Shaken not Stirred

December 9, 2012 Second Sunday of Advent – Love Malachi 3:1-4 Luke 3:1-6 “Shaken not Stirred” Year C James bond and shaken not stirred (make and shake a glass of water…) Shaken, not stirred… that is how James Bond likes his drinks. In the first James Bond movie, Bond and a woman are the guest of the villain, Dr. No. Dr No invites him to dinner, and offers Bond a drink…shaken not stirred. Every movie since, that is his drink of choice….shaken not stirred. You see when you put the ice in your water, and you shake it up – the ice gets a chance to evenly distribute on every part of the water. If you just stir the water, you miss some spots, and the water is not as cold. God’s people shaken…… Shaken, not stirred. It works for water, but it also works for God’s people. If we are going to truly use our faith, and be the most faithful, sometimes in life, we too have to be shaken, but not stirred. Going through the trials and tribulations in life on the outside, and yet standing firm and complete on the inside. Shaken by life, but with our souls not stirred. Shaken a sign of God’s salvation The bible is full of examples of God intentionally shaking the world around us. the bible speaks of earthquakes as a sign of God’s presence in our lives. When Jesus was dying on the cross, scripture says that the earth shook. When the disciples came to witness the resurrection, scripture says that the earth shook. Revelations says that when there is a new heaven and a new earth – the birth pains will begin with the earth shaking. God likes to shake things up. Isaiah that says that the bottom will become the top and even there it wont stop. Advent a time of shaking Advent as we await the coming of Christ is a time of God shaking things up. Not just on the outside, but on the inside. We prepare our hearts and souls for God. We have to find within ourselves what is most important. Experiment of couples juggling too much There was as advent experiment – where couples were asked to stand on stage and to literally juggle some important symbols of life – 10 couples were given a wedding ring, a soccer ball, a tablet computer, a crystal vase, a cup and a saucer, and a cross. As you can imagine, as the couples lined up and started juggling, you could hear broken glass, and bouncing balls everywhere. Every couple dropped these symbols as they tried to juggle them all at one time. That is the sound of the beginning of advent – the sound of chaos and broken glass. The sound of God shaken up our symbols, our priorities, our beliefs, our hopes and our dreams. But there was one couple that did not drop the things that they were juggling. They realized that they couldn’t keep everything in the air – so they took some time to prioritize what was most important to them – their faith – the cross, their children – the doll, and the wedding ring. Everything else had to be put aside. Most of the things that come to us that shake us – is God’s way of telling us that we cant have everything, we cant do everything, we cant be everywhere – so we have to be forced to pick what is really important to us – and focus just on those things, and let everything else fall to the ground and breaking. Being shaken up is a sign of God’s love. It is a sign that God plan for salvation is working full speed ahead. Whenever God has plans for us, first God had to prepare us to fulfill those plans. God’s plan is always for salvation God’s plans is for justice, God’s plan is for a terrible, hopeful newness of life for ourselves and for those around us. But before he can begin the new plan, he was to wean us from the old plan. He has to purify our hearts from the old sin, in order to realize the new salvation. The story of John the Baptist Second Sunday of advent is a the Sunday when we hear the story of John the Baptist – the messenger of Christ – who tells us to prepare the way for the lord. Clear away all of that junk that we hold inside. He reminds us that we are all sinners and that we need to repent of our ways. Scripture says that he went into the countryside proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Sin is failing to take responsibility In a world that does not like to take responsibility for its own actions – repentance is to take responsibility for your actions and your choices. If you watch television, the world is full of people who don’t take responsibility for their actions. A woman cheats on her husband – but it is not her fault – it was how she was raised, it was her husband’s fault. A man steals a radio – but he was tempted by all of the ads that said that he needed a radio, or that he saw that all of his friends had one, so he thought he should have one too. And when we witness others in the world not taking responsibility, we do the same. The bible says to love your neighbor- but how can we love people who are not friendly, God asks us to pray daily – but how can we pray when the people around us think that we are crazy, Jesus says to go and make disciples of all nations, but how can we evangelize when no one wants to hear what we say. We are supposed to tithe, but that is hard when there are so many other bills to pay. Someone once said that if there is a statue of liberty, then there should also be a statue of responsibility. Because where there is freedom of choice, there is responsibility for making that choice. God’s grace is a place of great liberty, God’s grace is a place of taking great responsibility. But in a world obsessed with freedom, it is so easy to get caught up in sin. God gives us a choice to sin God has no policeman to pass around and grab us by the neck and say you must read your Bible, or you must go to Church, or you must give to Missions. When God created man, He made man superior to all other creatures. He gave man the power and privilege of CHOICE. Up to now the Lord respects that privilege. He will not force us. With that privilege of Choice, goes the terrible responsibility of abiding by the results or consequences of our choices. God may not have police, but he does have messengers like John the Baptist, who constantly warn us to repent. To turn around, when we sin to be prepared for God to shake things up. The consequence of making poor choices is God’s judgement in our lives. That message is that you have gone far enough, now it is time to turn back around and go the other way. God’s judegemet is our facing what we have done, as well as what we have left undone. Things falling apart – in many ways is our cleansing our hearts so that the holy spirit can come in and make us right again. The washing machine and the holy spirit Does anyone know what that piece in the middle of the washer is called? The part in the middle that moves back and forth and shakes the clothes back and forth? What is that called? I’m going to call it an Agitator…. What is the purpose of the Agitator? As far as I can tell, it sole purpose is to cause havoc for the dirty clothes… it’s there to shake and separate the clothes from all the dirt and grime and money that may be in or on the clothes, right? It makes sure that the clothes are shaken, not stirred so that we can used them again. As soon as we are saved, the Holy Spirit moves into our hearts, but He doesn’t have our heart to himself… there’s still a lot of things in there… the main one being our own selfish desires…even though we have been saved from our past sins, there still remains some things of the world that we are still fond of… these things of the world have a way of attaching themselves to us like dirt on clothes… they can stain us, they seemingly won’t come out. The Holy Spirit, being Holy….His nature doesn’t allow Him to live in a dirty environment, so He begins to gently and lovingly, He begins to agitate, to shake… to convict us of the things that need to leave our heart…. You see God wants us to be filled with His Spirit… and only when we come to a place in our lives where we are willing to remove all the dirt…can we truly be Filled with His Spirit. Until then, many times our spiritual life fills like we are in a washing machine…. The Holy Spirit constantly, because He loves us so much, constantly agitation within us, convicting us of the things that need to be removed from our lives…. The truth is it is God’s will for all to be filled with the Spirit…. But it’s your choice… it’s up to you… If you willing to surrender every area of your life… every area.. Past, present, future… habits, control, finances, family… everything that means something to you…. Total surrender What is god shaking up in your life What is God shaking up in your life? How has God positioned you to maybe make a difference for someone? Is your job or relationship in trouble? Are your kids or your parents having difficulties with transitions to new stages of life, or circumstances? Are the terrors, or politics, of this world getting you discouraged? Or is death or illness in your family changing everything for you forever? This story reminds us, once again, that when your world begins to shake, it may be because demons are being cast out and captives are being set free. Trust God to show you what to do next. The promise of advent is that the Holy Spirit will disrupt business as usual in our lives, in our church and around the world. We can trust that God will help us find ourselves, in a place to receive God’s love, and bear witness to that love, no matter what. Thanks be to God for this Good News. God is cleansing you so that he can prepare you God’s plan for salvation for the world begins with a plan of salvation for you. God is preparing you for your part. God is shaken your soul, so that you can be purified and prepared. During this advent may we all be shaken, but not stirred from our faith. let us pray…… Faith like Job’s cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken. C When was the last time you were shaken to being stirred? (Probing Question) Two buckets of water were mentioned in the Bible. Do you remember what Pilate did when he had a chance to acquit Jesus? He called for a bucket and washed his hands of the whole thing. Matthew 27:24: "When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’" But Jesus, the night before His death, called for a bucket and proceeded to wash the dirty and dusty feet of His disciples. Which one will you use?