Sermon for the third Sunday in Advent, 2011

Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isai'ah said.

It’s Advent, time for the Isai'ah passages that prefigure the coming of Christ Jesus. Passages I must admit I don’t always take seriously. I often find myself giggling when reading Isai'ah, because stylistically it reminds me of the Monty Python Book of Armaments parody in The Holy Grail. I keep expecting Isai'ah to mention fruit bats.

And taken at face value, the prophet Isai'ah can seem pretty naive. All that that lion will lie down with the lamb stuff. Reminds me of a co-worker I had once who was looking at a picture book of lions and was saying how much she loved lions until she came across a picture of one eating a gazelle. She then said she wanted to go to Africa and teach lions to become vegetarians. I all but rolled my eyes. They would die, I explained to her, they’re metabolism just isn’t designed for that.

However, today’s Isai'ah passage opens with the part Jesus himself reads in the synagogue, and something shifts. Oh wait, better take this part seriously. And then Paul tells us, “Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good.”

And when I can put my gut-reaction cynicism aside, get past my Old Testament vs. New Testament prejudice (How many times have I fallen into the trap of saying “I worship the New Testament God, not the Old Testament God.”) I can try to look at Isai'ah with an attitude of how does this speak to me? What is God trying to say through Isai'ah?

“The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me.” Something we can all claim, by virtue of our baptism. Then follows a list of works, the kind of list that can sometimes bring one to despair rather than inspiration. Look at all I should be doing but I’m not doing.

As Paul suggested, let’s test these things. Rather than feel an obligation to the whole list, is there anything that jumps out, speaks to your heart, does actually inspire? I invite you all to read this passage for what speaks to you. For me one line in particular jumps out:

“to bind up the brokenhearted,” that describes something I can do, have done, want to continue to do. Reading that line opens my heart. It’s where I find the light in this passage. Maybe something else entirely on this list opens yours.

But even as on fire as I get to bind up the brokenhearted, I stumble, fall, fail and doubt when I’m trying to do it from my own power. Which is why this later passage is so important:

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for God has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

It all keeps coming back to that intimate relationship with God. That ultimately is where our strength, passion and desire for such things comes from. The wedding image is one of many analogies for intimate relationship with God, but a powerful one for me. In fact one, way I was able to reconcile that “Old Testament vs. New Testament” fallacy, was to see the God in Hebrew scriptures as a jealous lover rather than a harsh judge.

In fact a scriptural image that captures the Advent season for me is an image from the wise and foolish virgins parable. First let’s get over the gendered “virgin” and “bridegroom” language, make it a civil union if that works better for you. The image is waiting for your lover through the dark night, not knowing exactly when they’ll come, hoping for that commitment which with God, will not end with death.

I’ve heard Advent described as a mini Lent, but personally I think that’s giving the season short shrift. Lent is a hard but wonderful season. A season of repentance (which really means change of mind, or change of heart) being with ways you’ve fallen short, mistakes you have made, and hopefully find a new perspective which can lead to transformation.

I see Advent very differently. Advent for me is sitting in the dark, holding those things that I can find no light in. What in my life is so bleak and dark and opaque that I can’t even imagine finding God there? Offering these things to God, asking for the light that comes with the incarnation to come into these things, illuminate them for me.

That kind of spiritual process is one way to “Make straight the way of the Lord”; to internally flatten mountains and raise valleys, to open parts of yourself up to the presence of God; to deepen your intimacy with Christ who is the light.

He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. Thus John the Evangelist begins his take on John the Baptist. I honestly found this Gospel passage puzzling at first. It seemed out of character for John the Baptist to be so humble. My image of him was of a fire and brimstone preacher, shouting out at those he disapproved of. Sure he acknowledged that Jesus was far better than he was, but here in today’s Gospel, he’s denying that he’s even a prophet.

But then I remembered that John is the wild man of the desert, “clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.” Of course he wouldn’t let the Pharisees put any labels on him. Which is actually good news for those of us who are unconventional Christians.

Even though John was a precursor, perhaps even a mentor of Jesus, he was a witness of the light. He was, as the Gospel says, sent from God. He didn’t “clean up” for it. He didn’t claim titles or status. He simply baptized. People came to him wanting to change their mind and heart. He bound up those brokenhearted and told them about the light.

And so I implore you, don’t hide your idiosyncrasies, don’t fear that you need to be less you to be a witness to the light. God sent us all, the Spirit of the Lord is on us all. Opening up to those places where you haven’t let the light in can lead to transformation, but often surprisingly it leads to you being more you. But transformation doesn’t stop; don’t wait for it to end. We are each precious to God as we are, and God can speak through each of us, however wild and crazy we may seem to others. Do not quench the Spirit.

The readings for this sermon:

Isaiah 61: 1 - 4, 8 - 11 

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and release to the prisoners;

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to provide for those who mourn in Zion--

to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.

They shall build up the ancient ruins,

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

For I the LORD love justice,

I hate robbery and wrongdoing;

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants shall be known among the nations,

and their offspring among the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge

that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

NEW TESTAMENT:  1 Thessalonians 5: 16 - 24 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

GOSPEL:  John 1: 6 - 8, 19 - 28

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Le'vites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Eli'jah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said,

"I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

"Make straight the way of the Lord,'"

as the prophet Isai'ah said.

Now they had been sent from the Phar'isees. They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Eli'jah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This took place in Beth'any across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

My First Sermon from 25 September 2011:

In an earlier chapter of his Gospel, Matthew tells us that the crowds were astounded at Jesus’ teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. Scribes were the scholars of the day and the keeper and maker of books. Jesus may have seemed to the crowd to speak from his own authority. Jesus, however, claimed his authority from his relationship with the father; for example in John, Jesus says, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ authority is directly questioned. The Temple authorities had credentials. Jesus, a homeless, penniless person from a disreputable area, whose own family thought he was crazy, was not likely to be credentialed. Why should the chief priests listen to this man who had just recently chased moneychangers out of the temple, knocking over tables and yelling? So what if he did heal some people afterward? Who does he think he is?

Jesus answers the Temple authorities question with a question. “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” It may seem that Jesus is trying to trap the Temple authorities in the same way that scribes and Pharisees had tried to trap him into discrediting himself. Even so, asking a question before answering one was a common technique used in rabbinical debate. And indeed the second question, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” was intended as a kind of trap. But it’s not Jesus’ cleverness that I’ll be speaking of today; it is the importance of John the Baptist to Jesus and his ministry.

Several Biblical scholars (with proper credentials - modern day scribes) have suggested that Jesus was once a disciple of John's. John is an important figure in all four Gospels. In several places John’s preaching is similar to Jesus’ early preaching. The Bible explicitly states that some of Jesus’ earliest disciples were former disciples of John’s. There are convincing arguments that baptism served the function of initiation into discipleship for John as it does for Christians.

If Jesus did start out as a disciple of John, might Jesus in today’s Gospel reading, be hinting at what he might consider a credential? If the Temple authorities believed John’s baptism came from heaven, might Jesus have referred to his own baptism as a legitimate standing from which he could engage the Temple authorities into deeper conversation? Until they would not answer, he might have been offering them a context they could understand, rather than trying to debate. This is speculation to be sure.

Whether or not Jesus thought of himself as a disciple of John, it was through John that Jesus confirmed or perhaps even discovered his relationship to the Father. According to Luke, Jesus had a spiritual vision when John baptized him. The Holy Spirit appeared to him with this message from the Father “You are my beloved son, in who I am well pleased.”  

As disciples of Jesus; imitators of Christ; let us put ourselves into Jesus’ experience here. I’d like us all to take a moment to hear that message from the Divine Parent. “You are my beloved child, in who I am well pleased.”

“You are my beloved child, in who I am well pleased.”

Is that a message you can take in? A message you can believe? Is it hard for you to hear or comforting? Do you dismiss it as a message only for Jesus and not for yourself? Or can you believe, like Paul that Jesus is the “first born” and that as Christians we inherit that relationship? Can you claim and live out of that intimacy with God? How would truly embracing that message change your mind?

A councilor I know had trained under a famous teacher who had published several books. For many years this councilor used the technique of her mentor and referred to her counseling work by the name of this technique. She took that technique to heart and lived out of it in her own life. Eventually she became aware that her own technique had evolved and it was no longer appropriate to call her work by the name of her teacher's technique. But many of the spiritual principles that informed that technique remained. And she still speaks very fondly of her former mentor.

Might not our Lord still have great affection and admiration for his former mentor? Even after the nature of his true self was revealed to him and he had moved on? Thinking of Jesus being heavily influenced by John need not be blasphemy. Remember that Jesus is fully man as well as fully God. Man is a social animal as we know.

As disciples of Jesus ourselves, at what point might it be appropriate to appreciate the divinity within ourselves? Do we honor the evolution of our own spirituality? Are there ways in which our worship of Christ might detract from our own relationship with the Father? Do we stop at what’s in the Gospels or do we look at the long tradition of Christianity? Do later revelations or mystic interpretations of scripture speak to us as well? Can we trust our own deep spiritual experiences? Our own spiritual authority?

Many Christians might think these questions are dangerous. They may perhaps misunderstand connecting with our own divinity as mistaking ourselves for God. They might fear that honoring one’s own spiritual evolution may lead one to reject or abandon the Christian tradition altogether, forgetting just how rich and diverse that tradition truly is.

As Moses did in the desert, they may mistake a quarrel with their authority as testing the Lord. “What shall I do with this person?” they might say. Notice that God does not say the people are testing the Lord. God tells Moses that God will be standing there in front of him, providing water so that the people may drink.

My heart aches at the many stories I’ve heard concerning religious authorities and peers that reject people’s personal spiritual experience. There is so much in our tradition that can help people make sense of their experience, that there is no need to force someone to choose between their own spiritual experience and Christian tradition.

People are social animals, we influence one another. We form communities for mutual support and guidance. With this also comes the desire to fit in, to people please, to not admit when we don’t understand something. Shame and fear of vulnerability can lead us to hide our deepest and most intimate experiences. Can we be a community that nurtures those intimate vulnerable moments? That can hear someone’s struggle with reconciling their experience and tradition without judgment?

Over and over again, Jesus tells us that we can have a deeply intimate relationship with our Divine Parent; the creator of all things. That the Holy Spirit will help, inspire and guide us. That we should not hide our light under a basket. He even says that we will do even greater things than he has done. He does not say that this will be easy, however. Few people will actually do this. It also requires a shift in perspective.

According to Mark, Jesus ministry began after John was arrested. That was when Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." The word commonly translated as repent is metanoia, a Greek word meaning to change your mind. It is worth noting that John the Baptist’s message was one of repentance, and the fruits of that repentance – in other words change of mind and actions.

In our political rhetoric, being a "flip flopper" is considered a detriment, a weakness, is used as an attack on someone. Jesus is calling the Temple authorities out on NOT changing their mind. He tells them that Tax collectors and prostitutes (who have changed their minds) will arrive in the kingdom of God before them.

There's an old saying, "It takes a thief to catch a thief." Anyone in a 12 step program can attest to the fact that an addict is much more receptive to hearing a spiritual solution to their addiction if it comes from someone who has walked in their shoes.

Where does authority actually come from? I could list my credentials, my ordination, my masters degrees, etc. It does not escape me that my credentials are dependent on privilege. That people as qualified as I am, and many who are more qualified will not get credentials because they cannot afford them, because their school system was under par, because their speech is not eloquent, because of their race or creed, etc., etc.

I personally take my spiritual authority from having been a sinner who changed her mind. None of my credentials can give me that kind of authority. I have done things that I thought I could never live with. I have done things that I thought could never be forgiven. Through the pain and suffering sin has caused me, I can relate to the pain and suffering that others experience. Through meditation on my wrongdoings I have understood that given the right circumstances, I am fully capable of any and all sins that human beings can do.

I speak to you today not as a chief priest or elder, but as a tax collector or prostitute. A tax collector or prostitute that has received the message that I am a beloved child of God, and that knowledge has changed my way of thinking. My inability to hear or be conscious of that message resulted in a myriad of lies about myself that led to the actions I call sins.

As much as that message has transformed me, I can still all too easily listen to those old lies and believe them. As God said to Paul, so God says to me, “My grace is enough for you; my power is at its best in weakness.” I would be no good to any of you if I forgot or denied that I was a sinner; if for no other reason that I know I am in no position to judge any of you. God’s power is at its best when we can meet in our weakness with open hearts.

I recently saw a film called Circumstance, in which there was a character who overcame his addiction through fundamentalism. It seemed to me, though, that this character was desperate still. His embrace of fundamentalism led to harsh judgment of others. He eventually spied on his family and turned them into the repressive theocratic authorities. He used his position with the authorities to exact revenge on his old drug connection. He ended up blackmailing someone into marrying him. He was clearly doing reprehensible things with his power. Near the end of the film, in a shocking scene, his deep sense of inadequacy was revealed. He was saved, but he hadn’t gotten the message.

Let me repeat the message for you, “You are God’s beloved child, in who God is well pleased.” What are the implications of this for you? How might deeply contemplating this truth affect you? What does recognizing the divinity within you look like? How might you act differently if you were to honor your intrinsic value? Can your intimacy with God contain your authority as God’s beloved along with your complete dependence on God? Can you love not only God back but all the rest of God’s creation?

Can you see how God could be well pleased with you not just despite your sins, but because of them? Can you see how recognizing your divinity is intimately linked with recognizing your sins? Can you see the humility of that truth without the humiliation? Can you surrender to God, without relinquishing your own authority in the world?

And so I’ll leave you with those questions and a quote from today’s epistle, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.”

 

The readings for the above sermon:

 

Exodus 17:1-7

 

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

Philippians 2:1-13

 

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

 

Matthew 21:23-32

 

When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

 

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.