Advent 2, Year A December 5, 2010
Twists and Turns The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess
I. Introduction: The season of Advent twists and turns. These twists and turns produce a certain tension in our spiritual lives. At one moment in time we are moved by the wonder and great mystery of Advent, while at other times we are beset by distractions, disruptions, and delays. Which is it going to be – the disturbances or the divine presence of God in the Incarnation? The lectionary designers seem to be communicating the same kind of tension in the readings selected for today. For example, Isaiah wrote: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, and a branch will grow out of his roots . . . The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” This is the warm, loving picture we see on many of our Christmas cards – scenes of stillness and peacefulness frozen in place.
Yet at the same time we have today’s Gospel reading from Matthew. John the Baptist is making his annual advent voice heard: “Repent!” says this wild and wooly man . . . for the kingdom of Heaven is near.” He calls the Pharisees and Sadducees who are coming for baptism a “brood of vipers” and describes Jesus as a Messiah of judgment. He warns harshly that “Jesus’ winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary but the chaff will burn with unquenchable fire.” As one of the participants in our Wednesday Women’s Bible Study (which meets at 10:45 in room 101 and welcomes new members) said this week: “I sure hope I’m not one of the chaff that is thrown into the unquenchable fire.” I share her sentiment!
II. What then are we to do with this tension in our lives and in our worship? As I have struggled to answer that question for myself this week, I will share what I have come to understand about this tension. First, I would say that to a lesser or greater degree, this tension is always going to be an element of our spiritual experience in this life. We are all works in process; we are redeemed through Christ, but not yet perfected. Secondly, although we know that this tension between peace and challenge will continue throughout our lives, it is often at the point of that tension where the Holy Spirit can do the Spirit’s best work in us, helping our faith to grow stronger and stronger over time.
III. First the tension. We are a people saved by grace, but we also are a people who live in a world where “stuff happens.” Although we aspire to transcend “the stuff” there are instances where we struggle. At times our tensions come from sadness and grief, the loss of a marriage, the loss of a job, the death of someone we love very much, or giving up of some of our treasured life dreams. Many of us in this sanctuary have or are facing the reality of living lives that aren’t like those in the Christmas card pictures. As is typically the case, for many of our brothers and sisters, grief is very powerful during Advent.
For others, our tensions result from much more mundane events. We begin our busy days with optimism and end them with frustration. It’s like my experience in the past week of having my car brakes go out twice and also ending almost every day not having completed what I had hoped or had promised to do. Each of us this morning can insert our own particular experiences of tension during the past week.
IV. In the midst of our tensions, however, Isaiah points us to a peaceful promise. Some have viewed that promise primarily as a prediction about the future. But others see the promise of peace as timeless. For example, Margaret Wenig, a Jewish author writes:
You see, to Jews, Isaiah’s promise of redemption speaks not only of the advent of the messiah at the end of time, but also of our recurring experience of redemption through time. We believe that Isaiah’s promise has already been fulfilled time and again whenever our people have been felled and new shoots have miraculously appeared.
V. This recurring experience of redemption, I believe, is possible for us when we understand the dynamic nature of our spiritual lives. We each have a core center of spiritual gravity. In this core center we are unified with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Remember the central truth of the Incarnation: “Christ become one of us so that we could become more like him.” This core is supported by connections. First, we are supported by our connection with God, a God who is willing to help us grow, examine ourselves more fully, and keep us anchored in faith. Several of the fruits of this spiritual core are gentleness, forgiveness, humility, and patience. It’s through our spiritual core that we can see ourselves more clearly, love others more fully, and heal from the pains we have suffered. Second, we are supported by our connections with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Although we do so imperfectly, we pray for one another, listen to one another, encourage one another, advise one another, and love one another through God’s grace.
At times, however, we can be pulled away from the core, the center of spiritual gravity, into an energy field of distractions. When these distractions become compelling and demanding, we may be pulled away from our spiritual power source. I believe that there is a constant process of spiritual recalibration going on in all of us. Some forces are working to pull us out into the force field of distraction, while other forces are bringing us back to the core.
VI. Conclusion. It is very important not to be frightened by this process of twisting and turning. We see particularly in Advent that our spiritual journeys have peaks and valleys and that the movement between them creates a tension within us. Joy McDonald Coltvert writes in Currents in Theology and Mission (2007) that today’s lectionary readings may provide us with “an opportunity to not force everything to fit together, but just [to] allow the tensions.”
We are blessed here because God has given us this community within which to live out our twists and our turns together. It’s my prayer that we seek to be increasingly open about the realities of our spiritual journeys with one another, to love each other actively, to pray for each other fervently, and to walk humbly with God and with one another as we do so. Amen.
Twists and Turns The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess
I. Introduction: The season of Advent twists and turns. These twists and turns produce a certain tension in our spiritual lives. At one moment in time we are moved by the wonder and great mystery of Advent, while at other times we are beset by distractions, disruptions, and delays. Which is it going to be – the disturbances or the divine presence of God in the Incarnation? The lectionary designers seem to be communicating the same kind of tension in the readings selected for today. For example, Isaiah wrote: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, and a branch will grow out of his roots . . . The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” This is the warm, loving picture we see on many of our Christmas cards – scenes of stillness and peacefulness frozen in place.
Yet at the same time we have today’s Gospel reading from Matthew. John the Baptist is making his annual advent voice heard: “Repent!” says this wild and wooly man . . . for the kingdom of Heaven is near.” He calls the Pharisees and Sadducees who are coming for baptism a “brood of vipers” and describes Jesus as a Messiah of judgment. He warns harshly that “Jesus’ winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary but the chaff will burn with unquenchable fire.” As one of the participants in our Wednesday Women’s Bible Study (which meets at 10:45 in room 101 and welcomes new members) said this week: “I sure hope I’m not one of the chaff that is thrown into the unquenchable fire.” I share her sentiment!
II. What then are we to do with this tension in our lives and in our worship? As I have struggled to answer that question for myself this week, I will share what I have come to understand about this tension. First, I would say that to a lesser or greater degree, this tension is always going to be an element of our spiritual experience in this life. We are all works in process; we are redeemed through Christ, but not yet perfected. Secondly, although we know that this tension between peace and challenge will continue throughout our lives, it is often at the point of that tension where the Holy Spirit can do the Spirit’s best work in us, helping our faith to grow stronger and stronger over time.
III. First the tension. We are a people saved by grace, but we also are a people who live in a world where “stuff happens.” Although we aspire to transcend “the stuff” there are instances where we struggle. At times our tensions come from sadness and grief, the loss of a marriage, the loss of a job, the death of someone we love very much, or giving up of some of our treasured life dreams. Many of us in this sanctuary have or are facing the reality of living lives that aren’t like those in the Christmas card pictures. As is typically the case, for many of our brothers and sisters, grief is very powerful during Advent.
For others, our tensions result from much more mundane events. We begin our busy days with optimism and end them with frustration. It’s like my experience in the past week of having my car brakes go out twice and also ending almost every day not having completed what I had hoped or had promised to do. Each of us this morning can insert our own particular experiences of tension during the past week.
IV. In the midst of our tensions, however, Isaiah points us to a peaceful promise. Some have viewed that promise primarily as a prediction about the future. But others see the promise of peace as timeless. For example, Margaret Wenig, a Jewish author writes:
You see, to Jews, Isaiah’s promise of redemption speaks not only of the advent of the messiah at the end of time, but also of our recurring experience of redemption through time. We believe that Isaiah’s promise has already been fulfilled time and again whenever our people have been felled and new shoots have miraculously appeared.
V. This recurring experience of redemption, I believe, is possible for us when we understand the dynamic nature of our spiritual lives. We each have a core center of spiritual gravity. In this core center we are unified with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Remember the central truth of the Incarnation: “Christ become one of us so that we could become more like him.” This core is supported by connections. First, we are supported by our connection with God, a God who is willing to help us grow, examine ourselves more fully, and keep us anchored in faith. Several of the fruits of this spiritual core are gentleness, forgiveness, humility, and patience. It’s through our spiritual core that we can see ourselves more clearly, love others more fully, and heal from the pains we have suffered. Second, we are supported by our connections with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Although we do so imperfectly, we pray for one another, listen to one another, encourage one another, advise one another, and love one another through God’s grace.
At times, however, we can be pulled away from the core, the center of spiritual gravity, into an energy field of distractions. When these distractions become compelling and demanding, we may be pulled away from our spiritual power source. I believe that there is a constant process of spiritual recalibration going on in all of us. Some forces are working to pull us out into the force field of distraction, while other forces are bringing us back to the core.
VI. Conclusion. It is very important not to be frightened by this process of twisting and turning. We see particularly in Advent that our spiritual journeys have peaks and valleys and that the movement between them creates a tension within us. Joy McDonald Coltvert writes in Currents in Theology and Mission (2007) that today’s lectionary readings may provide us with “an opportunity to not force everything to fit together, but just [to] allow the tensions.”
We are blessed here because God has given us this community within which to live out our twists and our turns together. It’s my prayer that we seek to be increasingly open about the realities of our spiritual journeys with one another, to love each other actively, to pray for each other fervently, and to walk humbly with God and with one another as we do so. Amen.
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