Sermon - The Student Becomes the Teacher (Christmas 1 - Year C)

 Christmas 1 (C) December 26. 2021                Panzer Liturgical Service 

LUKE 2:41-52, 1 SAMUEL 2:18-20, 26, COLOSSIANS 3:12-17

When I acknowledged my call to full-time ministry, I had a very specific idea about what kind of ministry I wanted to do, and what I didn’t. I wanted to preach. I didn’t want to teach… which 35 years in hindsight was an ignorant distinction, because if preaching isn’t teaching, then there’s something important missing. Anyway, it turns out that the spiritual gifts inventories I took along the way were right, one of my gifts is teaching. But my fear about teaching – that I had to know all of the answers – was also misguided. Teaching others is one of the best ways I know of learning new things for myself. Not knowing the answers to questions allows me to explore new resources. And having students ask questions about theological and practical Christian ideas has been one of the best gifts I have ever gotten.

When I was a new pastor, I asked a group of high school students if anyone had any questions before they left our Sunday evening youth group. I had about 10 minutes to fill, so I was expecting process questions – when do we need to get our permission forms in for camp… that kind of thing. What I got was an inquisitive 11th grader who asked, “What’s your best explanation of the Trinity.” Now, I’ll be honest – for a minute I thought about blowing her off. But instead, I dug into the recesses of my Christian Theology and Church History classes from seminary and tried to put together a coherent answer, using symbols and ideas that related to their experiences as teenagers. It took more than 10 minutes… but they sat on the edge of their chairs, and listened, and answered the questions I asked, and asked a few more questions – and 20 or 30 minutes later, parents were knocking on the door, ready to get home for the night. To end the discussion I reminded them that, in the end, believing in and understanding the Trinity is an act of faith.

I can still see the room – see their faces – hear their brains clicking into what we were talking about. For some of them, this deep theological concept became real. But more real than that was the idea that they were invited to understand faith within their own life experiences. Tackling these theological footballs made their faith their own. And permitted them to ask questions and to test the theology of the church with their own faith experiences. That day changed me, too. That’s when I realized that questions are important. And that sometimes, what we get from those discussions are more questions. But even then, our faith can grow if we trust that God is in it all.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we celebrate Jesus in the birth narrative of Matthew and Luke. On the first Sunday after Epiphany (January 6th), we remember Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, which marks the beginning of his ministry. That means we have very few days to think about what happens in between. One of the miracles of biblical archeology is the discovery of first and second-century writings which allude to a fantastical childhood for Jesus. Apocryphal gospel accounts tell stories of Jesus performing miracles as a small child but were not given the weight of biblical canon or scripture, being outside the bounds of belief by early church fathers. What we are left with is one story.

Today’s gospel lesson gives us the only glimpse of Jesus as a child – actually as a preteen – 12 years old. Here, Jesus has joined his family in the yearly pilgrimage to celebrate the Passover – roughly three days journey for the crowd of people walking from Galilee to Jerusalem. On the way home, Mary and Joseph notice that Jesus is missing – and they retrace their steps back the way they came and search the places they visited, finally finding Jesus in what they must see as the most unlikely place.

Even though Luke’s gospel is written to a primarily Gentile audience, the Temple in Jerusalem plays a big role in many of Jesus’ most important scenes. Jesus is dedicated in the Temple – he speaks here during his ministry, words of encouragement and words of condemnation. It makes perfect sense that the place where Jesus first exerts himself as a young man would be at the Temple… perhaps drawn back there by his Passover experience and questions that this visit might have raised. In Jewish culture, the age of 12 was a turning point. Young men would have studied for their right to take on membership in the synagogue community. They would memorize from the scrolls of the Torah and the Prophets. They would learn to make the faith of their parents their own.

Ironically, one of the first questions that most people have when they read this passage is, “How did Mary and Joseph lose him for so long?” Short answer – this was a group affair – many members of their community would have traveled together – for company and safety. Perhaps it was when they bedded down the first night that they realized that Jesus was missing. The next morning, they would have left to return to Jerusalem – another day gone – and then a day retracing their steps. Three days seems about right – with even what they knew in their hearts about who Jesus was, I imagine the Temple would not have been their first stop.

And when they found him, it was quite the sight. Jesus was sitting among the teachers, not only listening, but “putting questions to them.” This infers that Jesus was not just seeking information, but teaching them. This is the classic teaching method of Socrates – the teacher asks the questions and the students answer… it’s like taking a test in real-time.

This is reflected in the response of those around him – most are amazed… how is this boy so wise? The parents – their response is a little different – they are shocked… despite what they were told about who he was, seeing it come to life in front of them must have been disorienting and life-changing.

Jesus’ response is also not what we expect. It is as if he has grown up in a matter of days. To his parents – a small rebuke – where else would have expected me to go? And here we see perhaps one of the first times Jesus acknowledges the different kind of life he will live. We don’t see Jesus again until his baptism by John, ushering in the formal beginning of his ministry. But this day in the temple, the boy Jesus is stepping into the shoes that were promised to him. Teaching will always be that were not given the weight of biblical canon or scripture a the forefront of his ministry, and he will always answer more questions with a question or a story than he will give straightforward answers.

And before any teenagers get the idea that Jesus is telling them to disobey their parents or make their own decisions, Jesus left with his parents that day, returning to Nazareth and obeying them, as was his responsibility as their son, and “Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people.”

Maybe you came to church today to hear the Christmas story again, but I hope that you will leave understanding that this part of Jesus’ story is just as important, and anything else we know about him. This was a life-changing experience for everyone. Jesus grew into himself in those three days, and while he was still his parents’ son, he wasn’t a child anymore. It is no mistake that Jesus was missing from his parents for three days and then found in an unexpected place. Think about the end of his earthly life… three days dead, and then found in an unexpected place… alive. Here in the shadow of Christmas, we get our first glimpse of Easter.

A lot of people don’t like questions. The “why” question will often get answered with “we always” or “we never…” and it is seldom a satisfactory answer. 

There is a lot of turmoil in the world right now, both in the church and in society, over people asking questions about history and biblical interpretation and science and societal norms. When people ask “why,” they are often shunned. When they offer an alternative to an assumed truth, they can be thrown out of the community or sequestered or shamed from outside influence. Banned books, denying history, shutting down inspired inquiry, being unwilling to change – these are the enemies of growing and stable communities of faith and political societies. 

Jesus is living proof that God is always ready to do a new thing. Jesus sits with the teachers in the Temple and perhaps without their knowledge, turns the table on them. The baby Jesus that we celebrated with angels and shepherds in a stable is the same one who will save the world from itself and its assumptions about everything. 

If there’s anything I’ve learned in all these years, it is this: Questions are good. Questions are our way of integrating new information into the fabric of our lives, like weaving new colors into a piece of fabric, adding shading and dimension to a drawing or painting, or substituting new spice combinations into well-loved family recipes. Asking questions about faith, to me, means that faith is something worship pursuing, worth risking for, something we are willing to hold on to.

Confirmation is the part of the baptismal process where children who were baptized as infants get to learn about the faith of their childhood and decide for themselves whether or not to take those promises on for themselves. I have taught 15 confirmation classes in the last 30 years and 6 of them have been here in Stuttgart. It is an honor to sit with these youth as they learn about this history and traditions of the church, and ask some of the questions which make this faith their own. 

I end with a great affirmation on the nature of questions. Three years ago, the 11th grader who asked the Trinity question in my first youth group, a fellow Duke Divinity Aluma, graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary with a Doctorate of Ministry in Christian Education. She was my student, but she is my teacher. And for the willingness of anyone to ask questions and wrestle with the faith, we give thanks.

One last note: Yesterday, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched into orbit. It is the largest telescope ever created by NASA, with a deployed diameter of 21 feet. It will travel 1-million miles to its point of final orbit, past Earth’s moon, with an ongoing mission to look deep into space to see things we have never been able to see before. Webb is so sensitive that it will be able to see 13.5 billion years into our past, to the very beginnings of our universe. 

Instead of worrying that the information this telescope gathers will contradict the biblical creation story, I am excited to see how it might fill in the blanks… God said, “Let the be light…” now we may get to see more about what that might have looked like. More information is always good.

I think our epistle reading from Colossians is fitting as a closing prayer today. It is a reminder that whatever do in life, we are doing it in the name of Jesus… and in the name of love.

Let us read this passage again, this time together: 

12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Amen.

Peace, Deb

(C) Deb Teagan - December 2021

Exegesis: Pulpit Fiction Podcast Christmas 1 (Year C)  2021 - Robb Mccoy and Erik Fistler https://www.pulpitfiction.com/notes/christmas1c/#Luke2%3A41-52=

James Webb Space Telescope: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/main/index.html  https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/assets/documents/WebbFactSheet.pdf

Sermon - Living Blessed (Advent 4C)

 Advent 4 (Year C)                                                              December 19, 2021

Micah 5:2-5a, Psalm 80:1-7, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-55

Here we are – the 4^th Sunday in Advent, with less than one week to Christmas. We have been counting down the weeks with the lighting of our Advent wreath candles, looking forward to the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love promised to us by the coming of the promised Messiah. In the last three weeks, we have anticipated the coming of Jesus through prophetic eyes… Old Testament prophets proclaimed the faithfulness of God and the coming of a Savior centuries before Jesus’ birth. Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, voiced the reality and truth of Jesus through the work of his son, John, preparing the people to hear Jesus and recognize him when he came.

And today, we are reminded that the Messiah Jesus is not just any old savior. He comes not to rule with the sword, but with strength and majesty and peace. The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us Jesus comes to establish a new world order and that we are sanctified into that order by his sacrifice. And then we have Mary. She was with him, beginning to end… at the cross, on his journeys around Judea, pressing him into service at the wedding in Cana… and in millions of moments that we will never know. But in Luke’s gospel, we hear the fullness of Mary’s dedication to God. Mary, from the very beginning, is all in.

Our gospel reading today is in two parts, and I could have chosen one over the other but decided to keep them linked together. Earlier in chapter 1 of Luke’s gospel, we first meet Elizabeth, mother of John and wife of Zachariah, who we remember from Advent 2. Her pregnancy fulfills the angel’s promise made to Zachariah that in their old age they would have a son… God often uses this conversation to get people’s attention. Hers is a quiet pregnancy since Zachariah was struck mute in his disbelief, and she must have wondered how it would all play out.

Meanwhile, we see another angelic visitation… not to Joseph, the man to whom Mary was engaged, but to Mary herself. This passage is living proof that when God’s messenger says, “Don’t be afraid,” something big is going to happen. Mary’s only question was this: How? And while the angel shares the process in broad strokes, I imagine Mary could put the brakes on at any time. But when all was said and done, Mary responds: Here I am – a servant of the Lord – let it be.

And then our story picks up with today’s lesson. First, Mary goes to visit  Elizabeth, maybe for affirmation, maybe to support her in her geriatric pregnancy. But what we see is Elizabeth responding to Mary, the truth and viability of her pregnancy confirmed by the presence of Mary and the baby in her womb. Promises were made to both women, and in this meeting, the reality of those promises is confirmed. God’s hope and peace and joy and love are real and are coming, and these two pregnancies drive that point home.

Here are two women who are on opposite ends of the pregnancy spectrum… one very young and in an incomplete marriage covenant, and the other so old that she was probably the subject of much gossip. They could have been destined to spend those pregnancies in isolation and fear. But together, they find that they are part of a symphony of hope, obedience, availability, surrender, and action… they hear – they believe – they go – they give birth.[i]

And as an affirmation, Mary lifts a prayer glorifying God. It is a prayer of thanksgiving – for the blessing of being a vessel for God’s love. But it is also a declaration about who God is. In this prayer, she relays a remarkable truth… that God’s acts of power and mercy in the past are also working in the present will work in the future . She understands that God is not just working through her as an individual… God’s promise through her will be a gift to all the world.

Through Mary’s willingness to serve, God will reorder the world once again. No longer will the powerful have ultimate sway. The humble and the hungry will be lifted up and made whole.[ii] Mary tells us from the very beginning: Jesus isn’t just coming to save us from our sins… he is coming to save us from ourselves. It’s not either/or – it’s both/and… and Mary’s song reminds “You can’t have one without the other.”

Last Tuesday, our Stuttgart PWOC had their Christmas dinner. After sharing a wonderful meal, we listened to these same gospel readings, and in small table groups, we contemplated what it must have been like for Mary and Elizabeth. We talked about the historical realities – Mary as an unwed mother – how Joseph could have divorced her publicly or privately but instead chose to accept the angel’s prophetic challenge. We thought about how exciting and reassuring it must have been for Elizabeth and Mary to have one another to lean on. We marveled at  Mary’s bravery, and faithfulness, and biblical knowledge, and how much she trusted God to see this promise through.

And then we asked each other, “What kind of role model is Mary for us?” Evidenced by her powerful prayer, Mary’s first instinct was to worship God. The Magnificat is not a prayer of desperation – it is a prayer of affirmation.

That led us to ask among ourselves, what is our natural response to God’s work in our lives? Is it worship? Is it fear? Do we ignore the places we feel God calling and hope that life will go back to normal? 

Do our lives reflect the same kind of humility that Mary reflected? What does that look like for us? What will that require us to change or eliminate? Do we even know where to start?[iii] So many questions, we realized, often raising more questions than providing concrete answers.

As I get older, I have a better understanding of how important Mary is to us – not just as the mother of Jesus, but as a role model for a faithful life. Even as she questioned how God would work through her to bring the Messiah into the world, she still believed. Was she confused? Uncertain? I say, yes – probably all those and more.

Still, despite all of this, Mary is called blessed. Lutheran pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber puts it this way: 

“So maybe the really outrageous act of faith on Mary’s part was trusting that she had found favor with God.  This, it seems to me, is a vital and overlooked miracle of the Annunciation story. Yet instead, we prefer to focus on what virtues we think Mary must have had so that we can cultivate them in ourselves and maybe make our own selves worthy of God.”

But here’s where Mary had some real chops. She heard outrageous things from an angel and she didn't say “Let me see if I get any better offers” She didn't say “Let me get back to you”, she heard outrageous things from an angel and said, “Let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Mary trusted the word from the angel, telling her that she was favored. And maybe that trust is what made her favored.[iv]

Many of us Protestant Christians have never prayed the Rosary, but when we read the words, we must take this to heart. The prayer does not begin, “Hail, Mary, full of virtue…” it starts “Hail, Mary, full of GRACE…” the one thing that is simply a gift and nothing we can earn. Our hardest job is to realize that what qualifies us for God is simply our need for God’s grace… that and nothing more.

There’s a wonderful children’s story – The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. Boy, did she ever get it right when she told the story of a Christmas play gone horribly wrong. It all started when the director broke her leg a few weeks before Christmas… and the six worst kids in the town volunteered to play all the major roles… there was hitting and cussing and general malcontent. Through the rehearsals, we find out the Herdmann kids had never even heard the story of Jesus’ birth… they just came to church for the donuts. And when their fearless leader, Imogene, found out about all of the indignities surrounding the nativity, she just wanted to go beat somebody up.

But on the night of the play, everyone experienced the story in a new way as these novice players acted out the familiar story right before their eyes. And the audience knew that the children had really “gotten it” when Imogene as Mary picked up the baby and burped it, when Gladys, the meanest Herdmann of them all, pushed her way through the angel choir shouting, “Hey! Unto you a child is born this day!”, and as the Herdmann brothers, dressed in borrowed bathrobes approached the manger scene, carrying the family’s Christmas ham. In this story, the whole town shows up at the Christmas Pageant to see what chaos the Herdmann kids would bring. But everyone left saying, “I don’t know what it was, but this was the best pageant ever!”

The story of Christ starts with Mary… who was willing to take on this unthinkable responsibility, and she is joined by Elizabeth, who didn’t tell her she was crazy but affirmed and supported her amid a scandal that could go wrong more ways than we can count. Mary’s song rings forth in the world, loud and clear. It is a song of hope, faith, and trust that God will not abandon God’s people. And at the same time, it is a song of revelation and revolution.

This is our song, too. Let us a people who sing “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” And let us believe it and mean it, and live it out every day.

I don’t know what that looks like for you, but we are reminded in the Great Thanksgiving each week some of the ways to live out this call: working for “that day when justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Peace, Deb 

(c) Deb Luther Teagan, December 2021

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[i] Rev Sue Grace, Denmark, Australia, “Advent 4: Love is Waiting to be Born,” December 15, 2021, https://www.companionsontheway.com/post/advent-three-love-is-waiting-to-be-born

[ii] O Wesley Adams, Commentary on Luke 1:35-55, December 19, 2021, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-advent-3/commentary-on-luke-139-45-46-55-5

[iii] Shella Hightower, PWOC Christmas Program, December 14, 2021.

[iv] Nadia Bolz-Weber, And the soul felt its ____, The Corners, December 18, 2021, https://thecorners.substack.com/p/and-the-soul-felt-its-____

Sermon = Seeking Joy (Advent 3C)

3^rd Sunday in Advent (Year C)                                           December 12, 2021

Zephaniah 3:14-20, Philippians 4:4-7, Luke 3:7-18

Some years when we light the Advent wreath, we assign to each candle a theme, and they usually go in this order… Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. This week, one of the words we hear in each reading is the word “Rejoice” which is a derivative of the English word we call “Joy.” On this third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate “Gaudete Sunday” – inspired by the Latin word “rejoice.” This Sunday, halfway through the Advent season, we are called to be joyful as we continue to wait for the incarnation of Jesus Christ. On Christmas Day, we celebrate the incarnation of God… who came to live among us, as one of us.

The readings for Advent this year highlight God’s promises as spoken through the Prophets. Zephaniah speaks God’s word of joy, promising us a hopeful future, and calling us to rejoice, not just with our voices, but with all our hearts. In the responsive reading, Isaiah reminds us of all the ways God has delivered us in the past, and how those promises remain valid and true today. Even when we can’t feel the fulness of the promise, God continues to deliver us. We are called to shout out loud and sing for joy. And in our epistle reading from Philippians, Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord always… again I say rejoice.” It’s a reminder that centering ourselves in the joy of the Lord is not the same as looking for happiness… those two things are not the same.

Happiness and joy often feel elusive, but I think for different reasons. As we enter our second straight year of COVID-restricted holiday celebrations, we are saddened by the unfulfilled plans and expectations that lay littered around feet. We pray for peace and work for it to come, but the world seems more conflicted than we can remember before and it feels like we are spinning our wheels.

Some events are out of our control, like weather that tears through communities and upends businesses, homes, and lives… our prayers go out to those harmed and killed in the tornados that ripped through the US this weekend, those whose lives are forever changed. And even when it feels like we should be about to do something about the other crises we see before us – poverty, gun violence, inequalities based on race and gender to name a few, we are often at a loss on how or where to begin. With all of the suffering, loss, and uncertainty in the world we live, what is there to rejoice?

The first step to rejoicing may be to understand the difference between joy and happiness. Often, we use those words interchangeably… joy tends to overlap with happiness and we think that they are the same. But is that true?

In short, happiness is often connected to the here and now. The feeling of happiness is linked to the release of endorphins, which give us a boost to combat fear, unhappiness, and unease in our day-to-day lives. Happiness is related to the people, places, and things that give our lives meaning, and is a strong emotional response to the things happening around us. But happiness is often fleeting. It can come and as go as our circumstances change. One day we can feel on top of the world… and the next day sad or angry or discouraged, often wiping away our very memory of the happiness.

Joy is different. It is not related to short-term experiences, but in faith terms, is a response to the long and ongoing nature of how we recognize and experience God’s love and faithfulness. It’s easy to praise God during the good times, but when we are afraid and discouraged, rejoicing in the Lord can feel difficult at best and impossible on some days. Each of these writers, Zephaniah, Isaiah, and Paul understood something that we need to remember… that God is faithful no matter what our circumstances are.

When we rejoice in the Lord, we are not giving thanks for things that are going our way. We are giving thanks that God is with us, no matter what. Joy, unlike happiness, lasts no matter what challenges we face. In fact, joy is most fully realized and understood amid our struggles and concerns. Our joy comes in knowing that God’s love can withstand all of the disappoints we experience – and that the new life that emerges is often better than the world we could imagine for ourselves.

While each of the Old Testament prophets wrote in different circumstances, they each looked forward to a day when the Lord’s coming would bring great joy. Even Zephaniah, who in Winnie the Pooh terms is considered the Eeyore of all the prophets, ended with a word of joy. He looks forward to a day which proclaims the Lord’s presence, for the joy of renewal and restoration, as they come home from exile. Even while Isaiah speaks of doom and gloom, he looks forward to the Lord’s coming as a time to shout with joy, “Surely God is my salvation.”

As Paul was writing to the church at Philippi, it is believed that he was under house arrest in Rome, not in prison per se, but unable to continue his travels to build new Christian communities and give encouragement to those already producing fruit. And still, Paul could say, “rejoice” at a time when most of us would at least consider giving up or giving in. I wonder if he had been asked what he had to be joyful about, he would have dismissed his confinement and discomfort as insignificant in comparison to the joy that was promised. In his confinement, he not only wrote of the promise of the Lord’s coming but also how close God felt to him, even then. And so, as much as anyone, Paul would be the first to claim the joy that God brings – Paul would be the first to say, “Rejoice,” carrying the joy of Advent with him wherever he went, even inside a Roman jail and ultimately to his death.

Let us remember that our Advent experience is not only about waiting, it is also about preparation. It is a time when we are to seek out – to look for – the coming of the Lord and to believe God’s promises for restoration, peace over violence, and perfect love that casts out fear (which is the #1 stealer of joy.)

And that brings us to John the Baptist. He was sent to prepare the way for Jesus… sent into difficult and complicated times, maybe like the ones we are experiencing today. His message was simple and very, very hard to achieve. Repent – turn your lives around – and come back to God. This doesn’t just mean apologizing for our mistakes or beating ourselves up for the things we get wrong. Repentance is the first step toward transformation. Repentance requires change.

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much joy in John’s message – he calls the people who follow him into the desert a brood of vipers – poisonous snakes who are dangerous to the world and everyone around them. It’s quite surprising that they didn’t head back home immediately. But no, they kept following and listened. And here is where the joy comes in. He teaches them these things:

Living a life of faith in God isn’t just about changing ourselves on the inside. We must bear fruit – there needs to be evidence of our trust and faith in God that others can see. He reminds them that this new expression of faith doesn’t rely on our ancestry, our traditions, or our histories. No, this faith is about preparing ourselves for the One who is to come.

John’s instructions were simple and went against our nature to preserve ourselves over others. He didn’t ask them to start by changing the world, but to change themselves. He didn’t ask them to abandon their old lives to follow him in the desert, or to lead an uprising or a revolution. He asks them to share what they have with those who have needs. He asks tax collectors, notoriously known for their cheating ways, to be honest and fair, and for soldiers to avoid abusing their authority.

“Go home,” John told them. Go home to your families, your neighbors, your vocations, your friends. Go home and live your lives as deeply and as generously as you can right now. Do what the Lord requires of you and do it now. Be generous now – Be merciful now – Do justice now. Easy message – hard to follow through…

On this Sunday, we are called to seek out joy. This can come in a variety of ways. Are we moving toward repentance, not seeing it as a “one and done,” but something we are continually examining? As we wait, are we looking for ways to put our faith into action?

And while that exercise in faith doesn’t feel like it would be joyful, it turns out that the very act of watching and waiting and examining our relationships with God can inspire great joy. When we remember where we have come from, and are reminded of God present with us on our journeys, we can hold these things in balance with one another… that while we are not worthy of God’s saving grace, the best “good news” is that nothing in our lives is beyond redemption. We rejoice and find joy in knowing the God is good, all the time, even in the midst of our struggles, pain, and disappointments.

Is this easy? No… it takes intentional preparation. It means amending our lives and turning towards God. Advent is calling us to do those things and encourages us with a promise, rather than a threat... Jesus is coming and he is bringing abundant and new life to everyone.

On this Gaudete Sunday, as we wait and prepare, we are also called to rejoice. Not only is this the message of the angels to the shepherds, but is still the message we need today – “Fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy...” The coming of the Messiah is the Good News message we need. We opened our service today with one of the most joyful carols of the Christmas season. Today’s readings remind us that it’s never too soon to hear these words: “Joy to the world! The Lord has come.” And for this we give thanks!

Peace, Deb

(c) Deb Luther Teagan, December 2021

Resourced from Sermons That Work - The Episcopal Church www.episcopalchurch.org 

Sermon - Anticipation as Preparation (Advent 2C)

 Advent 2C                                                                                     December 5, 2021
Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 1:67-79, Luke 3:1-6                          Panzer Liturgical Service

Prelude to the Sermon: From the beginning of my preparation for this sermon, I could hear the music from Handel’s “Messiah” floating around in my brain. But what most people don’t realize is that the libretto – the words that go with the music - was not written by Georg Frederick Handel, but instead compiled by Charles Jennens to prove a theological point – that Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.[i]

Anticipation as Preparation…

On May 25, 1977, I stood in line for two hours with my friends to buy a ticket at our local movie theater. I was graduating from high school in ten days, and preparing to leave on a European tour with my high school band and orchestra the day after graduation. The buzz on the street was that this movie was not to be missed, and so we did it. We stood in the hot sun and waited. Our relief was noticeable as we were able to get seats for the next show and not have to wait three hours more. We settled in with our big drinks and our popcorn and our junior mints and waited for the lights to dim.

Darkness surrounded us, and a starry field emerged. And words started scrolling by… “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…Episode 4: A New Hope…” And so it began. And amazingly, over forty years later, people anxiously await the next chapter in the story steeped in the struggle between good and evil… Mandalorian Season 3, we’re waiting for you! What would happen if we anticipated the coming of Christ in the same way?

As I read through the lessons for this week, I was struck at the similarity of how the Star Wars stories are introduced with how we learn about Jesus. George Lucas sets the scene by placing the story in a particular time and place, clearly different from the world in which we live, but not different at all. The biblical story does the same. Today, we have three readings that set the story of Jesus in a historical and theological context.

In the first lesson, the prophet Malachi foretells the coming of a messenger.  The Messiah doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Someone comes on the scene and asks the world, “Are you ready?” The refiner’s fire he mentions is used to purify gold and silver, making it more beautiful and more valuable.  In this difficult and dangerous process, the question goes from “Are you ready for him to come?” to “Are you ready for what comes next?” The prophet tells us this message will change us. It will require something from us… something that will be pleasing to God.

The reading from Luke 1 is a prophecy from Zechariah and pairs with the reading from Luke 3. We don’t hear a lot about this Zechariah – he is the father of John, a priest serving in the Temple, old and childless with his wife Elizabeth. When told by the angel Gabriel that his wife would bear a son who would be a great prophet, he did not believe the promise. And so his voice was taken away until the angel’s promise was fulfilled. In time, Elizabeth did become pregnant. Still, Zechariah was silent.

A wonderful account follows in Luke 1 of the visit between Elizabeth and her cousin Mary, who is also with child. We remember Elizabeth reassuring Mary that her angel’s promise would be fulfilled… even Elizabeth’s unborn child leaped in her womb when Mary arrived. We remember the wonderful words of the Magnificat, Mary’s song of praise as she carried the unborn Messiah (and we will hear it again next week in worship), but few of us know the hymn of Zechariah that follows the birth of John.

When three months later Elizabeth gives birth to a son, she is told to name him John, which was unusual as it was not a family name. But in affirming this name by writing on a tablet, Zechariah’s voice was immediately restored, and he proclaimed, “Bless the Lord God of Israel because he has come to help and has delivered his people…”

Zechariah’s proclamation is interesting because when we read it, we think he must have gotten his verb tenses mixed up. He announces that God has delivered his people.  This implies that the people are already saved - even though John is just a baby and Jesus isn’t born yet. Through this proclamation, we are reminded that our salvation is not an isolated or new thing. We are brought into the relationship God had with his people in the past – the promises made to Abraham and all of his descendants become our promises, too.  As John and Jesus come into the world, God is continuing the work of salvation, just as was promised.

We’ve talked about this before, but here’s a reminder: Many Jews believed that the Messiah would come and change the political order, but instead God’s promise transcended the political state of that day and these days, too. Even after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jerusalem and Judah were still occupied by Rome. But those who believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah were ultimately delivered from Rome’s power over them. This is part of the resurrection story. The power of Rome, which is centered on the threat of the cross as a way to keep people controlled, is not enough to keep Jesus from exerting his God-given power. In the end, resurrection will always win. God’s promises will always prevail.[ii]

What Zechariah proclaims about John is simple. He will be a prophet who prepares the way for someone even greater, and in doing so, will tell people about the power of forgiveness, and the great compassion of God. We often think of the message of the prophets being words of gloom and doom…. “Clean up your act, or else.” But Zechariah’s words remind us that ultimately, the prophetic word is a call home to the loving arms of God.

The gospel lesson sets the ministry of John, and also Jesus, in a specific historical context. They are real people, set into a documented history. We can read about it, see the archeological evidence and walk among the ruins and rebuilt streets and buildings, immersing ourselves in that story. Each of the rulers listed at the beginning of this chapter was a historical figure who ruled in a particular time that can be verified by public record. They were people with great power, each of whom had power and influence over many. Some were Romans – others were Jews, but God did not choose them to initiate the big change that was coming.

The wild man John seems the most unlikely candidate to start the revolution, living out his mission in the most unlikely place. Like the Old Testament prophets before him, he does his work, not in a vacuum, but stirring up trouble at the very center of the political world around him. And as insignificant – and maybe a little crazy – as John seems, his prophecies about who Jesus is and what he will do will shake the very foundation of the world. Nothing will ever be the same.

So, what does John say? First, John speaks of repentance. Now the word repent doesn’t just mean saying that we are sorry. It means completely turning around, requiring a total change in the way we think and the way we live… in the way we think about who God is and what God requires of us.

Second, John proclaims a message of hope. John the Baptist was announcing the coming of the Messiah, and he was calling for repentance. The crisis he was speaking to was not an outward, national crisis, but rather the inward, personal need for the people of his day to prepare for the coming of the Lord.[iii] 

Just as Isaiah spoke a word of hope to those who were in physical exile, John speaks hope to those who are longing for a different way of life – for salvation – and tells us to prepare the way for him coming. This is not just about preparing ourselves, but also preparing the world around us, making it possible for the salvation of God to be made real for everyone and everything.[iv]

I’m sure this has happened to you. You plug in the name of the town where you want to travel and, in the list, your GPS tells you it’s 50 miles away. But when you choose the place, and the route is calculated, the distance gets bigger, sometimes almost twice as far you believed it to be. In the South, we call that first calculation “as the crow flies.” And the second – well, that’s just “going by the road.”

When John talked about crooked places being made straight and rough places being made smooth, he was not talking about cutting down on the amount of distance we travel in the world, or the quality of the roads. He wanted people to examine their lives and confess the places where their rough places needed smoothing out, where their crookedness needed straightening. Repentance was the first step and baptism were the signs of their commitment to new life. But the change did not end there.

Throughout his ministry, he called people with encouragement, to not run away from their problems, or avoid God’s judgment, or flee from the wrath to come. In the midst of it all, he asked people to change their lives and, in doing so, change their world. His call was for us to bear fruit worthy of the gift of forgiveness. 

So today, I ask this: What does it mean in your life for the crooked to be made straight and the rough places made smooth? 2021 has seemed like the year of the crisis. Fires and floods, hurricanes and drought, snow and cold, wars and terrorism, masks and vaccines, shutdowns and lockdowns slowing us all down. Plans are being reworked again and again. This is not the Advent season that we wanted. But it is the one we have.

When the crowds asked John how they were to make the crooked straight and the rough smooth, he said, “If you have two coats share one with a person who has none; do likewise with your food.” He told the tax collectors not to collect any more than they were authorized. He told the soldiers not to harass or cheat anyone, and to be satisfied with their pay. In other words, he called upon people to straighten out their lives by caring for the lost and the least among them. And this is a word for us, too.[v]

In 2015, when Germany was just at the beginning of the Great Migration, Muslim refugees traveled great distances to find safety and a place where they could make new lives. And as Saint Nikolas Day (December 6^th) approached, communities with longstanding traditions started wondering if they needed to change what they had always done. In the village where I live, St Nikolas greets the children in the forest and hands out presents. Music is played and carols are sung.

In preparation for the feast day, men in towns and villages all over Germany are trained to interact with children, dressing up to tell them St Nikolas’ story and about his ministry from long ago. Good, sensitive people wondered if presenting themselves to Muslim refugee children would be offensive, and what if anything, they should do to tailor their conversations in that context. Eventually, it was decided that because St Nicholas is the patron saint of all children, that they would go where they were welcomed. One St Nicholas portrayer related his experience that spending time with a group of Muslim girls was one of the best experiences he had ever had.[vi]

There is no magic solution for the problems of the world. God is working in every one of these crises, but he’s working through us. We are his hands and feet, carrying the burden of others and helping them pick up the pieces and rebuild. We are his voice proclaiming not just a message of ethereal hope that wafts like a ribbon of smoke through hurting people’s lives, but hope as acts of love and courage that meets people where they are and brings them with us to wholeness – the place where God wants all of us to live.

I don’t know what that looks like for you. I don’t even know what it looks like for me right now. But I do feel John’s message stirring me from my fear and doubt and complacency and asking me to do something…. He has set the stage – now it’s time for us to act!  Prepare the way of the Lord!

Peace, Deb

(c) Deb Luther Teagan, December 2021

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[i] Robert Harris, Handel’s Messiah: Six Surprising Facts, http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/handel-s-messiah-6-surprising-facts-1.3351122 

[ii] Robb McCoy and Eric Fislter, Pulpit Fiction,  http://www.pulpitfiction.us/show-notes/144-advent-2c-dec-6-2015.

[iii] Dawn Chesser, Preaching Helps, December 6, 2015, www.UMCdiscipleship.org

[iv] McCoy and Fistler

[v] Dawn Chesser

[vi] “Traditions and the New Refugees,” https://www.deutschland.de/en/news/tradition-and-the-new-refugees