FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT December 3, 2006
Scripture: Jer: 33:14-16; 1 Thess:3: 9-13; Luke 21:25-36
What a lot of rich scriptures for this first Sunday in Advent, which is also the closest to World AID’s Day. For us as Christians, Advent means waiting for the One who is to come, baby Jesus born to Mary who becomes our savior and our teacher, for some of us our brother and for others our Lord. In our neck of the woods the Advent season comes at the darkest time of the year. With the darkness and gloom, many of us become depressed, anxious or restless. It’s hard to wait; it’s hard to be hopeful when there is so much despair, so much violence, so much sickness and oppression all around us. It’s hard not to be fearful; in this time of terrorism and color codes, increased killings on many battlefields, warnings about climate change, economic insecurity for many. It was in a time of great darkness and everyday suffering, made worse by the belief that all suffering was believed to be a result of judgment from God, that the prophet Jeremiah spoke his words of hope. I really like what he had to say. He didn’t promise that things would get better right away, yet he says the fulfillment of God’s promises is surely coming. He goes on to say that a righteous Branch will spring up from David. This righteous Branch will bring the people justice; in fact the whole community will be called “The Lord is our righteousness.” Judah and Jerusalem will be saved and safe.
Let’s fast forward now to our Gospel prediction by Jesus, who many Bible scholars say is Jeremiah’s Branch, born from the house of David. As many of you know, the people in Jesus’ day very much believed that the end of the world was near, really near—that it would come before most of the present generation would die. The signs Jesus describes are about the existing order, both physical and political, cracking and falling apart. This scene was one that caused much feeling of hopelessness in the people as well as much fear. Yet this passage chosen for the lectionary scripture for this first Sunday in Advent is about more than darkness. Jesus assures his disciples that when they see these things happening, their redemption is drawing near. He reinforces this with a parable about a fig tree, the symbol of hope and new life for the Hebrews. Just as in this late fall and winter season, the leaves have left our trees, the fig tree can be seen as not bearing any fruit, as barren. It’s the period of darkness. Yet Jesus reminds them that as soon as the tree sprouts new leaves, the disciples can see for themselves that summer is already near. So the darkness and confusion of the end times will actually lead to the coming, some would say the second coming, of the Son of Man. I personally don’t believe that Jesus will step out of that cloud and live among us again. What I do believe is that the righteousness and love that represent the teachings of Jesus will reign again. There might be another man or woman that assumes a strong leadership of Jesus’ teachings; however, even more likely to me is that there will be a Beloved Community that will bring about the Kingdom that Jesus described throughout his ministry. Jesus warns that we must be ready, be alert, so that we will be worthy to be part of that new life. In our Epistle reading, Paul tells the followers that he prays that the Lord Jesus and God himself will make them abound in love for one another and for all. Furthermore he prays that Jesus will “so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father” when Jesus comes again.
How shall we wait for that important event that will change the darkness into bright light? Waiting is not very popular; most folks feel like waiting is wasting time. Yet in the next few weeks we will hear about Biblical characters that have to wait. Zachariah and Elizabeth have to wait for John the Baptist to be born. Mary has to wait for Jesus to be birthed. The shepherds and the wise men have to wait to find the baby Jesus. Angels appear and tell these folks not to be afraid. It’s much harder to wait when you are afraid of what may happen. So these characters in our Christmas story wait with expectation and anticipation. Their waiting is active; they have faith that what they are waiting for has begun and they are fully present to the process, nurturing the moment. Henri Nouwen talks about waiting being open-ended as opposed to being specific and concrete such as waiting and wishing for a specific job. We often wait with the desire to control the outcome and if what we want to happen doesn’t, we are very unhappy. The characters in our nativity stories wait with faith and trust that God’s promises will be fulfilled, his will be done. When this young girl Mary responded to the angel, she says in our language, “I don’t know what this is all about, but I trust that good things will happen.” She waits and hopes open-ended for the fulfillment of whatever it is that God has in mind. What a radical attitude towards waiting! It’s the kind of attitude that says, “God I am going to trust in you; I will let you define my life. I do not have to be in control. I can relinquish whatever I thought and dreamed of before to what ever you want for my life.” For Mary, these were things far beyond her imagination.
So how do we wait? Nouwen suggests we wait together in support, affirmation and celebration just the way Mary did with her cousin Elizabeth. It’s much easier if you have a loving network to share the waiting and to celebrate with you. It’s like the love that Paul talks about, a love that transforms those who experience and share it into a blameless and righteous people. I want so much for Deering Community Church to be that kind of support for this community.
Maybe the coming of Jesus is really having him born anew into our individual and community hearts. Maybe Advent is about waiting for that to happen—either for the first time or for the 80th time. It makes sense to me that just as professionals, like doctors, social workers, teachers, and ministers have to take continuing education to renew and expand our knowledge, each of us Christians need to renew and re-experience Jesus being born in our hearts again.
Advent is about waiting and watching, not in a passive but an active way. It’s about doing small acts of kindness and promoting changes that will lead to God’s kingdom here on earth: some examples are joining with the town to put on a Christmas party for all the local children; it’s putting on a vespers service with all those extra rehearsals, it’s decorating the church, baking cookies, spending time with shut-ins and those in nursing homes, reaching out in forgiveness and reconciliation with those relationships that are not quite right. It’s also making Care Kits for AIDS Caregivers that you will be hearing more about in the Mission Moment; it’s helping the homeless find housing; it’s bringing food for and working at the Food Pantry; it’s donating money to people or organizations that you want to help; it’s standing with a peace sign in a protest against war. There are so many ways we can wait for Christmas and as we wait, even now as I speak, the seed of Christ is being planted in the heart of: name several in attendance My wish is that his Advent be the most holy Advent ever. If we focus on spiritually strengthening our hearts and souls by love of God and neighbor, we will be active agents of turning the darkness to light. God Bless you all on the journey. Amen
What a lot of rich scriptures for this first Sunday in Advent, which is also the closest to World AID’s Day. For us as Christians, Advent means waiting for the One who is to come, baby Jesus born to Mary who becomes our savior and our teacher, for some of us our brother and for others our Lord. In our neck of the woods the Advent season comes at the darkest time of the year. With the darkness and gloom, many of us become depressed, anxious or restless. It’s hard to wait; it’s hard to be hopeful when there is so much despair, so much violence, so much sickness and oppression all around us. It’s hard not to be fearful; in this time of terrorism and color codes, increased killings on many battlefields, warnings about climate change, economic insecurity for many. It was in a time of great darkness and everyday suffering, made worse by the belief that all suffering was believed to be a result of judgment from God, that the prophet Jeremiah spoke his words of hope. I really like what he had to say. He didn’t promise that things would get better right away, yet he says the fulfillment of God’s promises is surely coming. He goes on to say that a righteous Branch will spring up from David. This righteous Branch will bring the people justice; in fact the whole community will be called “The Lord is our righteousness.” Judah and Jerusalem will be saved and safe.
Let’s fast forward now to our Gospel prediction by Jesus, who many Bible scholars say is Jeremiah’s Branch, born from the house of David. As many of you know, the people in Jesus’ day very much believed that the end of the world was near, really near—that it would come before most of the present generation would die. The signs Jesus describes are about the existing order, both physical and political, cracking and falling apart. This scene was one that caused much feeling of hopelessness in the people as well as much fear. Yet this passage chosen for the lectionary scripture for this first Sunday in Advent is about more than darkness. Jesus assures his disciples that when they see these things happening, their redemption is drawing near. He reinforces this with a parable about a fig tree, the symbol of hope and new life for the Hebrews. Just as in this late fall and winter season, the leaves have left our trees, the fig tree can be seen as not bearing any fruit, as barren. It’s the period of darkness. Yet Jesus reminds them that as soon as the tree sprouts new leaves, the disciples can see for themselves that summer is already near. So the darkness and confusion of the end times will actually lead to the coming, some would say the second coming, of the Son of Man. I personally don’t believe that Jesus will step out of that cloud and live among us again. What I do believe is that the righteousness and love that represent the teachings of Jesus will reign again. There might be another man or woman that assumes a strong leadership of Jesus’ teachings; however, even more likely to me is that there will be a Beloved Community that will bring about the Kingdom that Jesus described throughout his ministry. Jesus warns that we must be ready, be alert, so that we will be worthy to be part of that new life. In our Epistle reading, Paul tells the followers that he prays that the Lord Jesus and God himself will make them abound in love for one another and for all. Furthermore he prays that Jesus will “so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father” when Jesus comes again.
How shall we wait for that important event that will change the darkness into bright light? Waiting is not very popular; most folks feel like waiting is wasting time. Yet in the next few weeks we will hear about Biblical characters that have to wait. Zachariah and Elizabeth have to wait for John the Baptist to be born. Mary has to wait for Jesus to be birthed. The shepherds and the wise men have to wait to find the baby Jesus. Angels appear and tell these folks not to be afraid. It’s much harder to wait when you are afraid of what may happen. So these characters in our Christmas story wait with expectation and anticipation. Their waiting is active; they have faith that what they are waiting for has begun and they are fully present to the process, nurturing the moment. Henri Nouwen talks about waiting being open-ended as opposed to being specific and concrete such as waiting and wishing for a specific job. We often wait with the desire to control the outcome and if what we want to happen doesn’t, we are very unhappy. The characters in our nativity stories wait with faith and trust that God’s promises will be fulfilled, his will be done. When this young girl Mary responded to the angel, she says in our language, “I don’t know what this is all about, but I trust that good things will happen.” She waits and hopes open-ended for the fulfillment of whatever it is that God has in mind. What a radical attitude towards waiting! It’s the kind of attitude that says, “God I am going to trust in you; I will let you define my life. I do not have to be in control. I can relinquish whatever I thought and dreamed of before to what ever you want for my life.” For Mary, these were things far beyond her imagination.
So how do we wait? Nouwen suggests we wait together in support, affirmation and celebration just the way Mary did with her cousin Elizabeth. It’s much easier if you have a loving network to share the waiting and to celebrate with you. It’s like the love that Paul talks about, a love that transforms those who experience and share it into a blameless and righteous people. I want so much for Deering Community Church to be that kind of support for this community.
Maybe the coming of Jesus is really having him born anew into our individual and community hearts. Maybe Advent is about waiting for that to happen—either for the first time or for the 80th time. It makes sense to me that just as professionals, like doctors, social workers, teachers, and ministers have to take continuing education to renew and expand our knowledge, each of us Christians need to renew and re-experience Jesus being born in our hearts again.
Advent is about waiting and watching, not in a passive but an active way. It’s about doing small acts of kindness and promoting changes that will lead to God’s kingdom here on earth: some examples are joining with the town to put on a Christmas party for all the local children; it’s putting on a vespers service with all those extra rehearsals, it’s decorating the church, baking cookies, spending time with shut-ins and those in nursing homes, reaching out in forgiveness and reconciliation with those relationships that are not quite right. It’s also making Care Kits for AIDS Caregivers that you will be hearing more about in the Mission Moment; it’s helping the homeless find housing; it’s bringing food for and working at the Food Pantry; it’s donating money to people or organizations that you want to help; it’s standing with a peace sign in a protest against war. There are so many ways we can wait for Christmas and as we wait, even now as I speak, the seed of Christ is being planted in the heart of: name several in attendance My wish is that his Advent be the most holy Advent ever. If we focus on spiritually strengthening our hearts and souls by love of God and neighbor, we will be active agents of turning the darkness to light. God Bless you all on the journey. Amen
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 12:35 PM
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