Preaching and Worshiping in Advent Christmas and Epiphany

Includes Years A, B, and C

Abingdon Press

Contents

First Sunday of Advent

Readings

Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm 122

Romans 13:11-14

Matthew 24:36-44

God's House Is a Peaceful House

Isaiah 2:1-5

A report filed in a newspaper concerning Sharon Stone was most touching. The Hollywood actress gave up her collection of firearms to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, following the shooting and killing of students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

In Atlanta, Georgia, a local church sponsored a gun "buyback" day on the heels of a shooting incident at Heritage High School in nearby Conyers, Georgia. People came from near and far with pistols, sawed-off shotguns, even miniature submachine guns. For every firearm delivered, each man or woman received fifty dollars. The weapon was carefully checked, then placed in an eighteen-gauge brushed steel casket, which was later buried.

Congress began explorations into the subject of violence in the media. The number of violent acts witnessed on a given day of television programming is staggering; it's even worse with 150- to 500-channel satellite television. One wonders about the environment of teenagers like T. J. Solomon. He broke into his stepfather's gun cabinet, withdrew the .22-caliber shotgun, which he fired at will into the Heritage High student body before morning classes, as well as a .357 magnum snub-nosed pistol, which he was relieved of before further injuries could be inflicted.

Our children are not exempt from this. Far too many stories are documented in which children under twelve years of age discover a loaded handgun in a desk or dresser drawer, in the top of a closet, or under a bed, then go outside to "play" with it. Several years ago, the Free Press reported that a youngster in Detroit, Michigan, who killed his cousin, was completely unaware a single bullet was in the revolver at the moment he pulled the trigger the fourth or fifth time.

We live in a vicious world—or, at least, it seems that we do. It isn't the world that is vicious; it's that we are, at least potentially. It is said that Adolf Hitler could not hold a conversation. He carried off the veil of omniscience by memorizing huge lists of facts and used these to embarrass his underlings and keep the reins of power tight. This is not particularly engaging; instead, it is smothering. Psychologist James Hillman put it well when he remarked that if we do not learn from that demonic character, we might vote into power someone who wins a TV trivia contest.

If [a] clue to psychopathy is a trivial mind expressing itself in high-sounding phrases, then an education emphasizing facts rather than thinking, and patriotic, politically or religiously correct "values" rather than critical judgment may produce a nation of achieving high school graduates who are also psychopaths. (The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling [New York: Random House, 1996], p. 225)

But God has established a house, not made with hands, where peace is the prime directive. Final arbitration between the nations and Israel will take place therein. The people of their own accord—or so they think—shall come to learn of the ways of God. People will come from near and far to be educated and judged.

And as a result of their willingness to learn, they will be transformed. They will change from a people of the spear and sword to a people of agrarian peace, perhaps taking on the image of Grant Wood's 1930 Midwestern farming couple of American Gothic fame. And they will no longer learn war.

(Eric Killinger)

It's Time!

Romans 13:11-14

"You know what time it is," commented Paul to his readers in Rome (13:11). Whether they did or not, do we? What Paul meant by these words is not so obvious to us. The dual focus of Advent on the first and final comings of Christ provides a good opportunity to reflect upon time and our relation to it.

This age, to which we are not to be conformed (Romans 12:2), measures life by marking the chronological passage of time: one has lived so many years; the days pass in increments of seven, thirty, three hundred sixty-five, punctuated from time to time by "holidays"; only x more shopping days until Christmas! There may be a sense of a goal in time so marked—getting a driver's license, turning twenty-one, graduating, getting a promotion, retiring. Yet, time seems to devolve into a cycle largely devoid of meaning. Time passes and so do we, and we are gone and our places know us no more. In the desire for our lives to count for something, we work toward making our place bear the mark of our having been here.

When we transpose this perspective on time to the realm of the eschatological, we risk distortion. In the reckoning of the world, this Advent, one in a succession of Advents, should see something that we have done to "bring in the Kingdom." As we see continued evidence of fallenness and unredeemedness, we can become despondent, as though our lives really make little difference.

This is a flawed perspective. Each Advent is new, and even though we encounter themes of judgment, it is not mere negativity with regard to the way our lives have been. Why is this? Advent partakes of time in the world reflected in the Bible and liturgy. Time in this world is a matter of ripening, of coming to fullness. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul spoke very plainly of this (cf. Gal. 4:4-5; also Philip H. Pfatteicher, Liturgical Spirituality [Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1997], p. 107). Time calls us, therefore, not to frantic attempts to make meaning, but to expectancy for the revelation of God's meaning. Attempts to make meaning are exercises in idolatry wherein we attempt to create our own salvation. We are called rather to await that which meets us from God's future, seen most fully in Christ.

This sense of time is a freeing judgment, a "no" that brings with it a "yes." It relativizes all of our achievements. On the one hand, it relativizes the good we have accomplished. All our accomplishments, no matter how grand, lack ultimacy and can become idols in our hands. Advent speaks a stern and somber "no" to them. Yet on the other hand, all the wrong that we have committed is also relativized. It is not excused or passed over, but subjected to judgment that holds forth the possibility of new life. A historically oriented sermon on this passage may be preached by focusing upon St. Augustine, who wrestled long and hard with matters of achievements for both good and evil and his relation to God. His conversion was sealed when he read these words from Romans in Alypius's garden. Augustine recounted this narrative of spiritual journey in the first eight chapters of his Confessions, with the climax coming in chapter 8. Reflecting on the event, Augustine wrote, "I was mad and dying; but there was sanity in my madness, life in my death" (The Confessions of St. Augustine, trans. Rex Warner [New York: Mentor Books, 1963], p. 175). He was met by a possibility not his own, and so by a future he could not make but could only receive as a gift from God. Such is the word of Advent.

(Philip E. Thompson)

A Cosmic Kidnapper?

Matthew 24:36-44

Happy New Year! No, we're not too early. We are right on time. Today the church begins its new year. Our focus shifts from one Gospel to another. It is a time for moving on and looking to the future. The future we are called to look toward is the Second Coming of Christ. We are called to look inward, on a personal as well as a cosmic level, to see if we are prepared.

As we begin this new year, the days are getting shorter and darkness comes early. The winter solstice is just a few days away. In fact, the day now contains more darkness than light.

Just as the shorter days cause many animals to settle in for the winter, I want to gather my family around me and settle in for the long night. I yearn for a blazing fire, a cup of tea, and a good book. The cold is shut out. All harm is locked outside our walls. I feel safe and secure and loved.

Maybe that is why I particularly dislike this image of the coming of the Son of Man in Matthew. I want the protector God, the righteous Judge, the Good Shepherd—not God the Thief. Where is my security with a God image like that? The idea that God might break into my life disrupts my safe, comfortable scenario. I am threatened by the thief, violated by the intrusion.

The other two images in this passage from Matthew are equally threatening. The first is a reference by Jesus to the Old Testament story of Noah. How in the world did we ever come to think of this tale as a children's bedtime story? Yes, I know that it ends with a faithful God who is benevolent toward all creation, but it is also a story full of violence and death. God looked upon the earth and judged it. Only Noah found God's favor, was obedient to God's command, and was ready. Everyone else was going about his or her life as usual when the rain and storms came. Matthew's point in referring to this story isn't so much the wickedness of the people as it is their lack of being prepared. They were unprepared for the judgment, so they were swept away by God. What kind of a bedtime story is that? Am I supposed to rest easily after that?

No. That is exactly Matthew's point. He doesn't want us to rest easily. He is telling us to be awake, to keep watch through the night, to be prepared. And the other image he uses of God's coming is almost as scary as the image of the thief. Two people are working side by side. It is just another normal day, when suddenly one of them is taken away.

This passage caused me great grief as a child. If I came in the door from school and my mother didn't answer my first call, I was horrified that she had been taken and I had been left. To me, these words made God sound like sort of a cosmic kidnapper.

"God isn't a kidnapper!" you say. Hey, I didn't write this Gospel. This is Matthew's recording of Jesus' words. If you are uncomfortable with these images, talk to Jesus about it. This is his shocking call to be ready for his return. He doesn't want any doubt about the seriousness of his coming.

Advent calls us to be watchful and ready and waiting. But for what are we waiting? We are not waiting for Christmas. We are not waiting for the Baby Jesus to be born in a stable in Bethlehem. Christ came in flesh and blood and lived among us because of the great love of God for humanity. But that is not the event for which we wait.

Advent is a time of preparation for something that has not yet happened, something totally new, something that will happen in the fullness of time. It will be a time like no other, and many biblical images used to describe it are not fearful but full of hope.

In that time, the prophet Isaiah tells us, people will lay down their weapons and come to God to decide their conflict. They won't do this out of fear of punishment, but out of trust in God. All the nations will come to Jerusalem where, in the presence of God, weapons of destruction will be turned into tools for planting and pruning. One translation says the weapons will be turned into plows and tools for trimming trees.

We may trim our chrismon tree today, but all people have not laid down their weapons. We look around, and the future seems bleak. We live in a world with much darkness. But Christ has brought a light into our world that has made a difference in my life and in your life. What, then, makes us think that God cannot make this great difference in the world? This passage calls us to be awake and prepared. We have the assurance that God is working in human history to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Our task is to do what we can today to bring humanity as close as we possibly can, without having to know all the details of how and when it will happen.

My New Testament professor wrote his doctoral dissertation on apocalyptic literature. After years of work on the dissertation and beyond, he says he is certain of two things. First, we are now closer to the Second Coming of Christ than we ever have been, and second, one of two things will happen to us: either we will die before Christ comes again or Christ will return in our lifetime. Either way, the result is the same. We won't get out alive.

These harsh images of the Gospel lesson remind us that when that new day of God's reign comes, there will be floods and there will be unexpected disappearances. There may be times when God seems like a thief, breaking into our lives and disrupting the comfort we enjoy.

But Isaiah reminds us that when God disrupts our lives in such ways, it will ultimately be for good, not ill. In that inbreaking, God will inaugurate a wonderful new reign of peace and justice. People will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nations will study war no more.

So what are we called to do in the meantime? Not only are we to live in an awareness of the future, but we are also to live in an awareness of the present. Now is the time to make a commitment to God and live faithfully as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Although nearly two millennia have passed since Paul's writing, the urgency has lessened none. Individually, the frailty of life calls us to be awake now.

We do not have a day to waste in the kingdom. People are hurting and hungry for the reign of Christ in their lives. As we do our part in the kingdom, we need to open our eyes to the people around us, not just circle the wagons and settle in for the night.

In our waiting, in our watching, we have many unanswered questions and tough situations. Oftentimes, we have no clear-cut answers. We are caught up in the tension of the already and the not-yet reign of God. Even Jesus did not know all the answers, for he said even he did not know the day and hour. But he came once, because of the love that casts out fear. He came and he will come again. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

(Kitty Cooper Holtzclaw)

Prayers for Worship

Calls to Worship

(Psalm 122:1 and Romans 13:11-14, adapted)

Leader: I was glad when they said unto me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord!"

People: We are standing in God's presence, alert and ready to receive God's word.

Leader: The night is passing. The day of salvation is near.

People: We seek to live as people of the light.

All: Come, Lord Jesus!

(Kitty Cooper Holtzclaw)

(Psalm 122)

Leader: I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.

People: To it the tribes go up
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.

Leader: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers."

People: For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, "Peace be within you."
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

(Blair G. Meeks)

Prayer of Confession

Lord of all times, we come into your presence asking your forgiveness. We have failed to live as people of the present. We have wasted our moments, wanting the future now, seeing our dreams as the answer to today's problems. Rather than seeing your blessing in each day, we have looked backward to glory days that seem glorious only in their passing. Open our eyes to our mission at hand. Open our ears to your message to us today, that we might share in bringing the good news of your salvation to the world. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

(Kitty Cooper Holtzclaw)

Assurance of Pardon

Christ has paid the price for your sin because he sought your presence in the house of God. When we confess our sin, we no longer have to fear the throne of judgment. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

(Kitty Cooper Holtzclaw)

Pastoral Prayer

God of peace, you call us to your holy mountain to join the streams of people from all nations who will exchange their swords for plowshares and their spears for pruning hooks. Grant that we may walk in your paths, leaving the shadows of confusion and discord to live in the light of your presence. We pray for all who work toward the day when we will study war no more: for those who negotiate treaties, those who teach conflict resolution, those who show the ways of peace to the children, those who bring your justice and mercy. We thank you for the promise of Jesus' coming again in glory as he once came in lowliness and need. Because we do not know the day of our Lord's coming, wake us up from our sleep that we may live honorably and put on the clothes of light. Because salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed, keep us awake that we may lay aside all our sorrow and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

(Blair G. Meeks)

Benediction

You have been privileged to ascend God's holy mountain. Live honorably in the light of God's love. Share the presence of God with those you meet. Peace be with you until the coming day of our Lord. Amen.

(Kitty Cooper Holtzclaw)