1st Sunday of Advent
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Every Monday morning, a wonderful group of people gathers in Kimberlin Hall for Bible study. Deacon Linda is currently leading us through a conversation about the Gospel according to Luke, the gospel this new church year will be following in our Sunday morning readings.
This past Monday, we got sidetracked (which happens to us a lot!) and talked about creches: what kinds of creches we had seen and where you can go to see collections of them and so forth.
Deacon Linda reigned us back to text before us: Jesus’ call to discipleship, an urgent call that demands total commitment. One of our members asked, “So what does this mean for us right now?” Someone else said, “Let’s talk about creches some more.”
It became a repeated slogan that morning. Whenever the conversation got too close to home, too challenging for us personally, someone said, “Let’s talk about creches some more.”
As I read todays’ assigned readings, it struck me how this is a rather fitting image for this morning. It is so much nicer to talk about creches than about the urgent call of discipleship. It is so much lovelier to focus on Christmas decorations and sing carols and plan gifts than to acknowledge that our world is shaking, is in utter disarray.
Do I need to list all the things that are awry? The list includes a global climate crisis that causes unprecedented damage to land and sea and people; an economy that works great for some but leaves others wanting for affordable housing and daily food; a justice system that doesn’t always produce just verdicts; populist pundits and politicians who thrive on divisions they help create; a pandemic that has killed one in 450 Americans and has caused hostile debates in congregations, workplaces, and families.
On top of these macro issues, there are the struggles of our personal lives: illness, grief, financial stress, struggles related to aging, worry about the path loved ones are on, uncertainty about how much longer we can hold it together.
Yes, let’s talk about creches some more.
It’s really been a hard year. The inclination to try and escape from it all is only too human. It feels so good to decorate the house and bake cookies and listen to carols and forget all the troubles. For a while, that works just fine. It provides us a break, and that is indeed a gift.
Sooner or later, however, the troubles break through no matter how hard we try to ignore them. Then we need more than the cheerfulness of the holiday season.
Then we need a true Advent.
Advent is the season of waiting. In that, it is also the season that acknowledges promises yet to be fulfilled; that expresses our longing and yearning; that admits suffering and pain.
Jesus speaks of roaring seas and distress among nations and people fainting with foreboding. And he asks us not to shrink away from it, but to stand up tall and look around and notice what is going on. His words are filled with imperatives: Look! Be alert! Pay attention!
Jesus calls us to notice what is happening, to be present in the here and now, to see what reality is like. Even if it leads us to sorrow and lament, bewilderment and disappointment, Jesus wants us to be honest. He doesn’t want our faith to be an escapist piety that seeks to ignore the troubles of this world. Instead, he invites us to look and to name what is amiss, name the storms that threaten us, shout out our longing and pain. O come, o come, Emanuel, is the ancient cry of Advent. Come, Lord Jesus, because we are overwhelmed and we need you.
Advent is not only about honest lament, though. There are two further imperatives in Jesus’ address: Do not fear! Stand up tall! Jesus allows us to express our sorrow and anxiety, but he doesn’t leave us there, wallowing in it. Instead, Jesus assures us that we are not helpless in the midst of this shaking world.
We have help from God. God has not abandoned us. At times it might feel that way, but look closely, Jesus says, and you will see signs of God’s presence all around you. Like the buds on a tree branch point towards the assurance of spring coming, so the signs of God’s loving involvement in the world assure us of God’s steadfast love.
We lift up such signs when we share our God-spottings. Our generosity cards highlight God’s love in action. Our offering talks give examples for God’s work in this world. Don’t duck in fear, but stand tall and look around, Jesus says, and you will see that God is with you.
We have the help of Jesus, who assures us today that his word will never pass away. What is this word? From the first sermon Jesus preaches in Nazareth to the last words he speaks to his disciples after the resurrection, Jesus’ word is one of love and acceptance and healing and salvation. No matter what happens in the world or in our lives, this word will always be true: We are the baptized children of God and God will have the last word over our fate, and that last word will be one of love.
We have the help of God’s people. Jesus’ call to not be afraid and stand tall is addressed to the group of disciples. The importance of community in trying times is even more pronounced in Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians. Paul is with fellow apostles as he writes this letter. And he longs to be with the people of the congregation in Thessalonica. When times are hard, Paul wants to be among God’s people.
Why? Because, he writes, of the love they all have for one another and because they can increase one another’s faith. Haven’t we all experienced during COVID just how essential the community of believers is to our faith and hope? The love and encouragement we receive here helps us to stand tall in a shaking world.
We are the body of Christ in the world today. In this shaking, longing, painfilled, yearning, imperfect world, we embody Christ’s presence. We follow Jesus’ lead in how we react to the reality of this world.
As such, we don’t get sidetracked by speculations as to when Jesus might come back. In Advent, we affirm our belief in the promise that he will some day return and complete the transformation of this world into the kingdom of God. But we don’t worry about when that will be; Jesus himself rejected all such speculation.
Instead, we rest in the assurance that it will happen, and out of that assurance is born our courage to stand tall and to not be afraid, but address the reality of this world with the love Christ modeled for us. Neither Jesus nor Paul in our readings today worries about how long the wait will be, but about what we do while we wait. What they call us to do while we wait is love without fear. We love.
We love by showing compassion to those who are hurting. We invite them to express their pain and listen with empathy to their lament and console them.
We love by reaching out to those in need, be it with food or Christmas gifts or a helping hand. And we strive for changes in our community and nation that would eliminate such need in the future.
We love by offering forgiveness to those who have caused us pain. With the help of Christ, we let go of our resentment and allow God to heal relationships.
We love by speaking out against all kinds of oppression, be it injustice or racism or prejudice or mental illness or drug addiction or domestic violence. As followers of Jesus Christ, we work to set people free.
We love by encouraging one another. I love how Paul longs to see the Thessalonians face to face and to restore whatever is lacking in their faith. Out of love for one another, we gather together so we can restore one another’s faith.
How do we wait during Advent? How do we prepare for the Lord’s return? By being part of a community that loves one another and strives for holiness; in other words, a community that lives in everyday discipleship. The church doesn’t speculate and doesn’t fret; it just loves and serves and seeks to do God’s will.
By loving and serving and doing God’s will, we do what we can to address the pain in the world and in each other’s lives.
We have the courage to do so because we know that God is with us.
We can stand tall because we trust that Christ has already redeemed the world.
We can face the distress of these days because we believe that our redemption has drawn near.
We wait with eagerness and longing and without fear, because God’s word will never pass away, and God’s word is a word of love. Thanks be to God. Amen.