First Presbyterian Church
Faith Leaps
Sermon for January 1, 2006
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Our first scripture comes from the last part of the book of Isaiah, written while the Babylonian exile was ending, and people returned to the land of Judah. The nations have noticed that Jerusalem is plundered and bereft, and they conclude that Yahweh is impotent and indifferent. But now, God breaks the silence. The watching nations will see a reversal of Jerusalem's fortune. “The dishonored discarded disregarded ruins now become a glorious ornament at the very throne of God.” 1We'll be reading from my translation.

Listen for the word of God as it is found in Isaiah 61:10-62:3

I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh.

My soul revels in God, for God has clothed me in garments of salvation, [with] a robe of justice God has covered me, as a bridegroom who dresses up with a turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her things.

For as the earth births her sprouts and as a garden makes what is planted sprout, so Lord Yahweh makes justice and praise sprout before all the nations.

Because of Zion I will not keep still and because of Jerusalem, I will not be undisturbed until the brightness of her vindication and salvation burn like a torch.

The nations will see your vindication and all rulers, your glory and you will be called by a new name which the mouth of Yahweh designates.

And you will be a wreath of beauty in the hand of Yahweh and a royal turban in the palm of your God.

This ends our reading from the book of Isaiah. God values us. Justice and praise are connected; when we worship God, we can do justice. One theologian said that these verses show “excited impatience, as if the speaker can hardly wait to get on with the daring act of public transformation.” 2

Our unison psalm reading is on page 582. It too is excited to praise God. Listen for the word of God as we read it together in Psalm 148.

1 Praise the LORD ! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!

2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!

4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name of the LORD , for he commanded and they were created.

6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,

8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!

10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!

12 Young men and women alike, old and young together!

13 Let them praise the name of the LORD , for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.

14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD !

This ends our reading from the Psalm. Our epistle lesson continues the theme of salvation and redemption. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Galatians 4:4-7.

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

This ends our reading from Galatians.

Our anthem today is our gospel lesson. Mary and Joseph had brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem, taking two doves. The law requires a sheep as a sacrifice, but allows the poor to bring two doves instead. 3The Holy Spirit told a man named Simeon he would see the Lord's messiah before he died. He came to the temple, took Jesus in his arms, and praised God. His song is called the Nunc Dimittis because in Latin, the first words are nunc dimittis servum tuum, which means “Now let your servant depart in peace.” Here are his words in Luke 2:29-32. Listen for the word of God.

Anthem

After Simeon's song, a prophet named Anna, who lived at the temple and fasted, came to them and also praised God and spoke to all looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Simeon and Anna had impeccable credentials, so their words about Jesus were significant. Simeon saw the salvation of the world in Jesus. Galatians spoke of Jesus' birth as the moment when the fullness of time had come. We live in that fullness of time.

Yesterday time was a little fuller than usual. It was the day of the leap second. It made me think of that old barbershop song that goes “60 seconds got together and they decided to become a minute (tock, tick, tock) 60 minutes got together and they decided to become an hour, (tock, tick, tock) and 24 hours kept tickin' away, then they decided to call it a day. A second is supposed to be 1/86,400 th of a day. 86,400 is 60 x 60 x 24.

Since the 1950's, the powers that be have used atomic clocks to keep accurate track of time, measuring a second as a 1/86,400 th of a day. The problem is that clocks can't match the earth's rotation exactly, since the atomic clocks don't vary, and the earth's rotation does.

The length of the mean solar day is about 86,400.002 seconds instead of exactly 86,400 seconds.

The tides slow the earth down sometimes . Ever few years or so, we have to catch up. The powers that be work hard at checking on earth to make sure our satellites, cell phones, and global positioning system technology all have the same time. The powers that be are actually called the Sub-bureau for Rapid Service and Predictions of Earth Orientation Parameters of the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) . They decreed that yesterday be 86,401 seconds long. 4The 86,401 st second was called a leap second.

I just learned that the leap second is a little controversial; some member nations of the IERS have laws that determine how to figure time, and don't trust those foreign powers that be. I don't know if they'll reset all their electronic devices a second different from the rest of the world or not.

Time was on my mind, not just because of the new year but because yesterday was the deadline for people to send me squares for the women's ordination quilt. The Presbyterian Church has been ordaining women to be deacons for 100 years, elders for 75, and clergy for 50. Most of you know that I asked every church and clergywoman to send me a square for a quilted banner that I will make for General Assembly. I am very anxious to begin making the quilt, but I can't do it just yet.

About the middle of December, I realized I didn't get many squares from racial-ethnic churches. I got no squares from Maryland, Hawaii, or Alaska. And then I realized that no church in the entire Synod of Puerto Rico had sent me a square. So I extended the deadline to January 31 and sent out more letters and e-mailed the presbyteries. I called the synod of Puerto Rico —LaVonne, when you check the church phone bill, that's a legitimate telephone call but I did kept it short.

Many of the fabric squares come with stories, and the people writing commend me for taking on this huge quilting project and admire me for doing so. If they only knew. The quilting will be the easy part. It's keeping track of all the information that has proved the real challenge. Right now I'm 62 letters behind. Thirty of them came in on Saturday. Not counting those 62, I've heard from 300 clergywomen and 714 churches.

One woman wrote “We must never forget the history of our churches and of the women who boldly stepped forward to be the first ordained elders and deacons. They led the way to the ordination of women pastors and ministers.”

Another woman wrote in that celebrating the ordination anniversaries was important; in her church she found some old trustees' minutes that recorded a vote to have a man attend every women's meeting because otherwise, who knew what those women might pray for.

Women's faith has historically been dismissed and discounted by men in power in the church. It is only recently that women theologians have been read and critiqued with any seriousness. Women in church leadership was a big adjustment for many people. Judging by the letters I receive, the churches are not finished adjusting.

And so, when I read in Isaiah “[with] a robe of justice God has covered me, as a bridegroom who dresses up with a turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her things,” I recognized that this verse meant even in patriarchal old testament times women were also involved in participating in God's justice and praise. Women too wore garments of salvation.

Anna spoke of the redemption of all people, the psalm spoke of all nature, even the sun, moon and stars singing God's praise. They praise God who created and established them. The prophet Isaiah used metaphors of new and joyous beginnings: wedding preparations and gardens growing. Isaiah spoke of new life with God, a life full of justice, salvation, and vindication. The light that began in Israel will reach to all the nations.

Some sacred writings are eloquent arguments for the status quo. The way the world is is the way the gods ordained it. The king is described as being appointed by the gods, and may even be part god himself. He rules by divine right, so his judgments are true. Anyone who challenges the king is considered a heretic and must be stopped.

But the prophets and the gospels of our Bible challenge this view of the world. It is not the way God wants; God wants the world to have vindication, but not justice vindication; God wants the world to have justice, but not only justice; God wants the world to have salvation.

Galatians tells us we are saved from being slaves; we are adopted into God's family, heirs to God's kingdom, God's realm.

The NIST, chronological powers that be, set their clocks by the rotation of the earth. The moon affects the ocean tides, the tides affect the rotation of the earth, and the rotation of the earth affects how we measure time.

We Christians are supposed to set our lives by our faith, our faith is set by our interpretation of God's word, and our interpretation affected by our experiences. Sometimes we encounter scripture that expands our ideas of God and what God's people should be doing. Sometimes tragedy creates a huge emptiness in our lives; sometimes joy surrounds us and lifts us to a new place. Our faith needs to be reset once in a while. We need to make a little faith leap to adjust.

God calls us to be ready because even in that second added to our day yesterday, everything can change. Although we cannot foresee what will happen to us in 2006 and beyond, we trust God to operate on God's schedule—and we're as ready as a bride or a bridegroom for God's life-altering presence in our lives. Amen.

1 Brueggemann, et al, Texts for Preaching Year B. p. 71.

2 Brueggemann, et al, Texts for Preaching Year B. p. 69.

3If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days… When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. He shall offer it before the LORD , and make atonement on her behalf; then she shall be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, male or female. If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall be clean. Leviticus 12: 2b,6-8

4 tycho.usno.navy.mil/leapsec.html