“Thank God you did not give up, when you could have,” the Bishop [Rev. Claire Burkat] said to Wiesner, referring to the long process he and others have experienced when the call they perceived from God was not recognized by their church. “Your faith and your perseverance have been multiplied by God” through this journey, she said.See the great coverage of the ELCA Rite of Reception for Rev. Jay Wiesner on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod’s website.
Also, see the full text of Ross Murray’s sermon below.
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December 12, 2010
Sermon for ELCA Rite of Reception for Rev. Jay Wiesner
Texts: Isaiah 35:1-10, Luke 1:46b-55, James 5:7-10, Matthew 11:2-11
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| Ross Murray preaches at Reception Rite for Rev. Jay Wiesner. (Photo by Richard W. Garnett) |
Wow. Today is so…so…Advent-y. It’s mid-December! Everything is decked out in blue. I’ve heard that Jay will have a fabulous blue chausable to wear when we get to communion. In our texts, we hear all the themes of advent placed before us, like a cliff notes of the season. We hear glorious images of some special day in the future when we will see deserts breaking into bloom and the blind receiving their sight and the lame leaping up like dear. We hear the need for patience. We even sing the Magnificat with Mary, proclaiming how God is lifting up the lowly and humbling the proud.
Hope. Joy. Expectation. It’s all in there!
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| ELCA Rite of Reception for Rev. Jay Wiesner (Photo by Richard W. Garnett) |
When I was preparing for today, I noticed the gospel text from Matthew looks at expectations, and how they are set on people. Who is going to be the one that can fulfill our expectations for a messiah? Is it John the Baptist? Is it Jesus? Is it someone else completely?
John the Baptist is someone who seemed to understand God’s calling for his life. He was fully aware that he was not the messiah, but he seemed to know his role as precursor to Christ. His words and his actions agitated the crowds, called people to repentance, angered the authorities, got him arrested and eventually killed, and yet…John would be the first one to tell you that he is not THE ONE that the Israelites are waiting for. He always pointed beyond himself, to someone much bigger, and better, and more amazing, and even more radical than he was. When John spoke of the messiah earlier in Matthew, he said that he was not worthy to carry the messiah’s sandals. John spoke of the difference between his own baptism with water, and the baptism with Holy Spirit and fire that the messiah would bring.
Of all the people seeking the Messiah, John was at the forefront. As someone who was seeking the messiah, John knew to explore every possibility. In the text we heard this morning, John hears rumors about the work that Jesus is doing, and he needs to check those rumors out. Since he is in prison, John sends his disciples to do the scouting work for him.
This is where we get to the major question in our gospel text: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” This is an incredibly loaded question. It’s being asked by the people who have been waiting with longing and expectation for a savior. It is being asked by a nation that has been under occupation by foreign empires for years and years. It is being asked by people who have been let down over and over again by charismatic fanatics who have claimed to be the messiah, just to fail and be killed and leave the Israelites in an even worse condition.
If you listen carefully enough, you can hear the questions that are NOT being asked:
“Are you going to dash our hopes, just like all the others?”
“Can we endure having our hearts broken again?”
“Will all this healing and spectacle run out when the going gets tough?”
“Are you someone who is more concerned with your own glory than the salvation of the people of Israel?”
These are questions being asked by folks who have been burned over and over again. They hold the vision from Isaiah in the back of their heads. They want to see the deserts breaking into bloom, the glory of Lebanon, and the majesty of Carmel. They want to travel that on the Holy Way where no one goes astray. They want SO BADLY for things to finally go their way…but they don’t want to put their heart and soul and energy into another zealot who will fail at an attempt to seize self-glory.
So, they ask the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
Jesus answers them back out of that very same vision from Isaiah that they hold in their hearts. Jesus tells them to recall what they have seen: the blind can see, the lame can walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, even the dead are raised.
Jesus is drawing images from that very text from Isaiah. He is confirming for them that their vision is not in vein. He is letting them know that he has already started to fulfill that vision.
In his answer, Jesus helps them to figure out the difference between Jesus and all the others who have gone before…Jesus spends less time convincing people that he is the messiah. Instead, he spends all his energy on living out the call of a messiah. He is actually healing and giving sight and preparing the Holy Way, not getting into drawn-out power struggles with the religious leadership. These are not actions of self-glory, but glory that can only come from emptying one’s self for the sake of the world. Jesus doesn’t have to prove that he is the messiah, because he is BEING the messiah.
Then…and this is important…Jesus affirms the role and the purpose that John fulfills for Jesus’ ministry. John is not the messiah. John said that himself. But Jesus lets people know that there needed to be a messenger, a prophet, in the midst of the people. John’s role at announcing the reign of God, and how incredibly close it is to the Israelites (AND TO ALL OF US) was essential to prepare people for the role and ministry of Jesus. And Jesus publicly affirmed the role that John filled.
So here we are today, at the Third Sunday in Advent and the Rite of Reception for Pastor Jay Alan Wiesner. What does that mean for us here in this space? Certainly on a day like today, when Jay’s calling and ordination and ministry is being recognized and affirmed by the church that he has served for so many years, it is easy to apply these texts to Jay as an individual, or maybe even to the struggle for full participation that has gone on for years before you were even aware of your call.
It might be tempting to ask this same question to you, Jay: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Even today, that is still a loaded question. The implied questions are just as filled with expectation:
“Is Pastor Jay the one who is going to make UniLu a shining beacon of ministry?”
“Does today’s Rite of Reception signal the end of dissention and disunity in the ELCA?”
“Does this mean that our church is one and whole again?”
“Are we done fighting about sexuality?”
“Will everything be rainbows and unicorns and high-fives from Jesus?”
Jay is smart enough to know how to answer that question. No, he is not the messiah. Jay doesn’t perform miracles. He cannot raise the dead or give sight to the blind. His role is more that of John the Baptist, someone who will point and direct people to the miraculous, saving, and reconciling work of Christ. Don’t get me wrong, Jay’s ministry is vital. He is certainly a servant of God. He is living out his call. And today, we get to witness the reconciliation of his call from God to his call from the ELCA. For that, we should be thankful.
But let’s be clear, this is not salvation. The work of reconciliation cannot be completed in a liturgical rite for one hour on a Sunday morning (I’m sorry to break it to you, Bishop Burkat). The brokenness of the world requires more than just Jay, or you, or me. It can only be a calling that we live out together, following Christ. Ultimately, it is Christ who will make the vision from Isaiah a reality.
The one that we are waiting for is one who will open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, and make the lame leap like a deer. The one we seek will flood the desert with water and forge a Holy Way for us to follow. And we shall return to Zion with singing with everlasting joy on our heads. We will have joy and gladness.
And for that we can say, “Thanks be to God.”
Amen
- Ross Murray
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| Amen (Photo by Richard W. Garnett) |
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