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]

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[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)