Year B
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s Advent 5\u2026 and we wait\u2026 and one of the things we wait for\u2026 is on our bulletin cover\u2026 and in the O Antiphon which is read before and after today’s portion of the Psalm\u2026 it asks the Key of David\u2026 to come\u2026 and to free prisoners\u2026 and those who dwell in darkness\u2026 and in the shadow of death\u2026 and just in case we think otherwise\u2026 we are those prisoners when we are captive to sin\u2026 when we see through a mirror dimly\u2026 when we are not fully alive\u2026 but at the same time\u2026 the prophet Isaiah affirms that God’s arm isn’t raised to inflict punishment\u2026 it’s raised because God’s arm has the strength to gather up us lambs\u2026 and hold us to God’s breast\u2026 and lead us home\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was a child\u2026\u00a0 and I misbehaved\u2026\u00a0 not that any of you can imagine me ever misbehaving\u2026\u00a0 or if I did what I was told to not do\u2026\u00a0 my mother would say\u2026\u00a0 you just wait ’til your father gets home\u2026\u00a0 or if my father was already home\u2026\u00a0 he’d sometimes say\u2026\u00a0 you’ll be a happier little boy if you do as you’re told<\/em>\u2026\u00a0 I never got a satisfactory explanation about why that was\u2026\u00a0 if I got one at all\u2026\u00a0 but over time\u2026\u00a0 I did come to understand that there was some wisdom in what my father said\u2026\u00a0 and I did find some comfort when I repented\u2026\u00a0 that is\u2026\u00a0 when I turned away from what I thought was OK to do\u2026\u00a0 and turned towards my father’s guidelines\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In today’s Gospel from Mark\u2026 we’re told that the beginning of the Good News of Jesus\u2026 was foretold by the prophet\u2026 by someone who knew that while God’s justice could be resisted\u2026 it could not be prevented\u2026 almost like a flower that pushes up through a crack in a concrete sidewalk\u2026 and that the Good News was later proclaimed by a truth teller who rejected social conventions\u2026 and who was wild\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Julia Seymour\u2026 from Big Timber Lutheran Church in Montana\u2026 writes\u2026 we’ve got a rogue truth teller in John the Baptizer\u2026 his wildness is symbolized by his untamed diet\u2026 and his untanned clothing\u2026 his appearance prepares us for the spiritual truth he brings\u2026 which is undomesticated and lush with potential\u2026 and the truth teller speaks of another\u2026 fiercer one\u2026 who will follow\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n In preparation\u2026\u00a0 the truth teller moves the cleansing ritual from indoors \u2013\u2013\u00a0a controlled space\u2026\u00a0 to a river \u2013\u2013 an uncontrolled space\u2026\u00a0 the truth teller reshapes the washing act\u2026\u00a0 to be one of reorientation\u2026\u00a0 and those who participate in this ritual are reoriented to the priorities and commands of creation\u2019s life force\u2026\u00a0 so when they give themselves fully into the power which seeks to shape them\u2026\u00a0 their whole lives will change\u2026\u00a0 because the basic purpose of Christian mythology\u2026\u00a0 is the formation of the beloved community\u2026\u00a0 and the stories of our faith are not our history\u2026\u00a0 they are our present\u2026\u00a0 and as such\u2026\u00a0 they affect the reality of creation here and now\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So here’s a story\u2026 there was a fourth grade Sunday School class\u2026 and on the last Sunday in Lent\u2026 they were asked to write their sins on sheets of paper\u2026 and then they went out to a nearby pond to drop their papers in the water\u2026 but what they had written\u2026 was written in water soluble ink\u2026 and when their papers got wet\u2026 their sins disappeared\u2026 and one of the children said\u2026 it’s like baptism\u2026 my sins were washed away\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n John the Baptizer proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins\u2026 but even some adults have a hard time believing that God really does forgive them\u2026 because they can’t always forgive others\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n And as Protestants\u2026\u00a0 we dislike the idea of confessing our sins\u2026\u00a0 we’re much better at pointing out someone else’s\u2026\u00a0 and for many Protestants\u2026\u00a0 calls to repent point to a creation that’s inherently evil and not one that’s inherently blessed\u2026\u00a0 but repentance is simply letting go of what’s not working\u2026\u00a0 of letting go of whatever’s keeping God’s plan from being implemented\u2026\u00a0 but not letting go of our status as beloved children of God… and acknowledging our sin\u2026\u00a0 is no more than acknowledging our imperfection\u2026\u00a0 and if we could all acknowledge it\u2026\u00a0 if only all of our elected and other leaders could publicly acknowledge our collective imperfections\u2026\u00a0 and how we resist God’s justice\u2026 . then together\u2026\u00a0 we could push through the concrete of our corporate willfulness\u2026\u00a0 so that the fruit of God’s justice\u2026\u00a0 for all people\u2026\u00a0 could ripen on the vine\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this is difficult work\u2026\u00a0 and it’s slow work\u2026 but slowness is about mercy\u2026\u00a0 you have to know what’s wrong before you can fix it\u2026\u00a0 and so judgement is really Good News that comes from God…\u00a0 it helps us become the people God is calling us to be\u2026\u00a0 like my father helped me\u2026 and we need to accept that we will not fix everything in our lifetime\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality of this time may feel biblical\u2026 many of us are wandering around in our own wildernesses\u2026 with interrupted routines\u2026 and unemployment\u2026 not being able to attend holidays or social gatherings with family or friends\u2026 maybe not knowing who to believe\u2026 about masks\u2026 or vaccines\u2026 or the election\u2026 separated from familiar patterns of activity\u2026 we can’t meet God where we usually do\u2026 here in this sanctuary\u2026 we can’t attend a real coffee hour\u2026 committee and leadership meetings\u2026 we can’t even share comforting touch at The Peace\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the midst of fewer activities\u2026\u00a0 fewer distractions\u2026\u00a0 we also have the chance to see what really matters more clearly\u2026 while the harshness of wilderness may be felt more deeply this year…\u00a0 the same ageless truths remain constant\u2026\u00a0 that in our wilderness seasons…\u00a0 we are waiting on an imperfect and broken world to pass\u2026\u00a0 the season of Advent reminds us that no matter who we are…\u00a0 or where we are in time or space\u2026\u00a0 all earthly things will come to an end\u2026\u00a0 but in the mean time\u2026\u00a0 we still have choices to make… and things to do\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael Toy\u2026 an alumnus of Princeton Theological Seminary writes\u2026 it is certainly our job as the church to proclaim peace on earth… goodwill towards all… and joy to the world\u2026 but it’s just as much our job to be visible in the wilderness\u2026 naming injustice\u2026 oppression\u2026 and apathy\u2026 and calling out those whose silence are sins of omission\u2026 and we name these things as sin not to cast judgment\u2026 or humiliate\u2026 or ridicule\u2026 and we do not name sin so that we can exclude others\u2026 we name sin to make way for God’s justice so that no one is excluded from Table\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yvette Flunder\u2026\u00a0 of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries\u2026\u00a0 writes\u2026\u00a0 we are obligated to hope\u2026\u00a0 hope is not wishful thinking\u2026\u00a0 but an assurance that God is constant even when people are not\u2026\u00a0 most days\u2026\u00a0 our Christian faith leads to hope\u2026\u00a0 but Isaiah understood\u2026\u00a0 as many of us do\u2026\u00a0 that hope can only proceed from God’s comfort\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n And God’s comfort comes\u2026\u00a0 because we are not alone\u2026\u00a0 with the appearance of Jesus\u2026\u00a0 we have the assurance that this life\u2026\u00a0 even with its suffering and sorrow…\u00a0 has meaning…\u00a0 and that its meaning can be found as we learn to love\u2026\u00a0 from our suffering and sorrows\u2026\u00a0 we are called to comfort one another…\u00a0 simply by accompanying each another on the journey\u2026\u00a0 we cannot do much to escape the sorrow of this world\u2026\u00a0 we can only walk through it knowing that Jesus walked through it too\u2026\u00a0 this life is not about greatness\u2026\u00a0 but about love\u2026 and the Good News\u2026\u00a0 is that God is here\u2026 and has turned our sins\u2026 into water soluble ink\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 It’s Advent 5\u2026 and we wait\u2026 and one of the things we wait for\u2026 is on our bulletin cover\u2026 and in the O Antiphon which is read before and after today’s portion of the Psalm\u2026 it asks the Key of David\u2026 to come\u2026 and to free prisoners\u2026 and those who dwell in darkness\u2026 and in the shadow of death\u2026 and just in case we think otherwise\u2026 we are those prisoners when we are captive to sin\u2026 when we see through a mirror dimly\u2026 when we are not fully alive\u2026 but at the same time\u2026 the prophet Isaiah affirms that God’s arm isn’t raised to inflict punishment\u2026 it’s raised because God’s arm has the strength to gather up us lambs\u2026 and hold us to God’s breast\u2026 and lead us home\u2026 When I was a child\u2026\u00a0 and I misbehaved\u2026\u00a0 not that any of you can imagine me ever misbehaving\u2026\u00a0 or if I did what I was told to not do\u2026\u00a0 my mother would say\u2026\u00a0 you just wait ’til your father gets home\u2026\u00a0 or if my father was already home\u2026\u00a0 he’d sometimes say\u2026\u00a0 you’ll be a happier little boy if you do as you’re told\u2026\u00a0 I never got a satisfactory explanation about why that was\u2026\u00a0 if I got one at all\u2026\u00a0 but over time\u2026\u00a0 I did come to understand that there was some wisdom in what my father said\u2026\u00a0 and I did find some comfort when I repented\u2026\u00a0 that is\u2026\u00a0 when I turned away from what I thought was OK to do\u2026\u00a0 and turned towards my father’s guidelines\u2026 In today’s Gospel from Mark\u2026 we’re told that the beginning of the Good News of Jesus\u2026 was foretold by the prophet\u2026 by someone who knew that while God’s justice could be resisted\u2026 it could not be prevented\u2026 almost like a flower that pushes up through a crack in a concrete sidewalk\u2026 and that the Good News was later proclaimed by a truth teller who rejected social conventions\u2026 and who was wild\u2026 Pastor Julia Seymour\u2026 from Big Timber Lutheran Church in Montana\u2026 writes\u2026 we’ve got a rogue truth teller in John the Baptizer\u2026 his wildness is symbolized by his untamed diet\u2026 and his untanned clothing\u2026 his appearance prepares us for the spiritual truth he brings\u2026 which is undomesticated and lush with potential\u2026 and the truth teller speaks of another\u2026 fiercer one\u2026 who will follow\u2026 In preparation\u2026\u00a0 the truth teller moves the cleansing ritual from indoors \u2013\u2013\u00a0a controlled space\u2026\u00a0 to a river \u2013\u2013 an uncontrolled space\u2026\u00a0 the truth teller reshapes the washing act\u2026\u00a0 to be one of reorientation\u2026\u00a0 and those who participate in this ritual are reoriented to the priorities and commands of creation\u2019s life force\u2026\u00a0 so when they give themselves fully into the power which seeks to shape them\u2026\u00a0 their whole lives will change\u2026\u00a0 because the basic purpose of Christian mythology\u2026\u00a0 is the formation of the beloved community\u2026\u00a0 and the stories of our faith are not our history\u2026\u00a0 they are our present\u2026\u00a0 and as such\u2026\u00a0 they affect the reality of creation here and now\u2026 So here’s a story\u2026 there was a fourth grade Sunday School class\u2026 and on the last Sunday in Lent\u2026 they were asked to write their sins on sheets of paper\u2026 and then they went out to a nearby pond to drop their papers in the water\u2026 but what they had written\u2026 was written in water soluble ink\u2026 and when their papers got wet\u2026 their sins disappeared\u2026 and one of the children said\u2026 it’s like baptism\u2026 my sins were washed away\u2026 John the Baptizer proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins\u2026 but even some adults have a hard time believing that God really does forgive them\u2026 because they can’t always forgive others\u2026 And as Protestants\u2026\u00a0 we dislike the idea of confessing our sins\u2026\u00a0 we’re much better at pointing out someone else’s\u2026\u00a0 and for many Protestants\u2026\u00a0 calls to repent point to a creation that’s inherently evil and not one that’s inherently blessed\u2026\u00a0 but repentance is simply letting go of what’s not working\u2026\u00a0 of letting go of whatever’s keeping God’s plan from being implemented\u2026\u00a0 but not letting go of our status as beloved children of God… and acknowledging our sin\u2026\u00a0 is no more than acknowledging our imperfection\u2026\u00a0 and if we could all acknowledge it\u2026\u00a0 if only all of our elected and other leaders could publicly acknowledge our collective imperfections\u2026\u00a0 and how we resist God’s justice\u2026 . then together\u2026\u00a0 we could push through the concrete of our corporate willfulness\u2026\u00a0 so that the fruit of God’s justice\u2026\u00a0 for all people\u2026\u00a0 could ripen on the vine\u2026 But this is difficult work\u2026\u00a0 and it’s slow work\u2026 but slowness is about mercy\u2026\u00a0 you have to know what’s wrong before you can fix it\u2026\u00a0 and so judgement is really Good News that comes from God…\u00a0 it helps us become the people God is calling us to be\u2026\u00a0 like my father helped me\u2026 and we need to accept that we will not fix everything in our lifetime\u2026 The reality of this time may feel biblical\u2026 many of us are wandering around in our own wildernesses\u2026 with interrupted routines\u2026 and unemployment\u2026 not being able to attend holidays or social gatherings with family or friends\u2026 maybe not knowing who to believe\u2026 about masks\u2026 or vaccines\u2026 or the election\u2026 separated from familiar patterns of activity\u2026 we can’t meet God where we usually do\u2026 here in this sanctuary\u2026 we can’t attend a real coffee hour\u2026 committee and leadership meetings\u2026 we can’t even share comforting touch at The Peace\u2026 But in the midst of fewer activities\u2026\u00a0 fewer distractions\u2026\u00a0 we also have the chance to see what really matters more clearly\u2026 while the harshness of wilderness may be felt more deeply this year…\u00a0 the same ageless truths remain constant\u2026\u00a0 that in our wilderness seasons…\u00a0 we are waiting on an imperfect and broken world to pass\u2026\u00a0 the season of Advent reminds us that no matter who we are…\u00a0 or 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