The Third Day of Christmas: Start With Why

 

Start With Why

The Third Day of Christmas

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Isaiah 61.10-62.3

We’ve been talking about the political life of the church and how there’s no way to avoid 

politics. The question, rather, is what our politics look like.

And to be clear, by politics, we simply mean the ways in which we figure out how to live 

together. More specifically, how we as a church live together, how we journey through 

life together.

But most journeys begin with the destination. Our family, for example, recently traveled to 

Gulfport, Mississippi. Before we left, we knew where we were going.

Before choosing our destination, though, we had to figure out the purpose of our trip. We had 

to imagine what we wanted to do, what we wanted to see, what we wanted to feel. We had to 

paint a picture of what we wanted to be true before we could start planning our trip.

And it’s the same with our journey together as a community of faith, which is why we focused 

on imagination yesterday.

Today’s readings are about a different, albeit similar, kind of imagination.

The Isaiah passage is set upon the return from Exile. The Temple had been destroyed by 

Nebuchadnezzar, and many had been removed from their land and taken into captivity in 

Babylon. Two generations later, Persia conquered Babylon, and Cyrus the Great implemented 

a policy that allowed exiles to return to their native lands.

Of course, the return is not easy. There was conflict between those who stayed and those were 

taken into exile, there was conflict with those who had moved into the region, and there was a 

drought in the land.

In short, it did not seem like the New Jerusalem they had been promised. They had returned 

from exile...to ruin.

But the prophet could see it.

The prophet had the imagination to see the New Jerusalem that did not exist. 

Not yet, at least.

If you look back a few verses in Isaiah, he proclaims that “they shall rebuild the ancient ruins.”

But you’ll also find a description of the Jubilee Year (see Leviticus 25) that Jesus quotes in Luke 4:

The LORD’s spirit is upon me

   as the LORD has anointed me

to bring good tidings to the poor,

   to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim freedom to the captives,

   to the prisoners, release,

to proclaim a year of favor for the LORD

   and a day of vengeance for our God,

      to comfort all who mourn.

In other words, the New Jerusalem is about more than just rebuilding the Temple. The building 

is just a building; without a larger purpose, it’s hollow.

And so the question for us is this: What’s our purpose? Why do we exist?

Before you set off on a journey, you must first choose a destination. But you can’t know where 

you want to go without first knowing WHY.

And that’s why Simon Sinek says, Start With Why.

So what is our WHY?

Reflect on this as we proceed through Christmastide.

The WHY will open our imagination and point it in a particular direction. The WHY will give us 

eyes to see what the future can be.