Sermons

December 2006

Living in Hope

Reverend Linda Saffrey

Advent 1

Most of us are getting ready for Christmas, celebration of Jesus’ coming as a baby in a manger. Such a hectic time, content to leave it as our one focus. Advent has two faces/orientations: looks back at the experience of those longing for, anticipating a Messiah; and looks to the future in an attitude of expectancy of what God has yet to do in the life of humankind.

Complicated to interpret connection between First and Second Advent, because we have difficulty with apocalyptic language. The first Advent was more like God infiltrating human life – Jesus born to peasant woman, small village, only a few shepherds came. Second Advent will not be missed – whole world will know, heavenly entourage, cosmic shake-up. At the end, as C. S. Lewis once wrote, we will see God without disguise, who comes at us so unmistakably that he will "strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature."

Rabbi Steven Saltzman, Holy Blossom Temple, reminded Christian clergy at a learning event, that the prophets are forthtellers, not foretellers. They are telling the people what ought to be, what God intends, and not necessarily what will be, as though telling the future. Every time we hear a prophetic word, the silence of God, which tests the soul, is broken. That God continues to speak is, itself, a sign of hope.
In Advent we listen to the words of prophets, like Jeremiah, who were waiting and hoping for a Messiah to liberate and restore the Hebrew people. We are reminded that their lives formed the cradle of faith that nurtured Jesus. It appears that our gospel writer, Luke, also lived with the hope that Jesus was the One who would establish a true kingdom of peace. Larger framework important because our initial reaction to this reading is one of fear – terrifying images of cosmic upheaval, apocalyptic imagery, uses unimaginably large language to anticipate unimaginably important events. Emphasis on the nearness of God. Warning about being caught unexpectedly – we relate because busyness of December “suddenly” upon us – annual ‘trap” of holiday preparation brings anxiety and excitement.

At Bible Study folks noted that the presence of this passage as an Advent reading seems odd. “Where’s the hope?!” Truth is, in early Church some Christians grew weary of waiting, had given up hope – delay of Christ’s return, and trials and tribulations of their present lives. So Jesus’ instruction to being ready, watchful, alert –both a warning not to live as though there is no God, and a promise that He will return. “Waiting and watching are not easy, precisely because other things do interfere, if not drunkenness and dissipation, the worries of this life: provisions for family, difficulties related to work, concerns about the affairs of government, clamoring after power and status – both things worthy and things trivial have a way of clouding the vision so that the impending kingdom of God remains somehow just out of sight.” (Texts for Preaching)

"...the message of Advent is that we can never take our own projections more seriously than God's promises. When we least expect it and when there is no evidence for it, God's power comes into this godless world in ways the world itself could never predict or foresee."(James F. Kay, The Christian Century, 1997)

Christmas Eve at St. Paul’s. All eyes in the congregation on the pew where the Mc Kay family always sat, the senior Mc Kays – John and Georgie, their children when they were home for the holidays, and their children’s children, and even the great grandchildren. But this year as they all slid into place there was a deep sorrow in people’s hearts. Someone was missing. One of the Mc Kay’s daughters had drowned in a tragic accident at their cottage, the summer before. Even folks who never knew her, grieved.

The minister invited the children to the front, to read them the Christmas story. As they sat on the chancel steps one child stood out, because she was still wearing her coat, a shiny pink raincoat and pink boots, which seemed odd considering the chilly December weather. As each line of the familiar story was told, in the same familiar way, the little girl repeated the last few words with an inflection, as though she were asking a question. Bethlehem? To be taxed? At the inn? Swaddling clothes? Watching their flock? And this continued until the minister could not finish. Everyone was laughing so hard, that they were practically rolling in the aisles. It was a holy laughter. It was a healing moment.

Good news of Advent. We are being met by God who intends to make all things new. When we are dealing with the worst that could happen, God is surely close and coming nearer. What gives us hope and reminds us of God’s care? What resources do we have for living through chaos? Some folks shared with me their wisdom:

• sometimes waking up the next morning, and the next, and finding the pain and anxiety didn’t kill you
• being reminded of our faith stories, our roots, our common heritage in God
• hope that comes from someone else’s shared good news – a baby, a new job, a new marriage, a reconciliation
• someone to share your burden, help, encourage
• a shoulder to cry on
• personal reflection, devotion, Bible Study, journal feelings
• knowing that others are praying when you can’t
• cards, calls, casseroles, flowers
• the unexpected, like little girl in pink rainwear on a winter night.
Advent is a season to consider the challenges in our lives, to pray about our struggles, to name the difficulties we would like to overcome, the darkness in our world that we would like to see reversed. As we begin a new church year – our ministry is: making the day brighter for others – through prayer, acts of kindness, helping gestures, smiles, genuine commitment of time, (everything counts), through our relationship with Jesus/God.

As we tackle our Christmas shopping, consider what Herb O’Driscoll believes: “The most wonderful gift we can give to someone is hope. This is especially important when hope is all we can give in the situation. When there has been a death, when someone lies dying, when a career is about to be cut short, when there simply is not enough money to buy what is needed – a medicine, an education, a passage away from a danger zone – these are times to speak of a situation not in terms of what it is, but in terms of what it can become. To do this is to help a person see their own circumstances from a wider or different perspective, to help them change possible defeat into victory. Such victory may be a triumph of the heart or mind that inwardly transforms the person.” (Herb O”Driscoll in God With Us)

It seems to me that the admonition to watch and be alert to the signs of Christ’s coming, apply especially to the ways God comes in the midst of everyday life, while we are waiting for the big event, because when Christ comes in glory, EVERYONE will know – it will be a noisy “look at me”, with all the bells and whistles. We find our blessing in being able to identify what God is doing now, in the in between time – as Jesus did when he responded to the question of John the Baptist – tell him what you see happening – “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” Our shared hope is in the promise that the God who has come and dwelt among us in a tiny baby, a child and an adult – will come with all glory and power to dwell with us again. Thanks be to God.

Amen.