September 3, 2023
A highlight for worship each week is watching the acolytes carry light into worship and light the candles. Problems sometimes happen, like the wick won’t light or the candle goes out. It’s not as easy as it looks! I did it once at another church, and I held the stick up really high to light the candles. It wasn’t easy! Let’s give a hand to our professional acolytes!
Another important light is the Olympic torch. The fire starts in Greece before each Olympics, then there is a relay to the place the Olympics will be held. People carry the torch. Sometimes the fire goes out! It could be an accident or a strong wind, or a protester. It’s not uncommon that the light goes out and it’s a big deal when it does! But there’s a plan! A van of people who know what to do follows the van. They have a backup lantern in the van, a lantern that was also lit in Greece. So, you light your torch with this official backup lantern.
At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, the big cauldron of fire in the stadium went out when it rained! There was a fix it guy, an official, who knew just what to do, he took out his cigarette lighter and relit it. Of course, this horrified the attenders of the flame! They put the fire out and lit it again with the official backup lantern.
In life, sometimes the flame just goes out! We’re trying to follow the Lord, but we run into difficulties. It could be the loss of a job, financial problems, illness, or family issues. Your passion for God gets extinguished, or the flame gets dangerously low. We’re going to hear about John the Baptist, who got a fire going for God and stirred people up with passion for our Lord.
I’m going to start by giving you a picture of passion. Here’s a very important question: are you a dog person, or are you a cat person? I’m going to tell you what’s in the diary of a dog, and what’s in a diary of a cat. We’ll see there’s a difference between them.
Diary of a Dog
The dog writes in his diary: 8 AM Dog food. MY FAVORITE THING! 9 AM Car ride! MY FAVORITE THING! 10 AM Walk in the park! My FAVORITE THING! 11 AM Got my ears and belly rubbed! MY FAVORITE THING! 1 PM Played in the yard! MY FAVORITE THING! 5 PM Dog biscuits! MY FAVORITE THING! 7 PM Played fetch! MY FAVORITE THING! 8 PM Watched TV with my people! MY FAVORITE THING! 11 PM Got in my bed! MY FAVORITE THING!
Diary of a Cat
The cat writes: Day 953 of my captivity. My captors continue to torment me with bizarre dangling objects! The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of ESCAPE!
Two animal diaries, but very different points of view!
Did you know there’s also dog theology and cat theology?
Dog theology is this: a dog looks at you, his master, and says “You feed me, you love me, you take care of me, you house me, YOU MUST BE GOD!”
The cat has a different theology. The cat looks at you as its master and says: “You feed me, you love me, you take care of me, you house me. I must be GOD!”
Sometimes in life we are living cat theology, we make it all about us. I want you to have your flame lit for God! It’s all about him! Today we’ll hear about John the Baptist, who was all about God! John’s flame was lit, and he was on fire for the Lord!
Today’s gospel reading starts with Luke 3:1-2: when Pontius Pilate was governor, when Herod was Tetrarch, and Philip and Lysanius were tetrarchs, and Annas and Caiaphus were high priests. That’s a lot of important people: rulers and high priests. They have position, power and authority. And then there was John the Baptist. But notice the word of God doesn’t come to the people in high positions. The word of God comes to John the Baptist in the wilderness.
But for John, it wasn’t all about him. John is not trying to be important in world’s eyes, he is just pointing to God. John preaches a baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins.
The wilderness is an important place, where God develops the spirit in us! It’s where Moses and the people of Israel wandered for 40 years, while God prepared them for promised land. The wilderness is where the prophet Elijah heard from God at a very low point when he was ready to give up. The wilderness is where the Holy Spirit prepared Jesus for ministry and where he was tempted by the devil.
Luke 3:4 says John was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. There were plenty of teachers, high priests, and religious leaders in Jerusalem. But there wasn’t much action for God taking place in the wilderness. John knew about Jerusalem and the temple. Why that’s where an angel appeared to his father and said, good news! You and your wife are finally going to have that child you’ve been waiting for: a son! And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring many people back to God!
John knew about Jerusalem. But God called him to be a voice in the wilderness. John teaches us: you don’t need a very special time or place: that now is the time, and here is the place to turn to God. We don’t need to wait until a season in life when we’re less busy. We don’t need to wait to get our fire started until we can make it to church more often, or we understand the Bible better. Now is the time, and here is the place!
Let’s say you want to rekindle your marriage. We know how to renew a relationship with a spouse! You take him or her out to eat, you put your phone aside and talk to each other. You look into your spouse’s eyes. Maybe you hold their hand. This is something you can’t outsource. How would that work to tell your best friend to take your spouse on a date. I don’t recommend it! YOU have to be present!
If you want to restart a flame for God. Don’t outsource it to the professionals! You don’t just let the pastor tell you what God says. To get that flame for God going, walk with God and talk with God. Be present with him.
The time isn’t when your life is perfect. The time is now, the place is here, in your daily life. Take your problems to God, and He will make it a lot easier to live with those problems!
My challenge for you is to be like the dog who wrote a dog diary, who has dog theology! “Wow! God is good! I love you God!” Give God a shout out, hug of gratitude each day. Listen to what God has to say. Be present to God. Let’s practice that. In your best dog voice, tell someone near you: “Wow, God is good!”
The Lord through John the Baptist was fanning the flames of his Spirit in the Wilderness, which is often a place we want to run away from. Or it’s nice to visit for a little while, but I don’t want to live in a tent permanently. John found God there, in the wilderness. God gave John a voice. A voice in the wilderness. He brought people back to God!
If you feel like your fire for God has gone out, or has gotten low, God wants to help! Come to him and he’ll give you his spirit. God will give you a fresh passion, joy, a new heart, and light a fire that won’t go out. Amen!
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