Rev. Tara Barber
The Community Church of Sebastopol
December 14, 2003 The 2nd Sunday of Advent
Zephaniah 3: 14-20
So, you might wonder, what’s a nice scripture lesson like this doing in a sermon about change? Or maybe you’ve asked yourself, what’s a sermon like change doing in a nice season of Advent, less than 2 weeks before Christmas? If you have asked these questions, you haven’t been alone. When I was given the theme Advent Guideposts: Change, I thought that this must be a mistake. I’d never heard of change as one of the traditional Advent themes. You know the Big Four: Hope, Peace, Love, Joy…Change just isn’t among them. So, I read over the biblical texts for today, I looked again at the theme, and then I had an epiphany. (I know that the capital “E” Epiphany is scheduled for January, but this was kind of a lower case epiphany and I am open to those any time of year, it doesn’t matter what the calendar says.) The epiphany went something like this: If God’s presence and Jesus’ birth don’t bring about change, then what’s the point? Let me rephrase that…The reason for the season is CHANGE – that’s why Jesus’ birth matters. Jesus’ life and presence is supposed to make us different people than we were before. And the only way that transformation happens is through change.
I’m sure it didn’t help that I just watched Fiddler on the Roof because right after I had that epiphany and thought about Christmas and change, all I hear is Papa’s bellowing voice singing, “TRADITION!” And there you have it. Tradition and Change. The tension of Advent and the challenge of Christmas.
How many of you have an image of Christmas that you hold onto? Maybe it was the year that you received a gift that made your eyes and heart light up and dance… maybe it was the last year with a cherished relative…maybe it was the year when the whole family was together, and happy… Raise your hand if you are getting an image of that special Christmas. And keep your hand up if this year you are trying in some way to re-create that same feeling this year.
Let’s go back to Zephaniah. His vision of how God is creating life anew rings true for us today.
“Rejoice and exult in all your heart…” don’t strands of the Hallelujah Chorus fill your ears when you hear that? And I can just see the delight in a child’s eyes at Christmas.
“The Lord has taken judgment away from you”… That must mean its time to let go of those regrets, and the shoulds and the to-do lists and the words that we use to flog ourselves.
“You shall fear disaster no more…” You know, those big disasters like war, fire, famine and also those smaller disasters like burnt turkey and Christmas presents gone astray.
“You will be renewed in God’s love…” Today. Tomorrow. Christmas morning. Six weeks from now. God will still be loving you.
“Shame will be changed into praise…” So turn around and see just how amazing you are.
And my favorite: “And you will be brought home…”. Home where you are known, cherished, held safe, and set free.
Zephaniah’s words have something to do with our hopes in this time and in this place. But what happed to that rabble-rouser John that we heard about last week? Today’s gospel text is the continuation of the lesson Gene preached last week. And this week, John the Baptizer brings more pointed preaching in how we are to prepare for the Messiah. His big word of the day is repent. Literally, that means to turn around. John knows that if God’s vision is to come true, then some things must change. We must change. That’s right, we must change. And John continues by preaching that we must 1.) Share with one another. 2.) Be honest and 3.) be content with what we have.
Let me go over that again. John says that we must share what we have…I know that several times I have been Christmas shopping and often found more things that I want than what I want to buy to give. I am working on the sharing; I did grow up with siblings, but sharing is still not an easy one for me. We must share what we have. How often is there the response that there’s not quite enough to go around this year, so I’m not going to share as much this year. John also says to be honest and I know that sometimes I will smile and nod and say “Yes!” that I can do one more thing this week. Yes, its ten days before Christmas and I am sure the Christmas cookies need to be frosted, and I know there is at least one more thing to do for school and I know there is just one more thing that just has to get done, but I will still smile and nod, just like I smile and nod when someone asks how I liked the fruitcake I received last year.
And being content: Not only do I go down the aisles and see what I want, but I think I yelled at the boys just last week for spending their time on the toy aisle when they should have been shopping for others.
How did that John know so much about us? And what does he know about how to prepare for God’s coming?
William Willimon, Dean of Duke University’s Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry, preached a sermon more than twenty years ago, granted it was written for preachers, but I think it can be geared toward all of us and parts of it, not all of it, bears repeating today. He said, “And so, on this third Sunday of Advent, we gather and ask one another, ‘What must we do to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom?’ Unfortunately, we often respond by urging people to sit quietly in lavender churches, reflect upon the state of their souls and feel sad about their peccadilloes. But John the Baptist will have none of this. He knows that when one is faced with so great and different a kingdom as this, one must repent. One must turn around, through deeds as costly, specific and particular as sharing clothing and food.” And he continues, “Unfortunately, we have psychologized the gospel, turned it into a feeling and transformed the Kingdom of God into a mood. We have deluded ourselves into thinking that the Messiah whom we await is the great cosmic affirmer of everything we hold dear and of all our illusions.”
But (German Theologian) Hans Küng reminds us: “Instead, we are to preach metanoia. We must entice people away from the world and toward God. We are not to shut ourselves off from the world in a spirit of asceticism, but to live in the everyday. Live in the everyday world inspired by the radical obedience that is demanded by the love of God. The Church must be reformed again and again, converted again and again in each day in order that it may fulfill its task.”
The world has a lot to say about Christmas. What might God be saying to us in this season of Advent? What might the task of the church be in this time?
Peter Druker, a consultant to corporations and non-profits, such as the church, often begins his work by asking organizations what business they’re in. Disney for example is in the “happiness” business; they are all about making people happy. McDonald’s is in the hamburger business. Peter contends that the church is in the business of transformation. “The business of a church is to change people. The business of a corporation is to satisfy them.”
Over and over the scriptures preach change. The world is formed out of a void, the prophets declare that God is doing a new thing and light shines in the darkness, water becomes wine, people are healed, demons released, conversion happens again and again. And a baby is born in a manger in Bethlehem.
It was the evening of September 19th, 1991, and I remember it vividly. My then husband and I had been at a young adult group and I wasn’t feeling well, so we went home early. I was restless, slightly anxious, so we took a walk around our neighborhood. I remember looking at the shops, the restaurants, the bookstore, the pub that served great mussels and great beer, the places that I frequented, and I remember wondering what was going to change? How my life was about to change. I had a sense that soon, everything would be different. Slowly, we walked back home and called the doctor. “I think that you’re gong to have this baby,” she said. “It’s probably time you came to the hospital.” Alec was born the next morning. And suddenly everything was different.
God breaks in to each of our lives in strange and startling ways. (And yes, Alec is many things – often strange and startling and many other wonderful things as well.) In births of children, in births of identity and call; in glimpses of light and inspiration; in conversations and connections; relationships and reconciliations; in resolutions and closures; God comes.
This morning’s words from the prophet Zephaniah come at the end of his short story. They come after fighting, after resistance, after pain and suffering. They come as words of comfort to a people who have endured much. The words of Zephaniah balance the call of John the Baptizer, and keep us in faithful tension between God’s vision and our reality. The church is in the transformation business. Turn around, and know that God is calling you home.