Sermon preached by the Rev. Sue Judson Hamly on November 30, 2008 at Faith United Church, UCC, International Falls, MN
First Sunday of Advent Year B
Scripture texts: Isaiah 64:1-9 and Psalm 80:1-7l 17-19
We tend to think of Christmas as a time of wonder and magic—a season of warmth, joy, happy memories, happy families, peace on earth. And for some folks that’s how it is. For others it’s just a memory, a longing or an unrealized dream. This year, for many people in our country Christmas may not be what it has been in the past. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a miraculous time.
The psalms are a book of prayers in the middle of the bible that hold back nothing in the heart of Israel. There is praise and thanksgiving, but also anger, doubt, guilt, even demands. The demands slightly resemble reminders, just in case God has forgotten the promises of old or God’s habit of intervening in wonderful ways on behalf of Israel. In the psalms Israel is saying, remember, God? Remember that we are your children and you are our loving Parent; we are the clay and you are the Potter; we are the vine that you yourself have planted and cared for, tenderly. How long, O Lord, how long will we have to wait for you to “give ear,” to “stir up your might,” to “restore us,” to “turn again” and “let your face shine” upon us? Psalm 80 “confesses the people’s trust in a God who is big enough to hear their hurt, strong enough to handle their anger and pain.” They “are in a world of hurt [and t]hey want God to know about it”[1]
The people could have been suffering in slavery or exile, in crushing defeat or on the edges of a power structure, after the return of Israel from exile, that didn’t care what constituted true holiness in the eyes of God. The beauty of the psalms is that they can be prayed by Israel in all of these settings and times, and in concentration camps and pogroms, because they express the heartfelt, anguished questions of a people who have a history with God. This long, long history holds memories of God stepping in and doing something when the need was great. We can understand that shared stories of defeating Pharaoh, raining bread from heaven, and enjoying the glory of David might lead the people to have certain expectations of God. And that is the word for Advent: expectation. In what way can people of faith “expect” God to act?[2]
In the psalm there is a sheer sense of helplessness and longing for God. In today’s reading from Isaiah, the author does speak of sin, but seems to blame the people’s unfaithfulness on God’s decision to remain aloof: “because you hid yourself we transgressed.” Isaiah, however, knows that there is iniquity that God will have to forget, as we ourselves hope that God will forget our own sin. So the time of expectation that coincides with the world’s jolly celebration of “the season” is at least partly about repentance and turning back to God. And Advent is also about the nearness of God, our hope to experience God—right here, “down” here, on earth—to experience God’s radiance and power and love.[3]
That’s what we really want, especially in times of loss, grief, suffering, illness, fear and uncertainty. We want to experience God—to experience the holy in the midst of our everyday lives. We want to be reminded that no matter how bad things are, we belong to God—that all the earth belongs to God—and we want to believe that God breaks into this reality regularly.
When we take the time to stop and think about it we realize that God DOES still break into our daily lives with holy moments. Sometimes, this in-breaking is dramatic and publicly celebrated: for example, the Berlin Wall coming down or the end of apartheid. Sometimes it’s felt in private consolations and reconciliations, a relationship restored by forgiveness or a return to health, or a simple moment of sensing the beauty around us or God’s presence with us.
I remember Christmas Eve about 20 years ago. I was a seminary student and I was the reader for the Christmas Eve service at church. I hadn’t grown up going to church on Christmas Eve because we were always out of town with my mom’s side of the family. I came to love the 11 pm service with its bible readings and the choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus and then everyone processing out to the church’s front porch where we were handed candles which we lit as we went outside and then we all stood there at midnight singing “Silent Night” into the quiet neighborhood with all the stars twinkling overhead.
On this particular Christmas Eve as I stood up to read, I was overcome with a sense of amazement, wonder, awe and gratitude that God loved God’s people so much that God, in Jesus Christ, came to live among us and share our common lot and life! What a miracle! Into the ordinary chaos of life a child was born in a barn full of animals. He was born much like any other child was born in those days, but this child was different because he would grow up to change the world forever! He would care about ALL the people, even the poor, the women, the outcasts, the lepers, the disabled, the scorned and the rejected.
And does that ever give us a reason to be hopeful! In spite of our personal and congregational losses this year; in spite of the shape our world is in and the economic problems our own country is facing; in spite of wars and famine and genocide and global warming, God has not given up on us! God’s love is present with us! God’s holiness breaks into our everyday lives and inspires us to love and action.
Because of God’s love… because we are aware of God’s love… there is hope in this season of expectation. There is hope for a better life for all, and for peace on this planet. And because we can be hopeful, we can also see and sense the holiness breaking into the ordinariness of our everyday lives. In this Advent season, seek the holiness in the everyday and strive to look forward rather than backward, to reach out in love, and always to be hopeful! AMEN.
Endnotes
1. Talitha Arnold, Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary.
2. http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/november-30-2008-first-sunday.html
3. Adapted from http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/november-30-2008-first-sunday.html
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