There are both written and silent witnesses to the overwhelming light that burst into the night sky on July 6, 1054.
About two hours after midnight…the Chinese royal astronomer Yang Wei-te was a witness to a great light.
He saw what he called a “guest star” in the constellation of Taurus the Bull.
According to Yang…it was a reddish-white color and displayed pointed rays all around.
The star was so bright it was visible in broad daylight for 23 days.
And visible at night for a couple of years.
Japanese astronomers were also witnesses to the light…and recorded its appearance in their archives.
And thousands of miles away…the Native Americans we now call the Anasazi were witnesses to the light.
They did not write it down but we know…anyway.
How?
Go to Chaco Canyon…in New Mexico…and you will find gently crumbling ruins of an ancient civilization whose trade routes spanned thousands of miles.
About three-and-a-half miles north of the Pueblo del Arroyo…
You will find yourself standing under a rock ledge where someone painted a many-pointed star…
A crescent moon and a handprint.
Many believe this is a record of one who also saw the same star as the Chinese and Japanese astronomers.
We know what they were seeing was not just a nova…
An exploding star nearing the end of its life…
But a supernova.
Supernovas occur when the largest stars have spent much of their fuel burning fiercely bright.
With a breathtaking suddenness…they collapse into their now solid iron cores…
And often become for a short time brighter than all the billions of stars in their home galaxy combined.
An event like this had to have been very significant for all who saw it.
The Chinese astronomer Yang wrote to the emperor to tell him it meant there was a wise and virtuous person in the country.
In today’s gospel passage…the author is also talking about a witness to a startling light… who pointed to a wise and virtuous person.
John the Baptist was sent by God…we are told…to witness to the light…but he himself was not the light.
Jesus is the light.
Jesus was the wise and virtuous person that John was pointing to.
He is the light who shines in the darkness.
The light that the darkness is powerless to overcome.
Some say we are descended from the dust of supernovas.
Some say we are the remains of exploding stars.
The remnants of cataclysmic explosions blown about on galactic winds that found their way into the cosmic nursery where our own star was born.
Making it the source of all life.
That may or may not be so…but in John’s gospel…this light that shines in the darkness is the source of life for all!
And that is why John appears.
Stepping forward in a startling manner from the desert to witness to the light and to baptize others in the water of the Jordan River.
We are part of a great chain that continues to this day.
A chain of witnesses who do not point to themselves.
But like John…point to one who is greater.
This is our charge in Advent.
Whether it is in the form of an official report:
“Behold…I bring you tidings of great joy!”
Or in artwork…like a nativity set.
Or a Christmas card.
Or a favorite carol.
Or a Christmas cantata.
We are all…appealed to…in this season of Advent…to be witnesses to the light.
It shouldn’t be that hard. Right?
But…nowadays it’s harder than ever simply to witness to the glories of the night sky.
There’s too much light pollution over the whole globe.
We have the same sort of clutter in our lives…
Too much light and sound and noise.
Obscuring our ability to witness to the Light that shines in the darkness of our lives.
So…what does an exploding star…John the Baptist and our holiday clutter and fatigue have to do with each other?
Well…those ancient astronomers were looking outside themselves.
They were pointing to something greater than themselves.
John the Baptist was looking beyond to something greater…someone greater than himself.
Remember…that bright star 1,000 years ago was not the same as the one that shone 2,000 years ago to call anyone who would pay attention to find their way to the infant.
The Magi saw a sign in the heavens and acted.
But Herod and his court were mystified by the report of the wise men.
Because there was too much clutter from political intrigue and infighting to leave space for gazing into the high sky.
There is still a lot of clutter…so witnessing about the light is not going to be easy.
This is a tough time.
It is made tougher by the fact that the weight of all this forced merriment can leave us blue.
Especially as we think about things left unaccomplished or about empty seats at our holiday tables.
But Jesus is at the heart of everything to do with the swirl that is rushing around us.
It may not be obvious…but he is there.
He is the light about which we witness.
That exploding star from a thousand years ago?
You may not be able to look up in the night sky and still see it.
But with a good pair of binoculars or an average telescope you can see the remains of that explosion.
It is now called the Crab Nebula…and though it can be hard to see…
It still sends out loud radio and X-ray signals for those who know how to look.
And we can still see the remnants of the Star of Bethlehem whenever we see lives changed because of Jesus.
We can still hear the echoes of the angels who sang that night…
Whenever we hear of people offering a cup of cold water to the least of these in the name of the infant Christ.
And we ourselves are an echo of sorts.
In this season of distraction…we… through our faithfulness…are the proof that there is still hope to be found amid despair.
When I was young…sometimes…my mother would buy me a box of Cracker Jacks at the grocery store.
Remember the surprise you would get when you opened the box?
It was usually right on top.
A small toy.
And I was delighted.
Well…one time I got a little red top.
And I would spin the top and it would go round and round…fast.
But it would always slow down and begin to wobble and finally stop…and fall.
Later…I learned that the winding down of my little top was called entropy.
That is…the running down of a system.
You know…our earth is running down too…running out of get-up-and-go.
Just like my little top.
Just like I am running down too.
Running out of get-up-and-go.
Well…you know the earth is actually wobbling…it’s called axial precession.
It says in the Book of Genesis that God made creation…the world out of nothing.
And Genesis also says that God created order out of chaos.
That there was an explosive burst of energy.
And God breathed life into the cosmos.
And God flung the stars and planets and the solar systems out into the universe.
And ever since the earth has been winding down.
You know…in a state of entropy.
So…the earth is slowly moving away from the sun.
Falling out of orbit.
The Sun is cooling down.
And there is a decreasing gravitational pull.
Creating less atmosphere.
Causing more sun to get through to the earth.
The arctic ice caps are melting.
I have been to Alaska three times and have seen it.
You know…the melting glaciers.
Causing oceans to rise.
New Orleans is losing its delta.
Rain forests are disappearing.
Deserts are growing in width and breath.
There is an increase in carbon dioxide.
Causing average temperatures to rise.
All of this causing animals to lose their habitat.
Of course…we cannot measure all this stuff that is happening with a twelve-inch ruler.
Because it’s happening exceedingly slowly.
But learned women and men can measure this stuff with their fancy scientific instruments.
But still…much of it…we can taste and see and smell and touch and hear with our five senses.
In the same way the Old Testament Hebrews believed there was a kind of spiritual entropy.
A spiritual winding down of God’s relationship with humankind.
That God had only so much Love.
That God had only so much grace.
That God had only so much forgiveness.
That God had only so much tolerance.
That God had only so much restraint.
That God had only so much time.
That God had only so much patience.
That God had only so much hope.
That God had only so much cope.
But Jesus declaims to the people:
“But in those days…after that suffering…the sun will be darkened…and the moon will not give its light…and the stars will be falling from heaven…and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
There will be signs in the sun…the moon…and the stars…and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world…for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Now when these things begin to take place…stand up and raise your heads…because your redemption is drawing near.”
Hopelessness:
Cosmic entropy.
The universe careening out of control.
Being flung chaotically into outer space.
Human trafficking.
But Jesus says:
“Heaven and earth will pass away…but my words will never pass away.”
So…natural law does not have the final say…the final word.
Christ reverses this winding down:
By his vicarious intervention in the universe.
By his personal and benign and friendly identification with the earth.
By his glorious incarnation.
In Christ…God will never run out of Love.
In Christ…God will never run out of forgiveness.
In Christ…God will never run out of tolerance.
In Christ…God will never run out of restraint.
In Christ…God will never run out of forbearance.
In Christ…God will never run out of time.
In Christ…God will never run out of patience.
In Christ God will never run out of hope.
In Christ…God will never run out of grace.
Jesus asks us to “be on watch and pray always…
That you will have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Jesus says: “Heaven and earth will pass away…but my words will never pass away.”
Today I would like to talk a little about the Bible. Why?
Because this is Reformation Sunday and it was Martin Luther who made it possible for the average person to read scripture in its everyday language.
And the Church of Luther’s day did not like it one bit.
OK then…the Bible is a whole library in one volume.
Large portions of the Bible are stories…many of which relate to God’s ongoing covenant relationship with the people of faith…which forms us as a people of God.
The Bible is also a history book…as in Joshua and Acts.
A hymnbook…as in Psalms.
It is a practical manual for living…especially in books like Proverbs and James.
It is a guide for living a godly life…as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Paul’s letters emphasize.
The Bible is also a lawbook.
There are hundreds of laws in the Bible…from the Ten Commandments to the holiness code of Leviticus.
To rules covering ceremonial behavior and daily conduct in a semi-nomadic society with no central government.
Some laws…like the Ten Commandments are still revered today.
Others…not so much.
For example…think about this law:
If a man should suddenly die…leaving his wife childless…it is the duty of the man’s brother to marry his former sister-in-law.
Deuteronomy…chapter 25…commands him to do this even if he has a wife already.
Then…if a son is born from that union…the child is considered the heir of the deceased brother.
There you go…now you can see why the pre-reformation church did not want folks reading the Bible.
I Wonder if they banned the Bible from their libraries.
OK then…so what if the surviving brother does not want to take on a second wife? (smart guy).
Well then…the widow has the right to go to the elders of the village and demand that they pressure him into doing it.
If the stubborn man still does not yield to that moral persuasion…
The widow has the right to go up to him…pull one of his sandals off his feet…
Spit in his face and declare: “This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house!”
Well…the book of Deuteronomy concludes: “Throughout Israel his family shall be known as ‘the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.”’
Well…should our state legislature adopt this forthwith?
Thankfully…when it comes to the Old Testament…there is some guidance from thinkers in the past who influenced the growing church.
Thomas Aquinas (13th century) explained that there are three types of biblical laws:
Moral…ceremonial and judicial…and that of the three…only the moral laws…including the Ten Commandments…are permanent.
Aquinas held that the precepts of moral law were part of the law of nature.
The ceremonial laws were those dealing with forms of worshiping God and with ritual cleanliness.
Aquinas said they were ordained to the divine worship for that time and to foreshadow the coming of Christ.
So that when Christ arrived…those laws ceased to bind.
Judicial precepts…such as rules for how long a Hebrew slave can be kept…
How cases of accidental manslaughter should be handled.
And rules about who’s responsible if an ox kills someone…
Came into existence only with the Law of Moses and were only intended to be temporary…Aquinas said.
Most Christian denominations today draw similar conclusions.
Well…what about the New Testament?
There is a place in First Corinthians when Paul says women ought to cover their heads in church.
Not exactly a law…but it was a rule that Paul wanted to impose on the church.
And for many centuries it was expected that women would cover their heads.
That is still the case within a few Christian groups…but no longer required in most denominations.
Biblical scholars have helped us understand how the rule was part of the cultural understanding of Paul’s time.
Bible scholar William Barclay begins his commentary on this passage by saying:
“This is one of those passages which have a purely local and temporary significance.”
Go figure…this can seem like the beginning of a slippery slope.
You can see the sort of dilemma we are in.
How’s an ordinary Christian to decide what the Bible is really saying about one ethical issue or another?
There is an ancient rule that goes back to St. Augustine (4th century) and other leaders of the early church.
That principle is: “Let scripture interpret scripture.”
It was this let-scripture-interpret-scripture principle that ultimately led to the tremendous change in Christian ethics in the 19th century…resulting in the abolition of slavery.
For centuries…people in favor of slavery had pointed to the existence of that “peculiar institution” in biblical times.
The more Christians became familiar with the overall message of the Bible.
The great number of passages about loving and caring for one another.
The fact that we are all created in God’s image and God’s fundamental justice…
The more they came to conclude that the biblical evidence was much stronger against slavery than for it.
Another principle is one we see Jesus himself using…in our Gospel for today.
A Pharisee asks him which is the greatest commandment.
Jesus gives the textbook answer…reciting the Old Testament declaration known as the Shema:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…and with all your soul…and with all your mind.”
That would have been enough to get an “A” but Jesus goes on.
There is a second great commandment…he says:
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love and obey God: the hallmark of classical Judaism.
Yet…in elevating love of neighbor to an equally high level…Jesus is breaking new ground.
Jesus made it so much a part of everything he said and did that his followers came to be noted for it.
The church father Tertullian remarked on how many pagans in the Roman empire marveled at the Christians they met…saying:
“See, how they love one another!”
This hallmark of the faith has been adapted into a principle of biblical interpretation known as “the rule of love.”
We may ask the question then:
“Is this interpretation consistent with love of God and love of neighbor?”
If we truly reflect on the meaning of this greatest commandment of Jesus…
And hold it up as a yardstick…
It is remarkable how well it cuts through the confusion and helps us decide what the Spirit is truly saying to us.
