Second
Sunday of Advent
Year
C
homily preached among the community of St Stephen's, New Harmony, Indiana
homily preached among the community of St Stephen's, New Harmony, Indiana
The last time I was with you
it was a day and a half after the Paris attacks.
And Yesterday I read about San Bernadino
And its new label: domestic terrorism
What does Advent mean…to us…today?
Who is John the Baptist…to us…today?
What does it mean to be a Christian, a St
Stephen’s Christian…today?
What possibly could these biblical texts reveal
to help us make sense…Of OUR… today?
Because honestly
here is what it sounds like to me:
For cryin’ out loud
there is this loud voice in the wilderness
And he is given me a long to-do list:
Prepare
Make
straight
Fill
Make
low
Make
smooth
And then…just be patient…be patient…because
All
flesh…All…flesh…shall see the Salvation of God!!!
To me… TODAY
that sounds like a completely overwhelming to-do
list
And
I simply can’t imagine
At least not…Today
How we will ever get to that “All flesh shall see” part!
TRUE CONFESSION:
I hear this passage and feel God speaking through
John,
who’s speaking through Isaiah
right straight to me…and only me!
He’s hand delivering that giant to-do list into MY
hands!
Of course I know that’s poppycock
But in my pride or arrogance
In my private God & Me world
I am tempted over and over again
To be drawn into that I HAVE TO DO place
My TO DO LIST…place
I is a place that can so easily turn frozen and
barren and lifeless
I want…this ADVENT…to be a
“wait in joyful hope” Advent
But…Today…Lord Take my Hand
Saturday morning I woke up and had a text message
from a dear friend
She’s visiting in Chicago
She’s Waiting
For the arrival...the birth…of a second
grandchild.
Along with the message came several photos of
Vivien
Vivien is the Big Sis To Be…and she is 2
And one photo
Had Vivien on the stairs
Holding her baby doll
Tenderly
And it looked like she was asleep
On the step…on the third step from the ground
She was in-between
Waiting for something
Not wanting to go to bed for fear that she might
miss it
Sweet Vivien…waiting
in joyful hope
My office…The pastoral care office
Is right at the entrance to the Hospital for
Women and Children
And when I’m attentive
To my surroundings
Come December…Come Advent
I begin to more keenly notice
the women coming in
for their prenatal visits
And…in my attentiveness
I notice their bodies
And how…
the
way they walk and stand and lean
Slowly
changes
to
accommodate the life growing inside
And when the waiting is almost over
At
that “near the end” visit
I’ll notice one hand on the hip
The feet are a little spread apart as they walk
…a little awkwardly…weeboly wobbling
I’ll notice that the belly button
is
popping through the maternity clothes
And the baby is…without a doubt…in the lead
In fact
It almost seems as if the child is pulling mom…and
her family too…
Pulling all along
“C’mon”
the infant says
Your
Waiting in Joyful hope is almost
over
Another nine-month Advent gives way to
Incarnation
There is a gestation
And it can’t be hurried
I’m thinking that ADVENT
Is a perfect place to be…for now…for today
There aren’t answers in Advent
In fact Advent seems to be
prime
time for tension
It is in-between
time
It’s Heaven
AND earth time
It is both-and
both
Already AND not-yet
At
the same time…time
There are no quick and easy answers in Advent…no
cheap grace
All the gospels give a significant role to John
the Baptist
But in the Gospel of Luke
John the Baptist is a very full character
We know his parents
We know the story of his birth
And how he got his name
We know that he is the last great Hebrew prophet
And later we will know about how he lost his head
Rich story surrounds this John
He is a character
Who is in-between
In our short passage today
We can see this quite clearly
That long list of names and places
That started today’s passage
Situates the story in historical time and place
But it does more
These religious and political leaders
These Powers-That-Be
They are all very comfortable with CROOKED
They live within a crooked and violent
you
scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours…system
But we also get to glimpse
The Vision of the prophet Isaiah
A grand vision that leads to
“ALL FLESH shall see the salvation of God?”
The reality of God’s vision for our future
On
one side
And the all too vivid picture
of just
how far we are from that vision
On
the other side
It resonates…doesn’t it?
This is Advent tension
And that’s where we are called to wait
It doesn’t come easily… just waiting
It isn’t comfortable
Its not an easy rest…
the metaphor is a desert
Not a SPA
Carving out a desert place…a place of few
distractions…
Is, for most of us, so difficult to cultivate
(pull out my phone)
I take my distractions with me EVERYWHERE!
But I’m working on it
I’m not quite ready to give a seminar…but I am
working on it!
But if I do…If I can find 10-15 undistracted
minutes
In an undistracted place
I can actually pay attention…
To
whose voice, by the way, have I been listening?
I have to figure out how to BE, how to allow, and
not DO
Every year
The church calls us
To revisit
To retreat
To reclaim
And we do that by setting aside OUR to-do lists
And by accepting God’s invitation to BE
Just BE for a while…
Don’t worry…the doing will surely follow
A well experienced Advent will act like a good
editor
All those voices that don’t
In some way
Give birth to Christ
…Red-lined…scratched out
Like the child leading the pregnant mother
to the 3rd floor labor and delivery
The humble, simple, earthy child born of Mary
Will lead us.
We will submit our to-do list to His
And God will remind us
And whisper in our ears
It’s okay
You don’t have to take it all on
Be in communion
with me
And I will do the heavy lifting
And your doing really won’t be your doing
It will be my doing through you
Let me feed you at this table
Come its time for communion
Let me be Advented in you
Let me in…that close…and
…wait
and see what happens.
We proclaim Christ present
In Word, sacrament,
In the power and magnificence of Creation
In this humble gathering
But we also proclaim Christ present
Confoundedly
Unbelievably
Almost preposterously
present
In the suffering that surrounds us
And in our own suffering…
I know that is Good News
But right now
Today
It is okay to stay in the tension
In-between
I’m fine to just sit with it
Wait with it
And pray that “Waiting in Joyful Hope”
Gets a little easier tomorrow
And that we may grow
Into a people
Free of fear…And…full of grace
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