Cornerstonekaty

James 1:19-27

What is saving faith? In January I preached three funerals. Every time I do, I feel the eagerness that so many have that everyone goes to heaven when they die. With my mother, so many of my relatives commented about how all of these other relatives, who passed away years ago, are all together now, playing golf or sitting around laughing or whatever it is they used to do together. The problem is, I know many of those people who passed years earlier and there is no biblical reason to believe they are in heaven. That is a terribly hard concept for people to understand. As much as we might like to believe that no matter who you are and how you live your life, when you die, you will go to heaven and everything will be better, it doesn’t fit what the Bible teaches. Jesus says some hard things. For example,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven..." (Matthew 7:21)

So many of my friends and relatives, who came to my mother’s funeral suggested that she was now with all of these other friends and relatives who previously died. But I knew them. Their “faith” did not change anything about the way they lived. They lived the way they wanted to live, not the way God instructed them to live. I think there are many who fall in this category today and it frightens me. For that reason, James is an important book.

John 11:17-40

Luke 22:7-22

James 1:1-18

As much as we talk about James as a letter that highlights the importance of good works, (which it does so much so that Martin Luther questioned its canonicity) it is actually a letter about faith. And that faith is extremely important, for the result of that faith is the crown of life. James writes,

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

James is writing about faith that leads to eternal life. This is the kind of faith every Christian wants to have. So how do you get this kind of faith?

Luke17:11-19

Zechariah 3:1-10

Have you ever come into a situation in which you were completely and utterly unprepared? It is enough to induce a moment of panic. What will you do? What will you say? All you can envision is a complete unravelling. I remember how that would express itself to me as a child. In our elementary school each classroom had a coat closet. It wasn’t really a closet, but the side of the room with a partitition that seperated it from the desks. In my dreams I found myself standing in that cloat closet in only my underwear, with this feeling of utter panic and shame that the rest of the class would find me there and I had no way of doing anything about it.

Maybe you’ve faced such dreams. When I was older the dream changed. In the dream I was in college and arriving to a class only to find that it was the day of the our final exam, and I had done nothing to prepare, or we’re near the end of the semester and I discovered I am enrolled in another class that I knew nothing about. Those are hiddeous moments and reveal that great anxiety that we feel about being in a situation in which we are completely and utterly unprepared and no amount of last minute scrambling can fix.

What do you do in those moments? What can you do in those moments? That is the situation Joshua, the high priest found himself in with this vision. He lived among the returned exiles who were tasked with rebuilding Jerusalem. It was a task that was completely beyond them. Even though they had gone back with great fanfare under the decree of Cyrus with supplies, the task was daunting, if not impossible. In the first couple of chapters God reassures them that they need not fear or despair, God is behind the task. He will see that Jerusalem is rebuilt and it will be greater than it was before: too big for walls, and overflowing with prosperity. It will be a place of great wonder and glory. And God will deal with the nations that celebrated the downfall of his people in his fury. These were comforting words. And yet, as we get to chapter 3 we find God speaking now to Joshua, the high priest, who was to serve in this temple. If it is indeed so great, what must that mean for the high priest who is to serve there? It is an intimadating thought. If God is going to make a place of such grandeur and wonder and glory, who can possibly dwell there?

It is a question for us this morning. If we are looking forward to this heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, that is so filled with wonder, so glorious, how will we ever fit?

Haggai 2:1-9

I still remember the day I was dropped off for college. My hard work had paid off and I was standing on the footsteps of college, full of excitement and confidence that this would lead to a bright future, that this would lead to glory! But as the year went on, I found lots of things to do besides coursework, and faced challenges and setbacks I did not anticipate. Distractions and threats led me to the brink of derailing my college career.

Haggai’s audience faced a similar problem. Their time of exile was over and God had brought them back to their land. It was a miraculous work. It meant God’s justice was satisfied and He was moving on their behalf.  I can only imagine the great wonder and excitement they must have felt about their future. After all, the Persian conqueror over the captors had decreed their return and provisioned them to rebuild the temple. Ezra describes how this came about.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. (Ezra 1:1–6)

But as they arrived, the land was a mess and the temple was in ruins. The people living in the area did not want them back and plotted against their sucess. Their homes were in dissaray and needed repair, and their crops were underproducing. They were discouraged and the work of building the temple was on the brink of being derailed. 

It is into this moment that Haggai speaks. Don’t give up! You will not fail, because God will not fail, for the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.

Like those in Haggai’s day, we are also called to build the temple of God. “Go and make disciples of all nations!” Jesus exhorted in His Great Commission to us. And yet, it is a work under constant threat from opposition of the world, and distraction from our own house and work. So his message speaks to us. “Don’t give up! You will not fail, because God will not fail, for the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.”

Nahum 1:1-15

Nahum is a difficult book. It is prophecy against Ninevah, the capital of Assyria and it describes the devastating power of God aimed in judgment upon them. Ninevah fell in 612 BC, when the Assyrian empire fell to Babylon. That sets it apart from most of the prophets, which spoke of the looming destruction of Israel and Judah for being unfaithful to the covenant they had with God. Assyria’s crime was not of breaking the covenant, for they did not have one, but for plotting and acting against the Lord and his people. By the way, this does not mean that God is not also concerned for nations other than Israel. He is! Jonah’s message, roughly 100 years earlier which was also to Ninevah, prompted their repentance, which God accepted. But that time is past for Ninevah and God’s judgment looms over them. Nahum’s audience, instead, is Judah. And as it tells of Assyria’s destruction, it is presented as good news.

That, of course, opens to the door for ethical questions. Should we be celebrating the downfall of another? Should we rejoice in it?

The short answer is no and yes. No, we should not celebrate the downfall of anyone, no matter how bad their crime is. We are called to love our enemies and even to pray for those who persecute us. And that isn’t just a New Testament command. In Ezekiel 33:11 we find that God himself takes no delight in the death of the wicked.

And yet, we should celebrate the downfall of evil. That’s what Assyria represents when we consider Nahum as a picture of the eschatological judgment that God will bring upon his enemies.

This is a celebration of justice. With justice, God’s people are saved. This is why is it is good news! Without justice, there is no salvation. So let’s take a closer look at this justice.

Micah 5:1-5

Micah is best known for this passage. When the Magi arrived in Jerusalem looking for “he who had been born king of the Jews” they went to Herod to find out. Of course, he didn’t know so he called the chief priests and scribes (the experts) to ask them. In response, they paraphrased this passage in Micah.

“ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” (Matthew 2:6)

But why Bethlehem? There are several reasons for this which we can draw from Micah’s prophecy and all of them highlight the hope of Christmas: that light shines in the darkness. 

And so we are invited to let this hope sink in. A look at Bethlehem provides us a window into this hope.

Amos 9:11-15

Amos was a prophet who lived near the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, similar to that of Hosea. His message was one of warning about the coming judgment of God upon the nation with a twofold goal: his prophecy was a warning and call to repentance, as well as a promise of hope for a better world.

We’re looking specifically at the messianic hope in this promise of a better world. This is the conclusion of his prophesy, a kingdom restored and flourishing. And it is also the heart of the gospel. It is the announcement that this kingdom has come. This was John the Baptist’s message:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)

Jesus announces his ministry,

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

This is why the disciples were expecting Jesus to overthrow the Romans and restore the kingdom of Israel and confused when he talked of being put to death. Today, the gospel is so often discussed primarily in terms of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross (which is also very good news) that we forget the bigger picture of what God is doing. His going to the cross was the means to building this future kingdom where justice and righteousness reign and there is great human flourishing.