Advent - Year A -- 2022
Indexed by Date. Sermons for Advent Year A
Isaiah 11: 1-10
Psalm 72
Matthew 3: 1-12
I guess it’s a Facebook thing! Or maybe it’s actually Instagram?! Whatever it is, you click on a little video that promises something amusing, shocking or entertaining and all the while the caption indicates, “wait for it,” and you wait and WAIT for the video to become interesting, or for there to be a surprising ending. Many times though it is just eight or nine seconds of the same thing, playing in a loop, over and over and there is never an “exciting moment”. It cuts out just before what MUST have been the moment you were waiting for! And it’s not your computer; you haven’t missed anything because the comments left by others echo your own frustration. No one saw the advertised ending.
I have been doing this Advent preaching thing, every year, since 1987; some preachers for much longer; the church, well since Advent was created. Indeed, since the prophet Isaiah began to preach, several thousand years ago, we are STILL waiting.
To make it clear, Advent is not really about waiting for baby Jesus (he is really just one of the steps), Advent is really about awaiting the reign of God.
Every year we pair Isaiah’s words with John’s proclamation that the one to come is just about here. We hear but we don’t ever seem to arrive.
Yes, baby Jesus does indeed come and lives and proclaims and dies and rises again but here we are, once again, starting over yet again and things STILL look much the same.
Despite the lack of enforced social distancing they tell us that COVID is not over. Masks are again being recommended by some health officials. They are being very careful with our long term care facilities but how is that affecting the emotional health of families?
That’s not all! Did you realize that 26% of Saskatchewan’s children live in poverty, which means, of course, a significant number of families live in poverty. Even working Canadians are using food banks as the price of food and other necessities seem to be rising exponentially. Homelessness does not seem to be going away.
We know that the world is not at peace. While Russia and Ukraine have been at war for almost 9 years the conflict escalated immensely in February when Russian forces invaded Ukraine. More than 40,000 people have died since that war began and more than 14 Million people have been displaced.
Family violence remains a problem for too many, people are hurt or killed in accidents all the time. There is no utopia here on earth. Isaiah’s words sound so good but we may dismiss them as nothing but a pipe dream!
The questions for us this Advent are where do we want to go, how are we going to get there, and what do need to take with us?
Where are we going? Well we are heading for that elusive world made new. Even though its fullness has eluded us, we are, once again, choosing that place and time where justice flows down like a mighty stream.
How do we get there? Are steps in the Bible similar to a road map? Sometimes when I ask directions I get different advice from different people and eventually I have to find my own way! Advent is like that too!
The Gospel passage speaks of road building. Road building involves straightening out curves, filling valleys, taking down the steep hills and, when necessary, adding traffic circles, an extra set of lanes, AND re-paving. I don’t know about building roads in the land of Israel but we all see lots of it in the summer; the only time it’s possible to do that work.
Apparently, road building in advance of a visit of a powerful or famous person was a part of life in the ancient world. To prepare a highway for God seems like the only thing one could do!
Yet, if you are living in the middle of road construction you might be excused for wishing it had never been started. I’ve been there, a few times. There are frequent disruptions and dust everywhere, but when finished, you wonder how you lived without it.
Where do we want to go on this new road?
We often think of Advent as preparation for Christmas - and I suppose that is at least a rest stop on God’s new highway.
What do we want from Christmas? It seems that consumerism tries to take hold of just about everything in this season of preparation. In my childhood we had the Sears Wish Book AND the Eaton’s Christmas Catalogue. Remember those? We had friends who had stuff that we did not. TV advertised other stuff that looked so cool. So, like most children, we would have a long list of wants, of expectations. Sometimes I received an item from my list; most of the big-ticket items were beyond the budget of parents with a house-full of kids. My parents specialized in gifts we all had to share! I even have pictures!
I think its one of the hardest obstacles there is - to a good Christmas - to raise a family without falling into the trap that stuff under the tree will bring happiness - if you can’t afford it - and especially if you can.
Another of the expectations with John and with Isaiah is that God’s reign involves seeking justice for all. Justice involves change and often repentance on the part of those who hold the reins of power.
As Christians we hope and pray for a future more in line with God’s vision for humanity. Part of this involves seeking to right the wrongs of the past.
A number of years ago Canada apologized for the wartime internment of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry and the confiscation of their property - all on the assumption they were the enemy.
The United Church of Canada began the process of apologizing with respect to Canada’s native peoples in 1986 with the first formal apology from the General Council - I was in theological college at the time. Almost 40 years later we are still in a process of living into our apology and I expect to be doing so for many years - because we still have a ways to go. Acknowledgement of territory has become a part of many meetings, in government and other areas of life, and including our own church’s worship services. We know that this is just ONE more step on this road but it is not our destination. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Federal Government and the apology for the atrocities of Residential Schools is an intrinsic part of this but are not ends in themselves. The systems for which we are apologizing have created a playing field that is not level and have created inequities that continue to exist.
Of course we should live lives that do not have anything to apologize for. Living in justice and respect; and intentionally not making the same mistakes is essential but easier said than done. I have read news reports from several provinces of schools which are being sued or, or investigated for, various kinds of abuse - AND IT WAS NOT YEARS AGO. These abuses have happened since I have begun my career - when everyone in education should have known better and should have prevented it. In one case our Church’s Regional Council has publically supported those who were victimized.
When it comes to Advent and Christmas we all like to be the recipients of the “peace on earth” but not so much to be the human source of the “goodwill to all people”.
Goodwill is costly. Goodwill sometimes means that we have to swallow our pride or our anger or our sense of self-importance.
Someone once advised, “be the change you want to see in the world”. All too often we feel that OTHER PEOPLE are the ones who need to change. It’s OTHER PEOPLE who are the problem. It is the OTHER PEOPLE who have to make the world a better place; the OTHER PEOPLE who have to build the highway.
We are the ones who are called to build this metaphorical road, this highway.
Sometimes you have to stop patching a road that is all torn to pieces and bring out the heavy equipment, bite the bullet and re-build that road from scratch. The surveying is done; the new maps are ready and the shovels need to come out. We know where we want to go and how we are supposed to get there.
What is stopping us?
Isaiah 35: 1-10
Like 1: 47-55
Matthew 11: 2-11
It’s another of those Sundays with a confusing time shift. The passage we are using instead of a Psalm, has an expectant Mary raising her voice in a song of hope with regard to the children she and Elizabeth were carrying. God’s age old promises were about to be fulfilled. The other Gospel passage has a bewildered John the Baptizer sending a message to a grown up Jesus. Advent is like that.
By the time the gospels had been written, Jesus had already lived and died and was being proclaimed as the Risen One. Yet, if you had heard John the Baptizer’s preaching yourself and had read the passages from Isaiah you might have been expecting someone rather different than Jesus turned out to be. The passage seems to imply that John was disappointed and needed to have things clarified. Keep in mind that at the time John sent his emissary to Jesus, he was in prison, though he did not really know he was on death row. That though, is another story. John was not executed for his wilderness preaching, but for his challenge of Herod’s marital choices and this distressed Herod’s wife.
John was an old school prophet, living in the desert and existing on very little. I seem to recall a vacation bible school song from years ago with the repeated refrain, “bugs and honey,” which of course thrilled the small kids; I guess it was the “ewwww” factor.
Jesus, on the other hand, is thought to have practised the trade of carpentry as a younger man and lived with the people. When he preached he went from village to village proclaiming “good news”. We also have accounts of Jesus going to wedding feasts and eating at the homes of all sorts of people. We are told that he enjoyed the food and drink of a good party.
John may have had certain expectations of Jesus - most likely he had in mind a rebel leader who would oppose Roman rule and when that was overthrown, he would sit on the throne of his ancestor David. He was the one to make their nation state as powerful as it had been during the time of David. You know, how it is: no matter what it is like now, there are almost always “good old days” to look back upon.
John simply has to know. He has to know if he had quit too early and endorsed the wrong candidate - or if Jesus was indeed the real deal. Jesus’ answer asks John to look at his ministry of healing, liberation and hope. Jesus also expresses high praise for John and his ministry.
Many years before Mary was visited by an angel, a woman named Hannah was told she would have a son. This is just one of a list of unlikely or impossible pregnancies in the biblical story. She responds in a song which praises God and proclaims the ministry which will be undertaken by this child. Her son was Samuel, the famous leader of Israel. He was the one who would end up anointing David, the shepherd as future king.
In a similar fashion, Mary also praises God when she discovers that both she and Elizabeth are going to have children of promise. Her unexpected and unlikely child will be a great leader who will change the course of the history of their nation. In this case, Mary seems to be quoting Hannah; nothing wrong with that, as the already age old words perfectly express the “hopes and fears of all the years.”
Most Canadians know how the royal lines of succession work. We knew since George VI ascended the throne that Elizabeth would be Queen and that her son would become king. We know that William is next and that George will follow. This is usually how it works in an established monarchy.
This leads us to ask the questions, “what do we expect from Jesus?” and “what does it mean for us to proclaim Jesus as our “ruler”?” and “What does this mean for our ministry as Jesus’ followers.”
John’s question is turned back on us, “Is Jesus the ONE.” John’s bewilderment might be ours. If Jesus was, or is, the ONE, then why is the world still in such a mess? Why do the innocent suffer? Why do the guilty prosper? Why is it that it is the religious leaders resist the change called for by Jesus? Shouldn’t they be his biggest supporters?
I think that a large part of the answer is that Jesus message has always been counter-cultural. Jesus was always about telling people who thought they had it made, to change their way of looking at the world, and some, to sell all they had and give it to the poor. He was telling them that the normal “signs of success” were not the ones that were really important. He told people to lay their treasures up in heaven and not on earth. Yet, his concern for the poor did not allow people with extra, to ignore the poor because they would get their reward in heaven, far from it!
I believe that the church lost a great deal when the Emperor made the whole Empire, Christian. No longer could the church stand outside of the halls of power and speak truth to it, but it became part of the problem. When the church began to benefit from being on the side of power, it became impossible to separate itself from it. The church became part of the problem and it also needed a word of love, healing and liberation.
We may think that the reality of the rich getting richer and the poor becoming poorer, is new - it’s not, it’s been that way since the beginning of civilization.
Once the church joined the halls of power it became expedient to promote heaven as the goal of the Christian life, thereby almost completely spiritualizing the aims and goals of the Christian faith and life. This allowed the rich and powerful to trample over, or at least ignore, the lives of ordinary folks who were taught that their reward would come in heaven.
For as long as I have been in ministry, at least, there have been people who are saying that the Christian-era is over. No one in power cares what the church thinks anymore and being a church member is not a requirement of success. The church is now free to do as it used to do.
To cope with this is has become necessary for the church to recover its prophetic voice. The message of peace on earth is not good news for us to enjoy at the expense of others, or despite the hardships felt by others, but a mission and a clarion call to usher in a ream of justice and peace.
I find it interesting that we, on the whole, have very little trouble giving to the poor at Christmas. A long tradition in the Maritimes was the “Christmas Daddies Telethon” which raised over $600,000 this past Sunday for Maritime Children. I’m not sure if there is an equivalent here in Saskatchewan. All sorts of organizations across the country raise money to help buy the fixings for a traditional Christmas for families who experience poverty.
Yet the Christian message should, at the same time, be one of advocating for and working for a world where all families have enough for a dignified life.
Nellie McClung was a committed Christian, an Albertan, and a leader for the right to vote for women. She was one of “the Famous Five” who took their case all the way to the Privy Council in London - and WON!
In addition, she was a champion of the Temperance Union, in a time when an unacceptably large number of stay-at-home moms were at the mercy of husbands drank their pay envelope on the way home from work and left her with little money to provide for their children.
I believe she is quoted as having said, “I’m not out to change the world, just to give it a few good whacks in the right direction!” Imagine this former teacher, a published writer, a elegant looking woman accustomed to public speaking, standing in outer space somewhere with a huge baseball bat, or a sledge hammer, trying to alter the earth’s course.
Do we expect our association with Jesus to make our lives easier? Do we expect Jesus to make us wealthier? Is praising God in song enough or do we have to live in such a way that others benefit.
Or when the dust has settled are we prepared, in some small way, to give the world, or at least our corner of it - a few good whacks.
Amen.
Isaiah 7: 10-16
Psalm 80
Matthew 1: 18-25
Do Not be Afraid!
They say, “measure twice, cut once.” It’s been true in carpentry for as long as there have been carpenters. They say, “only poor workers blame their tools.” “Pay attention to details”. “Good work does not come by chance, but by practice.” But Joseph the carpenter had other things on his mind as he worked on his latest orders; some furniture for a family friend and some for his own house, his own house where he and Mary would live after they were married. Correct that one, the house where he and Mary had been planning to live!!!!!!!!! Well now, he did not want to even bother thinking about that home, so his efforts could be used for a home for someone else.
He knew enough about the birds and the bees to know that it had precious little to do with angels! He had always been a good son. He tried to be a good man. He wanted to be known as a just and fair man. He loved Mary with all his heart; she was the only person he had ever wanted to marry. He wanted to raise their children together. He could almost picture them; Mary’s eyes, his strong chin, her smile. His sons would be handsome, his daughters beautiful. He had it all arranged with her parents and he thought Mary was as committed as he was. Then she had told him the terrible, devastating news. Did she really think that he would believe a story like that! An angel; how could she?
Yet he loved her so much. Even in his heartbreak he knew he had to dissolve things quietly. Dissolve the engagement, he must. It was the right thing. It was the only thing. He had his family’s honour to protect. He would just go to her parents and break off the engagement. He was not going to make a public spectacle of her. Yet, people would know. They too could count to 9. They would know the wedding has been called off. It was a small village after all. Some righteous people might think she should be stoned for doing what she did but he would not ask for it. He’d seen a stoning happen; he did not want that, despite his anger. Yes, that is what he would do. It would be for the best! He put his head on the pillow and tried to sleep.
Yet, if he had any sleep at all that night, it was a fitful one. He must have tossed and turned. He was someone who always did the right thing, who had no regrets in life, but why couldn’t he sleep, why was this right decision so difficult?
Yet he must have slept because when he awakened he was a new man. Somehow he knew that he was strong enough to marry Mary, to raise her child, her special child, as his. The word stuck in his head, “do not turn your back on her; be brave.” Where had he come by the assurance that THIS was the right thing? How had he become sure that this was a part of God’s will. Maybe he did believe in angels; but they came to special people, not to Mary, not to him!
We need to keep in mind that Matthew and Luke tell of the birth of Jesus in very different ways. The angel visits Joseph in Matthew’s Gospel, who has no shepherds but has the magi, the visitors from afar. In Luke’s Gospel, the angel has a name, Gabriel and he visits Mary. Luke tells us of the shepherds and the heavenly chorus, but not the star gazers from afar.
Even though it’s hard not to conflate the stories, lets try and focus on Joseph and his angel for today. The phrase that sticks out for me in the gospel story for today is “do not be afraid.” In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible this exact phrase appears 67 times with 11 of them being in the New Testament. Sometimes God delivers the message directly; sometimes it is an angel. But, did you ever notice, the message is almost NEVER “don’t be afraid of me”. While, it seems quite natural to be afraid if an angel were to appear in our dreams, or in our living room, the message is most often, “don’t be afraid of the path ahead of you. Don’t be afraid of what I am going to ask you to do.” In this case it is, “don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife and to raise her baby as yours.”
Our society has changed a great deal within the last two or so generations with regard to pre-marital sex and un-married moms, but the culture of the first century was very different from even our past. It was what some scholars call, an “honour - shame” culture. In such a culture, honour was of utmost importance. Having a baby without being married could get a woman executed by stoning- it was a cause of great shame! I don’t think anything ever happened to the baby-daddy - no surprise there! I suppose that a couple having a baby too early was at least a source of embarassment. People back then also knew how to count to 9.
All Joseph knew for sure was that he was not the father. Joseph was being asked to do a very brave thing, a very counter-cultural thing. He was being asked to act in love rather than fear. I don’t think that hating Mary was an issue for Joseph; I think he was afraid. “What would people say?” Could he handle it when people questioned his sense of honour, his integrity, his faith? Ever if he believed the angel. Even if he was certain that God was at work, somehow, in the life of this child, could he rise above the fray? Could love conquer all?
I have read in more than one place that the opposite of love is not hate, it is fear. Love is risky. Love is a challenge.
I was looking through old wedding photos a few days ago; most of them of couples I had married and were given to me by the couples themselves. Many had already faced some amount of challenge in their relationship and all would face even more. Some would end up divorced and some are still happily married. I suppose my success rate is about the average.
I recall the marriage preparation I did with an older couple planning to be married. She was younger than he was and had already been widowed twice. Having also experienced the death of his life partner, he expressed his worry that he would die first and end up leaving her alone, for the third time. She replied with something along the lines of, “let me worry about that!” I did marry them and he did die first but in her letter to me afterward she basically said that their few years together was worth all the sorrow afterward. The same sentiment can be found in the writings of CS Lewis as he reflects on his marriage to someone who was terminally ill. Alfred Lord Tennyson, the famous 19th century poet wrote, "tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
The message of “do not be afraid” is one of the most powerful in the biblical story and in life. One of my favourite hymns when I was a theology student was in the Catholic Book of Worship and is based on a passage from the prophet Isaiah. It goes like this,
You shall cross the barren desert But you shall not die of thirst You shall wander far in safety Though you do not know the way You shall speak your words in foreign lands And all will understand You shall see the face of God and live Be not afraid I go before you always Come, follow me and I will give you rest If you pass through raging waters in the sea You shall not drown If you walk amid the burning flames You shall not be harmed If you stand before the power of hell And death is at your side Know that I am with you through it allRobert Dufford
I remember having a discussion with a mentor about various options that were ahead of me. I was asked what I was afraid of. Then I was asked if that outcome would be so terrible that I could not face it. Could I deal with someone shutting the door in my face? Could I deal with the program being a flop? Could I deal with a not so stellar evaluation? Could I deal with a negative outcome? If it was a success would I want to have given that up for “security and safety?”
A woman in my congregation told me of the day she and her husband brought their, now grown, adopted daughter home from the hospital. I don’t know how much notice they had that adoption had been approved. I do know the child was an infant. They picked up the baby at the hospital, walked into the house, closed the door and looked at each other and she said, “well, what do we do now?”
I don’t know from my own experience but I suspect that all first-time parents, even if the pregnancy is carefully planned and very-much wanted, second guess at least some of their actions or decisions. All parents must look at their newly born infant in love and awe but also wondering if they are up to the challenges that lie ahead! Yet, once the pregnancy is confirmed and progressing, there is no turning back! I recall the TV show where the mom and dad are in the nursery, looking at their sleeping child and he says to her, “I still cant believe that they let us take her home, with no instruction manual or nothing.”
A senior colleague of mine was within a few years of retirement and he told of his fear at signing his first mortgage; he lived in manses all of his adult life. I remember my own facebook post, something along the lines of, “I bought a house, I bought a house, I bought a house,
big pause what have I done!” Payments twice a month, taxes, stuff to fix if it broke, having no one else to be responsible for everything, and so on.
When we look at our lives as a congregation we are frequently at a point of decision making, sometimes difficult decision making. The annual meeting is one such time. Perhaps what we have been doing is not working anymore and we need to take a serious look at doing some things in a different way. Are we afraid? With COVID still lingering in the background, many churches are taking a hard look at the future, with a more limited volunteer count and need to figure out how to do ministry faithfully with shrinking resources. The questions for us are also around love and fear. What is the love of God in Jesus calling us to do and be and what is fear preventing us from doing?
There are times when it seems as if the task ahead of us is very scary. There are many times when I would not blame someone for being afraid; indeed if they weren’t at least a little bit afraid I would wonder if they fully realized the seriousness of the situation.
When my grandfather signed up for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916 one of the questions he and the other 650,000 men who served had to answer was something like this, “do you understand the nature of this engagement.” I think they all knew that they might not return but in the end there was much more to it than that. WWI had its own particular horrors and surprises, as all wars do.
As s people of faith we are reminded of God’s love for us, and called to respond in love.
The question for us is, as always, can we step forward in trust, ready to trust in that love which surrounds us and makes our lives possible. Let us seek the meaning and fullness of life promised to us, if only we trust in God’s love and step over that threshold and through that door.
Amen!