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Advent 4 A RCL December 18, 2016

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 7: 10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

In our opening reading today, King Ahaz of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, is facing an extremely difficult and dangerous situation. The year is 734 B.C. The powerful Assyrian Empire is threatening to conquer Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The kings of Syria and Israel want King Ahaz to join with them in an alliance against the Assyrians.

Isaiah has been trying to encourage Ahaz to remain neutral. Ahaz doesn’t want to listen. Now God is directly addressing King Ahaz, God is going to give a sign. But Ahaz does not want to hear about this sign. His excuse for the fact that he does not want to listen to God is that he does not want to put God to the test.

But God tells him about the sign anyway. A young woman is going to have a baby, and that baby is going to be named Immanuel, God with us. By the time this baby is old enough to choose the good over the evil, the Assyrian Empire will be a thing of the past.

God is saying that God will be with King Ahaz and all the people. King Ahaz chooses not to listen to God or to Isaiah. He decides to form an alliance with the Assyrians and they end up invading Jerusalem. Ahaz is an example of someone who likes to do things his own way. He does not listen to guidance from wise people like Isaiah. He does not even listen to God.

In our gospel for today, we have an example of someone very different from King Ahaz, Joseph of Nazareth. Joseph is betrothed to a young woman named Mary. This is a wonderful thing. But something has happened which has cast a shadow over Joseph’s life. Mary is going to have a baby, and Joseph knows that he is not the father of this baby.

He had thought that Mary was someone who took commitments very seriously. She had seemed honest and full of sincerity and integrity. You and I know that Mary does take commitments seriously. She follows her son to the foot of the cross and stays there until the bitter end.

But Joseph, who is usually calm and level-headed, is upset, There is only one explanation for this, on the earthly level, and so he makes a decision to divorce Mary quietly to spare her feelings and her reputation. We need to remember that, in those days, being betrothed was like being married. Under the circumstances, it appears that she has committed adultery, and, in that culture and that time, we know that women were stoned to death for that crime. We also remember that Jesus as he encountered a crowd about to throw stones at a woman caught in adultery, said, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone,” and they put down their stones and walked away.

But to get back to our gospel, Joseph has resolved to divorce Mary quietly and try to preserve her reputation.

Now we need to remember that Joseph is a man of prayer. He is close to God. Unlike King Ahaz, he listens for God’s guidance. That night, an angel appears to him in a dream. This often happened back then, God would speak to people in their dreams. It actually happens today as well. The angel tells Joseph the truth about this baby. The angel even tells Joseph what to name the baby, Jesus. This baby is going to be God with us, Immanuel.

Joseph is a man of deep faith. He listens to every word the angel says to him. He knows this is a message from God. Quietly, faithfully, Joseph accepts God’s call to be the foster father of Jesus.  We know that Joseph will protect Mary as they travel to Bethlehem. We know that King Herod is going to try to have all the baby boys under the age of two killed, and that Joseph will take Mary and Jesus to Egypt so that they will be safe. We can imagine Joseph teaching Jesus in his carpenter shop when Jesus gets old enough. This wise, patient, gentle, courageous, faithful man is saying Yes to an extraordinary vocation—bringing up the child of God as a foster father. Jesus could have been born under the shadow of illegitimacy. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were refugees when they fled into Egypt. Always, Joseph was there to protect Jesus and Mary and to seek and accept God’s guidance.

What a contrast there is between Joseph and King Ahaz. I don’t know about you but I have actually met people who, when offered wise guidance, have said, in so many words, “I like to do things my own way.” That’s the Ahaz approach to life.

Joseph kept listening to God and followed every direction. He devoted his life to taking care of Mary and Jesus. What a wonderful holy example for us today. Do we realize that God is as close as our breath? Do we listen for the guidance of God as Joseph did?

Emmanuel. God with us. Our God who loves us so much is coming to live among us, full of grace and truth. May we make room for him in our hearts and lives. Amen.

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Advent 3A RCL December 11, 2016

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 35:1-10
Canticle 15
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11

Our opening reading from the prophet Isaiah is God’s word of hope to the people who have been in exile in Babylon. They are going to come home. The desert will bloom. “Waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” There will be springs of water everywhere.

It is a joyful thing to return home, but it is also a fearful thing. God will strengthen the weak hands and the feeble knees, and, perhaps more importantly, God will help us in our fears. Our God tells us to be strong.

And what does God do? God heals the people. The blind see; the deaf hear; the lame person leaps like a deer; those who have not been able to speak sing with joy.

There is going to be a highway in the desert. No one is going to get lost on the way home. No lions or other animals will be there to eat people. The people of God will be able to walk home singing for joy.

The coming of God means a restoration of the earth, healing of the people, peace, and safety.

In our canticle for today, the Magnificat, Mary sings of our God who lifts up the humble and lowly, casts down the mighty from their thrones, feeds the hungry and tells the rich they already have enough.

In our reading from the Letter of James, we are given more guidance as we prepare for the coming of our Savior. We are called to be patient. But this is not a passive waiting. We have the example of the farmer, an example we know very well. The farmer plants the seed, but he or she does not simply sit around and wait. The farmer works hard to do everything possible to help that seed grow. We are called to be patient, but this is an active, aware kind of patience. We are called to be awake and ready for our Lord to come to us, We are called to do everything we can to help his kingdom to grow just as the farmer helps the crops to grow.

In our gospel, we meet John the Baptist once again. This time, the situation is very different. John is no longer on the banks of the River Jordan baptizing people. He is in prison because he confronted King Herod, who had an affair with his brother’s wife. King Herod used his power to put John in prison.

John is wondering about this. If Jesus is the Savior, why am I in prison? I thought the Savior was going to separate the wheat from the chaff and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. I thought the Savior was going to get rid of the bad guys.

Let us remember, there are two strains in the Hebrew scriptures when it comes to describing who the Savior is. One strain says that he is a mighty military hero who comes in and throws the Romans out and  kills all of his enemies. The other one says that his is a kingdom, not of might and power but of healing and compassion.

John sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he really is the Savior or if someone else is going to come along. And Jesus tells them to go back to John and tell him what Jesus is doing—healing people, giving them hope and new life. What Jesus is doing coincides with Isaiah’s description in our first lesson.

And then Jesus tells us that John the Baptist is a great prophet. John is the one sent to prepare the way of the Lord. Yet the least person in the kingdom of Jesus is greater than John. This comment by Jesus reminds me of that wonderful line from the prophet Zechariah, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. (Zech. 4:6.) It also takes us back to the Magnificat. God exalts the humble and meek.

Mary Hinkle Shore, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul Minnesota, writes,  “The kingdom of heaven is the message and ministry of one who enacts God’s will, not by laying waste to his enemies, but by ‘giving his life a ransom for many.’ “

She says, “When being arrested in Gethsemane, Jesus does not appeal to his Father for ‘more than twelve leagues of angels’ (Matt. 26:53), but goes quietly with his accusers. …To our friends who want to know why things are not better if God’s Messiah has already come, we can say that God’s Messiah chose to combat evil with his innocent suffering and death. This does not answer every question about persistent injustice, nor does it absolve Christians and others from working for the good of all their neighbors. Yet the choice Jesus made for the cross over those legions of angels is testimony that God’s justice, mercy, and peace are probably not as likely to come by means of unquenchable fire as they are by means of suffering love.” (Shore, New Proclamation Year A 2007-8, p. 24.)

As we have noted before, Christ’s kingdom has begun but it is not yet complete. We are living in that in-between time. Part of our work in Advent is looking for signs of God’s justice, mercy, and peace and helping individuals and groups who are working to build God’s kingdom right now. We are blessed to be able to give to the United thank Offering and to Episcopal Relief and Development, and I know that all of you are sharing God’s love in many ways each day.

Years ago a dear friend and colleague gave me this prayer by an anonymous mystic writing in the fifteenth century:

Thou shalt know him when he comes
Not by any din of drums—
Nor the vantage of His airs—
Nor by anything he wears—
Neither by His crown—
Nor His gown—
For His presence known shall be
By the Holy Harmony
That His coming makes in thee.     Amen.

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Advent 2 Year A RCL December 4, 2016

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12

Our opening reading today is one of the most powerful passages in the Bible. It is a message of hope to God’s people. It is a clear and compelling description of God’s kingdom. For us as Christians, it is a description of the One who will bring in that kingdom.

“A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse.” This king is going to come from the house of David. The Spirit of God will shine forth from him, and he will be full of wisdom and understanding. He will not judge things on a superficial basis. He will look into the depths of people and situations. He will be fair and compassionate. He will have a deep understanding of the poor and the meek and will judge them fairly and with respect.

In the kingdom of God, natural enemies will lie down together. They will no longer need to attack each other. Peace will prevail on all levels. Children will be safe. “They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

The shalom of God brings peace and harmony over all the earth. Everyone has food, shelter, clothing, medical care, good work to do, and everything necessary, not only to survive, but to thrive.

Our psalm continues with the description of the King who brings in this shalom. He rules with justice, defends the needy, rescues the poor. He crushes the oppressor. The earth flourishes. Crops grow. The creation is made whole.

This is God’s vision of profound peace and harmony among all creatures and throughout the whole creation. The description of the King is the description of the ideal earthly leader and the description of our Lord.

In our epistle, Paul is telling the Romans that Jesus is Lord of all, Gentiles as well as Jews. Christ is the Lord of all. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu tells us, God has a big family, and it includes everyone.

Our reading concludes with the wonderful prayer, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In today’s gospel, we meet one of the two major figures of Advent, John the Baptist. John does not stay in the earthly center of power Jerusalem. He goes out into the desert, away from the crowded city.

He has spent time in the wilderness, away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. He has prayed and studied the scriptures. He has spent time alone with himself and alone with God. He knows exactly who he is and he also knows who God is. He is called to prepare the way of the Lord. He is called to be the one who will point the way to the Savior.

Great crowds of people flock from the city to see him. He becomes famous. He is preaching repentance, calling people to think carefully about their lives and measure their lives against God’s standards of love and compassion and justice. He is calling them and us to open ourselves to metanoia, spiritual transformation.

Hundreds of people flock to John the Baptist, He baptizes them. He immerses them in the waters of the Jordan River in a baptism of repentance. and he tells them that one is coming who is greater that John, and he will baptize with the Spirit.

The Pharisees and Sadducees come out from Jerusalem. They have heard about John and they want to see for themselves who he is. The Pharisees and Sadducees are leaders in the faith, but they have broken down the Ten Commandments into over six hundred rules and regulations which are so challenging that you really have great deal of wealth and leisure to be able to obey all of these rules.

Working people cannot possibly observe all these rules. For example, on the Sabbath, they are going to have to feed and water their animals, and do all kinds of other things which are considered as work, and this means that they are breaking the law.

John knows all of this, and that is why he calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “Brood of vipers,” a nest of snakes. All their rules weigh down the average working people and make them feel as though they will never be able to worship God in an acceptable manner.

Someone is coming who is going to turn things around and let people know that God is more concerned about how we treat each other than about how we may or may not follow six hundred rules and regulations. As we can see, John is really angry about how this whole legalistic system has burdened God’s people. He talks about how this system has put obstacles in the way of people who are trying to follow God’s will. As someone once said, “God is a lover, not a lawyer.”

John is preparing the Way for our King, and all of our readings today are holding up for us a vision of our Savior and of his shalom. This is the  kingdom we are called to help him build, and we are all working on it right now.

As we move farther into Advent, our Lord is calling us to make room for him in or hearts and our lives. Take a little time each day, if we can, to be quiet, as John was quiet out there in the wilderness, and to listen for the voice of Jesus telling us how much he loves us and wants to be a part of every moment of our lives and give us his grace and strength so that we can follow him.

So, once again this Advent, our lord is calling us to allow him to come to birth within us. He is calling us to open ourselves and our lives to his transformation so that we can become more and more like him.

May we prepare the way for our beloved King and Savior, Amen.

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