Advent 3A: Isa. 35:1-10; Ps 146:5-10; Matt. 11:2-11,
St. Paul’s, 12/15/2019
Jim Melnyk: “Hearts of Joy”
This morning we light three
candles on our Advent Wreath. The first two candles signify hope and peace.
Last week I suggested doing a little homework saying,
there are questions to be asked at the end of each day. The questions were tied
to the first two candles. How have I honored my baptismal covenant today? When
and where have I looked to see the face of God in another – especially another
who is markedly different from myself? How and where have I treated others with
the same dignity and respect I long to experience for myself? “Did I offer
peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing?
Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are
the real questions.”[1]
How has your homework from last week progressed?
Living into spiritual practices surrounding our
baptismal covenant will bring hope and peace in our lives. How we treat
ourselves and others with dignity and respect – how we look to see the face of
God in one another – how we bring healing, forgiveness and love to those around
us – each of these practices strengthens our faith and encourages us along the
way.
The
third candle we light is pink, and it signifies joy. We pray “Help us remember
the true joy that comes from God,” recalling God’s gracious gift to us in the
person of Jesus of Nazareth. And in the quietness of our breath we pray, “Fill
our hearts with joy, as the darkness is filled by light.” When we live into our
baptismal promises we open ourselves to lives of hope and peace, and in doing
so we will open ourselves to finding joy in our own lives and in the lives of
those around us.
But
these truths we proclaim with the lighting of each Advent Candle are
challenging truths. They often push us to live outside our comfort zones.
Advent calls us out into the wild, untamed places of our lives and calls us to
live in peace with hope and joy filling our hearts. God can and does meet us
wherever we may be – in our homes or offices, in churches, synagogues, and
mosques, in the deserts of our lives as well as the lush, comfortable places.
But God is not a complacent God. God meets us where we are and then God leads
us to places beyond ourselves. When we ourselves are complacent or perhaps a
little too comfortable or a little too full of ourselves God may well lead us
into the wilderness – into the desert – hoping that we will let go of our need
to be in control and open ourselves to God. When we find ourselves in exile, or
lost in the wilderness – God leads us home. Our challenge is to respond to
God’s call.
This morning’s lessons give us an outline of God’s dream
for creation – signs of God’s reign – God’s kingdom, or kindom, of justice for
all people. Isaiah and the Psalmist declare Israel’s great hope for the world. The
wilderness and the dry land will rejoice – the desert will rejoice and blossom.
Imagine the wonder of seeing the wilderness transformed. The oppressed will
find justice and the hungry will be fed. Imagine the deep joy of finally being
seen as someone of worth. The prisoners will be set free, the blind receive
sight, and the aliens in the land will find care and comfort. Healing and
wholeness will be the hallmark of God’s dream for all creation – even nature
will burst forth in joy-filled thanksgiving.
And
while Isaiah and the Psalmist both understood these proclamations as a sign of
Israel’s restoration from exile, post exilic Israel began to understand these
words as describing the promise of a Messianic age yet to come. “Just as the land finds
restoration, so shall the people themselves be renewed [where even] the weak
are made strong again.”[2]
All of which should be a reason to celebrate with great joy.
Centuries
later Jesus comes preaching the very hope of the prophets as well. Meanwhile, John
the Baptizer, who at the river Jordan had proclaimed Jesus as the One sent by
God, now finds himself locked away in Herod’s dungeon. His arrest has beaten
down his sense of surety about God’s promise unfolding in this person Jesus, so
he sends word: “Are you the one – or was I that badly mistaken – should we look
for another?
Jesus
doesn’t give John a direct answer. Jesus neither confirms nor denies his being
the One John and the people have looked for. His answer, though, seems to be
taken almost verbatim from the words of the Elder Testament – the only Bible
Jesus ever knew. Don’t worry, John. Herod’s power is fleeting – look at what’s
happening everywhere I go – what are you seeing take place around me? What do
your eyes see? What does your heart tell you? Your message of God’s judgment
was necessary to shake our people out of their complacency. My calling is one
of blessing, healing, and liberation. Don’t worry, John. I know that Herod’s
dungeon is meant to stifle any hope you might hold in your heart. That old fox
may have power over your body right now, but he cannot take away your soul.
Years
ago one of the Brothers from the Society of St. John the Evangelist wrote, “Joy is a
mystery. It’s as mysterious as our suffering. And, I think, it’s as boundless
as our suffering. Somehow, in God’s economy, the one is creating the space for
the other.”[3] Perhaps
this is one way we can claim joy in times of uncertainty. Once again we recall
the promise of God: The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot
stand against it.[4]
Advent tells us that just as we are
meant to be beacons of hope and peace in our world, we are also to be bringers
of joy. We are called to let the light of Christ shine within us so that the
darkness around us turns bright with the joys of heaven. And that takes work,
my friends.
Presbyterian
minister Alan Brehm answers his own question – where is God when we see
suffering and injustice in the world? He looks to the words of the Psalmist in
today’s lesson: “Wherever you see the hungry being fed, that’s where God is.
Wherever the prisoners are being set free, that’s where God is. Where you see
the oppressed lifted up and the immigrants and widows and orphans embraced,
that’s where God is. Those actions are the very definition of the justice God
is always working to create in our world.”[5]
Later Jesus will tell his disciples and the crowds around him, “Whenever you
have done this for those considered the least of my family, you have done it
for me.”[6]
In all of that, one question remains: “How does God bring this wonderful
restorative justice into the world? The answer,” Brehm tells us, “is through
people like you and me!”[7]
How
have I honored my baptismal covenant today? When and where have I looked to see
the face of God in another – especially another who is markedly different from
myself – and honored the image of God in them? How and where have I treated
others with the same dignity and respect I long to experience for myself? “Did
I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of
healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love?”[8]
These questions are our ongoing homework throughout the rest of Advent, Christmas, and
beyond. Honoring our baptismal covenant every day. Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength every day. Loving our neighbor as ourselves. Every day.
We
light three candles on our Advent Wreath today signifying our prayers for hope,
peace, and joy in our lives. We listen with longing hearts to hear the angelic
choirs shouting out “Gloria!” and rejoicing at the birth of Christ. “Come thou
long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; joy of every longing heart,
let us find our rest in thee.”[9]
[1]
Henry Nouwen
[2]
Synthesis CE, 12/15/2019
[3]
Br. Curtis Almquist, Brother Give Us a Word, 12/16/2012
[4]
John 1:5
[5]
Alan Brehm, referencing Psalm 146:4-9 in Synthesis CE, 12/15/2019
[6]
Matthew 25:40
[7] Brehm
[8]
Henri Nouwen
[9]
The Hymnal 1982, 66 (taken from different stanzas)
