The Coming Savior, Fifth Sunday in Lent, 3/29/2009 I dont know what it is that Deborah Dail, our installed

pastor, has against me. When we had a series of sermons on the seven deadly sins some time ago, she was away one of those seven Sundays and asked me to preach. As Providence would have it, the topic for that Sundays sermon was on the sin of lust. Lustwhy just the sound of that word sends Presbyterians running for cover. Now, today, amidst a sermon series on letting the animals tell the story of Lent, during which we have heard from the fox, the donkey, the dove, the camel and the hen, we come to the Sunday on which I agreed to preach for Deborah, and what do we havethe vulture! Theres only one thing uglier than a vulture and thats lust. So a word to the wise: If Deborah asks you to preach, ask her, What about? Of course, Reverend Dail did give me some advance material which included a suggested childrens sermon. But let me tell you about that. It recommended giving the children beef jerky to remind them that Jesus is coming back. How is it that beef jerky reminds us that Jesus is coming back? Enter the vulture. Now this quote is not methis is the childrens sermon recommended by the material given to me: Quote, vultures are birds that fly high in the sky looking for food. They like all kinds of food, even dead animals. If you see vultures flying in a circle high in the sky that means they have found a dead animal and they are about to eat it. Thats what this jerky is dry dead meat from an animalvultures would love to eat a piece of it. (Take a bite). I couldnt find any beef jerky so I got a Slim Jim. Now remember that at the beginning of this childrens sermon, I was supposed to give the children a piece of jerky, so in essence I would be asking them to eat dry dead meat. I would be asking them to be vultures. I could not bring myself to do that, and so I put the money I saved on Slim Jims into the Building Fund! But let us move on and see what the vulture reveals. Our Old Testament reading from Habakkuk speaks of an eagle in v. 8 rather than a vulture. And this is instructive for the New Testament reading, which in the King James Version says, For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together (Matthew 24:28). The New Revised Standard Version that I read from says, there the vultures will gather. In fact, in my Study Bible there is a footnote for this verse that the word vulture should be translated as eagle. The footnote did not say why, but I found it interesting that the more modern NRSV recommended the King James translation! Vulture and eagle are probably interchanged because vultures are different in different parts of the world. Here in the South, it is the turkey buzzard. Out West, it is the California condor, and in Old World Biblical lands it is the Egyptian or white vulture, which is actually an eagle. Thats probably why the vultures on your Bulletin cover look like eagles. They are Old World vultures.

Copyright 2009 Jay Dunn. All rights reserved.

Well, after all that explanation, you are probably wishing I had proceeded with the childrens sermon on dry dead meat. But in case you read the King James Version, I just wanted you to know why vultures do not appear in that translation. Now back to Habakkuk. His prophecy dates from about 605 B.C. when Nubuchadrezzar was established as world ruler and Babylonia as world power. While our sermon is about the coming savior, Habakkuk is more about the divine absence. Listen again to the prophets words: O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Why do you make me see wrong doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. The wicked surround the righteous. And in a later verse not in todays lesson, Why do you look on the treacherous, and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they (v. 13)? Habakkuk expresses the ancient issue of theodicywhy does God allow evil to exist. Against the backdrop of the destruction of Israel a century earlier and the pending captivity of Judah by Babylonia, the prophet wonders whether history does justify the righteous, or whether brute power is really the factor that determines human destiny. Surely you have asked this big question of life yourself: If God is good and God is in control, why does evil happen in the world? Why does evil happen to me? Why do bad things happen to good people? I expect you have not been given or discovered a satisfactory answer. Nor did Habakkuk, but nor did he give up. He decided to keep the faith, to stand at his watchtower to await an answer. From his watchtower, Habakkuks eyes were lifted beyond the present horizon to the future when Gods purpose would ultimately be realized. And what did Habakkuk see? He saw with eyes of faith that when Gods presence in history is eclipsed, God is nevertheless present. When God seems absent in your life and the darkness of evil surrounds you, it is but an eclipse of the Presence that is in the shadows, but continues to shine and with the eyes of faith will return again to shine in your life. In the New Testament reading, Jesus responds to a question from the disciples, Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Like Habakkuk, they want to know when the evil of this age will end. And like Habakkuk Im not sure they are satisfied with the answer they get, because while some signs of the end times are given, no one knows the day or hour. But it will be as spectacular as lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west. It will be as noticeable and as certain as vultures circling over the carrion of a corpse.

Copyright 2009 Jay Dunn. All rights reserved.

Why this focus on the second coming on this fifth Sunday in Lent? Perhaps it is because just as the season of Advent prepares us for the coming of Jesus - the incarnation - so much of Lent prepares us for his going - the crucifixion. When we enter Jerusalem with Jesus next week on Palm Sunday, the celebration and welcome of that joyous day will diminish as the week progresses. He will celebrate the Passover with his disciples, a Seder meal, that some of us will celebrate after worship, but the evil that was present even on his triumphal entry will grow ever present as he is arrested, beaten, crucified dead and buried. The vultures circled the life of Jesus as they circle our lives, gathering, waiting for sin to overtake us, make of us dry dead meat. And all the while, the same voice that spoke to Habakkuk and to the disciples, speaks to us, Watch, Keep Awake, for a work is being done that you would not believe if you were told. Like Habakkuk, we are to be at our watchposts, living somewhat in the blind, but seeing with eyes of faith in remembrance of Jesus words to Thomas, Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have come to believe. Believe what? That Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that through believing in him you may have life in his name. Unlike Habakkuk, we live after the resurrection. We live with the proof that evil, no matter how prevalent and effective, does not have the final word. It has neither the sting of death nor the victory of grave. In his final week which we prepare for this week, Jesus experienced how quickly evil can stretch you out to die. In his own language, reported in Matthew, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus of all people knows how quickly God can be eclipsed. As we say in the Apostles Creed, He descended into hell. But on the third day, as the corpse begins to degrade into carrion, he rose from the dead. If you are in despair, assailed with the evils of this world, remember these words of Jesus: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Fathers house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. The vultures may reveal a coming Savior, but you have Jesus word on it, I will come again

Copyright 2009 Jay Dunn. All rights reserved.