Watch Out For Wolves

For a pastor who no longer serves in full-time parish work, I have a fairly busy preaching schedule from now through Christmas. I'm filling Sunday pulpits twice and midweek Advent pulpits three times. Not that I'm complaining. Those who know me, also know that I consider opportunities to proclaim God's Word from the pulpit to be a great privilege.

But what shall I proclaim? In answer to that I have considered what I would have left to say if I did not believe in the God-inspired authority of Holy Scriptures and their witness to the coming of the long awaited Messiah in the person of the man Jesus from Nazareth. If I believed that these are only myths, legends and stories created by prophets and priests of the ancient past for a variety of reasons, what could I proclaim? If I didn't accept the testimony of the Bible that Jesus is God's Son, the Covenant God of the Old Testament come to us in flesh and blood what could I say? If I did not accept the prophecies that foretold the place and circumstances of Jesus' birth and the manner of His death hundreds of years before it happened, what would be my message?

*   *   *

I suppose I could say that there seems to be a universal Spirit at work behind the events of the universe and that this all-encompassing Spirit is benevolent, even though it often appears he/she/it is not. Whether this Spirit is personally involved in these events has always been a subject of debate. 

However, we know that men and women of all ages and places have longed to know that things will work out in the long run. And that, my fellow travelers through space and time, is what I have discovered through my meditation upon the stories and legends these earlier peoples created. They didn't have the sophistication and science we have in our day. They were limited in their understanding and vision. So they used these stories to express their dreams and hopes. Thus we have evolved to the present. 

People like Jesus of Nazareth and his followers taught us to look beyond our petty disagreements and believe that through the process of creative dialogue we too can come together to new understandings of the mysteries of this universe—which may be but one of many universes. And even though we personally pass out of existence, the memories of our struggles and the contributions of our lives will live on. And that, we can be certain, will give hope and comfort to our children and their children. 

*   *   *

Wow! If you ever heard me proclaim from the pulpit such utter drivel, please bring a few stones to throw at me. Drag me by the collar and throw me headlong out the front door. As my body bounces off the pavement, shout that you never want to hear from nor see me ever again.

Thanks be to God, we preachers have a real message. Know with utter certainty that in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son to redeem all of us who are under judgment because of our sins. This Son is Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman, born under the law, to free those of us who are condemned to death. Celebrate again with me the events of His coming at Christmas and look forward with me to His promised return. When He comes again He will raise up our mortal bodies and give us immortality and life in the new heavens and new earth He has prepared for those who love Him. I know this to be of absolute certainty, because He Himself rose from the dead and now lives and reigns forever.

If you hear anything other than this from your neighborhood pulpit, run for your life, because a wolf is chasing you. He may appear to be a sheep or even a shepherd, but he or she is a wolf nevertheless and your eternal destiny is in extreme danger.