What an odd time of year

Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19, Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3:1-12

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation, Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of

Judea

, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness; `Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

 

Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem

and all Judea were going out to him, and the entire region along the

Jordan

, and they were baptized by him in the river

Jordan

, confessing their sins.

 

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one, who is more powerful than I, is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

What an odd time of year Advent is, sandwiched between the really huge celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is an odd time of year because our culture and society do not generally value or encourage the type of self reflection that Advent truly encourages.

 

In our nation we celebrate Thanksgiving and are immediately propelled forward into the commercial preparation of Christmas. The church in which I grew up did not particularly follow the liturgical year. I was not really exposed to the quiet wonder of the season of Advent until I was fully an adult. I have, however, grown to cherish the cycles and look forward to the different focus the seasons of the church year add to my spiritual journey. During Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we embrace the different aspects of our relationship to God and reflect upon our response to God’s presence in our lives.

The lessons for this second Sunday in Advent are absolutely magnificent in their perceptions of life in the Kindom of God . We are called us to prepare, as John the Baptist shouted, “Behold the Kindom of God

is at hand”. We are called to the awareness of God’s presence here and now and God’s Kingdom now available to us not as some nebulous reward after-life. It has been a long year since the anticipation of last Christmas. We each, throughout the year,  probably have been beset with painful or frustrating circumstances, felt a loss of purpose, or been disappointed by unattained or delayed desires. These trials may have put a damper on our sense of beauty and hope of a joyful future. We find ourselves wandering around the stumps of what hasn’t worked asking ourselves; “Why do I even waste my time gardening?” Advent comes just when we are looking for a nice comfortable stump to sit down on and give up. That is exactly what the Israelites were doing at the time of Isaiah. Their nation had fallen on hard times. The

Northern Kingdom

had been overtaken by the Assyrians and the Southern Kingdom of Jerusalem was under siege and soon would fall to the Babylonians. The Garden of the Promised Land has been overtaken by enemies. The golden era of King David was not just damaged, it had been cut down. All that was left was the dead stump, barren and lifeless– testimony that everything in which they believed was lost.

The Advent message of Isaiah, though, is that all was not lost and in the midst of the harsh desolation a gentle breeze was blowing. In that breeze, the Spirit of God was still moving and new growth was occurring, a new shoot would be coming forth. It would be tender and seemingly inconsequential compared to the massive dead stump, but Gods’ Spirit would come in a new way.

 

That ancient message to those disappointed people is still relevant to us. God’s Spirit is still moving in our world and in our lives today. The desires of our hearts that call us to be the people of faith are being strengthened and are growing. We must, as in Biblical times, simply repent – change – turn toward God, and allow our relationship with God to grow. We do that by being present – listening, responding, listening again. Then the Spirit of understanding, wisdom, power and counsel, knowledge and awe will sprout anew.

As the People of God, The Scriptures describe us metaphorically as trees and vineyards. We are “God’s Garden”. God prunes the sick and weak branches of our life, even if we are fond of them, so something new and healthy can grow. If we are staring at stumps in our life, Advent is the time to allow our spirit to feel the breeze of God’s Spirit moving again and to take a deep breath of life. In the midst of our failures, out of all that has become unmanageable and unbearable, God’s kingdom will make a new start.

The condition of the Pharisees in Matthew’s story was a sign of this barrenness. It had been 400 years since anyone had heard a prophet, since they had heard the living word of God. It had been 400 years since they had been energized. When we have not heard from God in a long time religion can become a replacement for healthy spirituality, rather than its facilitator. Instead of encouraging our growth, it can stunt us and can become a wall behind which to hide. If we don’t expect God anymore, really, we become suspicious of those who proclaim to him – especially wild eyed hairy men by the riversides. Which is to say, we stop responding to God when we are approached in new or unexpected ways. For those of us who are not able to see God in our lives, John repeats for us the simple answer, the action that we can take – repent – change – simply turn around. God is close by.

The apostle Paul used these words, “throw off anything that entangles you and weighs you down.” It means to reclaim the freedom to do what God has empowered your spirit to want and to do. “Don’t say to yourselves that you are the children of Abraham” is John’s way of warning the Pharisees that there must be a personal relationship between each heart and God. We today must also take the warning “Don’t say to yourselves that you are Christians - brothers and sisters of Christ” without maintaining the relationship. We can’t move forward spiritually if we don’t remain personally involved, if we don’t find joy or reward in it. Fruit as we all know is alive and growing. It is filled with juicy essence – sweet and refreshing. Fruit is ready to be picked and gathered. John says our walk with God and the deeds that flow from it should have these same essence of refreshment.

So how do we respond to the message of Advent? How do we move from façade to passion? How do I get up off the stump? First we realize that Advent is a gift. It is not just another wearisome attempt to boost ourselves toward God. It is God moving, it is God actually coming toward us. Our part is to respond in faith. At its simplest level, this means being willing to entertain the possibility that God really is here. To kindle whatever ember of hope and enthusiasm is within us. The apostle said faith is the assurance of things for which we hope, the confidence of what is unseen.

Maybe it feels like ages since we have heard a personal word from God, yes, maybe we feel that we have yearned too long for God to do anything new with us. But Advent says, "No more sitting on stumps, no more just getting by." Advent says, “Behold! Immanuel!

Gods Kingdom is here.” Will we welcome it?

What better way to celebrate this season that to allow God to implement in me these promises. To implement them in me, I do have to show up for the relationship. We must be present for the promises to be implemented in our lives. If I am poor and in distress with myself, I need to be present for God to deliver me from poverty and distress. If I am oppressed in any way or victimized by violence, I need to be present for God to redeem me from those circumstances. If God wants to fill me with an abundance of grain from the earth, then I need to show up to be nurtured and fed. If God wants the lamb and the wolf in me to lie down together, then I need to show up for God to make that happen, If I want the child in me to be safe in the midst of poisonous and paralyzing situations within and without, then I must show up for God to implement the promise to protect me. If God wants me to abound in hope, then I must show up for God to instill that hope by the power of the Spirit.

There is a part of us that thinks if we show up for a relationship with God nothing is going to happen; and a part that says “better not show up than to have that disaster happen.” There is a part of us that thinks that if we show up, we could be struck dead for all the wretchedness we feel we have committed; and a part that says better not to show up than to be struck dead. It is here that we need to go with Isaiah again and let the little child lead us. Little children are not afraid of God. Let the little child in you show up for the relationship with God; God will take it from there. If the little child is too scared then let the infant show up and be held in God’s arms.

The child appears again and again in Isaiah’s poem; leading, playing, reaching out – calling us to a vibrant faith that is not limited by what seems impossible. Only a child could imagine age-old rivals like lions and calves lying together or bears and cows feeding from the same trough. In the kindom of God

– under the Christ child there will be reconciliation of our age-old adversaries. Our love and our wrath, our fears and our dreams, our faith and our doubt, our best and our worst will be be combined, merged into the righteous and peaceful domain of God.

What will it be like? There will be an abundance of food and understanding and wisdom. The poor and the needy will be rescued and cared for, the oppressed will be made safe and healed, justice and mercy will reign, and righteousness and equity will be the order of the day. There will be a release of tremendous power that can actually transform nature. This power will bring peace, harmony and an order of things that will last forever and transform our lives. It will blow away the chaff of our former lives.

The Psalmist writes, “Unite my heart to reverence Thee, O God.” Take all the loose and frayed ends of my soul and re-sew them. Advent is God saying, “I shall.”

Amen

 

Adapted from “Sermons that Work” by Rev. Jason Hefner and Jane Wolf