advent

Wait.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“Lord, make your home in the place you lead me. Take that place and fill it with your love. Make me at home wherever you lead me. May each place reflect a glory all your own.”

―Ray Simpson, 40 Prayers from Celtic Christianity

Matthew 11:2-11
Messengers from John the Baptist 

2 When John heard in prison what the Messiahwas doing, he sent word by hisdisciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for
another?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepersare cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” 

Jesus Praises John the Baptist 

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someonedressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet?Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, 

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
 who will prepare your way before you.’ 

11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 

John had been the voice crying out in the wilderness…he knew his voice was calling out the coming of the Messiah, the promised one. He was also waiting, earnestly. Not idly, he was in the business of calling people towards something…it was an active waiting…not anxious, but active. With all of that activity, he wasn’t able to slow down possibly…until he was put into prison. Then, the questions came. Jesus, are you the one?


John was the hinge piece between promise and fulfillment. But, even as Jesus came, even with all of the waiting with faith, questions, and even doubts…and even with all of the signs pointing towards Jesus…Jesus still didn’t seem to be what folks expected. They were disappointed maybe, still waiting to see who this Jesus was…but, for most, that didn’t become real until years after Jesus’ death even…folks had to stop, look, listen and allow themselves to die a bit. Then, they began to see that God was always with them, and physically before them through Jesus.


John was a prophet, Jesus’ words in this text about him being “less important” and John’s doubts and questions, put him squarely in the prophetic role. John didn’t have the privilege in his physical lifetime of experiencing Jesus in community and as the Messiah.
John was a prophet, pointing to Jesus.


As John waited and looked at Jesus, he might have been disappointed. Jesus seemingly broke the mold of what a messiah should look like. He didn’t play by all of the rules, he was a free spirit in many ways. John’s message had been a fiery one, a calling out and into metanoia, away from a life of unawareness. Jesus’ message was, and is, that God is for us, with us. Jesus is calling us towards something greater, to a deeper awareness, to being the people we created to be, loving and honoring and inclusive.


In the beginning of the passage, John talks about pointing towards the “deeds of a messiah”. In other words, not convinced at that moment that Jesus was the one. There were other messiahs as well. Messiah is simply a savior, or the promised one who will deliver. Islam refers to Jesus as a messiah, the promised one coming to give us words of prophetic value. Judaism is always looking for a messiah, someone to deliver them.

In our world, we have elections, we are also always looking for a messiah. We elect someone who makes promises of deliverance from something.  An earthly ruler.  Israel was wanting the same thing…and earthly ruler to deliver them from Roman oppression.

John wants to know, he’s been waiting, is Jesus the promised one, the Judaic messiah, or should John continue to wait for someone else.


John wanted a clear, explicit messiah.


So, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus these questions. Jesus’ response is from Isaiah, from prophecies. Jesus says to look at his physical activity, he has been healing, releasing folks from bondage, restoring them to community. In other words: Yes. But, not exactly what you’ve been waiting for, or what you thought. Jesus goes on to say that those who can see who Jesus is, those who do not stumble as John may have been, by who Jesus is with, how Jesus acts, but see Jesus and his way of loving as markings of the Messiah, of understanding their deliverance, would find joy in the midst of their lives. 

Then Jesus explains that John was a prophet, a herald, but still not fully seeing the implications of Jesus’ life and coming. He was still waiting.


John’s message pointed to Jesus, and it may not have been what people wanted to hear…they flocked to him, but were disappointed. John didn’t have a preaching style or message that made folks feel good. Folks went to John because they wanted a spectacle, they wanted to see a prophet. And, Jesus confirms that he was…but, he wasn’t someone who fit the mood of the times, his message, point- ing to Jesus, wasn’t exactly what people were looking for. John’s voice crying out in the wilderness wasn’t about giving folks what they wanted to hear, not about making folks feel good, but about God’s salvation that is hard to understand, it doesn’t deliver us from all of our problems, but it delivers us towards wholeness as we begin to understand that we are not alone in our darkness…and that we can overcome in our lives, even as we walk through dark times. 

John was not only a prophet, but a herald greater than even Elijah, who was calling humanity into a deeper understanding of itself through the lens of Jesus, of God with us.
John’s message, John’s voice was from a different era, the last of the great prophets. Prophetic voices of change that are marked by a maturity in waiting for the right moments to be heard. Moments that are pregnant with new things coming forth. Giving definition and shape for things to come. These voices are also still in the wilderness, calling into the cultural constructs of things to come…and to wait and be ready for that change. 

Our question this morning: what are we waiting for? And, are we waiting with a sense of being able to truly receive what we’ve been promised? Advent is about waiting for the Messiah to come. What do we need to be delivered from? Are we afraid to listen to the voice calling outside of us towards a repentance, a changing of our hearts and minds? And, are we willing to wait with patience and receive the voice deep down within us calling us towards being the people God intends us to be? In other words, do we really want to live with deep agency in knowing that God is with us, or do we simply want to keep on waiting for something else? 

It is interesting to note that Jesus goes on to say in the next few verses that this generation doesn’t know what it wants…that it’s like children yelling at each other in the marketplaces, complaining about everything. John comes along with a message of metanoia with a simple lifestyle, not eating or drinking…Jesus comes along eating and drinking with a message of grace, acceptance, and God’s inclusiveness…people say John must have been demon possessed and Jesus likes to drink, and is friends with tax collectors and sinners.


Yet, more than words said by prophets and preachers, wisdom is born out of waiting and receiving with patience the actions of a prophet and of a Messiah.


May we experience “metanoia”, have a change of heart and mind…and may we laugh and dance with a God who loves us, who accepts us, and who includes us in communion with God’s Self and others. 

Love.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Love is the only light that can truly read the secret signature of the other person’s individuality and soul. Love alone is literate in the world of origin; it can decipher identity and destiny.”

“I would love to live like a river flows,
carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”
― John O’Donohue

Luke 1:39-55 


Mary Visits Elizabeth 

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill
country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would bea fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” 

Mary’s Song of Praise 46 And Marysaid, 

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 

48  for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
 
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
 

49  for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
 
and holy is his name.
 

50  His mercy is for those who fear him
 
from generation to generation.
 

51  He has shown strength with his arm;
 
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
 

52  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
 
and lifted up the lowly;
 

53  he has filled the hungry with good things,
 
and sent the rich away empty.

54  He has helped his servant Israel,
 in remembrance of his mercy,
 

55  according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
 to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 

Sermon:                                               

Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent, the Love Sunday! 

Love is an interesting word. It gets tossed around quite a bit in our culture.
I also found this description online: 

Love is unconditional affection with no limits or conditions: completely loving someone. It’s when you trust the other with your life and when you would do anything for each other. You hide nothing of yourself and can tell the other anything because you know they accept you just the way you are and vice versa. 

Regardless of how love is defined, it’s safe to say that love has lots of meanings to different people. I would say, at its core, that love is a deeply relational term that has a meaning of commitment, loyalty, joy, faith, compassion, grace, honesty, and deep affection.

This Sunday is often called the Sunday of birth, and also the waking of the church. That fits, because joy, hope, and peace, are a part of love and “love gives birth to new things”, it also awakens us to new realities. 

It’s fitting that we just had a great discussion on the medieval German mystic, Meister Eckhart, at the Westside Abbey.  It was a great discussion with Dr. Adam Clark, and we talked about God constantly giving birth.  Meister Eckhart even said this, “what good is it if Christ was born 1400 years ago but not being born daily within me?”  More on that later!

In our gospel passage today, we see this kind of love expressed in many ways. Mary, a soon to be teenage mom, is pregnant with Jesus. She takes a journey to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who is much older, and is also pregnant with John. She is much further along than Mary. 

Mary is also from a working class family, she doesn’t have much status in society. Elizabeth, on the other hand, is married to a priest and she comes from a priestly line. She has standing in society. 

Yet, that didn’t matter. They have a close relationship that transcends societal barriers and Mary goes to visit her. 

The authors of Luke are not trying to give out facts, they are telling a story of promise and deliverance for all who are enslaved to something, which is everyone. They make a point to say this is a journey, just like the Israelites were on a journey in the wilderness. This deliverance is a process that takes time, but something good is being birthed in us in the journey. Both of these women have been promised that they’d be blessed with pregnancies, although both pregnancies have difficulties: one has the stigma of being a teenaged mom who isn’t married yet, the other is an older woman well past her child- bearing years. Yet, they trust God and God’s love as birthing something new is never easy.

Mary goes, she is moved to action, she takes a journey to Elizabeth, out of relationship, out of love, and a need for comforting each other in what could be a difficult, albeit hopeful and joyful time. This passage is conveying to its readers that God makes promises to us, dreams big dreams for us, yet those dreams involve risk and may bring some anxiety…and seem complicated. Yet, God has given us God’s self, and God’s self, at God’s core, is about a crazy love for all of us, we can move through life with purpose and peace even in complicated, anxious times. 

When Mary greets Elizabeth, the words we read of greetings, multiple greetings, indicates an excitement, a joy, to be together. They are bond together. They can’t wait to see each other. There is an emotional response from both of them, as well as from Elizabeth’s womb. The baby John leaps! 

John, while still in his mother’s womb, senses Jesus, and leaps for joy…and for love! 

The love that John experiences is carried to him through the Spirit of God that embodies love. God’s Spirit fills all spaces and is present whether we recognize it or not. This love can be experienced through friendships, moments of great importance, during hard times when we feel like giving up yet something holds us together, through simple things like sunsets, music, or a small gesture of kindness. This love permeates everything and always wins! And, it’s for everyone! 

I found it interesting as I prepared this message reading and often seeing people that claim to be followers of Jesus, the very expression of God’s love for humanity and creation, talking about excluding others of different faiths, skin color, nationalities, etc.., even advocating for violence, denying safety for others, gossiping about folks, saying incredibly offensive statements, and encouraging division. 

Friends, if someone makes a statement that does not emanate from a deep love for another, it isn’t a Christian statement. 

We have come to this Advent season to celebrate the coming of Christmas, the coming of God into humanity as a human. We come to celebrate a God who keeps promises of being with and of loving us radically and unconditionally. As my late friend Brennan Manning would say, “God loves you just as you are, not as you should be, because you never will be as you should be.” This is the kind of message that should permeate our thoughts about ourselves and others. This is the kind of message that people should be hearing from Jesus followers, and experiencing! 

We should be telling others, as well as ourselves, that NOTHING can separate us from God’s Love as it says in the book of Romans. Nothing. This love is like a stream that keeps on flowing. It carries things, moves things, shapes things, fills every nook, and is relentless. This love changes us, just as streams grow into rivers and rivers flow into oceans…it is unstoppable. We can even nail that love to a tree, try to kill it, yet even death can’t overcome God’s love…it keeps moving! 

And this love keeps on creating and birthing new things.  It is a dynamic flow that cannot be stopped.  

New Year’s follows Christmas. Change happens as love is birthed into us and the world around us. 

Friends, may the Love of Christ cause us to leap with joy. May we be awakened to God’s delight and God’s Spirit washing over us and be reminded of God’s faithful and loving birthing relationship with and within us. 

Messenger.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

That truth has been inscribed into our heart and into the heart of every human being, there to be Thanks be to you, O God, for the strong arm

of those who have given us shelter in our life,

who loved us from the womb and carried us as children, who guarded us like watchful angels and wept when we were in pain.

Thanks be to you for the men and women whose passion for the poor is undying, whose prayer for the oppressed is tender, whose defence of the wronged is fierce.

Grant us the strength to cry for justice, to be patient for peace, to be angry for love.

Grant us the grace of a strong soul, O God, grant us the grace to be strong.

~ John Philip Newell, A Celtic Psalter.

Philippians 3:1-11

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

3 I thank my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy 5 for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in God’s grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Luke 1:68-79 

68  “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. 69  He has raised up a mighty saviorfor us in the house of his servant David, 70  as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.71 72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.
 78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break uponus, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” 

Luke 3:1-6


The Proclamation of John the Baptist 

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was rulerof Galilee, and his brother Philip rulerof the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias rulerof Abilene,2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, 

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
 ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
 and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” 

How do we receive messages these days? What are some examples of messengers? 

As I read these passages in Luke, the word messenger came out loud and clear. 

There are stories of messengers throughout history, especially when they bring good news. However, things may not turn out great for those messengers. 

One of the most famous messengers was the Greek courier, Philippides. There was a great battle between the Persians and the Greeks. Philippides had run a message to the Spartans for help with the Athenians. He ran for a couple of days apparently. His last run was from the city of Marathon to Athens. When he arrived at Athens, the Greeks were eager to hear the outcome of the battle, Philippides had good news and exclaimed, “Joy! We won.”, then legend has it, he fell over and died. 

But, Philippides did have good news to share and ran long, hard, and with much pain to share it. 

Our gospel lesson this morning is all about a messenger who has come to share truly good news. 

Our first passage in Luke comes right after Mary’s song where she talks in beautiful ways about God’s promise of a Savior, of the Messiah, the deliverer coming to the world through her. A song where she reminds us that God does keep God’s promises. 

In our text, it is Zechariah’s turn to give us a song. Zechariah is high priest and he and his wife Elizabeth were well past their years for childbirth. When Zechariah heard that he was finally going to be a dad, he didn’t believe it…so, the angel delivering the news said that he wouldn’t be able to talk because of his stubbornness in not believing. It says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. 

In the Old Testament, when someone is said to be filled with the Spirit, that means, sit up, wake up, and listen. Zachariah has a lot of respect, he’s older, he had gone through a lot in life, he had given up on being a dad, yet through it all, he was faithful. He may have been shut up by God for a time, but I think even that was a gift from God. God was not through with Zachariah, even though he had lived a long life, God was saying to him, YOU, even in your advanced age, have a purpose that will change the world! Zachariah had time to sit, be still, and listen to the rhythm’s of his heart and hear God’s whisper in his life. 

He was ready to share. When his mouth was loosened, praise and wisdom followed. As well as reminders. Zachariah tells us that God is powerful by using the symbol of a horn. In antiquity, the horn was a symbol of power. It made a loud noise and help, or deliverance, would follow. If you had a horn, you had powerful friends. God was bringing salvation, was making things right. 

Zachariah is also sharing that God has made a covenant with humanity. That God would rescue us, would show mercy, and that our hope is coming. 

He then says that his son, John, will be the messenger. That John would come and prepare the way…and would shine a light for those living in darkness and guide us towards peace. John would bring good news of God’s entering humanity, of restoring right relationships, God would keep his covenant and make God’s loyalty and love to humanity known through John’s cousin, Jesus. God was not only living in community with us through Spirit, but would also physically live with us. The uncreated entering creation. 

Humanity often lives in darkness, we bump about not knowing where we are going. We break things, cause damage to ourselves and others, even destroy one another. Yet, God says that we were created for so much more, for mercy, forgiveness, and for relationship. And, to serve others and God without fear as it says in verse 74. 

Jesus would guide us towards the way of peaceful living with one another. 

And, John does just that. In our second Luke passage that was read at the beginning of the service today, John speaks to the crowds who come to him, some curious, some ready to change, all wanting something more. John rails against the religious, political, and social structures of the day. It’s no accident that Luke mentions the year, and the different leaders of the day. Luke is reminding his readers the setting in which John gives his message. John is standing in the public arena calling all towards repentance, to change towards a new life signified in baptism…the old life is gone, a new life has come. 

John is one crying in the wilderness, reminding his readers of the wilderness that they were in when they left Egypt…it seemed like it may take a while, they wandered around, but in God’s time, they were delivered out of the wilderness and into something more. 

Not all may have experienced this…some died in the wilderness. But, we have to realize that God is committed to the whole picture, all of humanity. With God, no one is lost, even if they are on different parts of the Journey. John is telling us that Jesus is coming to us now to show us and remind us that the Kingdom of God, of heaven, God’s Presence is here, now, and will be with us forever. 

Friends, just like the marathon runner, we may be tired, we may be worn out, we may want to give up. But, we’ve got good news, we have a God who is calling us to live differently, to change, to repent and live in forgiveness of our stuff and the stuff of others, to let go of the past and live into a new future even as we practice a new Presence, and to have peace…real peace.  Peace in scripture is not the absence of conflict, but a deeper sense of faith that we can live into.  We may not know the future, we may have a lot of uncertainty, but we also are all connected to one another and a divine flow of God’s love that calls us into.  Friends, we are never too old, we never have it all figured out, but if we are willing to donate trust beyond circumstance to one another and to God, just as God demonstrated through Jesus, we can come out of the wilderness and into the promise, the hope of salvation and into the abundance of life, the deep peace that passes understanding, that God promises! 

Joy.

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John 1:6-8, 19-28 

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”[the Christ] 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said,

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”

as the prophet Isaiah said.

24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah,[the Christ] nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

Sermon Manuscript:

A couple of years ago, good friends of ours, the Zimmers and the Bronsinks, along with us, rented an Airbnb in Lexington for a weekend at Keeneland.  

We needed that short trip!  Life had been crazy, all of us were dealing with so much in our lives and in our families.  We were in a place of deep transition.  Being together brought a lot of joy, even in the midst of a hard season.  We shared, a lot!  We had fun at Keeneland with the horses, and then we came back to our Airbnb for dinner.  Over dinner, someone suggested we all share our top 5 favorite songs of all time.  Our friend Troy put together a playlist of those songs on his iPhone.  He then started playing them, and a little dance party broke out!  We danced like wild people in a time of uncertainty in our lives…there was so much joy in that moment!  It was like we were all swirling dervishes it seemed at times!

Our gospel lesson in John is set against the backdrop of uncertainty.  First century Palestine was a place of unrest.  There was a recent revolt against the Roman Empire by the Jewish Maccabees.  They reigned for a while, but the might of the Roman Empire eventually crushed them.  Jewish zealots were still active, and there was a Jewish religious and political structure that appeased to a certain degree both the zealots and much more the Roman rulers, as well as trying to maintain the cultural status quo and their place of comfort within it.

And, there was this backdrop of a Messiah, or the anointed one, the Christ, a concept that was in Jewish tradition and in their religious imagination.  A savior that would deliver them from their oppressors, bring justice to those on the margins, restore Israel as a sovereign nation, and place it on a hill, a light for all nations and peoples.  Pretty grand images.

So, the legal scholars and priests come to John, a strange man who had wild hair and a crazy sense of fashion…sounds familiar…and my kind of person!  But, these folks wanted to know if John was the Messiah, the Christ.  Not only were the living in uncertain times, they were uncertain of who John was…and they so wanted to believe that their visions of grandeur would be coming to their nation.  And, if he wasn’t the messiah, the Christ, was he Elijah, the prophet coming to proclaim the coming Messiah?  

Who are you?  They ask.  

John responds.  No, he’s not the Messiah, he’s not the Christ.  But, he does say that he is a voice crying out in the wilderness.  And, that the one who is coming, John is not even worthy to tie his sandals.  John also says that he baptizes with water.  And, we know that baptism symbolizes dying, being buried in the waters…and rising again to life, a new life.  A new identity, one based on the story of Jesus, the story of God, our story.

Friends, we’ve said this before, we are also in the wilderness.  This is an in-between time, not only for our culture, our church, but also, maybe for each of us.  If we are willing to be honest, deep down, we are also searching for a Messiah, the Christ.  

And, we are uncertain about where to look…maybe we look for it in political leaders, or celebrities…maybe it’s something else.  We want someone or something to deliver us.  Maybe the wilderness we are in is deeper than we could ever imagine and there’s no way we can dig ourselves out.  

Maybe we are also asking the question , not “who are you?”, but “who are we?”  “Where are we going?”  “Will we ever get out of this wilderness?”  Maybe we are uncertain if we can or will get out.  Maybe we don’t even know where we are heading or who’s on the journey through the wilderness with us.

At some point, we realize that the worldly systems that we have adhered to, the “isms” that we have put faith in, don’t work as well as they used to.  Maybe we have come to a point that looking for a messiah in someone else or some thing has not given us peace, joy, love, or hope.  

Maybe it’s time that we, again during this advent season, look to this Jesus that John is pointing to, this Jesus who will come to us with a baptism of Presence, of God self.  

A Presence that brings Joy in the midst of uncertainty, even despair.  A joy that shapes and reshapes us, Joy that stays with us in the wilderness, that walks with us, that struggles with us, a Joy that is above and more dangerously beautiful than any ism, politician, celebrity, country, ideal can offer us.  A Joy that persists in hardship that lasts forever.  

A Joy that is present in the Christ, exhibited in a God emptying God’s self into a baby called Jesus.  A Joy in Christ that God also put into each one of us.  Again, as Paul states, Christ is all an in all things and people in the book of Colossians.  

People ask sometimes in this season randomly, “do you ‘believe’ in Christmas?”  Well, maybe a better question is do you know that the Christ in Christmas BELIEVES in you and that belief is wrapped up in a deep Joy.

Friends, this Christ believes in you, loves you, and has come, is here, and will come to give you Joy.  You already have it!  What are you waiting for?  Cultivate, go deep in the soil of your lives, let God love you unconditionally!  And, dance with Joy!

Seasons.

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Mark 13:24-37 

The Coming of the Son of Man

24 “But in those days, after that suffering,

the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light,

25 

and the stars will be falling from heaven,
    and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

26 “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels and gather the elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

The Necessity for Watchfulness

32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert, for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”

If you are like me, when this passage comes up in the liturgy, and especially on the first Sunday of Advent where we light the candle of Hope, this passage seems to be a bit more harsh, that there is an apocalypse upon us, like watch out, be ready, there’s something about to happen and it sounds terrifying.  

I would propose that those things are true, and that this is a very appropriate passage for the first Sunday of Advent.

Advent means to wait, to know that we cannot force the coming of Christ in this season or any season of our lives, but it is coming to us nonetheless.

This passage today is about three things:

  1. Change is coming and change is always disorienting.
  2. With change, like the changing of the seasons, brings the hope of new life.
  3. The change is going to happen, are we awake in the deeper sense of who we are to have ears to hear and eyes to see?

Do you ever go out at night and look up at the moon?  Do you marvel at its brightness, the moon shadow that comes over the landscape and even in the sky?  Do you ever get up in the morning and see the sun rise and marvel at its shedding brilliant light on the landscape?

Recently, I was up for an early morning run, and it was great to see both the moon and the sun going down and rising at the same time.

Now, what if the sun did not rise or was totally eclipsed, blacked out?  And, what if the moon did not have the sun to be a reflection in the night?

It would mean that we were living in pitch darkness, we could not see anything.  We would be disoriented, confused, and certainly uncertain on what would come our way!

It is a apocalypse.  And, remember what that word means, its not the end of the world, it is simply that something is ending so something new can begin.  It literally means an uncovering or revelation, something is being revealed.

The gospel writer seems to be giving a very descriptive metaphor that God is being revealed in times of change, that God comes to us when things are the darkest, the most disorienting, and the most uncertain.  So, when things seem completely lost, thank God!

And also know that this is part of the cycle of living that gives hope as the gospel writer continues to tell us.

In times of change, like the seasons, there is birth, life, death, rebirth…and that we cannot cause the seasons to change, but we can wait and trust that they will, and fruit will be produced.

Friends, I am in a liminal space, so are you, and so is this congregation.  We can think that everything is lost, give up hope, and close up shop or run away…and, honestly, sometimes we need to run away for a bit and rest and renew.  But, we have to remember this, that God is always flowing in and around us in the struggles of life, in the uncertainty of our lives and in our times, and is calling us to pay attention, to wait, and to listen.  

This past week, on November 30th, was St. Andrew’s Day, the patron saint of Scotland.  That made me think of at story about waiting that one of the greatest Scotsmen in history, Sir William Wallace did.  Wallace led the fight for freedom for Scotland in the 1300’s.  One of his first battles, a pivotal battle, he led his ragtag group of highlanders with homemade spears and swords and farm tools against the very well trained and outfitted English army that outnumbered greatly his Scotsmen.  

He led his men to the battlefield and told them to wait.  As the Englishmen came running towards them with a ferocious attack, he continued to tell his men to wait…and they did, looking at this well-equipped army storming towards them.  They were afraid, they did not know the future, they were uncertain for their very lives, yet they trusted their leader and waited.  At just the right time, William Wallace told his men to throw their spears and engage in the battle.  They routed the English that day.

We may not be in pitch battles with the English anymore, but we do find seasons in our lives where things seem bleak and dark…where we don’t know the future.  In those moments, we step into a liminal, threshold space.

Rev. Dr. Ruth Haley Barton says this: 

“Because we have met God in that frightening, liminal space we are able to stand firm and believe God in a way that makes it possible for others to believe as well.”

Friends, this God resides within you and all around you.  Give yourselves grace to wait, to stay away, or maybe for some, to wake up to this reality of God’s Presence for the first time.  You cannot force this God to arrive or not to arrive.  God is coming to us no matter what, it is the apocalypse, it always has been, and things are revealed and uncovered.  Wait for it, look for it, receive it, and live in that hope.