SERMON 3 rd Sunday in Advent, Year C, December 13, 2015 Zephaniah 3:14-20; Canticle 9; Phil 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18

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Doreen Knight
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1 SERMON 3 rd Sunday in Advent, Year C, December 13, 2015 Zephaniah 3:14-20; Canticle 9; Phil 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18 Whenever we hear John the Baptist thundering out in the wilderness -- You brood of vipers! Bear fruits worthy of repentance! -- we know it s Stir Up Sunday in the church! Stir Up Sunday is always the 3 rd Sunday in Advent, and it actually expresses our hope and expectation that the Messiah is coming. Everything is getting stirred up. Everyone is getting ready. If you want to know what I mean by getting stirred up, just imagine the children getting ready for next week s Christmas Pageant that will take place at this hour! And if you want to know who s in charge at Christ Church, it s probably the children with their big hearts and big questions, all of them getting ready for Christmas! God is definitely stirring them up! Of course it s not just children but adults who are getting stirred up, too, though some of us are perhaps not behaving the way our children would like to see! I m thinking at the moment of a teach-in I attended at nearby Cornell College the other day, hosted by its President Jonathan Brand, by their Episcopal chaplain the Rev. Catherine Quehl-Engel, and by various interreligious leaders from Linn County. It addressed Terrorism and Islamaphobia and was called Stand With Me. The phobia part was meant to address those of us in America including political candidates who irrationally think every Muslim is a potential terrorist. This gathering was a response to those who are stirring up fear, hatred, and fanaticism in America with our inflammatory statements. Some have gone so far as to advocate that all mosques be closed, that all Muslims be placed in internment camps, and denied citizenship on the basis of religion. While acknowledging that threats of terrorism are real and the nation s need to defend itself is legitimate, this vilification of Muslims and their religion runs counter to our Bill of Rights and freedom of religious expression. It also contributes to rising hate crimes, endangers our military personnel serving overseas, and plays into a narrative among ISIL s extremists that fuels resentment and recruitment in their ranks.

2 Our children expect something better from us, and we should, too. Especially when we consider that the overwhelming number of souls who have been slain on American soil in recent years were not killed by terrorists, but from gun violence and mass shootings carried out by lost and misguided American citizens with too easy access to high powered weapons. That s why I joined 165 other faith leaders in Iowa who signed a letter supporting (three) corrections in our gun laws that will help curtail the spiraling gun violence that threatens our children, communities and nation. We do not think the status quo is any longer acceptable, and we feel God is stirring us to stand up and do something! When mass shootings become so mundane that they fail to move us any longer, we know it is past time to act. This explains why many good Christians, Jews and Muslims in America are not only praying a special litany of prayers today - as we will soon pray on this Sabbath Weekend promoting the Prevention of Gun Violence - but also pledging to ourselves and our children that we will take some action. Each of us will have to determine exactly what that means for ourselves and what we are going to do about it. John the Baptist is out there in the wilderness stirring God s people up, and with him the churches in America are stirring God s people up today. John is calling for repentance and transformation, and God s people are asking him, What then shall we do? I d be surprised if his answers don t touch each of us somewhere. In replying John seemed to provide them with a manual for a more just and compassionate society, an ethical manifesto for the new Christian community. To one questioner John said, If you have two coats, share one with someone who has none. To another he said, If you have food, do likewise with those who have none. To yet another he said, Be satisfied with your wages. Remember that John was originally talking to an essentially third-world people and we are a first-world people. We need to remember that if our household income is $60,000 or more, we are among the top 2% of the world s wealthiest people, which probably puts everyone within my hearing within the top 3%. From that perspective, who among us needs more, and if we have it, why not share it more liberally?

3 I have an attorney friend who (like most of us) owns two coats and plenty more. She employs some young immigrant housekeepers who are poor, and she knows them well enough to know what they are without. Under the auspices of a garage sale she organized, she invited some of these women and their friends over early, and told them to help themselves to complete sets of china and other things that they needed more than she did, household things she knew these women loved. Gestures like that make a difference, along with the gestures of so many of you who are multiplying those $20 dollar bills we recently redistributed from our Alms Fund to meet human needs you encounter this Advent. This doing unto others is what the overwhelming number of Christians, Jews and Muslims believe and practice. The sacred texts and narratives we follow in each of these three Abrahamic faiths are based not upon fear, but upon love and mercy towards not only our neighbors but even our enemies. For only love conquers fear (above all God s love for every human being). We hear this repeatedly in today s readings on this 3 rd Sunday in Advent. Perhaps we didn t catch it given John the Baptist s loud voice to that brood of vipers out there in the wilderness, but all of our readings today set us off in the right direction as we transform our hearts and minds away from fear to love and mercy, for we are called to be God s joyful people doing God s good work in this world. Listen to them again: In our first reading, we heard the prophet Zephaniah say that God will turn away your oppressors and enemies and remove impending disaster; God will gather the lame and the outcast; bring you home and restore your fortunes; renew you with his love; so do not fear fear no more but rather rejoice in gladness. In our canticle from the prophet Isaiah we heard him urge the people to trust in God s strength and salvation, for great is the Holy One in our midst; therefore put all your trust in God and be not afraid, but rather sing praises and shout aloud with joy.

4 In Paul s letter to the Philippians we heard this same echoing message proclaimed with even greater clarity now that Christ Jesus has come among us in the flesh: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice! Let your love and gentleness be known to everyone. Do not worry about or fear anything, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. God is stirring things up in the world, and stirring us up to respond. What is the one word you hear from God in all this that is for you alone? A teacher I know plays a game with her students in their inner city school. She lets them stir up a pot once a week, then reach in and pull out a word, like we do each week in this liturgy and sermon. Each child pulls out a word, and has to repeat it, learn it, understand it, and finally do it all week long! What s the word God is giving you this week? Will that word inspire you to get their hands dirty, meet the reality face to face, and touch the wounds of sorrow or injustice to help heal them? I know a husband and wife whose daughter committed suicide. It was devastating, one of the hardest things in the world to heal from. One Sunday in church they pulled out a word based on love and service called Chinandega, and decided to go see for themselves what that had to do with these children who were living in the dumps in Chinandega, Nicaragua. They overcame their hesitance and both went down to work with these kids along with some Rotarians, and have been back there several times since. The experience of giving back has transformed this couples pain into a life mission. The father was a member of our Vestry at the time, and he told us, My life has been changed. I am no longer quite the same person. That s a powerful thing to say, that my life has been changed. That s what can happen around here to each of us, depending on the word we choose and the intentional we decide to live out as a result. Melody and others of you know this because your word is Swaziland. Kay and others of you know this because your word is Kenwood School. Randy and others of you know this because your word is Green Square Meals. Joyce and others of you know this because your word is Lay Eucharistic Ministry to those confined to home or hospitals. Jerry and others of you

5 know this because your word is Cavalry, which offers a quick response to disasters both big and small. Nancy s word is mentoring, especially the young women coming up in the ranks behind her in our business community. Jim s word is Nancy, and Dick s word is Jean, the names of their spouses for whom they would do anything. There are other words, too. This liturgy and sermon is a pot in which things are stirred up. Reach in and pull out the word that will transform you today! Let it be born and live in you! I sat down to lunch with a friend this past week who told me a couple of stories. One involved seeing an old surgeon colleague and his wife again for the first time in years when he spotted them having lunch in downtown Iowa City. The surgeon friend introduced his wife as though they d never met, because as he quickly realized she had profound Alzheimers. My friend was admiring how this surgeon was caring for his wife in public as though nothing were different, and treating her with such dignity and love. I come away from all of this today with my own word. Not merely to fear not, or be not afraid. But to love, love big, and love now. What is the word that will stir you up to act today? Remember, Messiah is coming! Be not afraid! Love big, love now! Take hold of God s word for you! Make his deeds known among the peoples. Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, rejoice! AMEN

Though you may feel at the end of your rope and discarded forever, there is nothing too great for God s saving grace.

First Reading Zephaniah 3:14-20 Though you may feel at the end of your rope and discarded forever, there is nothing too great for God s saving grace. A Reading from the book of the prophet Zephaniah. Sing