Advent Roadwork
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For December 5, 2021:
Advent Roadwork
by Chris Keating
Luke 3:1-6
He may not be the snazziest dresser, but John the Baptist sure knows how to make an entrance. He was never one to blend into the crowd. Despite his mother’s pleading and his father’s religious pedigree, John wasn’t much of a city kid. He preferred the wilderness to the streets, eschewing citadels of privilege for empty wastelands, preferring itchy camel’s hair to worsted wool suits. With his scraggly beard streaked with remnants of locust, John draws attention wherever he goes.
But he’s no sideshow act. Luke switches quickly from Jesus’ infancy to highlight John’s breakout missionary work. He comes preaching repentance and practicing baptism. His words cut into the heart, removing the overgrowth that keeps people from experiencing God. Clearly, John is concerned neither with winning friends or influencing people.
He is the bearer of news, a herald of God’s impending arrival.
His words ripple across the wilderness, much like news of high-profile court verdicts break into our lives. John comes announcing a verdict, and like the verdicts in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, his words capture our attention and cause us to reconsider what’s involved in repaving the highways of God.
John cuts through weeds and overgrowth, helping people sense God’s pending arrival. He announces God’s infrastructure plan, and proclaims God’s intent to straighten crooked roads and smooth out bumpy highways. Make no mistake, however, this is not “Build Back Better John,” or even “Smooth Sailing John.” And unlike both recent court cases, no one is innocent. He’s a bad news guy, tasked with getting people prepared and ready for God’s coming.
We hear his voice as we light the second candle of Advent. But we also hear it against the backdrop of verdicts that brought both relief to some and consternation to others. John’s call to prepare ourselves bursts into public spaces where inequality waits God’s leveling justice. Unlike the zombie apocalypse preppers who stockpile weapons, rope, and freeze-dried food, John calls us to be prepared by acts of humility and repentance. His baptism offers a fresh start, a chance to clear pathways for God, an opportunity to freely travel over the highway of God.
In the News
John’s message of repentance and preparation challenges us to pay attention to the many crooked and twisted systems of our world. Crater-sized potholes of injustice, unleveled roadways of oppression, and broken-down thoroughfares of equality cry out from the wilderness of our world. They cry for the sort of infrastructure plan only a messiah can deliver, though John is clear we have roles to play.
Those roles include repenting from justice denied or delayed. The verdicts in both the Rittenhouse case and the trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers yielded immediate responses of lament or praise, though neither can be said to settle issues of racial bias in the criminal justice system. Both represented matters settled by due process, yet both cases reveal the solidified substrate of racial injustice.
New York public defender Sarah Lustbader notes that “a single trial is not a referendum on social justice,” and that “looking to criminal convictions to solve our problems will only further entrench them.” She notes that blockbuster cases like the trials in Wisconsin and Georgia usually “hinge not on lofty moral questions but on narrower factors, like idiosyncratic laws and procedures.”
Lustbader observes that whatever moral guilt Rittenhouse might bear, “laws and legal procedures are not ethical codes and cannot sustain the weight of moral reckonings on a national scale.” She writes that looking to a criminal system heavily influenced by slave codes that continues to reinforce racial inequities only “further centers it in our moral discourse.”
Moreover, while the convictions of Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery may prompt a “sugar high,” it does not promote a better society. The two cases may attract fleeting attention, but will not likely result in vast changes to the biases in the criminal justice system, writes Radley Balko.
Balko points out that a 2017 study of self-defense cases found that when a Black person is killed by a white person, the killing is about eight times more likely to be judged justified, “no matter the circumstances.”
He suggests that true change might happen if more Americans would visit their local criminal courts and watch the proceedings themselves. Unlike television dramas, most criminal cases plod along like a weary reindeer on Christmas Eve. But Balko notes that by taking interest in the “dull, day to day churning of a broken system” might broaden awareness of how efficient that system is in “ruining lives and sowing despair.”
Our acts of repentance must include not mistaking accountability for justice. The guilty verdict does not restore Arbery to his mother, nor does it eradicate the belief that heavily armed white men have the right to tell a black man what to do. Keep in mind it took prosecutors 74 days to file charges against the men who stalked and killed Arbery. Likewise, Rittenhouse’s not-guilty verdict only confirms the systemic bias many Black Americans experience daily.
“You can really smell and see the underlying systemic racism that’s in the judicial system and the policing system,” said Justin Blake, the uncle of Rittenhouse’s victim Jacob Blake.
Both verdicts call us back to the sort of building project imagined by the prophets. John invites our repentance, and summons us to the work of straightening the Lord’s highway in preparation for God’s anticipated arrival.
In the Scripture
Luke casts John’s appearance in the Gospel within the context of history. John’s ministry is calibrated against the Graeco-Roman context of the empire (3:1-3), including the dates of the reigning authorities. Let historians sort out the dates and factual accuracy of Luke’s dramatis personae. Of greater import is their theological significance and the power they inhabit over a people who have no agency in how they are governed.
John’s location is also essential to understand. His is a voice crying in the wilderness. It’s not that he’s been banished or that he fails to draw attention. Rather, John echoes the cries of the prophets of Israel, speaking truths outside of the circle of power. His sermons reflect the hope of Isaiah and his calling to the people to discover hope. The wilderness is a metaphor for growth set in opposition to the intrusion of Rome into the holy spaces of Jerusalem. For Luke, the wilderness is the place where God is revealed and miracles are performed. It is the place where God will gather those who are called to proclaim the messiah’s arrival.
The text does not spell out the works associated with repentance (cf. verses 7-18), but does uphold the notion that John’s baptism is a mark of repentance and change. John is initiating God’s road construction program, setting in the context of forgiveness and change.
While John and Jesus’ ministries will overlap, each is distinct. That distinction is shown by the way Luke frames John’s message of preparation. Our repentance clears the ground so that the foundations of grace and reconciliation can be set. These are the first steps to be undertaken before the massive rebuilding can occur, and they involve our readiness to examine the corruption upon which we currently stand.
In the Sermon
This week’s sermon might invite the congregation to consider the sorts of preparations we undertake in Advent. Can we see ourselves as participants in making straight the crooked places of our world? John the Baptist’s invitation to us comes not from the center of power, but from the wilderness — a chaotic, disordered place. Yet the wilderness is often the place where God draws near to God’s people. Is it possible that the pandemic has placed us in a similar context? In this wilderness, God offers us an invitation to begin smoothing out the bumpy paths where people are walking. In this wilderness, we can begin leveling paths of corruption and straightening byways of injustice.
A second option is to see how John’s testimony differs from the testimony of the witnesses of recent trials. Called upon to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, John bears witness to the promise of God, which is coming. While the witnesses of the Rittenhouse and Arbery trials offered testimony to what they saw, none spoke of the justice God expects. Advent calls us to proffer our own witness. Allow John’s voice to cry out from the wilderness where your congregation is right now, paying particular attention to the crooked, twisted pathways God would have us straighten.
Finally, John’s vision of God’s infrastructure plan begins with an act of repentance. We often ignore repentance during Advent, aside from sarcastic references to the ever-watching elf on a shelf, or the worries of being placed on the naughty list. A sermon could explore the theological impact of repentance during Advent. If we have twisted the paths we walk for our own benefit, how could repentance lead us in a new direction? Contemplate how individuals as well as the church might hear the voice of one who speaks not from the centers of power, but from the wild, untamed places of our world — the very place where God might show up at any time.
Channeling our inner Clark Griswold’s at Christmas often means spending hours untangling hopelessly tangled wires and lights. That is not the witness of John. He points us instead to the myriad twisted systems around us. Those systems of injustice prompted a group of white men with guns to chase a black teenager out for a run, and somehow convinced a white teenager to take up arms in pursuit of vigilante justice. Repenting about how these systems have thwarted God’s desires for humans is at the very heart of our Advent hope.
Our repentance — our turning around — signals our interest in participating in God’s Advent rebuilding plan. Let’s begin to turn this Sunday.
SECOND THOUGHTS
When Your Victories Amount to Tossing a Cup of Water On a Forest Fire
by Quantisha Mason-Doll
Malachi 3:1-4
But who can endure the day? It seems like since the mid-2010’s we, as a collective, have been asking ourselves this very question in a variety of ways. There are only so many once-in-a-lifetime cataclysmic events one person can take before they begin to question the verity of their existence. As a mid-strata millennial that has lived through more than enough “once-in-a-lifetime” events to satisfy even the most radical of thrill-seekers, it would suffice to say that very little astonishes me. I often joke that if the second coming of the Lord was to happen during my lifetime I would be nonplussed about the whole event. Many of us have been desensitized to trauma and conditioned to expect the worse possible outcome. When what would be considered a victory for some, yet just another Tuesday in a world where acts of justice are a cup of water meant to fight a forest fire for others, there is a real issue. The book of Malachi, better yet the book of the messanger invokes imagery of the fulfillment of God’s promise to creation. In all respects, this section of Malachi should be read as a comfort. It is God speaking directly to creation affirming that the Almighty is at work in the world. God in this context likens humankind and creation to gold and silver that has gone through a trial by fire, yet even gold and silver can be completely burned away if held there too long.
Reading this text through a historical Christian lens it is only natural to look to the life and ministry of John the Baptist. Here was a figure that embodied the central tenet of the prophet Elijah so much so that he becomes a folk hero in his own right and amasses a great following. This was a person that radically opposed the status quo of his day and age. He becomes an agitator that causes those around him to question their role in their society’s moral arch. We can argue that John the Baptist’s life, ministry, and death were the precursor to the death, life, and ministry of Jesus. If we are to believe that our scriptures are a living document of our faith that is ever unfolding, we must ask ourselves does Malachi still speak to us today? When we hear the words, thus says the Lord our God, “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me.” Are we envisioning only the prophets of old or are we willing to believe that there are others who have been called to prepare the way for the Lord? The role of prophet is not one that is actively coveted from a Christological standpoint. Prophets tend to become martyrs, or they are people that are ostracized from their community or ethnic group for speaking out and seeking change, or they are people that are afflicted in some way that places them squarely on the margins of the society. God created humans to be social beings and it is for that reason we deeply fear being cast outfrom our social groups. It is for this reason we sometimes justify violence and fall prey to groupthink bias.
In the United States today we are still having heated discussions on what it means to be a moral society. I find cases like that of Kyle Rittenhouse and the three men found guilty of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery to be interesting cases of amorality when whiteness is the perpetrator of sin. I would argue that there are social norms associated with whiteness committing acts of violence. Don’t be misled — these are actual people committing actual crimes yet it is through their whiteness or proximity to whiteness that grants the perpetrator a form of social protection. According to prosecutor Thomas Binger, as quoted from his closing argument, “When the defendant provokes this incident, he loses the right to self-defense. You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create.” An opinion piece written by James Homan for the Washington Post called Kyle Rittenhouse a “folk hero on the radical right.” While I am not in agreement with the majority of opinions, I am in agreement with Rittenhouse’s status as an American folk hero. Rittenhouse and others like him are the folk heroes of the radical right. They act as a moral touchstone that redefines morality in a way that centers on whiteness and the white experience. They are the radical rights’ axis mundi to a god-like figure built in their image. While he has gained a cult following with the radical right, the image of Kyle Rittenhouse trying to force himself to cry, to show any kind of remorse, will live forever rent-free in my mind because it shows the mediocrity that is our nation’s moral and justice systems. How can you fear the beast you have created?
Back to the question presented at the top of the article, “How can one endure the day?” I would like to note the messenger never gives an answer to the listener. We are told that there will be purifying fires and the outcome would be like gold and silver that would be pleasing to the Lord when offered as a sacrifice to God. The moral left lacks a central folk hero that will act as the agitator, the one who stands in opposition to the status quo. When you think about it, our country right now is a massive forest fire that has spiraled out of control. Each individual that is fighting for the cause of justice, equity, and equality are firefighters seeking direction. To answer the question, how long can one endure: It is exhausting to work without direction. Very quickly you will be burned out.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Luke 3:1-6
Every Valley Shall Be Lifted
John the Baptist promises that when the realm of God comes, every valley shall be lifted and every rough place made smooth. After a battle with addiction, Roberta found herself lost in a valley of shame... until her manicurist changed her life. “Though I’d finally conquered the addiction, I remained buried in debt — and shame. I’d never felt so hopeless. Maybe a manicure would give me a little lift, make my day better. I hadn’t been treating myself to anything lately, but it was one indulgence I could still afford, even on my strict budget. I didn’t want to run into anyone I knew and have them ask how I was doing, so I made an appointment at a salon I had never been to. Annie, the owner, answered the phone and said that she would be taking care of me…[At the salon] while Annie was gathering her supplies, I overheard a conversation between two of her customers. The one who was recovering from a stroke showed off her icy blue nail color. “Annie says this is fit for a queen,” she said, beaming. The other had nails painted in a shimmering pink. “I couldn’t have made it through my cancer treatments without Annie,” she said. “Or my Debutante Pink.” Annie reappeared at her station, brandishing a bottle of vibrant red polish. “This is you, Roberta,” she said. “Lucky Red!”
“Annie took my hand and went to work. As she clipped, filed and buffed my nails, she told me a little about herself. She and her family were from Vietnam. They’d immigrated to America when Annie was nine and settled in California. While still in high school, Annie studied the nail tech trade at her mother’s urging. “What do you do, Roberta?” she wanted to know… I cringed, shrinking down in my chair. How had I gone from being a high-ranking nurse with a private office and a phone ringing off the hook to the messed-up life I had now?” “I’m retired from nursing,” I said at last. “Now I write little stories. All by my lonesome at my kitchen table.”
Annie offered a story from her own experience, telling about moving to the US from Vietnam. She went to work in a nail salon, and always felt inferior to her customers. “As Annie built her clientele, her attitude shifted and she found her calling to become the best nail girl ever.” Roberta adds, I grew so comfortable with Annie that one day I told her about my struggle to whittle down all my medical debt. And how depressing it was not to be able to do anything nice for myself anymore except get the occasional manicure.” Annie advised, “Go for walk, Roberta. Every evening, I walk in park. Talk to everyone’s dogs. Park and dogs are free.”
Recently Roberta told Annie, “Since knowing you, I realize I could be younger, prettier, smarter, thinner. A whole lot wealthier. But not richer. And there’s not one person on this earth I would trade places with.” “Me either, Roberta,” Annie said. “I love the Annie and Roberta we’ve become. They are enough.” All flesh shall see the salvation of God — even at the nail salon.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Love Overflowing
Paul writes to the churches in Philippi with great affection, saying, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” Cheryl Morgan experienced God at work, bringing her work as an adoptive mother to completion. Morgan was in the process of adopting four children when she made a list of all the things she would need, as the size of her family doubled. “A larger kitchen table was definitely a priority. Unless we were planning to eat in shifts, we’d need to find seating for eight. I penciled that in, under my note for the extra freezer we’d need to store the massive amounts of food we somehow had to buy. We needed bunk beds, a minivan so we could fit the whole family in one car. The list seemed endless…I’d started praying about adoption almost three years earlier, after a miscarriage. Our children, Amy and Matthew, were 10 and 7. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Jeff and I were meant to bring another child into our family. And finally, earlier this year, I felt a conviction that now was the time. I’d written in my journal the letters “p.a.” for pursue adoption, because adopting even one child seemed so overwhelming that I couldn’t bring myself to write out the actual words. But I did tell a few friends what was on my heart.”
One friend had recently been to the Philippines to visit her sister, who was working in an orphanage. “There is a wonderful little girl there who is up for adoption,” she told me. “Her name is Annabel.” Perfect, a little girl! I thought. “And she has three older brothers,” she added. Morgan and her husband completed the paperwork, waited to be approved, and then got the news that they would soon be the parents of the four siblings.
Morgan says, “I stared at the too-small kitchen table again. It had been in Jeff’s family since he was a kid. But it would fit only six at the most. It just wouldn’t work. To me, it symbolized this whole crazy notion…A few days later, my mother called. “The neighbors are selling their freezer. I’ll buy it for you if you want.” “Yes, that is one thing I’ve been praying for,” I said. I was grateful, but I didn’t think too much about it, until the next call. A mother I knew.”
“Do you like beef?” “Sure we do,” I said. It seemed like such an odd question.
“Do you have a big freezer?” “Well,” I said, “we will soon.”
“Oh good,” she said. “Because I felt led to buy you 250 pounds of beef.” A day later, my phone rang again. A friend I’d worked with years before. “Do you need a big table? My husband found one at an estate sale, but it’s too big for our dining room.” Calls and offers kept coming in. An older minivan we could afford. Three sets of bunk beds. By November, every item on my list was accounted for. We flew to the Philippines and after four days came home to frigid Minnesota, a family of eight.”
Morgan says, “The first night back, we sat down at the table big enough for all of us. The kids talked and laughed over pizza. I glanced at Jeff and squeezed his hand. It was clear. This was going to work out just fine. God always provides.”
Or, as Paul writes to the churches in Philippi, “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight.” It has for Cheryl Morgan and her family.
* * *
Luke 1:68-79
Giving What’s True
As Zechariah looks to the future of his new son, John the Baptist, he sees John’s vocation as a messenger of God. He proclaims,
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
John lived this vocation fully and deeply, and to our knowledge, never suffered from burnout. Author Parker Palmer says that this fidelity to our gifts and calling is the antidote to burnout. He recalls a shocking comment from Dorothy Day. “Years ago, I heard Dorothy Day speak. Founder of the Catholic Worker movement, her long-term commitment to living among the poor on New York's Lower East Side — had made her one of my heroes. So it came as a great shock when in the middle of her talk, I heard her start to ruminate about the "ungrateful poor." He adds, “I did not understand how such a dismissive phrase could come from the lips of a saint — until it hit me with the force of a Zen koan. Dorothy Day was saying, "Do not give to the poor expecting to get their gratitude so that you can feel good about yourself. If you do, your giving will be thin and short-lived, and that is not what the poor need; it will only impoverish them further. Give only if you have something you must give; give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward.”
Parker Palmer comments, evoking the spirit of John the Baptist, “When I give something I do not possess, I give a false and dangerous gift, a gift that looks like love but is, in reality, loveless — a gift given more from my need to prove myself than from the other's need to be cared for…One sign that I am violating my own nature in the name of nobility is a condition called burnout. Though usually regarded as the result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess — the ultimate in giving too little! Burnout is a state of emptiness, to be sure, but it does not result from giving all I have; it merely reveals the nothingness from which I was trying to give in the first place.” Fulfilling his father’s words, John gives all that he has in service to God.
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:
Malachi 3:1-4
The Good Old Days
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. (v. 4)
There is a kind of rigid nostalgia around the celebration of Christmas in the United States. Perhaps it’s rooted in our fondness of Dickens’A Christmas Carol and Kapra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. We always look back to “the good old days,” which we did not consider “good” when we were slogging through them. The great mid-century theologian, Carly Simon, called attention to this confusion when she sang, “Stay right here, ‘cause these are the good old days.”
While Advent is a forward-looking season, we need to look back to a moment in the past that grounds us in the kind of hope that we are challenged to live into as those who anticipate the coming of, and claim to follow, the living Christ.
* * *
Baruch 5:1-9
Don’t adjust your sets….
Yes, TIW readers, that’s a text from the Apocrypha, and for this cradle Presbyterian, I have very little to offer in the way of insight or context for this reading. It might be interesting to select it as the Hebrew scriptures lesson and see whether anyone comments. The book takes its name from Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah’s scribe.
The word itself means “blessed.” Many Hebrew prayers begin “Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu….” which means, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God….” President Obama’s first name is taken from the same root word.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
What time is it?
The first two verses of today’s gospel reading tell us with some precision when the passage takes place. We would say, “Sunday, December 5, 2021, at 10 a.m. Central Standard Time…” to specify a moment in history. They marked time by who was ruling. Using each of the rulers mentioned in v. 1 we can pinpoint at what moment in time Luke is focusing on.
Tiberius was emperor from 14 CE until 37 CE. So the 15th year of Emperor Tiberius was 29 CE, about the time John the Baptizer started his movement.
Pontius Pilate began governing in 26 CE and was still governor of Judea in 29 CE.
Herod ruled a long time, succeeding his father, Herod the Great, who died in 4 or 3 BCE. This Herod, Herod Antipas, ruled from the time of his father’s death until he was deposed in 39 CE.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
tetrarch/ruler
The NRSV renders τετρααρχοῦντος “ruler.” A more accurate, though arcane translation would be “tetrarch,” a person who oversees one fourth of something. In this case Judea was ruled by Pontius Pilate and it was divided into four smaller governmental units. Herod’s fourth was Galilee; Philip’s were Ituraea and Trachonitis and Lysanias’s portion was Abilene. There were three tetrarchs because Philip ruled over two of them.
Philip ruled until his death in 33 or 34 CE.
The only Lysanias attested in non-Biblical sources who ruled in this region died around 36 BCE. It appears Luke got this tetrarch wrong.
* * * * * *
From team member Katy Stenta:
Luke 3:1-6
John the Baptist in the Nativity
Why is John the Baptist not a part of of the traditional creche? He makes a great figure always pointing toward Jesus. He could be the first on the scene — before the sheep or shepherds, the cousin of Jesus. My guess would be because he was too revolutionary a figure. Equalizing the world, demolishing the power structures as they exist! Making the mountains low and the valleys rise up. Even more, John speaks of accessibility, actual physical access with straight paths and low hills and accessible valleys. This from the part of the world that has some of the steepest changes between valleys and mountains in the world. Mount Hermon is 3,963 feet above sea level and the Dead Sea is 1,404 feet below sea level. To proclaim the world would become flat and accessible is quite an amazing proclamation. John the Baptist is pointing to a God who is accessible, equalizing and forgiving.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Pray Without Ceasing
How does one pray without ceasing? There is an old saying that you pray until the Holy Spirit prays you. Why? Because the work will never be completed by us. As Paul says, he is confident that the work will be brought into completion by Christ. Isn’t that what Advent is in the end, the beginning of the work of the Kingdom? Isn’t that what Christmas is? The work of Christmas? The beginning of the celebration of the Kingdom? We get to begin the work and the celebration, with the faith and assurance that it is not up to us to complete the work. Grace abides. We can know that we begin the prayer, with the chorus of prayers, and that too is not for us to complete, we are just adding our voice to the ceaseless prayer. Our gloria, hallelujah, and amen was first started by the angels and we are adding our voice to their ceaseless prayers.
* * *
Luke 1:68-79
God Remembers
Tell the stories, God says, for God remembers us. Here is a wonderful reminder that our stories are in fact a part of God’s story! Our stories are important because they are, each and every one of them, a part of who our God is. “God has remembered us in God’s new covenant.” We tell the stories of our triumphs, forgiveness, light, and more because they are stories of who God is! Even stories of fiction and fairy tales, all stories of light overcoming darkness are inevitably a story of God. Because they are a part of what makes humans human and therefore what makes God, God. What is your favorite story? And why?
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Advent Wreath Lighting
(This uses the psalm/canticle for the day and incorporates the collect for the day. The divisions make it easy to use multiple readers.)
Luke 1:68-79
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel v. 7
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Let us pray:
O God who is all purity and goodness:
Grant us the courage to allow you to refine us
so that we may prepare the way for your coming. Amen.
Call to Worship
One: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who has looked favorably on us.
All: God has raised up a mighty savior for us.
One: God has shown mercy as promised to our ancestors.
All: God has remember the holy covenant sworn to Abraham.
One: God sends light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
All: God in tender mercy guides our feet into the way of peace.
OR
One: In the midst of darkness the light of hope appears.
All: We seek the hope that is only found in God.
One: Though the nights are long the dawn is coming.
All: We wait for the dawning of God’s new order.
One: Sure and steadfast are the promises of God.
All: In God alone do we place our trust and hope.
Hymns and Songs
Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
UMH: 213
H82: 436
PH: 8
NCH: 117
CH: 129
LBW: 32
W&P: 176
AMEC: 94
Renew: 59
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
People Look East
UMH: 202
PH: 12
CH: 142
ELW: 248
W&P: 161
STLT: 226
Blessed Be the God of Israel
UMH: 209
H82: 444
CH: 135
ELW: 552
W&P: 158
Renew: 128
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
UMH: 211
H82: 56
PH: 9
AAHH: 188
NNBH: 82
NCH: 116
CH: 119
LBW: 34
ELW: 257
W&P: 154
AMEC: 102
STLT: 225
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELW: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 64
STLT: 281
Jesus, Joy of Our Desiring
UMH: 644
NNBH: 72
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
UMH: 196
H82: 66
PH: 1/2
NCH: 122
LBW: 30
ELW: 254
W&P: 153
AMEC: 103
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELW: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
I Come with Joy (Communion)
UMH: 617
H82: 304
PH: 507
NCH: 349
CH: 420
ELW: 482
W&P: 706
Renew: 195
Something Beautiful
CCB: 84
All I Need Is You
CCB: 100
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is all purity and goodness:
Grant us the courage to allow you to refine us
so that we may prepare the way for your coming;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We bless your Name, O God of purity and goodness. Fill us with your courage so that we may be open to your refining presence. Make us ready for the coming of your Son. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our placing our hope in temporal things.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have ignored your promises and placed our hope in things that do not last. We have made idols in our hearts and have trusted our lives to them. We have been foolish to think that things of earth will save us. Forgive us and call us back once more to your steadfast hope in Christ Jesus. Amen.
One: God comes to us once again to offer hope and forgiveness. Receive God’s goodness and share it with others.
Prayers of the People
Praised and blessed are you, O God of hope. You are the solid rock on which our lives are grounded. In you alone is our salvation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have ignored your promises and placed our hope in things that do not last. We have made idols in our hearts and have trusted our lives to them. We have been foolish to think that things of earth will save us. Forgive us and call us back once more to your steadfast hope in Christ Jesus.
We give you thanks for your great love which created us and all that is. We thank you for the wonders of creation which reflect your presence among us. We thank you for the One who is coming among us to bring us redemption and eternal life.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children in need. We pray for those who are caught in poverty and want and find it difficult to find your love in this world. We pray for those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit and for those who find themselves in places of violence and hatred.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Accessible God
by Dean Feldmeyer
Luke 3:1-6
You will need: Several old pair of eyeglasses. Petroleum jelly. (Additional optional items: Crutches, canes, a wheelchair.)
Say:
Good morning, boys and girls.
This morning we read from the Gospel of Luke about how John the Baptizer was preaching and preparing people for the coming of Jesus. In his sermon, he borrows a passage from the prophet Isaiah that says this:
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God!
What John is talking about, here, is what we call “Accessibility.” That is how we make things so that everyone can use and enjoy them. John’s talking about making the path to God easy to walk on so lots of people can access, that is, come to God.
I was thinking about that this week. How can we make God accessible so that it’s easy for people to come to God?
Like, what if your vision was really poor (Smear petroleum jelly on lenses of glasses and give glasses to some of the kids.) Can you all see through those glasses? No? Well, what if you had to go around like that all the time? What could we do to make it easier for people who can’t see? Provide brail bulletins or hymnals, yes. Or maybe offer your arm so a person who can’t see can take it and you can lead them to the place they want to sit. Sure.
(Give crutches to some kids and invite one to sit in wheelchair.) Or what if you had trouble walking or couldn’t even walk at all? And what if you had to come up stairs to get into the church? What could we do to make the church accessible for those folks? An elevator, yes that would be a great idea. How else? A ramp, yes that would be helpful, too. Or maybe, when the room is crowded, we could just offer to walk in front of a person with a cane or crutches and make a path for them so they don’t have to worry about getting bumped or knocked down or tripping or falling.
Or what if a person is just shy and new to our church. How could we make them feel welcome and comfortable, here? We could introduce ourselves, right? And we could offer them a seat where we’re sitting. Or we could offer to sit with them where they want to sit. Yes, what wonderful ways to make God accessible for everyone.
That, John says, is one of the ways we can get ready for Christmas, by making ourselves and God and our church more accessible to people who have trouble getting around.
(End with a prayer that God will give us insight into the needs of others and ways we can make ourselves and our church more accessible every day.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, December 5, 2021 issue.
Copyright 2021 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Advent Roadwork by Chris Keating — Our repentance clears the ground so that the foundations of grace and reconciliation can be set. These are the first steps to be undertaken before the massive rebuilding can occur.
- Second Thoughts: When Your Victories Amount to Tossing a Cup of Water On a Forest Fire by Quantisha Mason-Doll — Each individual that is fighting for the cause of justice, equity, and equality are firefighters seeking direction.
- Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen, Mary Austin, Katy Stenta.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Accessible God by Dean Feldmeyer.
Advent Roadworkby Chris Keating
Luke 3:1-6
He may not be the snazziest dresser, but John the Baptist sure knows how to make an entrance. He was never one to blend into the crowd. Despite his mother’s pleading and his father’s religious pedigree, John wasn’t much of a city kid. He preferred the wilderness to the streets, eschewing citadels of privilege for empty wastelands, preferring itchy camel’s hair to worsted wool suits. With his scraggly beard streaked with remnants of locust, John draws attention wherever he goes.
But he’s no sideshow act. Luke switches quickly from Jesus’ infancy to highlight John’s breakout missionary work. He comes preaching repentance and practicing baptism. His words cut into the heart, removing the overgrowth that keeps people from experiencing God. Clearly, John is concerned neither with winning friends or influencing people.
He is the bearer of news, a herald of God’s impending arrival.
His words ripple across the wilderness, much like news of high-profile court verdicts break into our lives. John comes announcing a verdict, and like the verdicts in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, his words capture our attention and cause us to reconsider what’s involved in repaving the highways of God.
John cuts through weeds and overgrowth, helping people sense God’s pending arrival. He announces God’s infrastructure plan, and proclaims God’s intent to straighten crooked roads and smooth out bumpy highways. Make no mistake, however, this is not “Build Back Better John,” or even “Smooth Sailing John.” And unlike both recent court cases, no one is innocent. He’s a bad news guy, tasked with getting people prepared and ready for God’s coming.
We hear his voice as we light the second candle of Advent. But we also hear it against the backdrop of verdicts that brought both relief to some and consternation to others. John’s call to prepare ourselves bursts into public spaces where inequality waits God’s leveling justice. Unlike the zombie apocalypse preppers who stockpile weapons, rope, and freeze-dried food, John calls us to be prepared by acts of humility and repentance. His baptism offers a fresh start, a chance to clear pathways for God, an opportunity to freely travel over the highway of God.
In the News
John’s message of repentance and preparation challenges us to pay attention to the many crooked and twisted systems of our world. Crater-sized potholes of injustice, unleveled roadways of oppression, and broken-down thoroughfares of equality cry out from the wilderness of our world. They cry for the sort of infrastructure plan only a messiah can deliver, though John is clear we have roles to play.
Those roles include repenting from justice denied or delayed. The verdicts in both the Rittenhouse case and the trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers yielded immediate responses of lament or praise, though neither can be said to settle issues of racial bias in the criminal justice system. Both represented matters settled by due process, yet both cases reveal the solidified substrate of racial injustice.
New York public defender Sarah Lustbader notes that “a single trial is not a referendum on social justice,” and that “looking to criminal convictions to solve our problems will only further entrench them.” She notes that blockbuster cases like the trials in Wisconsin and Georgia usually “hinge not on lofty moral questions but on narrower factors, like idiosyncratic laws and procedures.”
Lustbader observes that whatever moral guilt Rittenhouse might bear, “laws and legal procedures are not ethical codes and cannot sustain the weight of moral reckonings on a national scale.” She writes that looking to a criminal system heavily influenced by slave codes that continues to reinforce racial inequities only “further centers it in our moral discourse.”
Moreover, while the convictions of Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery may prompt a “sugar high,” it does not promote a better society. The two cases may attract fleeting attention, but will not likely result in vast changes to the biases in the criminal justice system, writes Radley Balko.
Balko points out that a 2017 study of self-defense cases found that when a Black person is killed by a white person, the killing is about eight times more likely to be judged justified, “no matter the circumstances.”
He suggests that true change might happen if more Americans would visit their local criminal courts and watch the proceedings themselves. Unlike television dramas, most criminal cases plod along like a weary reindeer on Christmas Eve. But Balko notes that by taking interest in the “dull, day to day churning of a broken system” might broaden awareness of how efficient that system is in “ruining lives and sowing despair.”
Our acts of repentance must include not mistaking accountability for justice. The guilty verdict does not restore Arbery to his mother, nor does it eradicate the belief that heavily armed white men have the right to tell a black man what to do. Keep in mind it took prosecutors 74 days to file charges against the men who stalked and killed Arbery. Likewise, Rittenhouse’s not-guilty verdict only confirms the systemic bias many Black Americans experience daily.
“You can really smell and see the underlying systemic racism that’s in the judicial system and the policing system,” said Justin Blake, the uncle of Rittenhouse’s victim Jacob Blake.
Both verdicts call us back to the sort of building project imagined by the prophets. John invites our repentance, and summons us to the work of straightening the Lord’s highway in preparation for God’s anticipated arrival.
In the Scripture
Luke casts John’s appearance in the Gospel within the context of history. John’s ministry is calibrated against the Graeco-Roman context of the empire (3:1-3), including the dates of the reigning authorities. Let historians sort out the dates and factual accuracy of Luke’s dramatis personae. Of greater import is their theological significance and the power they inhabit over a people who have no agency in how they are governed.
John’s location is also essential to understand. His is a voice crying in the wilderness. It’s not that he’s been banished or that he fails to draw attention. Rather, John echoes the cries of the prophets of Israel, speaking truths outside of the circle of power. His sermons reflect the hope of Isaiah and his calling to the people to discover hope. The wilderness is a metaphor for growth set in opposition to the intrusion of Rome into the holy spaces of Jerusalem. For Luke, the wilderness is the place where God is revealed and miracles are performed. It is the place where God will gather those who are called to proclaim the messiah’s arrival.
The text does not spell out the works associated with repentance (cf. verses 7-18), but does uphold the notion that John’s baptism is a mark of repentance and change. John is initiating God’s road construction program, setting in the context of forgiveness and change.
While John and Jesus’ ministries will overlap, each is distinct. That distinction is shown by the way Luke frames John’s message of preparation. Our repentance clears the ground so that the foundations of grace and reconciliation can be set. These are the first steps to be undertaken before the massive rebuilding can occur, and they involve our readiness to examine the corruption upon which we currently stand.
In the Sermon
This week’s sermon might invite the congregation to consider the sorts of preparations we undertake in Advent. Can we see ourselves as participants in making straight the crooked places of our world? John the Baptist’s invitation to us comes not from the center of power, but from the wilderness — a chaotic, disordered place. Yet the wilderness is often the place where God draws near to God’s people. Is it possible that the pandemic has placed us in a similar context? In this wilderness, God offers us an invitation to begin smoothing out the bumpy paths where people are walking. In this wilderness, we can begin leveling paths of corruption and straightening byways of injustice.
A second option is to see how John’s testimony differs from the testimony of the witnesses of recent trials. Called upon to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, John bears witness to the promise of God, which is coming. While the witnesses of the Rittenhouse and Arbery trials offered testimony to what they saw, none spoke of the justice God expects. Advent calls us to proffer our own witness. Allow John’s voice to cry out from the wilderness where your congregation is right now, paying particular attention to the crooked, twisted pathways God would have us straighten.
Finally, John’s vision of God’s infrastructure plan begins with an act of repentance. We often ignore repentance during Advent, aside from sarcastic references to the ever-watching elf on a shelf, or the worries of being placed on the naughty list. A sermon could explore the theological impact of repentance during Advent. If we have twisted the paths we walk for our own benefit, how could repentance lead us in a new direction? Contemplate how individuals as well as the church might hear the voice of one who speaks not from the centers of power, but from the wild, untamed places of our world — the very place where God might show up at any time.
Channeling our inner Clark Griswold’s at Christmas often means spending hours untangling hopelessly tangled wires and lights. That is not the witness of John. He points us instead to the myriad twisted systems around us. Those systems of injustice prompted a group of white men with guns to chase a black teenager out for a run, and somehow convinced a white teenager to take up arms in pursuit of vigilante justice. Repenting about how these systems have thwarted God’s desires for humans is at the very heart of our Advent hope.
Our repentance — our turning around — signals our interest in participating in God’s Advent rebuilding plan. Let’s begin to turn this Sunday.
SECOND THOUGHTSWhen Your Victories Amount to Tossing a Cup of Water On a Forest Fire
by Quantisha Mason-Doll
Malachi 3:1-4
But who can endure the day? It seems like since the mid-2010’s we, as a collective, have been asking ourselves this very question in a variety of ways. There are only so many once-in-a-lifetime cataclysmic events one person can take before they begin to question the verity of their existence. As a mid-strata millennial that has lived through more than enough “once-in-a-lifetime” events to satisfy even the most radical of thrill-seekers, it would suffice to say that very little astonishes me. I often joke that if the second coming of the Lord was to happen during my lifetime I would be nonplussed about the whole event. Many of us have been desensitized to trauma and conditioned to expect the worse possible outcome. When what would be considered a victory for some, yet just another Tuesday in a world where acts of justice are a cup of water meant to fight a forest fire for others, there is a real issue. The book of Malachi, better yet the book of the messanger invokes imagery of the fulfillment of God’s promise to creation. In all respects, this section of Malachi should be read as a comfort. It is God speaking directly to creation affirming that the Almighty is at work in the world. God in this context likens humankind and creation to gold and silver that has gone through a trial by fire, yet even gold and silver can be completely burned away if held there too long.
Reading this text through a historical Christian lens it is only natural to look to the life and ministry of John the Baptist. Here was a figure that embodied the central tenet of the prophet Elijah so much so that he becomes a folk hero in his own right and amasses a great following. This was a person that radically opposed the status quo of his day and age. He becomes an agitator that causes those around him to question their role in their society’s moral arch. We can argue that John the Baptist’s life, ministry, and death were the precursor to the death, life, and ministry of Jesus. If we are to believe that our scriptures are a living document of our faith that is ever unfolding, we must ask ourselves does Malachi still speak to us today? When we hear the words, thus says the Lord our God, “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me.” Are we envisioning only the prophets of old or are we willing to believe that there are others who have been called to prepare the way for the Lord? The role of prophet is not one that is actively coveted from a Christological standpoint. Prophets tend to become martyrs, or they are people that are ostracized from their community or ethnic group for speaking out and seeking change, or they are people that are afflicted in some way that places them squarely on the margins of the society. God created humans to be social beings and it is for that reason we deeply fear being cast outfrom our social groups. It is for this reason we sometimes justify violence and fall prey to groupthink bias.
In the United States today we are still having heated discussions on what it means to be a moral society. I find cases like that of Kyle Rittenhouse and the three men found guilty of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery to be interesting cases of amorality when whiteness is the perpetrator of sin. I would argue that there are social norms associated with whiteness committing acts of violence. Don’t be misled — these are actual people committing actual crimes yet it is through their whiteness or proximity to whiteness that grants the perpetrator a form of social protection. According to prosecutor Thomas Binger, as quoted from his closing argument, “When the defendant provokes this incident, he loses the right to self-defense. You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create.” An opinion piece written by James Homan for the Washington Post called Kyle Rittenhouse a “folk hero on the radical right.” While I am not in agreement with the majority of opinions, I am in agreement with Rittenhouse’s status as an American folk hero. Rittenhouse and others like him are the folk heroes of the radical right. They act as a moral touchstone that redefines morality in a way that centers on whiteness and the white experience. They are the radical rights’ axis mundi to a god-like figure built in their image. While he has gained a cult following with the radical right, the image of Kyle Rittenhouse trying to force himself to cry, to show any kind of remorse, will live forever rent-free in my mind because it shows the mediocrity that is our nation’s moral and justice systems. How can you fear the beast you have created?
Back to the question presented at the top of the article, “How can one endure the day?” I would like to note the messenger never gives an answer to the listener. We are told that there will be purifying fires and the outcome would be like gold and silver that would be pleasing to the Lord when offered as a sacrifice to God. The moral left lacks a central folk hero that will act as the agitator, the one who stands in opposition to the status quo. When you think about it, our country right now is a massive forest fire that has spiraled out of control. Each individual that is fighting for the cause of justice, equity, and equality are firefighters seeking direction. To answer the question, how long can one endure: It is exhausting to work without direction. Very quickly you will be burned out.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:Luke 3:1-6
Every Valley Shall Be Lifted
John the Baptist promises that when the realm of God comes, every valley shall be lifted and every rough place made smooth. After a battle with addiction, Roberta found herself lost in a valley of shame... until her manicurist changed her life. “Though I’d finally conquered the addiction, I remained buried in debt — and shame. I’d never felt so hopeless. Maybe a manicure would give me a little lift, make my day better. I hadn’t been treating myself to anything lately, but it was one indulgence I could still afford, even on my strict budget. I didn’t want to run into anyone I knew and have them ask how I was doing, so I made an appointment at a salon I had never been to. Annie, the owner, answered the phone and said that she would be taking care of me…[At the salon] while Annie was gathering her supplies, I overheard a conversation between two of her customers. The one who was recovering from a stroke showed off her icy blue nail color. “Annie says this is fit for a queen,” she said, beaming. The other had nails painted in a shimmering pink. “I couldn’t have made it through my cancer treatments without Annie,” she said. “Or my Debutante Pink.” Annie reappeared at her station, brandishing a bottle of vibrant red polish. “This is you, Roberta,” she said. “Lucky Red!”
“Annie took my hand and went to work. As she clipped, filed and buffed my nails, she told me a little about herself. She and her family were from Vietnam. They’d immigrated to America when Annie was nine and settled in California. While still in high school, Annie studied the nail tech trade at her mother’s urging. “What do you do, Roberta?” she wanted to know… I cringed, shrinking down in my chair. How had I gone from being a high-ranking nurse with a private office and a phone ringing off the hook to the messed-up life I had now?” “I’m retired from nursing,” I said at last. “Now I write little stories. All by my lonesome at my kitchen table.”
Annie offered a story from her own experience, telling about moving to the US from Vietnam. She went to work in a nail salon, and always felt inferior to her customers. “As Annie built her clientele, her attitude shifted and she found her calling to become the best nail girl ever.” Roberta adds, I grew so comfortable with Annie that one day I told her about my struggle to whittle down all my medical debt. And how depressing it was not to be able to do anything nice for myself anymore except get the occasional manicure.” Annie advised, “Go for walk, Roberta. Every evening, I walk in park. Talk to everyone’s dogs. Park and dogs are free.”
Recently Roberta told Annie, “Since knowing you, I realize I could be younger, prettier, smarter, thinner. A whole lot wealthier. But not richer. And there’s not one person on this earth I would trade places with.” “Me either, Roberta,” Annie said. “I love the Annie and Roberta we’ve become. They are enough.” All flesh shall see the salvation of God — even at the nail salon.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Love Overflowing
Paul writes to the churches in Philippi with great affection, saying, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” Cheryl Morgan experienced God at work, bringing her work as an adoptive mother to completion. Morgan was in the process of adopting four children when she made a list of all the things she would need, as the size of her family doubled. “A larger kitchen table was definitely a priority. Unless we were planning to eat in shifts, we’d need to find seating for eight. I penciled that in, under my note for the extra freezer we’d need to store the massive amounts of food we somehow had to buy. We needed bunk beds, a minivan so we could fit the whole family in one car. The list seemed endless…I’d started praying about adoption almost three years earlier, after a miscarriage. Our children, Amy and Matthew, were 10 and 7. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Jeff and I were meant to bring another child into our family. And finally, earlier this year, I felt a conviction that now was the time. I’d written in my journal the letters “p.a.” for pursue adoption, because adopting even one child seemed so overwhelming that I couldn’t bring myself to write out the actual words. But I did tell a few friends what was on my heart.”
One friend had recently been to the Philippines to visit her sister, who was working in an orphanage. “There is a wonderful little girl there who is up for adoption,” she told me. “Her name is Annabel.” Perfect, a little girl! I thought. “And she has three older brothers,” she added. Morgan and her husband completed the paperwork, waited to be approved, and then got the news that they would soon be the parents of the four siblings.
Morgan says, “I stared at the too-small kitchen table again. It had been in Jeff’s family since he was a kid. But it would fit only six at the most. It just wouldn’t work. To me, it symbolized this whole crazy notion…A few days later, my mother called. “The neighbors are selling their freezer. I’ll buy it for you if you want.” “Yes, that is one thing I’ve been praying for,” I said. I was grateful, but I didn’t think too much about it, until the next call. A mother I knew.”
“Do you like beef?” “Sure we do,” I said. It seemed like such an odd question.
“Do you have a big freezer?” “Well,” I said, “we will soon.”
“Oh good,” she said. “Because I felt led to buy you 250 pounds of beef.” A day later, my phone rang again. A friend I’d worked with years before. “Do you need a big table? My husband found one at an estate sale, but it’s too big for our dining room.” Calls and offers kept coming in. An older minivan we could afford. Three sets of bunk beds. By November, every item on my list was accounted for. We flew to the Philippines and after four days came home to frigid Minnesota, a family of eight.”
Morgan says, “The first night back, we sat down at the table big enough for all of us. The kids talked and laughed over pizza. I glanced at Jeff and squeezed his hand. It was clear. This was going to work out just fine. God always provides.”
Or, as Paul writes to the churches in Philippi, “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight.” It has for Cheryl Morgan and her family.
* * *
Luke 1:68-79
Giving What’s True
As Zechariah looks to the future of his new son, John the Baptist, he sees John’s vocation as a messenger of God. He proclaims,
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
John lived this vocation fully and deeply, and to our knowledge, never suffered from burnout. Author Parker Palmer says that this fidelity to our gifts and calling is the antidote to burnout. He recalls a shocking comment from Dorothy Day. “Years ago, I heard Dorothy Day speak. Founder of the Catholic Worker movement, her long-term commitment to living among the poor on New York's Lower East Side — had made her one of my heroes. So it came as a great shock when in the middle of her talk, I heard her start to ruminate about the "ungrateful poor." He adds, “I did not understand how such a dismissive phrase could come from the lips of a saint — until it hit me with the force of a Zen koan. Dorothy Day was saying, "Do not give to the poor expecting to get their gratitude so that you can feel good about yourself. If you do, your giving will be thin and short-lived, and that is not what the poor need; it will only impoverish them further. Give only if you have something you must give; give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward.”
Parker Palmer comments, evoking the spirit of John the Baptist, “When I give something I do not possess, I give a false and dangerous gift, a gift that looks like love but is, in reality, loveless — a gift given more from my need to prove myself than from the other's need to be cared for…One sign that I am violating my own nature in the name of nobility is a condition called burnout. Though usually regarded as the result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess — the ultimate in giving too little! Burnout is a state of emptiness, to be sure, but it does not result from giving all I have; it merely reveals the nothingness from which I was trying to give in the first place.” Fulfilling his father’s words, John gives all that he has in service to God.
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From team member Tom Willadsen:Malachi 3:1-4
The Good Old Days
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. (v. 4)
There is a kind of rigid nostalgia around the celebration of Christmas in the United States. Perhaps it’s rooted in our fondness of Dickens’A Christmas Carol and Kapra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. We always look back to “the good old days,” which we did not consider “good” when we were slogging through them. The great mid-century theologian, Carly Simon, called attention to this confusion when she sang, “Stay right here, ‘cause these are the good old days.”
While Advent is a forward-looking season, we need to look back to a moment in the past that grounds us in the kind of hope that we are challenged to live into as those who anticipate the coming of, and claim to follow, the living Christ.
* * *
Baruch 5:1-9
Don’t adjust your sets….
Yes, TIW readers, that’s a text from the Apocrypha, and for this cradle Presbyterian, I have very little to offer in the way of insight or context for this reading. It might be interesting to select it as the Hebrew scriptures lesson and see whether anyone comments. The book takes its name from Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah’s scribe.
The word itself means “blessed.” Many Hebrew prayers begin “Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu….” which means, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God….” President Obama’s first name is taken from the same root word.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
What time is it?
The first two verses of today’s gospel reading tell us with some precision when the passage takes place. We would say, “Sunday, December 5, 2021, at 10 a.m. Central Standard Time…” to specify a moment in history. They marked time by who was ruling. Using each of the rulers mentioned in v. 1 we can pinpoint at what moment in time Luke is focusing on.
Tiberius was emperor from 14 CE until 37 CE. So the 15th year of Emperor Tiberius was 29 CE, about the time John the Baptizer started his movement.
Pontius Pilate began governing in 26 CE and was still governor of Judea in 29 CE.
Herod ruled a long time, succeeding his father, Herod the Great, who died in 4 or 3 BCE. This Herod, Herod Antipas, ruled from the time of his father’s death until he was deposed in 39 CE.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
tetrarch/ruler
The NRSV renders τετρααρχοῦντος “ruler.” A more accurate, though arcane translation would be “tetrarch,” a person who oversees one fourth of something. In this case Judea was ruled by Pontius Pilate and it was divided into four smaller governmental units. Herod’s fourth was Galilee; Philip’s were Ituraea and Trachonitis and Lysanias’s portion was Abilene. There were three tetrarchs because Philip ruled over two of them.
Philip ruled until his death in 33 or 34 CE.
The only Lysanias attested in non-Biblical sources who ruled in this region died around 36 BCE. It appears Luke got this tetrarch wrong.
* * * * * *
From team member Katy Stenta:Luke 3:1-6
John the Baptist in the Nativity
Why is John the Baptist not a part of of the traditional creche? He makes a great figure always pointing toward Jesus. He could be the first on the scene — before the sheep or shepherds, the cousin of Jesus. My guess would be because he was too revolutionary a figure. Equalizing the world, demolishing the power structures as they exist! Making the mountains low and the valleys rise up. Even more, John speaks of accessibility, actual physical access with straight paths and low hills and accessible valleys. This from the part of the world that has some of the steepest changes between valleys and mountains in the world. Mount Hermon is 3,963 feet above sea level and the Dead Sea is 1,404 feet below sea level. To proclaim the world would become flat and accessible is quite an amazing proclamation. John the Baptist is pointing to a God who is accessible, equalizing and forgiving.
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Philippians 1:3-11
Pray Without Ceasing
How does one pray without ceasing? There is an old saying that you pray until the Holy Spirit prays you. Why? Because the work will never be completed by us. As Paul says, he is confident that the work will be brought into completion by Christ. Isn’t that what Advent is in the end, the beginning of the work of the Kingdom? Isn’t that what Christmas is? The work of Christmas? The beginning of the celebration of the Kingdom? We get to begin the work and the celebration, with the faith and assurance that it is not up to us to complete the work. Grace abides. We can know that we begin the prayer, with the chorus of prayers, and that too is not for us to complete, we are just adding our voice to the ceaseless prayer. Our gloria, hallelujah, and amen was first started by the angels and we are adding our voice to their ceaseless prayers.
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Luke 1:68-79
God Remembers
Tell the stories, God says, for God remembers us. Here is a wonderful reminder that our stories are in fact a part of God’s story! Our stories are important because they are, each and every one of them, a part of who our God is. “God has remembered us in God’s new covenant.” We tell the stories of our triumphs, forgiveness, light, and more because they are stories of who God is! Even stories of fiction and fairy tales, all stories of light overcoming darkness are inevitably a story of God. Because they are a part of what makes humans human and therefore what makes God, God. What is your favorite story? And why?
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Advent Wreath Lighting
(This uses the psalm/canticle for the day and incorporates the collect for the day. The divisions make it easy to use multiple readers.)
Luke 1:68-79
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel v. 7
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Let us pray:
O God who is all purity and goodness:
Grant us the courage to allow you to refine us
so that we may prepare the way for your coming. Amen.
Call to Worship
One: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who has looked favorably on us.
All: God has raised up a mighty savior for us.
One: God has shown mercy as promised to our ancestors.
All: God has remember the holy covenant sworn to Abraham.
One: God sends light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
All: God in tender mercy guides our feet into the way of peace.
OR
One: In the midst of darkness the light of hope appears.
All: We seek the hope that is only found in God.
One: Though the nights are long the dawn is coming.
All: We wait for the dawning of God’s new order.
One: Sure and steadfast are the promises of God.
All: In God alone do we place our trust and hope.
Hymns and Songs
Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
UMH: 213
H82: 436
PH: 8
NCH: 117
CH: 129
LBW: 32
W&P: 176
AMEC: 94
Renew: 59
Hope of the World
UMH: 178
H82: 472
PH: 360
NCH: 46
CH: 538
LBW: 493
W&P: 404
People Look East
UMH: 202
PH: 12
CH: 142
ELW: 248
W&P: 161
STLT: 226
Blessed Be the God of Israel
UMH: 209
H82: 444
CH: 135
ELW: 552
W&P: 158
Renew: 128
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
UMH: 211
H82: 56
PH: 9
AAHH: 188
NNBH: 82
NCH: 116
CH: 119
LBW: 34
ELW: 257
W&P: 154
AMEC: 102
STLT: 225
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
UMH: 117
H82: 680
AAHH: 170
NNBH: 46
NCH: 25
CH: 67
LBW: 320
ELW: 632
W&P: 84
AMEC: 64
STLT: 281
Jesus, Joy of Our Desiring
UMH: 644
NNBH: 72
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
UMH: 196
H82: 66
PH: 1/2
NCH: 122
LBW: 30
ELW: 254
W&P: 153
AMEC: 103
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
UMH: 140
AAHH: 158
NNBH: 45
NCH: 423
CH: 86
ELW: 733
W&P: 72
AMEC: 84
Renew: 249
I Come with Joy (Communion)
UMH: 617
H82: 304
PH: 507
NCH: 349
CH: 420
ELW: 482
W&P: 706
Renew: 195
Something Beautiful
CCB: 84
All I Need Is You
CCB: 100
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is all purity and goodness:
Grant us the courage to allow you to refine us
so that we may prepare the way for your coming;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We bless your Name, O God of purity and goodness. Fill us with your courage so that we may be open to your refining presence. Make us ready for the coming of your Son. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our placing our hope in temporal things.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have ignored your promises and placed our hope in things that do not last. We have made idols in our hearts and have trusted our lives to them. We have been foolish to think that things of earth will save us. Forgive us and call us back once more to your steadfast hope in Christ Jesus. Amen.
One: God comes to us once again to offer hope and forgiveness. Receive God’s goodness and share it with others.
Prayers of the People
Praised and blessed are you, O God of hope. You are the solid rock on which our lives are grounded. In you alone is our salvation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have ignored your promises and placed our hope in things that do not last. We have made idols in our hearts and have trusted our lives to them. We have been foolish to think that things of earth will save us. Forgive us and call us back once more to your steadfast hope in Christ Jesus.
We give you thanks for your great love which created us and all that is. We thank you for the wonders of creation which reflect your presence among us. We thank you for the One who is coming among us to bring us redemption and eternal life.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children in need. We pray for those who are caught in poverty and want and find it difficult to find your love in this world. We pray for those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit and for those who find themselves in places of violence and hatred.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONAccessible God
by Dean Feldmeyer
Luke 3:1-6
You will need: Several old pair of eyeglasses. Petroleum jelly. (Additional optional items: Crutches, canes, a wheelchair.)
Say:
Good morning, boys and girls.
This morning we read from the Gospel of Luke about how John the Baptizer was preaching and preparing people for the coming of Jesus. In his sermon, he borrows a passage from the prophet Isaiah that says this:
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God!
What John is talking about, here, is what we call “Accessibility.” That is how we make things so that everyone can use and enjoy them. John’s talking about making the path to God easy to walk on so lots of people can access, that is, come to God.
I was thinking about that this week. How can we make God accessible so that it’s easy for people to come to God?
Like, what if your vision was really poor (Smear petroleum jelly on lenses of glasses and give glasses to some of the kids.) Can you all see through those glasses? No? Well, what if you had to go around like that all the time? What could we do to make it easier for people who can’t see? Provide brail bulletins or hymnals, yes. Or maybe offer your arm so a person who can’t see can take it and you can lead them to the place they want to sit. Sure.
(Give crutches to some kids and invite one to sit in wheelchair.) Or what if you had trouble walking or couldn’t even walk at all? And what if you had to come up stairs to get into the church? What could we do to make the church accessible for those folks? An elevator, yes that would be a great idea. How else? A ramp, yes that would be helpful, too. Or maybe, when the room is crowded, we could just offer to walk in front of a person with a cane or crutches and make a path for them so they don’t have to worry about getting bumped or knocked down or tripping or falling.
Or what if a person is just shy and new to our church. How could we make them feel welcome and comfortable, here? We could introduce ourselves, right? And we could offer them a seat where we’re sitting. Or we could offer to sit with them where they want to sit. Yes, what wonderful ways to make God accessible for everyone.
That, John says, is one of the ways we can get ready for Christmas, by making ourselves and God and our church more accessible to people who have trouble getting around.
(End with a prayer that God will give us insight into the needs of others and ways we can make ourselves and our church more accessible every day.)
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The Immediate Word, December 5, 2021 issue.
Copyright 2021 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
