Advent 1, Yr. B, December 2,
2012
Jeremiah 33; Psalm 25:1-9; 1
Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36
Sermon preached at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal Church
I’ve
been talking a lot about hope lately, and today won’t be any different. Notice the banner that’s up on the wire this
week. Our first candle in this new
season of Advent, a season of “coming” is also about hope. This is the beginning of our looking forward
to a future event that happened 2000 years ago, the birth of a man who had the
capacity to live in full communion with God in every moment of his life. As grim as life in first century Palestine
could be for many, Jesus proclaimed hope.
Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God was at hand. The advent of the Day of the Lord was upon
them. Just watch the signs, he told
them. Stay steadfast in your faith,
trust in God, don’t let your fears and worries get you down.
I
imagine there were many people who couldn’t see the possibilities themselves,
and despair was a ready friend to them, a trap that could catch them and refuse
to let them go.
But Jesus had the
capacity to sit with worry and fear and not let it overwhelm him. He could be present in suffering in
compassion without landing in the pit of depression forever. He could hold fast to the Kingdom promise, and
see the potential for new life in the sprouting of a spring bud. He was grounded in the words of hope that
never pass away. People were longing to
hear those words, but culture wasn’t providing them. God provided them. Jesus spoke them. They were written in the scriptures. Jesus heard them, and he shared them. People from all over the countryside flocked
to receive them. Jesus shared the
excitement of stepping into the future with anticipation … because he believed
that God was with them. He believed that
God was leading their way.
On
Thursday evening and Friday, I was in Binghamton at a conference that was
sponsored by our Province. It was about
the Missional Church. It was a great
conference, and I had the opportunity to talk with a number of people who I
didn’t know, lay and ordained. We all
know that the face of the church is changing.
We all know that something new is happening. It’s the kind of “new” that can’t be tackled
with the strategies and tools that we’ve used in the past to solve
problems.
In
the past, if money ran short we looked at our stewardship programs. We did every member canvases, or capital
campaigns. We invited stewardship
witnesses to speak. We can still do those
things, but doing the old stuff better isn’t going to be enough.
In the past, if stewardship
wasn’t the issue, we’d look to some other aspect of “church” and try to do that
piece better. Maybe it was formation or
Christian Education that needed a boost.
We’d recruit more Sunday school teachers, or purchase a new
curriculum. Those aren’t bad strategies,
but they aren’t the tools we need to help us move forward in hope today. The church itself is changing. The tools we need now are spiritual
tools. Tools that help us tune into what
God is calling us into. Spiritual
practices help us to place ourselves at God’s disposal. Instead of placing ourselves in God’s way, we
place ourselves in the way of God. In essence, we try to get out of the way, so that we can get on the way.
The kinds of changes we’re
facing are changes that require imagination.
Creativity is at its best when we are not mired down in worry and
fear. Our brains shut down when they’re
afraid. We jump right into the reptilian brain that fights or runs. That doesn’t help. What does help is knowing that others in
faith have shared what we’re experiencing now.
Changes like these aren’t new to us.
In our mid-week Bible study
we’re reading the Acts of the Apostles.
In those conversations, I’ve been reminded of our long history of
following God into new places. Peter and
James and all those faithful who met at the Jerusalem Council back in the first
century considered enormous issues of change.
Paul and Barnabas had been sharing the good news of forgiveness with
Gentiles. Many were being baptized. Then a question was raised in Jerusalem. Should Gentiles be allowed into the fold
without first being circumcised?
Circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with the Jews. Circumcision was the sign of God’s
providence, and a person’s responsibility to God. Was it possible that God could mean for that
covenant to extend beyond them to the gentiles, maybe even to the world,
without that outward sign of promise?
Peter spoke first. Then Paul and Barnabas told about their
experiences on the road; they told the council how the Holy Spirit had
descended on Gentiles who had accepted Jesus but not been circumcised. James helped them look back at their
scriptures, to look back at their tradition, their core beliefs. James reminded them that Simeon looked favorably
on Gentiles. He reminded them that the
prophets had said that the city of David would be rebuilt for all peoples of the world, so that all might return to God. Then, a decision was made. Paul and Barnabas were sent forth to spread
good news to those who were not Jews, and the Jerusalem Church sent a letter relaying
the discernment of the Council to the Gentile churches in Antioch, Syria and
Cilicia. (Acts 15)
What did they do? They listened in silence. They listened as those in the community
described the world to them. They told
their stories, shared experiences … Paul, Barnabas, and Peter. They reflected on their own tradition. They looked back at the words that rooted
their community in God, at the words of Simeon, Moses and the prophets. They acted.
This is discernment … decision making with God. Trusting in God to
lead the church that belongs to God. St.
Stephen’s belongs to God. We are
stewards. We bear responsibility for
this particular church, but we do not bear it alone.
Moving
forward in hope means that we discern together.
We look at ourselves and the community around us. We learn together. You may have noticed that over the last year,
we have experimented with various alternative affirmations of faith in place of
the historic Nicene Creed. It’s Advent,
one of the two major seasons in the church, so the Nicene Creed is back
in. It’s important to stay rooted in our
tradition, but it’s also important to consider whether these words still speak
the truth of what we believe in language that the larger community can
understand. Rob has been inserting some
hymns from Wonder, Love and Praise while still using many of our traditional
hymns from the Hymnal 1982 and Lift Every Voice and Sing. Last Lent, we used a Eucharistic prayer that
was adapted by Michael Hopkins and me that changed some of the older language. We’re praying for the soldiers who die each
week in the armed services by name until the end of the year. Many of
these changes I have suggested because canonically I have control of our
liturgy, even though it is literally “the
work of the people”. So I need you
guys; I need you to enter the conversation about our worship more intentionally.
There
is learning that we need to do together.
Learning about discernment and prayer, so that we have the tools to open
ourselves to God’s word coming through us.
It’s God we hope to encounter here.
Consider joining in the conversations that will happen in the chapel
during these three Sundays of Advent as we explore several spiritual tools. Consider coming to the Quiet Morning on the
15th that Chris and Mary Jo are planning. Make space in your life for regular prayer. Let’s also learn a bit more about one another,
so that we understand what draws us together in love on Sunday morning and what
presents barriers to that inclusion. Why
do you come here on Sunday morning? If
it’s just out of obligation, I know that’s not enough. If it’s just to see one another, I’d like to
suggest that we’re still missing something.
God is trying to find a way in … don’t we want that too?
We need to continue
to be willing to try things out as we have been doing … with the creed, with
some new music, with prayer … and risk failure in hope. It’s okay to say that something isn’t
working. Our worship is meant to be a
place where we can open ourselves to God’s presence and allow that presence to work
within us as we join together in community.
If it’s not doing that then we have work to do. If it’s not connecting with any of the people in the community who
are searching for God, then we’re not getting the message of hope where it
needs to go. It’s a message that’s not
just meant for us. It’s for people we
haven’t even met yet! It’s for the
Gentiles of our day. It’s for the people who are distressed and confused, for the people
who are fainting with fear and foreboding
of what is coming upon the world.
(Luke 21:26) We have something
grounded in a long history of tradition to offer others, and in doing that we
will also be blessed. Watch for ways
that you can join in this discernment. May God make you increase and abound in love
for one another, and strengthen your hearts in holiness as we look to the
coming of Jesus into the world again with all the saints.
Amen.
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