleanse the temple. They heard him reveal truth to Nicodemus. They observed him transforming the Samaritan woman from a confused person with a compromised life to a transformed witness to God’s truth. They had just seen him heal a man who had lived in bondage to an illness for 38 years.

Let’s ponder some even deeper truths revealed in John’s Gospel: Jesus has come to make God known. He has come to offer abundant life. He has come to show the way to the Father. If these mysteries are within our grasp through the mission of Jesus, how can the feeding of a multitude present any real problem?

This story invites us to expand our ability to trust and rely on God for answers to the biggest struggles in our lives. His first disciples ultimately learned this truth and gave their energies and talents to proclaim the good news to the known world of their day.

A Theology of Enough
Five loaves and two fish may have seemed only enough to feed a small boy. But Jesus knew differently. In the hands of the Son of God, these rations would be plenty for all. Jesus performs a miracle in order to proclaim the abundance that is found in God.

Many of us know Psalm 23 from its frequent use. Reflect on some of its lines: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures…You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…my cup overflows…Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of our life….” In feeding the 5000, Jesus tangibly demonstrates the truth of these words. Jesus embodies all that it means for God to act as a shepherd. Jesus has the crowd sit down in the grass. Jesus himself takes the food, gives thanks to God, and distributes the meal personally to each person.

Jesus offers the crowd no mere snack. It is a feast. Each receives as much as each one desires. All ate until their appetites were satisfied. But there is more. Jesus didn’t merely feed 5000 with a few loaves of bread and fish. He has enough for the world. He is the true bread of life. Later in John 6, he will exclaim, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” The disciples gathered up twelve baskets of leftovers. This number represents the totality of God’s children. As there were twelve tribes of God’s people, there are twelve baskets of food. With God, there is always an abundance. God’s working of a miracle for one group of people in no way limits God’s ability to touch others. There is enough!

In response, the crowd recognizes Jesus as a prophet who has come into the world. Indeed he is and so much more. As the bread of life, he will give his own life and be raised anew in order to offer us an even greater abundance—a transformed life and reality.

A Warning to the Crowds
Our text ends with a warning. We cannot force the hand of God. The response of the crowds to the abundant feast was to attempt to make Jesus king by force. Violence and human scheming are not the pathways to abundance. Let’s be clear: abundance is the will of God. But it cannot be taken—it can only be received. It cannot be hoarded—it must be shared. It cannot be purchased—it is free. There is no scarcity in God’s kingdom—there is always plenty.

The abundance offered by Jesus is the answer, but it begs us to ask this question: How hungry are we? Jesus offers us a feast. There is enough. Come and eat to your fill. Once we’ve eaten let us go forth into the world, live the abundant life that Jesus empowers us to embrace and embody, and serve as witnesses to God’s goodness.

I have shared this saying my daughters for many years: “Gratitude not attitude.” Life is a gift of God’s grace. Gratitude is a value and lifestyle that I seek both to embody in my own life and instill into my children. On this day of saying “Thanks,” here are some of my favorite quotations about gratitude.

Meister Eckhart:
If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.

Albert Schweitzer:
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

Albert Schweitzer:
To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.

Karl Barth:
Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.

Cicero:
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.

G.K. Chesterton:
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

Epictetus:
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

William Faulkner:
Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.

Melody Beattie:
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Samuel Johnson:
Nature seems to have implanted gratitude in all living creatures…It appears to me that culture, which brings luxury and selfishness with it, has a tendency rather to weaken than promote this affection.

Aesop:
Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

I will never forget the first prayer that my oldest daughter offered at the age of two: Jesus, thank you for coming. Amen. In one line, she captured the essence of our life with God. The life of faith flows out of gratitude. Gratitude is an inner attitude of thankfulness that overflows into our interaction with God and others. John F. Kennedy said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Without gratitude, a vital relationship with God is easily reduced to religious obligation. A life lived under the yoke of obligation can end in bitterness and cynicism. In contrast, a life lived out of gratitude opens up the future. The life of gratitude recognizes the giftedness of our existence and relationship with God. We have been touched and transformed by God’s kindness. An encounter with God’s gracious acts shapes us into the type of people whom God desires - grateful persons living out the gift of new life for the sake of others. These are the sorts of persons whom God can use to change the world. These are the types of people who impact others with the deepest magic in the universe…

Here is a draft of a message on Mark 9:2-9:

NRSV Mk. 9:2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Surfing is a sport that confounds popular wisdom. Most outsiders can marvel at the beauty of the ocean and the obvious joy that riding waves brings to the sport’s enthusiasts. But to most outsiders surfing seems inherently too dangerous. The most common question asked of surfers: Aren’t you afraid of getting attacked by a shark? Most surfers laugh at this question. Of course no surfer desires to experience a shark bite. Most surfers would prefer to not even see a shark! But the bottom line is this: surfers don’t worry about sharks because they are in the water to ride waves. If you interview a few surfers, you discover the secret of these aquatic daredevils. They will confess that catching their first wave served as a life-changing event. The moment that they caught their first wave they were forever transformed. When a surfer catches a wave, she has a mystical experience in which she becomes one with the ocean. The board lifts up, the wind rushes through the ears, time stands still, and the surfer feels as though she is flying. This initial experience keeps every surfer coming back to the beach for more.

Our biblical text describes a life changing, paradigm shifting, high altitude encounter with the divine that forever shaped Jesus’ disciples into world changers. Mark 9:2-9 narrates a glimpse into the future resurrection of Jesus. Christ followers remember this moment as Transfiguration Sunday.

Our text follows on the heels of Jesus’ sublime conversation with his disciples at Caesaria Philippi. For the first time, the disciples openly started to grasp the identity of Jesus. Moreover, Jesus began to teach them about the necessity of his death and resurrection for God’s mission to bring wholeness and salvation to humanity. Jesus ups the stakes of discipleship by declaring that only those who embrace a life of unbridled commitment to God may be reckoned as his true followers. This commitment involves a willingness to risk even life itself for the sake of the Gospel. The good news about Jesus centers on his death on the cross. In fact, Jesus cannot be understood apart from his crucifixion, but neither can discipleship. Following Jesus is thus fundamentally a call to die to self and embrace a sacrificial existence so that God can deploy us in the world for the sake of his mission.

High Altitude Encounters are Purposeful
Since the Gospel is clearly not for the faint of heart or for the lukewarm, Jesus offers his disciples a glimpse into the full truth of his identity by inviting a representative group to accompany him up to the top of a high mountain. He selects Peter, James and John. These men were the leaders among Jesus’ earliest band of followers.

Jesus takes them to the top of a mountain because for the ancients mountains represented the abode of the divine. The gods and goddesses of old inhabited holy or cosmic mountains. Moreover as the God of the Scriptures began to reveal himself to God’s people in Israel’s scriptures many significant encounters occurred on mountains. Abraham had taken Isaac to the top of mount Moriah in anticipation of sacrificing him. Moses received the Ten Commandments and many of the laws of the Torah at mount Sinai. Elijah returned there centuries later to find rejuvenated faith. Mountains were places of revelation and commissioning for God’s service.

Once Jesus, Peter, James, and John reach the pinnacle of the mountain something astonishing happens. Before their eyes, Jesus shifts in appearance from an earthly one to a heavenly one. Jesus glistens with a supernatural glow. Our text is unable to describe it with human language, but it is obvious to the disciples that they are in the presence of someone who is no mere man. Moreover, they also discover that they are no longer alone with Jesus. Moses and Elijah are conversing with him. These are two towering figures of the Old Testament Scriptures. Moses was the mediator through whom God revealed the Torah for God’s people; Elijah was greatest of the prophets.

The disciples are dumbfounded and scared by the experience. But it is not over. There is one more addition to the gathering on the mountaintop. Suddenly a cloud envelopes them and they hear a voice, saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.” Though unstated, this is the distinct voice of God. The words here echo the words spoken by God at the baptism of Jesus. God’s affirmation about Jesus alludes to Old Testament Scripture and declares the true nature of Jesus’ identity. This affirmation by God informs the disciples that Jesus is indeed God’s agent to make manifest the Kingdom of God on earth. As son, Jesus is the long-awaited, heaven sent, and spirit empowered figure to declare God’s salvation to the world.

Reflect for a few moments on the multi-sensory experience of the transfiguration. The disciples saw the transformation of Jesus, the appearance of Elijah and Moses, and the arrival of the cloud. They felt the change in temperature and probably the mist present when the cloud enveloped them. And they heard the voices of Moses, Elijah, and of God himself. The experience at the top of the mountain was indeed a high-altitude encounter with the divine. But there is more!

Notice what is added to God’s words that were not present at Jesus’ baptism. God adds an exhortation: Listen to him! If we miss the significance of the exhortation, we will misunderstand the Transfiguration. The experience of the disciples is revelatory about Jesus but more importantly it is prescriptive for their lives. The defining moment of the Transfiguration is found in God’s call to obedience. The true meaning of Jesus is to move beyond recognizing his identity and to realign our lives around his words and life. Every experience that we have with God is a reminder of the necessity of a moment-by-moment walk with Jesus as we follow him into the world on mission.

Don’t Chase Religious Experiences as Ends of Themselves
The response of Peter to the Transfiguration is humorous. Peter suggests that he build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But Peter and disciples learned a valuable lesson. The experience ends as quickly as it began. There was to be no lingering on the mountain. Jesus leads them back down the hill and back into the real world in which he begins his journey to Jerusalem and the cross.

This move from the mountain top back into the valleys of life is a crucial lesson for us. Too often we face the temptation of trying to re-experience past encounters with God by returning to past places or practices. Or our highest vision for a life with God is one in which we pursue one religious experience after another as ends in themselves. Jesus ordered his disciples to remain quiet about what they experienced until after his resurrection. There was work to do and a mission to fulfill.

The lesson is clear. Every new experience of God’s grace is a propellant for our going into the world to share the good news. When we are blessed with a time on the mountain top, let us hasten back into the valleys of life to bring a hopeful message to those who are hurting and desperate to hear a voice of hope.

Mountain Top Experiences Prepare Us for the Future
Jesus’ first disciples had a mission to fulfill; so do we. It is a high calling. Ultimately Jesus is not calling us merely to work to make a difference in the world. The call of Jesus is more radical. Jesus is calling us to give ourselves fully to God’s mission of making a different world.

Surfers keep going back into the water because they can remember their first wave. That memory drives them back into the oceans of the world despite the dangers implicit in surfing: sharks, undertow, powerful waves and the like. It is no coincidence that the Transfiguration marks a milestone in the Gospel of Jesus. When the disciples faced the adversity and dangers of living as Jesus’ people in the world, they could look back on defining mountain top experiences to find strength, courage and purpose for the future that God invited them to shape. Our own experiences of God serve in the same way. We can live courageously in the present based on our past mountain top experiences in anticipation of the good future that God promises.

How is God calling you to engage the world outside the walls of this place in the community where you live? It is in your daily life that you will see the fruit of any high altitude encounter with God that you may have. This is the Jesus way.

What do you think?

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Mammoth Cave National Park in southwestern Kentucky preserves the worlds longest known system of caverns. To this moment, spelunkers have charted and explored over 390 miles of the caves. Guided tours are available and they give the public access to the breathtaking beauty of the subterranean sights. At one point of the tour, the guide leads the group into a large open area known as the rotunda. At this point, the guide reminds the group that the cave is lit by artificial light. After giving a warning, the guide drops the power switch and everyone in the cave encounters absolute total darkness. Every cliche about the night makes instant sense. Nothing is visible at all. The rotunda typically resounds with the screams of the uninitiated. But of course the lights are turned back on quickly and the tour resumes.

The contrast between light and darkness in the cave tour hints at the explosiveness of the Gospel of Jesus Chris. The Gospel of Mark arrives to us as a message and voice of hope. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not begin with Jesus’ birth. Instead, Mark begins with an audacious announcement and a key reminder. His book is about the “beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Don’t pass over a key word and pivotal phrase.

First, Mark announces that his writing marks the “beginning.” This is important. He is about to share the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. But this story set in the past is ultimately about possibilities for the present and future. Jesus’ story exists for us wherever we find ourselves.

The truth is most of find ourselves or someone whom we love stumbling in the dark like those on the Mammoth Cave tour. The darkness may come in the form of a broken relationship, illness, economic hardship, guilt or any of the myriad of troubles that we face in our lives. This leads us to our second point. Mark is announcing “good news.” This is the root meaning of “Gospel.” Followers of Jesus have a gospel or good news to share. It is a message that can cut through any darkness that we or those whom we know may face in this world.

Announcement
In our Scripture lesson for today, we are at the very beginning of Mark’s story of good news. Mark’s story begins with an echo from the past. Through the voice of Scripture, God calls out in the ancient words of Isaiah the prophet. This signals that a time of spiritual reawakening is at hand. God stands poised and ready to renew his work and mission in the world. The gears of divine grace are again turning. The announcement is life changing and sublime: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”

God’s long awaited age of salvation is coming. Mark’s story shares “the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection equaled the coming of the Lord. Mark’s story begins with an announcement of Jesus’ coming. And what an announcement it is. But this declaration of the Lord’s coming is delivered by a remarkable agent. We know him as John the Baptist or John the Baptizer.

John the Baptist does not arrive on the scene in Jerusalem or some other center of power. He is in the wilderness region of the Jordan river. There is a sublime truth here. The mighty works of God often occur on the margins of life where outsiders and societal misfits live. None of us has to be wealthy, well connected, or a somebody for God to use us to spark a renewal of faith and hope in our day. John the Baptist was indeed a messenger from God but his message was spoken from the fringes. This reality did not hold him back one bit. Perhaps it allowed him to be even more bold and daring in his speech. Our Scripture lesson tells us that people from the country as well as Jerusalem itself came out to hear him and receive baptism.

Realignment
How does one prepare for a new work of God? What does it take to make the paths straight? John’s message is straightforward and disconcertingly simple but it is a vital one. John calls on those who hear him to receive a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.

We create a spirit of receptivity in ourselves when we recognize our need to change or realign our lives in light of what God is doing. Even secular thinkers recognize the need for change and reevaluation. Johan von Goethe wrote, “We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.” George Santayana said, “In a moving world readaptation is the price of longevity.” All life involves movement. It is simple geometry to recognize that when we move or when are goals move then we will find ourselves off course. The best illustration of this is the GPS navigational equipment used in airliners and ocean going vessels. Airplanes and ships that deploy GPS technology always arrive to their destination but at any given moment along the route they are likely to be off course. However, the navigational system continually realigns itself so that the vessel ends up at its intended destination. There is deep wisdom in this metaphor. Repentance or realignment assumes movement in life. Our lives are never static. Change is inevitable. God continues to move forward in God’s mission to make love, justice, peace, and wholeness the final verdict on creation. Moreover in our daily journey through this world we make small and some times big choices. Some of these move us toward God; some of these move us away from God. The latter we call sin. The movement back toward God is repentance. This occurs when we recognize that we have gotten off course in our lives and we wholeheartedly turn back toward him.

In John’s day, John called his contemporaries to a radical return to God that included a tangible public witness of this return in the form of baptism. Baptism serves as an initiation into the ways of the LORD but also as a public witness to others of our intention to turn away from our old way of life and align for the first time or realign with the good news that God is doing in the world through Jesus. There is a key lesson here: realignment is actually a commission for mission. We become shareholders and caretakers of the good news that we have heard. From this moment forward, our words and our deeds serve as tangible clues to the world of the good news first announced by John the Baptist, then embodied by Jesus, and now carried forward by his past, present, and future followers.

Expectation
It is vital that we refuse to hear John’s story as merely a call to use our will power to make necessary changes in our lives. John’s message and call for realignment depends on a response from us, but the power for change lies in God alone. We can recognize our need, but only God can do the work. But the good news is that God stands ready, willing and able to do this. This is the essence of John’s message and even his odd appearance signaled something special.

John’s rough look marked him as an outsider to be sure, but it also was a sign to his generation. His appearance was not a new look, but rather it was designed to bring to mind the great Old Testament prophet Elijah. Elijah’s return was to mark the beginning of the new era of God’s work. These symbols would have stoked the imaginations and expectations of the people of his day. But his words were even more explosive.

John announces the coming of one even greater than Elijah. Of course, he is referring to Jesus. Whereas John has used mere water for baptism, Jesus will offer the spirit. In other words, John is announcing a time of invitation where we can be fully immersed not merely symbolically with water but in God. This is the good news. We are not alone. Darkness is not the final word. God offers us renewal. Are we ready to realign with his invitation?

Conclusion
So today friends, our text invites us to take a look at ourselves. If you have come near to God already, give thanks and continue to remain open to his work in your life. Be open for the ongoing work of realignment as we serve as Jesus’ men and women in the world. But if you find yourself feeling far from God or even unsure about any of this, remember this: light has come to pierce any and all darkness. Don’t give up. The same God who sent John to call us back is still calling out to us today with the very good news about Jesus.

Here is another snippet from my forthcoming book:

The endings of the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy are instructive for us to this day. At the end of the book of Exodus, God’s people exist as a sacred community with God’s presence in its midst (Exod 40:34-38). Israel is truly in the world, but not of it. Israel’s role is to serve as a missional community that embodies and reflects God’s character for the sake of the nations around them. Moreover, the end of the book of Exodus presents God’s people on a journey. When moving, God’s presence serves as a vanguard leading the people into the world as a pillar of cloud by day and as fire by night. When settled, God’s glory dwells anew at the center of the community. In a sense, the function of God’s people is sacramental. With God at its center, Israel functioning fully as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” exists as a means of blessing for all people. Hope is reborn in the world. Israel is a taste of the new humanity that God ultimately will reveal in Jesus of Nazareth.

Deuteronomy concludes with a transition from Moses to Joshua as the leader of God’s people. Yet profoundly, Moses will live on through the Torah. Moses the man dies (Deut 34:1-12). But Moses’ witness continues on through the book of the Law (Deut 28:56, 28:61, 29:20, 29:21, 29:27, 30:10, 31:24, 31:26 and 32:46). The Torah that Moses received from God and taught God’s people on the plains of Moab will abide with God’s people as an authoritative guide to the true way of life and as a warning against disobedience. We find here the beginning of a Torah piety and a mode of life rooted in Scripture. It is notable that the Prophets and Writings begin with exhortations to remain obedient to the Torah of God (Josh 1:7-8 and Ps 1:2).

Thus, God’s missional people advance the cause of God in the world by being propelled by the twin realities of God’s real presence through the Tabernacle and through God’s voice as mediated through the Mosaic revelation.

What do you think?

© 2011 Brian D. Russell