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Pay Attention To The Prophets

             Picture yourself driving along an old county highway that cuts across Southern California right through the Mojave Desert.  At the edge of the desert there’s a sign, “Last Chance for Water – Three Miles.”  A little further there’s another sign, much bigger, painted in bright, bold letters, “Fresh Water – Just Ahead!”  In a short time you see flashing lights, “Last Chance for Water – Here!”  As you pull over, you notice two cars heading toward you along the same road.  Mr. Schmidt parks his car next to yours, but Mr. Jones pays no attention and sails on by.  A couple hours later, you see his car stalled along the side of the road.  Mr. Jones is nowhere to be found.  Four days later authorities find his body, and the headline reads, “Man Wanders from Car, Dies of Thirst.”  Why didn’t Mr. Jones stop at the well for water?  He must not have paid attention to the signs.

             God sent prophets to the people of ancient Israel with messages which were to serve as big signs, big billboards, pointing to the promised Savior.  But when the Savior was born, the people of Israel didn’t make the connection between the prophet’s messages and Jesus.  Instead, they disowned him and killed him.  But Jesus’ followers did not give up.  After he made himself invisible, they kept right on proclaiming the good news of what the Savior did, winning forgiveness of sins for all people of all time so people who trust in Jesus can live with God.  God even allowed some of the apostles to back up and highlight their message with miracles.  One day the apostles Peter and John healed a crippled man who had been sitting at Jerusalem’s temple gate.  A crowd came running.  They were astonished.  But Peter said, “Why does this surprise you?  Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus … You killed [him], but God raised him from the dead … It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing … This is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through the prophets”(Acts 3:12-17).  At that point Peter launched into the powerful, pleading words of today’s second lesson from Acts chapter three, Pay Attention To The Prophets!”

Jesus has come

            The Israelites who lived at the time of the apostle wanted God to send a Savior who would be a power politician or a heroic general.  “Help us throw off the yoke of Roman taxation.  Give us freedom!”  As a result many of those people passed by Jesus without a second thought, “Who needs his water of life?  We’re not thirsty.  Besides, all he does is harangue us about our sin and rub our noses in our failings!”  Those Israelites were as foolish as Mr. Jones driving by the last-chance water well.  Those who showed at least a little interest in Jesus were only interested in his miracles.  When he didn’t use miracles to fatten their stomachs and flatten foreign soldiers, they followed their leaders and called for his death.  They were as foolish as a man who stops to wash his car at a last-chance water well but doesn’t fill his thermos.

             Peter cried out, “If only you would pay attention to the prophets, then you would know that the Savior has come, and that Savior is Jesus!  If only you would pay attention to the prophets, then you know that God did not promise to send a political ruler but a Savior from sin.  If only you would pay attention to the prophets, then you would know how dry a desert your hearts have become and how much you need the water of life.”  Just like the prophets of old, Peter minced no words when he ripped into them, “You have not only wandered into a spiritual desert.  You’ve dug yourselves a hole from which you cannot escape on your own.  You have even killed the Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14).  But in a remarkable turn-about that could occur only by a miracle of God, Peter also said, “If you would pay attention to the prophets, you would also know that God drenches sinners with the gushing water of his forgiving love.  God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer … so that your sins may be wiped out.  So, repent, then, and turn to God.  Pay attention to the prophets, and believe what they say.  The Savior has come, poured out his blood, and wiped out your debt of sin.”

             It’s easy to look back from a two thousand year vantage point and take shots at those Israelites for ignoring Jesus and for killing him.  But let’s not get too smug.  Our sins caused his death.  Our coldness, our rudeness, our thoughtlessness put him on the cross.  We need his forgiveness, too.  And if we don’t think we’re in too much trouble because of our sins, or if we think we’ve earned a water bottle or two for trying so hard to be good, then we’re as foolish as Mr. Jones driving by the last-chance water well.  Pay attention to the prophets and the apostles, like Peter, and all the Scriptures, and recognize that our own souls are parched.  But then pay attention to the prophets and the apostles, like Peter, and all the Scriptures, and make a U-turn to hear about the turn-about that only God could accomplish.  All the prophets from Samuel on have foretold these days.  And [we] are heirs of the prophets and of the [promises] God made.  I recall a vertical rocky hillside along the highway just outside of New Ulm, Minnesota, that had a turn-off featuring a pipe coming right out of the rock, pouring thirsty travelers a thin stream of cool, clear water probably from an underground stream.  Eventually it reduced to a trickle, and now it’s gone.  But the well of Jesus’ love in the desert of this sinful world is deep, tapped with copper pipes, and has a steel-reinforced concrete super-structure like an oil derrick with water shooting out continuously like an Old Faithful geyser that never quits.  Do you want something sure and consistent that cannot be foreclosed, that will never be reduced to a trickle?  Pay attention to the prophets this Advent season.  See the water of life cascading down from heaven into this dusty dry world, and know that what we see and hear again in the Christmas story is neither fable nor fiction, neither myth nor magic, but historic fact that cannot be undone.  Pay attention to the prophets, and believe what they say – the Savior has come! 

Jesus comes now

            The Israelites who lived at the time of the apostle assumed that the only way to get through the desert of life to the oasis of God’s favor was to keep more and more rules and regulations.  What a burden!  When a person thinks that activity and obedience will quench spiritual thirst, one of two things can happen, and both are bad.  Either a person will develop a false sense of security, thinking, “I’ll make it out of the desert on my own.”  When troubles or trials come, you’ll find that person working harder and harder, burning the candle on both ends and the middle, getting worn out and worn down.  Or a person will give up; sit down in the heat, and figure, “What’s the use.  I’ll never be good enough.  I might as well go on living the way I want.”  You’ll find that person getting into behaviors and habits that nudge up to God’s “No trespassing” line and too often step over it.  Are you that person?  That’s what happened among the Israelites to whom Peter was speaking.  Some were like the man who abandons his car and wanders off into the desert, figuring he’ll find water on his own and kept looking till he was worn out and worn down.  Others were like a man who keeps driving recklessly, crossing over “No Trespassing” signs, heading for a crash.

            Peter said to the people, “If only you would pay attention to the prophets.  They were realistic.  They did not promise that your lives would be trouble free.  But they did point out that troubles purify and strengthen faith.  But if you would pay attention to the prophets, you would know that the Savior comes to you every day to refresh your soul and ease your burden.  Some of you Israelites have a guilty conscience for falling short of God’s rules.  Others have given up and fallen into lifestyles that make God cringe.  Pay attention to the prophets, and believe that the Savior comes now into your hearts through his words and promises with – times of refreshing … from the Lord … to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

            Have you had days where you feel like for every step forward you took two back?  Have you had days when you feel like you are stuck in an elevator between floors, running out of air and the walls seems like they’re squeezing in on you?  Have you had days when it seems like you give to others, help others, listen to others, and then try to find time to take care of yourself by at least pondering the idea of exercise, eating right, and “Oh, yeah!” doing a bit of Scripture reading and prayer, but no matter how hard you try, you’re drained, tired, and thirsty like sitting under a hot sun with your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth?  How are you going to get the treadmill of life to slow down?  Follow Peter’s advice, and pay attention to the prophets.  “His mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23), Jeremiah sang.  Jesus pries open the elevators doors of life and gives us a breath of the fresh air of forgiveness.  He pours out his mercy whenever we recall our baptism and either slows down the treadmill or gives us energy to run faster.  He pours out forgiveness through his holy Supper like a drink of water for the soul on the hottest day, icy cold, and dribbling down our throat inside and out.  So, pay attention to the prophets because through their God-breathed words the Savior comes now and gives us a new lease on life. 

Jesus will come again

            The Israelites who lived at the time of the apostle ignored the billboards, God’s message through the prophets, and went their own way, chasing after a mirage.  They had nothing to look forward.  When Phil Connors’ alarm went off at six A.M. in the movie Groundhog Day, he had another chance to relive his day and change his behavior to make a better life.  That’s not how it works in real life.  Life without God leads to a day-by-day routine with no meaning and an end that is just that – The End.  When the end came for those Israelites, many of them were surprised, “What do you mean I’m going to hell for rejecting Jesus?  I’m a blood descendant of Abraham,” sounding like Mr. Jones who wandered off into the desert unprepared, thinking he would find water on his own, finally realizing that he was only chasing a mirage and sitting down to die.  That was it – the end.

            That’s why Peter pleaded, “If only you would pay attention to the prophets.  They pointed ahead to heaven. They spoke of better things to come, the new Jerusalem.  When the Savior comes again in glory he will restore everything as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.  Believers will live with God and enjoy his close friendship just as Adam and Eve did before they fell into sin.  Pay attention to the prophets.  Then you will have something really special to look forward to.”

            Students with assignments due, people in financial struggles, people who experience the trauma of a relationship going cold, and plenty of others have a hard time seeing light at the end of the tunnel.  But Advent is all about light, pointing ahead to Bethlehem’s bright shining Light.  That’s what makes Peter’s message a perfect match with that of the prophets and with our Advent worship.  We have something to look forward to – not just presents, giggling little kids, red and green sweaters, decorations, and candy – but Jesus.  Because of what he did, we know what will happen when we die.  Pay attention to the prophets, lift up your heads, and look to the future with joy because Christ Jesus will come again in glory to take us home.

            You and I are driving on an old county highway in the desert of life.  The billboards are big.  The signs are flashing.  Pay attention to the prophets because the kindness, the compassion, the mercy, of the Lord Jesus is bubbling up, spilling over, pouring out from of old, for now, forever for me and for you.  Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on December 5, 2010

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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