Sermons

We stand on the threshold of a new year, and there seems to be something in us that searches for meaning in such moments. In one sense there won't be any more difference between today and tomorrow than there was between yesterday and today. And yet, there is something significant and important about opportunities to mark time. They allow us to reflect on where we have come from and where we are going.
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How often do we miss it because we are looking in another direction? In this world of "might makes right" and "bigger is better" and "the one with the most toys wins" - how often do we fail to notice the presence of the God who shows up in backwater towns like Bethlehem and in the lives of marginalized people like teen-age unwed mothers and old women? Over and over in scripture we find this message - God will not be contained or constrained by our narrow vision of how the world works. God will continue to show up in surprising and unexpected places and circumstances.
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We get confused. The words happy and joyful are often used almost interchangably, and then we read something like Paul's words to the Church at Philippi and it doesn't make much sense to us. "Rejoice in the Lord always!" How in the world is that supposed to work? We think he is advocating some sort of Pollyannaish approach to life, complete with rose colored glasses and a painted on fake smile. We know what the world is like and there's just no way we can close our eyes and pretend that everything is wonderful when it's not.
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On this second Sunday in Advent, when Peace is proclaimed as the theme of the day, we hear John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness of the Jordan, "Prepare the Way of God! Make the paths straight." At first glance John doesn't seem much like a peaceful sort of fellow. He is wild. He is brash. He is a firebrand. And yet, the Gospel writers all cast him in the roll of the one who "prepares the way" for Jesus by preaching about leveling the playing field. And that, in a very real and very powerful sense, is exactly what peace is all about.
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Wars and rumors of wars. Global warming, climate change, disasters of every sort. Disease and accidents. "In the bleak mid-winter..." is how the ancient carol puts it. We live in frightening times and the forces of fear seem to hold the upper hand. It's no wonder that some people hear the apocalyptic words of Luke's Gospel and believe they are about these times in which we live. "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves." (Luke 21:25) Which, of course, they are, but, interestingly enough, not at all in the way many people think.
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