Luke 2:13-20 & 41-52
1st Sunday of Christmas
Elizabeth M. Deibert
A sleeping child in his mother’s arms is beautiful to behold. Ask any parent of young children. Sleeping children are the best. That’s when we treasure them most – when they are sound asleep. We go into their bedrooms and say, “Oh, aren’t they so precious.” We see sleeping babies in strollers and in their parents arms and we say, “Ah, sleeping like a baby.” And in their first months they sleep a good part of the day and the night.
We have this notion, propagated by the Christmas carols that Jesus always slept in heavenly peace, yet perhaps those words from Silent Night are as much about us as they are about the infant, Jesus. “Sleep in heavenly peace” We speak of sleeping like a baby, but isn’t that strange, because babies wake up in the night, sometimes multiple times. Yet somehow sleeping like a baby carries with the it the connotation that we have no worries to keep us awake or fearful. We have someone on whom to utterly depend. And that is what this infant of Christmas teaches us – we have someone on whom we can depend. We can sleep in heavenly peace knowing we have this treasure, this gift of the incarnation. Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels – in clay jars.” John’s Gospel opens with “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
The treasure is this life – that God became flesh, became one of us. The treasure is that God and humanity are now united in a way that they were not before this happened.
The two scriptures we are reading today – one a lectionary passage for Christmas Day and the other, the text for this first Sunday of Christmas, end with Mary treasuring these things in her heart. In the first text she treasures and ponders the visit and the story of the shepherds and in the second, she and Joseph are upset at having temporarily lost their son, but then after finding Jesus in the temple, where he says they should have known he would be, Mary then treasures these things in her heart.
Hear now the word of the Lord from two passages in chapter 2 of Luke’s Gospel.
Treasures of Christmas. Perhaps your greatest treasure at Christmas is not something under the Christmas tree, but some thoughts, some feelings, some collection of emories that you treasure. Maybe it is a faith that you treasure, despite the pain of your memories. The older, the more mature we become the more we know that it is not particular gifts that give us joy, but seeing other people happy on Christmas, bringing joy to others. Then we begin to glimpse the miracle of Christmas – God’s gift of a son, God’s very own presence with us in the person of Jesus.
Christ, lamb of God. Christ, visited by lowly shepherds, the first to arrive at the manger. They tell Mary and Joseph about their visit from the angels, and Mary is thinking, “Wow, that’s three visitations – an angel came to me, one came to Joseph, and now a multitude heavenly host to these unsuspecting shepherds.” Mary ponders what child is this? She treasures this gift of life, having no idea where his life is going, unless she truly comprehends the riches of all these messages from angels. Mary doesn’t yet know the end of the story of Jesus’ life, but we know.
Then there’s story about Jesus being brought to the temple as a baby for the rite of purification, and Simeon sings an amazing song, essentially saying that he can die now because he has seen the salvation of God for all the people. And Mary and Joseph are amazed. Then Anna comes and speaks about the child being the redeemer. And we learn that Jesus grows in strength, wisdom, and grace. That’s all we know of his childhood, until he is a tweenager, at the age of bar-mitzvah, at the age of self-differentiation.
Hear now the story of Jesus getting left behind in the temple.
In this lesson we experience Jesus as a burgeoning adolescent, growing in his understanding of whom he is. When his parents question him, he fires back, “Why were you searching. You should have known I would be in the temple, handling my father’s business.” There he establishes that he is Son of God, more than Son of Joseph.
Let's look a little closer. They, the family of Jesus, including other relatives were in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. It seemed to be a family custom. It is also what very pious people did in that day, if they lived close enough to attend he Passover. The family came, celebrated the feast and then they headed home.
The first question that comes to mind is why would Mary and Joseph leave home without knowing that Jesus was with them? It seems like a strange situation for us. But for them in their day and time, it wasn't. Women traveled more slowly than the men, so the women left Jerusalem first. The men followed later. They would catch up with each other at the place where they spent the night. So Joseph assumed Jesus was with Mary. Mary assumed Jesus was with Joseph. Neither suspected any problem until Joseph arrived and found out that Jesus was not with Mary.
I can only imagine how they must have felt when they realized that Jesus missing. Most parents’ anxiety would be high. They rushed back to Jerusalem to search for Jesus. They found Jesus after three days of searching, an allusion to his coming crucifixion and disappearance for three days. Joseph and Mary found Jesus in the temple learning and asking questions from the teachers. Evidently, Jesus was pretty good; Luke recorded that the teachers (the Rabbis) were amazed at his understanding and answers.
But the heart of this story comes during the dialogue that Jesus had with his mother, Mary. Mary and Joseph found Jesus and she said, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress." Mary clearly felt what any parent would feel: first, great anxiety and fear, relief -when Jesus was found, then some anger - for what he had put them through.
Jesus answered, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's House (…I must be about my Father's business)?
These words are significant words that Jesus spoke. First of all, these are the first ords that Jesus spoke in Luke's Gospel. He is already beginning to feel his mission to obey God. Jesus experienced a growing and compelling sense of call to go and do the will of God, the Father. Also, Jesus had a sense that he was the Son of God even before his baptism.
Perhaps this seems to be no big deal, but understand that in the other Gospels, there is absolutely nothing to indicate that Jesus had a sense of being the Messiah before he was baptized by John the Baptist. Our passage today is the only passage that gives us that idea. (Gratitude to The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min., 2nd Presbyterian, Petersburg, VA, for many of the ideas in the last several paragraphs.)
Finally, note how Jesus does this by discretely and carefully reframes what his mother said to him. Mary said, "your father and I," and she meant Joseph. Jesus' reply puts "father" into a divine context. "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's House?" Jesus was at home.
And the story ends with Mary treasuring these things in her heart. We would do well to be like Mary and treasure these things in our hearts. As we move toward a new year, treasure the gifts of God, especially this gift of the incarnation, which changed the world.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Receive the Fullness
Luke 1:26-38
4th Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Today we read the story of Mary, the one who received the gift of God in all fullness. We talk about receiving gifts, but all hail to Mary. She received the best gift of all. She caught in her very own womb, God’s miraculous fullness to transform all of creation. She was chosen to be the mother of God with us, Immanuel. Let us pray: Ave Maria.... Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
For some of us that prayer is as deeply inbedded in our souls as the Lord’s prayer. For others of us, who were taught to define ourselves in reaction to the Roman Catholic Church, it is not be a comfortable prayer, though the music of Ave Maria is part of our repertoire. I want to begin today by telling you why this prayer is meaningful to me. To me Mary is the greatest example of human faithfulness. She represents the person I could become, were I to be as receptive to God’s will as she was. Jesus was fully human, fully divine. I cannot relate to being fully divine, even though through the power of the Spirit I grow in Christ-likeness. But I find it easier to relate to Mary, who fulfilled her calling by being receptive to God in her body, mind, and soul. Receptive to God in body, mind, and soul.
Protestants often resist praying the Hail Mary prayer because we have been taught not to worship or pray to Mary. But I think Protestants might grow in respect for Mary by attending to this prayer, as it relates to our scripture today. The first part of the prayer is the greeting of the angel. “Greetings, favored one is the same as Hail, Mary, full of grace, or graced one.” Then the second part of the prayer is Elizabeth’s greeting, mother of John the Baptist, who says, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” That visit of Mary and Elizabeth is not part of our scripture today. But it is the third part which makes some protestants stumble. “Pray for us” Yet I invite you to notice that we’re not praying to Mary, but asking for her prayers, in the same way we might ask for anyone to pray for us. Of course, Mary is not just anyone. She is the consummate saint in heaven, the Queen of all the saints. So if you believe in the communion of saints, then perhaps you are okay with asking for Mary’s intercession. Do you converse with family members who have died before you. I do.
Hear the prayer again in different words, Greetings Mary, favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Having prayed with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, now let us pray with our Eastern Orthodox sisters and brothers: God-bearing Virgin, rejoice! Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have born the Savior of our souls.
Now hear the scripture:
NRS Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God." 38 Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
The visit from Gabriel is a surprise to Mary, naturally. Few of us have such supernatural experiences.
I want to tell of one which I had on All Saints Day in Greece less than two months ago. Emily and I were asleep in a hostel. Though exhausted from our travels, I was sleeping poorly, knowing I had to walk four blocks to the bus station at 4:00 am to get to the airport. I can’t bring myself to pay over $50 for a taxi ride when I can take the bus for three dollars. So while I’m trying to sleep, another hostel resident comes to our door and repeatedly tries to open our door, obviously confused about the room number. But every time he or she tries to unlock my door, fear rises up in me and I imagine having to confront someone drunk or worse, someone determined to do us harm. Finally the person gets to the right door and leaves us alone, but I’m lying there afraid to walk to the bus station. At last I doze off and in my dream Barbara Deibert, Richard’s mom has come to visit the family as an angel. Barbara died in the summer of 2006. When I wake up I am confident that she is present in the room, and that she will walk with me to the bus station, as my guardian angel. It was a powerful experience. Tears ran down my face as I rode the bus to the airport.
I have had one other significant angelic-type experience like that when my dad, after he died, and I resolved a deeply emotional issue in a dream. I needed for my own peace of mind to forgive my dad and that forgiveness got resolved in a dream. You can separate reality from dream if you want, but for me they are connected.
Now, let’s be clear, the text does not say that the angel came to Mary in a dream. It says that about the angel and Joseph in Matthew, but we don’t know whether Mary’s visit was in the day or the night. But the scripture tells us the angel greets her as the one full of grace, and says to her what we say to each other every week as we come to the Sacrament. “The Lord be with you. The Lord is with you.” The angel explains that Mary has been chosen by God and encourages her not to be afraid. And the angel informs her that she will have a son, who will be great, who will be Son of the Most High.
Mary asked the question that generations after her have asked. “How can this be?” Our modern minds bent toward scientific proofs want to know even more than people in Biblical times, “How can this be?” Tell me how. We try to tame the miracle. We want to be able to wrap our minds around it. Make it more believable, more real. But maybe it’s more real, when you relish the miracle like I relished the presence of Barbara Deibert on the sidewalk of Athens at 4:00 am. I challenge you this Christmas to take on the faith of little children and cling to the miracle. Enjoy it. Celebrate it. Live into a second naivete’ and dare to believe the truth which cannot be proven, but which will change your life when you are open and receptive like Mary.
I like believing that the Holy Spirit can do things that seem impossible to us. Does that make me a fundamentalist? No? But it means my view of Christ is higher than my view of my own ability to process information. I cannot explain higher math, so why should I be able to explain how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit?
I affirm by faith, though not by logical reason, that the child conceived in Mary was truly divine. If not conceived by the Holy Spirit, then Jesus was just a great human being, a marvelous teacher, a prophet. He was all those things but more. He was Immanuel – God with us in person. He was set apart from the very beginning. I believe this Incarnation – this God becoming human flesh – was a holy and mysterious event, brought about by divine grace surpassing human possibilities. (This language borrowed from The Study Catechism) If he’s not fully divine, then he is not deserving of our worship. If he’s not fully human, then we have not been fully saved. As Irenaeus, the 2nd century church leader, whose name means “peace” said, “That which has not been assumed, cannot be healed.”
I’m grateful that Jesus had a wonderful step-dad in Joseph but I have no trouble claiming that his real father was God. And that whatever happened to Mary was different and more glorious than what happened to me four times, or we could say five. And of course, we all know anyone’s child-bearing, is a miracle beyond our explanation – how babies in the short period of nine months become the perfect and beautiful individuals they are with genes from two people mixed into this unique DNA combination. And how even adopted children develop deeply held attitudes and mannerisms picked up unconsciously from their loving parents who nurtured them.
But miraculous as regular child-bearing and child-rearing is, it is not the same as giving birth to God with us, the Lord of heaven born on earth. But what the Church has seen in Mary for two thousand years is a human being ready to receive the fullness of God, willing to receive the fullness of God, unafraid to receive the fullness of God, the fullness of God, the fullness of God. Mary is our greatest role model, as she was the very first person to accept, to receive Jesus Christ into her life unreservedly.
I pray to become more like Mary, willing to say to the outrageous claim of an angel of the Lord, “Let it be with me according to your word.” In other words, in common vernacular, “Okay, Gabriel, what you’ve just told me makes no common sense but do with me what you want. I am open and receptive.” Wow, what if we said that too! What might happen, if we really received Christ like that? O Little Town of Bethlehem, which we will sing in a moment, has this wonderful line: Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in. We are told Mary was likely a peasant girl, not very old, not at all prestigious, until by her faithful openness to receive the fullness of God, she became known and loved around the world as Mother of our Lord. May we discover the meekness of a childlike and receptive faith this Christmas.
The other wonderful line from O Little Town of Bethlehem will be our prayer –
O holy child of Bethlehem descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in. Be born in us today.
4th Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Today we read the story of Mary, the one who received the gift of God in all fullness. We talk about receiving gifts, but all hail to Mary. She received the best gift of all. She caught in her very own womb, God’s miraculous fullness to transform all of creation. She was chosen to be the mother of God with us, Immanuel. Let us pray: Ave Maria.... Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
For some of us that prayer is as deeply inbedded in our souls as the Lord’s prayer. For others of us, who were taught to define ourselves in reaction to the Roman Catholic Church, it is not be a comfortable prayer, though the music of Ave Maria is part of our repertoire. I want to begin today by telling you why this prayer is meaningful to me. To me Mary is the greatest example of human faithfulness. She represents the person I could become, were I to be as receptive to God’s will as she was. Jesus was fully human, fully divine. I cannot relate to being fully divine, even though through the power of the Spirit I grow in Christ-likeness. But I find it easier to relate to Mary, who fulfilled her calling by being receptive to God in her body, mind, and soul. Receptive to God in body, mind, and soul.
Protestants often resist praying the Hail Mary prayer because we have been taught not to worship or pray to Mary. But I think Protestants might grow in respect for Mary by attending to this prayer, as it relates to our scripture today. The first part of the prayer is the greeting of the angel. “Greetings, favored one is the same as Hail, Mary, full of grace, or graced one.” Then the second part of the prayer is Elizabeth’s greeting, mother of John the Baptist, who says, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” That visit of Mary and Elizabeth is not part of our scripture today. But it is the third part which makes some protestants stumble. “Pray for us” Yet I invite you to notice that we’re not praying to Mary, but asking for her prayers, in the same way we might ask for anyone to pray for us. Of course, Mary is not just anyone. She is the consummate saint in heaven, the Queen of all the saints. So if you believe in the communion of saints, then perhaps you are okay with asking for Mary’s intercession. Do you converse with family members who have died before you. I do.
Hear the prayer again in different words, Greetings Mary, favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Having prayed with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, now let us pray with our Eastern Orthodox sisters and brothers: God-bearing Virgin, rejoice! Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have born the Savior of our souls.
Now hear the scripture:
NRS Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God." 38 Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
The visit from Gabriel is a surprise to Mary, naturally. Few of us have such supernatural experiences.
I want to tell of one which I had on All Saints Day in Greece less than two months ago. Emily and I were asleep in a hostel. Though exhausted from our travels, I was sleeping poorly, knowing I had to walk four blocks to the bus station at 4:00 am to get to the airport. I can’t bring myself to pay over $50 for a taxi ride when I can take the bus for three dollars. So while I’m trying to sleep, another hostel resident comes to our door and repeatedly tries to open our door, obviously confused about the room number. But every time he or she tries to unlock my door, fear rises up in me and I imagine having to confront someone drunk or worse, someone determined to do us harm. Finally the person gets to the right door and leaves us alone, but I’m lying there afraid to walk to the bus station. At last I doze off and in my dream Barbara Deibert, Richard’s mom has come to visit the family as an angel. Barbara died in the summer of 2006. When I wake up I am confident that she is present in the room, and that she will walk with me to the bus station, as my guardian angel. It was a powerful experience. Tears ran down my face as I rode the bus to the airport.
I have had one other significant angelic-type experience like that when my dad, after he died, and I resolved a deeply emotional issue in a dream. I needed for my own peace of mind to forgive my dad and that forgiveness got resolved in a dream. You can separate reality from dream if you want, but for me they are connected.
Now, let’s be clear, the text does not say that the angel came to Mary in a dream. It says that about the angel and Joseph in Matthew, but we don’t know whether Mary’s visit was in the day or the night. But the scripture tells us the angel greets her as the one full of grace, and says to her what we say to each other every week as we come to the Sacrament. “The Lord be with you. The Lord is with you.” The angel explains that Mary has been chosen by God and encourages her not to be afraid. And the angel informs her that she will have a son, who will be great, who will be Son of the Most High.
Mary asked the question that generations after her have asked. “How can this be?” Our modern minds bent toward scientific proofs want to know even more than people in Biblical times, “How can this be?” Tell me how. We try to tame the miracle. We want to be able to wrap our minds around it. Make it more believable, more real. But maybe it’s more real, when you relish the miracle like I relished the presence of Barbara Deibert on the sidewalk of Athens at 4:00 am. I challenge you this Christmas to take on the faith of little children and cling to the miracle. Enjoy it. Celebrate it. Live into a second naivete’ and dare to believe the truth which cannot be proven, but which will change your life when you are open and receptive like Mary.
I like believing that the Holy Spirit can do things that seem impossible to us. Does that make me a fundamentalist? No? But it means my view of Christ is higher than my view of my own ability to process information. I cannot explain higher math, so why should I be able to explain how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit?
I affirm by faith, though not by logical reason, that the child conceived in Mary was truly divine. If not conceived by the Holy Spirit, then Jesus was just a great human being, a marvelous teacher, a prophet. He was all those things but more. He was Immanuel – God with us in person. He was set apart from the very beginning. I believe this Incarnation – this God becoming human flesh – was a holy and mysterious event, brought about by divine grace surpassing human possibilities. (This language borrowed from The Study Catechism) If he’s not fully divine, then he is not deserving of our worship. If he’s not fully human, then we have not been fully saved. As Irenaeus, the 2nd century church leader, whose name means “peace” said, “That which has not been assumed, cannot be healed.”
I’m grateful that Jesus had a wonderful step-dad in Joseph but I have no trouble claiming that his real father was God. And that whatever happened to Mary was different and more glorious than what happened to me four times, or we could say five. And of course, we all know anyone’s child-bearing, is a miracle beyond our explanation – how babies in the short period of nine months become the perfect and beautiful individuals they are with genes from two people mixed into this unique DNA combination. And how even adopted children develop deeply held attitudes and mannerisms picked up unconsciously from their loving parents who nurtured them.
But miraculous as regular child-bearing and child-rearing is, it is not the same as giving birth to God with us, the Lord of heaven born on earth. But what the Church has seen in Mary for two thousand years is a human being ready to receive the fullness of God, willing to receive the fullness of God, unafraid to receive the fullness of God, the fullness of God, the fullness of God. Mary is our greatest role model, as she was the very first person to accept, to receive Jesus Christ into her life unreservedly.
I pray to become more like Mary, willing to say to the outrageous claim of an angel of the Lord, “Let it be with me according to your word.” In other words, in common vernacular, “Okay, Gabriel, what you’ve just told me makes no common sense but do with me what you want. I am open and receptive.” Wow, what if we said that too! What might happen, if we really received Christ like that? O Little Town of Bethlehem, which we will sing in a moment, has this wonderful line: Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in. We are told Mary was likely a peasant girl, not very old, not at all prestigious, until by her faithful openness to receive the fullness of God, she became known and loved around the world as Mother of our Lord. May we discover the meekness of a childlike and receptive faith this Christmas.
The other wonderful line from O Little Town of Bethlehem will be our prayer –
O holy child of Bethlehem descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in. Be born in us today.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Rejoice in the Love
Zephaniah 3:14-20 & Phil. 4:4-9
3rd Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
NRS Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
After last Sunday’s call to repentance, you might be glad to know that on this 3rd Sunday of Advent, we move to the more cheerful theme of rejoicing. Joy, joy, joy. We’d rather be rejoicing than repenting. But when you hear about the context of Paul, writing to the Philippians from prison, saying “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, “Rejoice!” then you know that this rejoicing is deeper than having a “Holly, jolly Christmas”. Sometimes the fa, la, las of the season get on my nerves. The tunes are fun, but the more Christmas gets associated with chestnuts and bows of holly and silver bells and frosty snowmen and red-nosed reindeer, then we are promoting a carefree and shallow notion of Christmas cheer,not real Advent joy that can stand up against the harshest realities.
We need a joy that can be sustained in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. We need a joy that can lift our spirits when death is knocking at our door and we can’t keep it way off in the yard any more, a joy that supports us when we’re still grieving this time of year for those who have gone before us. We need a joy that can build us up when we suffer through divorce or depression or aging or school troubles or the parent problems. (Parent problems go both ways you know – trouble as parents or trouble with parents.) We need a joy that can inspire us to give generously to those who have lost hope, or are hungry, or have no where to turn, as we at Peace are trying to do, but never do enough.
Rejoicing after repenting, and that’s what we do every Sunday when we confess our sins, then remember our baptism into the arms of God’s love and then greet one another with the peace of Christ. That a moment of rejoicing in God’s goodness – such that no matter what we’ve done, no matter what someone has done to us, there is joy and forgiveness and love for all.
The first time I heard Philippians 4 discussed in a college Bible study, I remember appreciating the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is be cheerful and glad when all is going well. Joy is being content and glad whether things are going well or not. Instead of “Don’t worry. Be happy” the message for today is rejoice in God’s love. Put worry and sadness and frustration and fear in perspective. If Paul can say from prison “Rejoice” or “count it all joy” or some other use of the word joy 14 times in this short letter, then we can reach a little deeper ourselves. You cannot muster happiness, but you can muster joy through the disciplines of the faith – through worship, prayer, and Bible study, through putting others first and living according to Christ’s example, yes, you can find joy, even if you are never happy.
Old Testament prophets like Zephaniah, who lived through a difficult season of Israel’s life in the 7th century BC, help us to discover a spirit of joy despite the agonies of a God-forsaken existence. When you hear the mournful Zephaniah who is so depressed over the way his people are living, so discouraged under the leadership of evil King Manasseh, say “Rejoice and be glad!” then you know that rejoicing comes as a great nevertheless to the suffering and evils of the world. That’s what theologian Karl Barth said of Paul’s rejoicing from prison – that it was a defiant nevertheless. Nevertheless I will rejoice and be thankful.
Zephaniah’s people are under the oppressive thumb of the Assyrians and this is before the great spiritual reforms of the good King Josiah. And Zephaniah does not mince words in the opening of his book. In chapter one he announced that their flesh is dung and there will be a terrible end to all of creation. Yet this same prophet ends his writing with words of hope and rejoicing. Perhaps the circumstances had actually changed by the time or perhaps he could tell that times were changing when these verses from chapter 3 were added, but all the same, these words of hope and rejoicing come to us in the literary context of despair and destruction. Zephaniah invites us to revere God and turn to God’s ways, to trust in God as protector and savior, to love God, knowing that God is delighting in us, and to imagine a better world, one in which God is reigning and renewing us in love.
Hear the word of the Lord from Zephaniah: NLT Zephaniah 3:14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Isreal! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 15 For the LORD will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the LORD himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster. 16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, "Cheer up, Zion! Don't be afraid! 17 For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." 18 "I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you will be disgraced no more. 19 And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and helpless ones;I will bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory and fame to my former exiles, wherever they have been mocked and shamed. 20 On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction, among all the nations of the earth, as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
God's people learn to rejoice in God's presence, even or especially when there seemed little visible evidence to support it. Think of Mary waiting for the birth of Jesus, dealing with some anxiety about people’s perceptions yet singing about her hope: "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Or consider Paul and Silas during their first visit to Philippi. When they were thrown into prison they sang hymns of praise at midnight, "and the prisoners were listening to them" and their chains fell off. (Acts 16:25) (Christian Century, Nov 23, 1994, William Dyrness) There is freedom in being able to rejoice in the middle of difficult circumstances. To cling tenaciously to hope in God while everything around you tells you there is no hope.
Those who have joy more than happiness know that life is painful. They are not in denial about their own and others’ pain, but they are not imprisoned in despair. They understand that they have a challenging but rewarding role to play in keeping the faith and living joyfully despite difficulties.
This passage captures the tension between the hope and the conviction we hold in God’s future, and the radical change and re-shaping of our world that is required for this foreseen future to become a present reality. There is great hope in a vision of a future restoration, but all of the difficulty and pain associated with his sort of change remains in view.” (Howard Wallace, Uniting Church, Australia)
It was hopeful on Friday to hear a repentant Tiger Woods say that he needs to take a break from golf to work on healing the hurt he has caused his wife and family, not to mention the disappointment of his friends and fans. This is something to rejoice in – his repentance, but not something to be happy about. There is no happiness in Tiger and his wife trying to work out the problems caused by his multiple infidelities. There is a lot of difficulty and pain ahead, yet there can be some joy in Tiger’s decision to try to do what is right and necessary, if there is any hope of healing.
So, my friends, we end up in the same place as last week, with the tension of knowing we have a God who is coming to make things right, who is calling us to live as Christ lived, which is quite different from the way we live now. God condemns the sin of our lives, challenges us to repent, and then takes the judgment away. God is delighting in us, while also wanting more from us. God is renewing us in God’s boundless love, rejoicing in us, changing our shame into praise.
We are accustomed to images of God as judge. We are accustomed to images of God as shepherd, gathering the flock into the fold. But how often do we imagine God as one who rejoices? One who sings? Yet here, in our text, God and God's people alike are caught up in a joy that overflows into song, a joy that springs from love renewed, from a relationship restored.
This joy is not one-sided. It is not simply we, God's people ,who rejoice because God has forgiven and restored us. It is not simply God's people who rejoice. God,too, sings and shouts with joy over this love restored. The divine heart overflows with jubilation!
This image of God bears no resemblance to Aristotle's "unmoved mover," Many people today think that some higher being set the world in motion and lets it go. No, this God is moved by human attitudes and actions. This God does not watch from a distance, but enters into the life of the world. This God enters even into human flesh, in the mystery and wonder of the Incarnation.
This Sunday, we rejoice in the love, even if our lives are in a minor key. We sing with the joy of a people redeemed and restored, but also with the joy of a God who is deeply invested in the life of the world. God sings. God shouts. God rejoices. Emmanuel comes to us and renews us in love “REJOICE, rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to Thee, O Israel.”
(Ideas in last four paragraphs re-worked from Kathryn Schifferdecker, workingpreacher.org)
3rd Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
NRS Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
After last Sunday’s call to repentance, you might be glad to know that on this 3rd Sunday of Advent, we move to the more cheerful theme of rejoicing. Joy, joy, joy. We’d rather be rejoicing than repenting. But when you hear about the context of Paul, writing to the Philippians from prison, saying “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, “Rejoice!” then you know that this rejoicing is deeper than having a “Holly, jolly Christmas”. Sometimes the fa, la, las of the season get on my nerves. The tunes are fun, but the more Christmas gets associated with chestnuts and bows of holly and silver bells and frosty snowmen and red-nosed reindeer, then we are promoting a carefree and shallow notion of Christmas cheer,not real Advent joy that can stand up against the harshest realities.
We need a joy that can be sustained in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. We need a joy that can lift our spirits when death is knocking at our door and we can’t keep it way off in the yard any more, a joy that supports us when we’re still grieving this time of year for those who have gone before us. We need a joy that can build us up when we suffer through divorce or depression or aging or school troubles or the parent problems. (Parent problems go both ways you know – trouble as parents or trouble with parents.) We need a joy that can inspire us to give generously to those who have lost hope, or are hungry, or have no where to turn, as we at Peace are trying to do, but never do enough.
Rejoicing after repenting, and that’s what we do every Sunday when we confess our sins, then remember our baptism into the arms of God’s love and then greet one another with the peace of Christ. That a moment of rejoicing in God’s goodness – such that no matter what we’ve done, no matter what someone has done to us, there is joy and forgiveness and love for all.
The first time I heard Philippians 4 discussed in a college Bible study, I remember appreciating the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is be cheerful and glad when all is going well. Joy is being content and glad whether things are going well or not. Instead of “Don’t worry. Be happy” the message for today is rejoice in God’s love. Put worry and sadness and frustration and fear in perspective. If Paul can say from prison “Rejoice” or “count it all joy” or some other use of the word joy 14 times in this short letter, then we can reach a little deeper ourselves. You cannot muster happiness, but you can muster joy through the disciplines of the faith – through worship, prayer, and Bible study, through putting others first and living according to Christ’s example, yes, you can find joy, even if you are never happy.
Old Testament prophets like Zephaniah, who lived through a difficult season of Israel’s life in the 7th century BC, help us to discover a spirit of joy despite the agonies of a God-forsaken existence. When you hear the mournful Zephaniah who is so depressed over the way his people are living, so discouraged under the leadership of evil King Manasseh, say “Rejoice and be glad!” then you know that rejoicing comes as a great nevertheless to the suffering and evils of the world. That’s what theologian Karl Barth said of Paul’s rejoicing from prison – that it was a defiant nevertheless. Nevertheless I will rejoice and be thankful.
Zephaniah’s people are under the oppressive thumb of the Assyrians and this is before the great spiritual reforms of the good King Josiah. And Zephaniah does not mince words in the opening of his book. In chapter one he announced that their flesh is dung and there will be a terrible end to all of creation. Yet this same prophet ends his writing with words of hope and rejoicing. Perhaps the circumstances had actually changed by the time or perhaps he could tell that times were changing when these verses from chapter 3 were added, but all the same, these words of hope and rejoicing come to us in the literary context of despair and destruction. Zephaniah invites us to revere God and turn to God’s ways, to trust in God as protector and savior, to love God, knowing that God is delighting in us, and to imagine a better world, one in which God is reigning and renewing us in love.
Hear the word of the Lord from Zephaniah: NLT Zephaniah 3:14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Isreal! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 15 For the LORD will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the LORD himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster. 16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, "Cheer up, Zion! Don't be afraid! 17 For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." 18 "I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you will be disgraced no more. 19 And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and helpless ones;I will bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory and fame to my former exiles, wherever they have been mocked and shamed. 20 On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction, among all the nations of the earth, as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
God's people learn to rejoice in God's presence, even or especially when there seemed little visible evidence to support it. Think of Mary waiting for the birth of Jesus, dealing with some anxiety about people’s perceptions yet singing about her hope: "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Or consider Paul and Silas during their first visit to Philippi. When they were thrown into prison they sang hymns of praise at midnight, "and the prisoners were listening to them" and their chains fell off. (Acts 16:25) (Christian Century, Nov 23, 1994, William Dyrness) There is freedom in being able to rejoice in the middle of difficult circumstances. To cling tenaciously to hope in God while everything around you tells you there is no hope.
Those who have joy more than happiness know that life is painful. They are not in denial about their own and others’ pain, but they are not imprisoned in despair. They understand that they have a challenging but rewarding role to play in keeping the faith and living joyfully despite difficulties.
This passage captures the tension between the hope and the conviction we hold in God’s future, and the radical change and re-shaping of our world that is required for this foreseen future to become a present reality. There is great hope in a vision of a future restoration, but all of the difficulty and pain associated with his sort of change remains in view.” (Howard Wallace, Uniting Church, Australia)
It was hopeful on Friday to hear a repentant Tiger Woods say that he needs to take a break from golf to work on healing the hurt he has caused his wife and family, not to mention the disappointment of his friends and fans. This is something to rejoice in – his repentance, but not something to be happy about. There is no happiness in Tiger and his wife trying to work out the problems caused by his multiple infidelities. There is a lot of difficulty and pain ahead, yet there can be some joy in Tiger’s decision to try to do what is right and necessary, if there is any hope of healing.
So, my friends, we end up in the same place as last week, with the tension of knowing we have a God who is coming to make things right, who is calling us to live as Christ lived, which is quite different from the way we live now. God condemns the sin of our lives, challenges us to repent, and then takes the judgment away. God is delighting in us, while also wanting more from us. God is renewing us in God’s boundless love, rejoicing in us, changing our shame into praise.
We are accustomed to images of God as judge. We are accustomed to images of God as shepherd, gathering the flock into the fold. But how often do we imagine God as one who rejoices? One who sings? Yet here, in our text, God and God's people alike are caught up in a joy that overflows into song, a joy that springs from love renewed, from a relationship restored.
This joy is not one-sided. It is not simply we, God's people ,who rejoice because God has forgiven and restored us. It is not simply God's people who rejoice. God,too, sings and shouts with joy over this love restored. The divine heart overflows with jubilation!
This image of God bears no resemblance to Aristotle's "unmoved mover," Many people today think that some higher being set the world in motion and lets it go. No, this God is moved by human attitudes and actions. This God does not watch from a distance, but enters into the life of the world. This God enters even into human flesh, in the mystery and wonder of the Incarnation.
This Sunday, we rejoice in the love, even if our lives are in a minor key. We sing with the joy of a people redeemed and restored, but also with the joy of a God who is deeply invested in the life of the world. God sings. God shouts. God rejoices. Emmanuel comes to us and renews us in love “REJOICE, rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to Thee, O Israel.”
(Ideas in last four paragraphs re-worked from Kathryn Schifferdecker, workingpreacher.org)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Prepare the Way
Luke 3:1-6
2nd Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
We learned this week that Richard’s dad and brother might bring his aunt and uncle for Christmas. They don’t have grandchildren yet, so they enjoy the energy of our family. We’d enjoy having them. Richard is concerned about whether they can climb the stairs. I’m concerned that the carpet upstairs desperately needs cleaning. Preparations for Christmas. Opportunity to focus on what’s important – welcoming people. Or not.
Richard and I got into a money argument Friday morning because I’m worried about what we should get the kids – keeping things in balance, and I interpreted his response to my anxiety about this as an unwillingness to engage the subject of finances when really, he just thought this wasn’t the right time for the conversation because I said I had a sermon to write. He’s keeping everything in separate box in his brain, while all the things in my brain have connections to all the other things. Christmas preparations. Opportunity to focus on what’s valuable – good, loving, respectful communication. Or not.
At the Festive Friday party we hosted for families of children and youth, we had a conversation about when everyone puts up decorations. Some get it up on Thanksgiving week-end in time for the first Sunday of Advent. They are done with it by December
26th or at least by the new year. Others of us wait until close to Christmas, then leave up until the 12 day of Christmas – Epiphany, the 6th of January. Preparations for Christmas, the season. Opportunities to focus on the reason for the season – or not.
Our scripture today is concerned with a different kind of preparation. We might call these advent preparations. John the Baptist talks about preparing the way, making a path for our God. He’s preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Repentance? How does that fit into this season of decking the halls and trying to be jolly? Repentance is the heart of our Christmas Preparations. That is how we prepare the way.
Hear the word of the Lord from Luke 3.
NRS Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of 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.'"
We prepare the way by repentance. But repentance is not a popular theme these days. We could blame that on the fundamentalist and right wing preachers, who made a mockery of it by shouting from street corners and revival tents and bully pulpits, while having too much hypocrisy in their own lives to make their calls to holiness seem authentic. The right wing preacher would focus our attention on the crookedness of our lives.
We prepare the way for Christmas by repentance. But repentance is not a popular theme. We could blame that on secular humanists and left wing Christians, who invite us to make fun of a faith focused on repentance, who encourage us to think good thoughts about ourselves, to build up self-esteem, and believe in a God who always accepts all people just as they are without condition or reserve. The left wing preacher would focus our attention on the last verse – the promise that all flesh shall see the salvation of our God.
Both polarized groups are missing something – both have cheapened our view of the Christian life and tried to put God in a box for safe keeping. We need to stop choosing sides and realize that both messages are needed. Repentance and forgiveness. Never one without the other. Our reading from Malachi mentions the “refining fire” Fire burns. Fire melts and molds. There is a harshness to fire, but a glorious purpose in the shaping of a godly character. Think of the way fire clear away the brush so the forest is healthier.
We have need of God’s refining fire. We have need of a healthy fear of the Lord’s judgment. We have become far too cozy with God, as if the Lord of heaven and earth is our good buddy with whom we can laugh about sin, ‘cause it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is grace. What a friend we have in Jesus. Yes, but we are not equals. He lived without sin. We live full of sin. Thank God, our Lord is merciful enough to keep us from seeing the full ugliness of our own hearts.
John the Baptist is the forerunner paving the way for Christ’s first sermon which begins “Repent and believe the good news.” John says “repent” and goes on to call his gathered congregation a “brood of vipers.” He challenges them to bear fruits worthy of repentance or be thrown into the fire. When they ask what he means by this repentance, he says, “Whoever has two coats, share with someone who has none. Whoever has food, do likewise.” Repent doesn’t mean sitting around feeling bad about my seven coats in the closet. It doesn’t mean that I should ask for forgiveness with no intention of changing. It means doing something different. Making a change.
To those who had the power of money matters, tax collectors, John said, “Collect no more money than the amount prescribed.” Be fairer than other tax collectors.
To soldiers he said, “Do not threaten people or make false accusations or take what doesn’t belong to you. Be satisfied with what you have.”
To the all crowd, John said of Jesus, I am not worthy to untie his sandals. There’s the measure of humility that we need. If we recognize that we are completely unworthy, fully needy of God’s forgiveness because of our continual sin and blindness of heart, if we can truly repent, which means turning away from the sin we acknowledge, then we are beginning to prepare the way of the Lord.
To prepare the way of the Lord is to stop comparing ourselves with other people, allowing ourselves an opportunity for self-righteousness. That’s why we find it hard to stop watching the slime about other people, people like Tiger Woods, people in high places who fall from grace, because it reinforces our thinking that we’re pretty good folk. We haven’t done anything that bad. We’re nice people.
But the comparison we need to make is of ourselves with a holy God, not ourselves with others. We need to compare ourselves with the people God intended us to be. Ourselves with Jesus Christ. Then we see how far short we fall. It’s not about condemnation of others. It’s not about wallowing in guilt and bad feelings about ourselves. There is no repentance in that – only continued sin and sickness. God wants us well and whole, and we take part in the healing process by cooperating with the treatment plan and taking the medicine. The medicine is repentance, acknowledgment of fault and turning from it. The treatment plan is forgiveness, followed by a renewed commitment to holiness, which requires daily repentance. Forgiveness without continuing repentance and desire for holiness does not cure our adness, our sinful condition. We need comfort of God’s promises, but also the challenge of God’s holy claim on our lives.
Repentance – a daily pattern of turning away from all which is not pleasing to God. Daily awareness of the depth of God’s forgiveness comes by seeing also the depth of our sin. Repentance – making way, preparing for Christ to be born anew in our hearts – is the challenge of this season. Hear these words from The Illumined Heart by Frederica Mathewes-Green: “The ancient Christian literature on repentance is beautiful – full of simplicity, humility, and spreading peace. There is nothing in it of masochism or despair. Those who know themselves to be so greatly forgiven are far from gloomy, but are flooded with joy and deep tranquility. Those who are forgiven much love much. They find it hard to hold grudges against others; they find it hard to hold any thing in this life very tightly. For the Christian, two things seem to be ever linked: sorrow over sin, and gratitude for forgiveness. Repentance is the source of life and joy.” (p. 42)
So we can spend all our time preparing for the cultural traditions of Christmas–holiday lights, presents for one another, food and seasonal gathering. One can stay quite busy with all of that.
But stop to think about Jill and Mark, who left this morning to attend the funeral of their close friend Gary, forty-something, who died, leaving a seven year old and a wife. Think about the family of Tricia’s friends, the Knauert family, four kids and a wife moving through a first Christmas without dad and husband. Think about all the people in the world who are hungrier this Christmas than last Christmas. Do our holiday lights, presents, and sugar cookies do much for that grief? Those Christmas preparations would be like trying puts band-aids on a severed leg.
That’s why it is imperative that we prepare for advent. Prepare our hearts more than our houses. Pray, work on our relationships, give generously, read scripture, listen to music which inspires our faith, think about how we can make a difference. Prepare the way of the Lord by a renewed desire to repent. Repentance is not so much emotion but is renewal of the mind, a rethinking of motives and actions, a willingness to admit sin, and then to work at living according to the will of God. It is attitude. Sorrow for sin. Gratitude for forgiveness. The best gift you can give anyone this year is your own spirit of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.
Lord, we are part of a generation that wants to dismiss the gravity of sin, to deny our own short-comings, to defend our own actions at all costs, even the cost of life and joy and peace. In place of true repentance, we have despair, confusion, and anger. Help us to see that the call to repentance is good news. But more importantly, help us to repent. Help us to see the selfishness of our lives, the self-justifying attitudes, the unwillingness to deeply examine ourselves, and be open to change. May your loving and purifying Spirit burn away all impurities in us, and overwhelm us with gratitude for your merciful, boundless forgiveness.
Come, O long-expected Jesus, born to set your people free. From our fears and sins release us. Let us find our rest in Thee.
2nd Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
We learned this week that Richard’s dad and brother might bring his aunt and uncle for Christmas. They don’t have grandchildren yet, so they enjoy the energy of our family. We’d enjoy having them. Richard is concerned about whether they can climb the stairs. I’m concerned that the carpet upstairs desperately needs cleaning. Preparations for Christmas. Opportunity to focus on what’s important – welcoming people. Or not.
Richard and I got into a money argument Friday morning because I’m worried about what we should get the kids – keeping things in balance, and I interpreted his response to my anxiety about this as an unwillingness to engage the subject of finances when really, he just thought this wasn’t the right time for the conversation because I said I had a sermon to write. He’s keeping everything in separate box in his brain, while all the things in my brain have connections to all the other things. Christmas preparations. Opportunity to focus on what’s valuable – good, loving, respectful communication. Or not.
At the Festive Friday party we hosted for families of children and youth, we had a conversation about when everyone puts up decorations. Some get it up on Thanksgiving week-end in time for the first Sunday of Advent. They are done with it by December
26th or at least by the new year. Others of us wait until close to Christmas, then leave up until the 12 day of Christmas – Epiphany, the 6th of January. Preparations for Christmas, the season. Opportunities to focus on the reason for the season – or not.
Our scripture today is concerned with a different kind of preparation. We might call these advent preparations. John the Baptist talks about preparing the way, making a path for our God. He’s preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Repentance? How does that fit into this season of decking the halls and trying to be jolly? Repentance is the heart of our Christmas Preparations. That is how we prepare the way.
Hear the word of the Lord from Luke 3.
NRS Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of 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.'"
We prepare the way by repentance. But repentance is not a popular theme these days. We could blame that on the fundamentalist and right wing preachers, who made a mockery of it by shouting from street corners and revival tents and bully pulpits, while having too much hypocrisy in their own lives to make their calls to holiness seem authentic. The right wing preacher would focus our attention on the crookedness of our lives.
We prepare the way for Christmas by repentance. But repentance is not a popular theme. We could blame that on secular humanists and left wing Christians, who invite us to make fun of a faith focused on repentance, who encourage us to think good thoughts about ourselves, to build up self-esteem, and believe in a God who always accepts all people just as they are without condition or reserve. The left wing preacher would focus our attention on the last verse – the promise that all flesh shall see the salvation of our God.
Both polarized groups are missing something – both have cheapened our view of the Christian life and tried to put God in a box for safe keeping. We need to stop choosing sides and realize that both messages are needed. Repentance and forgiveness. Never one without the other. Our reading from Malachi mentions the “refining fire” Fire burns. Fire melts and molds. There is a harshness to fire, but a glorious purpose in the shaping of a godly character. Think of the way fire clear away the brush so the forest is healthier.
We have need of God’s refining fire. We have need of a healthy fear of the Lord’s judgment. We have become far too cozy with God, as if the Lord of heaven and earth is our good buddy with whom we can laugh about sin, ‘cause it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is grace. What a friend we have in Jesus. Yes, but we are not equals. He lived without sin. We live full of sin. Thank God, our Lord is merciful enough to keep us from seeing the full ugliness of our own hearts.
John the Baptist is the forerunner paving the way for Christ’s first sermon which begins “Repent and believe the good news.” John says “repent” and goes on to call his gathered congregation a “brood of vipers.” He challenges them to bear fruits worthy of repentance or be thrown into the fire. When they ask what he means by this repentance, he says, “Whoever has two coats, share with someone who has none. Whoever has food, do likewise.” Repent doesn’t mean sitting around feeling bad about my seven coats in the closet. It doesn’t mean that I should ask for forgiveness with no intention of changing. It means doing something different. Making a change.
To those who had the power of money matters, tax collectors, John said, “Collect no more money than the amount prescribed.” Be fairer than other tax collectors.
To soldiers he said, “Do not threaten people or make false accusations or take what doesn’t belong to you. Be satisfied with what you have.”
To the all crowd, John said of Jesus, I am not worthy to untie his sandals. There’s the measure of humility that we need. If we recognize that we are completely unworthy, fully needy of God’s forgiveness because of our continual sin and blindness of heart, if we can truly repent, which means turning away from the sin we acknowledge, then we are beginning to prepare the way of the Lord.
To prepare the way of the Lord is to stop comparing ourselves with other people, allowing ourselves an opportunity for self-righteousness. That’s why we find it hard to stop watching the slime about other people, people like Tiger Woods, people in high places who fall from grace, because it reinforces our thinking that we’re pretty good folk. We haven’t done anything that bad. We’re nice people.
But the comparison we need to make is of ourselves with a holy God, not ourselves with others. We need to compare ourselves with the people God intended us to be. Ourselves with Jesus Christ. Then we see how far short we fall. It’s not about condemnation of others. It’s not about wallowing in guilt and bad feelings about ourselves. There is no repentance in that – only continued sin and sickness. God wants us well and whole, and we take part in the healing process by cooperating with the treatment plan and taking the medicine. The medicine is repentance, acknowledgment of fault and turning from it. The treatment plan is forgiveness, followed by a renewed commitment to holiness, which requires daily repentance. Forgiveness without continuing repentance and desire for holiness does not cure our adness, our sinful condition. We need comfort of God’s promises, but also the challenge of God’s holy claim on our lives.
Repentance – a daily pattern of turning away from all which is not pleasing to God. Daily awareness of the depth of God’s forgiveness comes by seeing also the depth of our sin. Repentance – making way, preparing for Christ to be born anew in our hearts – is the challenge of this season. Hear these words from The Illumined Heart by Frederica Mathewes-Green: “The ancient Christian literature on repentance is beautiful – full of simplicity, humility, and spreading peace. There is nothing in it of masochism or despair. Those who know themselves to be so greatly forgiven are far from gloomy, but are flooded with joy and deep tranquility. Those who are forgiven much love much. They find it hard to hold grudges against others; they find it hard to hold any thing in this life very tightly. For the Christian, two things seem to be ever linked: sorrow over sin, and gratitude for forgiveness. Repentance is the source of life and joy.” (p. 42)
So we can spend all our time preparing for the cultural traditions of Christmas–holiday lights, presents for one another, food and seasonal gathering. One can stay quite busy with all of that.
But stop to think about Jill and Mark, who left this morning to attend the funeral of their close friend Gary, forty-something, who died, leaving a seven year old and a wife. Think about the family of Tricia’s friends, the Knauert family, four kids and a wife moving through a first Christmas without dad and husband. Think about all the people in the world who are hungrier this Christmas than last Christmas. Do our holiday lights, presents, and sugar cookies do much for that grief? Those Christmas preparations would be like trying puts band-aids on a severed leg.
That’s why it is imperative that we prepare for advent. Prepare our hearts more than our houses. Pray, work on our relationships, give generously, read scripture, listen to music which inspires our faith, think about how we can make a difference. Prepare the way of the Lord by a renewed desire to repent. Repentance is not so much emotion but is renewal of the mind, a rethinking of motives and actions, a willingness to admit sin, and then to work at living according to the will of God. It is attitude. Sorrow for sin. Gratitude for forgiveness. The best gift you can give anyone this year is your own spirit of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.
Lord, we are part of a generation that wants to dismiss the gravity of sin, to deny our own short-comings, to defend our own actions at all costs, even the cost of life and joy and peace. In place of true repentance, we have despair, confusion, and anger. Help us to see that the call to repentance is good news. But more importantly, help us to repent. Help us to see the selfishness of our lives, the self-justifying attitudes, the unwillingness to deeply examine ourselves, and be open to change. May your loving and purifying Spirit burn away all impurities in us, and overwhelm us with gratitude for your merciful, boundless forgiveness.
Come, O long-expected Jesus, born to set your people free. From our fears and sins release us. Let us find our rest in Thee.
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