"Are We There Yet? Hope" - Sermon from December 8, 2019
Community UMC, Quincy
“Are We There Yet? Hope”
Rev. Andrew Davis
December 8, 2019
Isaiah 11: 1-10
Matthew 3: 1-12
How’s your Advent journey going so far? Have you said, “are we there yet?” as we make our way to Christmas? I admit that I feel a little off kilter with Advent this year, as I am used to talking about my favorite word, hope on the first Sunday of Advent, not the second Sunday. Better now than never, though. With the way the Scriptural texts fall in the RCL, we started with peace last week, which makes sense since this is the time of the year where we hear the message of “peace and good will on earth and towards all” as we prayer to welcome the prince of peace, and because we are always in need of peace, in our world and our hearts. Like peace, we are always in need hope as we continue our Advent journey, even though our journey might take us through the dessert, up the mountain, back into the valley, or even when we have unplanned stops along the way.
The only time I’ve really travelled through the actual dessert was on the way to seminary with my dad in 2012, then again with my roommate Josh in 2016 while moving back to CA. During the drive to Washington, DC to begin my journey of seminary, my dad and I left Rio Linda at 3:00am on a Wednesday and on the first day, got to witness a spectacular sunrise in the Nevada desert, along with the Great Salt Lake Desert. On the way back from DC, Josh and I got to experience sunset in the Nevada desert, which was equally as beautiful. While being in the desert is often a metaphor for being in a low place in life or represents a struggle, the desert can be a place of self-discovery and where we can encounter hope just as the people did around Jesus’s time. Being in the desert causes us to look inside of ourselves, and while looking at ourselves from the inside out is a discipline that is more common during Lent, the 40-day preparation for Easter, it is a good practice to try during Advent too. Repent or turn around is the message we hear from John the Baptist in our Gospel lesson from Matthew, as Advent allows us a time to repent and re-center, which can bring a new sense of hope in how we live and how we prepare our hearts and minds as we await the birth of Christ at Christmas, even when the hustle and bustle of the season can bring anxiety and intense feelings that are oftentimes amplified at this time of year.
When we encounter John the Baptist in all four of the Gospels, he might come across as a little bit scary at first and not necessarily the harbinger of hope. From what we can gather in the text, he’s a bit rough looking, wearing camel fur and eating locusts and honey, garnering the nickname, ‘bug-eating’-hippie’ from one friend. On the other hand, he reminds me of reality outdoor TV stars Bear Grylls, Grizzly Adams, or Andrew Zimmern from travel channel who had the series “Bizarre Foods”, as Andrew Zimmern would definitely eat locusts! Even John the Baptist’s approach is more like a hellfire and brimstone sermon, calling on everyone to repent, and prepare the way of the Lord while calling the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious authorities at the time, “you brood of Vipers” (or as one meme I saw has him saying “happy Advent, you brood of vipers”). Maybe this is not sounding as hopeful on the surface.
While he might be ranting and raving and looking a bit rough, John the Baptist is the forerunner for Jesus’s earthly, he also happens to be Jesus’s cousin, often depicted in Medieval and Renaissance artwork as toddlers with Jesus. Likewise when we look at the prophecies foretelling the birth of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied about John being the one calling on everyone to prepare the way of the Lord in the desert, which in John’s time led to people to the desert, as they turned away from their sins and being baptized, while embracing hope. As I was reading an Advent devotional by Rev. Teen Hardy this morning, Teer’s commentary explains that while John May come across as harsh, he “was proclaiming the coming of the Lord, that Jesus’s ministry would change everything by liberating Israel from the harshness of the Law,” as Jesus’s ministry would turn many things upside down from the way they used to be.
Last week when we began our journey through Advent, we heard some apocalyptic language in which Jesus was talking about the end of time with the disciples, telling them to stay awake and pay attention. This week, we get John talking about one more powerful than him coming along, using similar apocalyptic language to call the faithful to action, to turn away from their sins, and embrace the hope of a new day. On the other hand, when we hear of John calling everyone to repent, Rev. Dr. Derek Weber at Discipleship Ministries explains that
John’s call is to turn around, repent, think again. John’s call is to think differently about ourselves and our place in the world, about the one who comes, about how we will follow, and about how we are following. He tells the Pharisees to rely not on their pedigree. He asks them what they have done lately. He asks how they have lived lately. Advent brings a challenge, says John. But Advent also brings a reminder of the destination—of the world promised. The challenge is to measure ourselves by that vision and promise.[i]
Such a vision and promise of one more powerful coming, one who will baptize by the Holy Spirit is where we can find hope, especially as we can re-think ways of doing things, or how we relate to people, or see the world. On Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, ReThink Church has a photo-a-day activity where people are invited to take a picture that relates to the word of the day, giving us a vision and even promise that no two days are the same except that the sun will rise and the sun will set and that we see the world in different ways.
Likewise, repenting, turning around, and rethinking ways we live or relate is a way that we can live into the vision and promise of God coming to earth in human form in the most vulnerable way, as an infant is where we find hope. When I think of Jesus’ birth, I think of how each of us can experience a -birth of hope at Christmas, even seeing the birth of faith or a re-birth of faith. I find hope knowing that Jesus came to earth not in the most powerful or grandiose way, but instead, in a manger or feeding trough in a stable, with the shepherds who occupied the bottom of the social status at the time, being the first to hear the news of Jesus’s birth, not royalty. Amidst the way Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesies that Jesus will be the messiah, the little child who will lead the people, and point people towards a future fill with peace and hope.
While we might ask “are we there yet?” on this journey of Advent, taking the time out of our day to pause and quiet our hears can give us time to think about our motives, to think about what it means to be faithful, and reflect on preparing the way, repenting, and reflecting on how a little child shall lead us.[ii] In our Advent faith formation during the week, Almost Christmas: A Wesleyan Advent Experience, in our chapter on “An Altogether Hope” which we will discuss tomorrow and Wednesday, Rev. Ingrid McIntyre shares how John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement saw poverty, inequality, injustice, and a sense of hopelessness around him, but “instead of going to the king or queen, he went directly to those who suffered right where they were – in the streets and fields.”[iii] When we think about our motives, ways to prepare the way of the Lord, and think about our faithfulness to God during this Advent journey, think about how you might be called to bring hope to everyone around you by going to where they’re at, not necessarily expecting them to come to us.
A week before Thanksgiving, some members of our Rotary club packed 175 bags for Thanksgiving meals at the crisis center, along with delivering hot meals the day before from Safeway. That was a way of helping to bring hope to people around us. The angel tree at the bank is another way to bring hope to children around us. Donating money to organizations that provide assistance in our community is a way we help to bring hope. And just being present with those who feel hopeless or those who are grieving can be a way to bring hope. Our fall dinner a few weeks ago gives me hope, or Wednesday Community Supper, or Hot Pot Lunch, as I see a vision similar to what we see in Isaiah, with people coming together for table fellowship from ALL walks of life and all backgrounds, mingling together and enjoying table fellowship. Putting our hands to work by being the hands and feet of Christ is how “God tells us to ‘go!’ This is what hope looks like close-up. We carry it with us. The hope of Christ moves through us so that he is born again and again every moment of every day. In every moment of every day…not just Sundays.”[iv] And not just Christmas, but all throughout the year!!
While we might ask ‘are we there yet?’ as we make our way to Christmas, we need to keep preparing the way of the Lord, keep reflecting, keep striving for a vision of peace, repenting/turning around from ways we sin, and being a hopeful presence for anyone we encounter. While we are on this Advent journey, we may need to go through the desert to get to our destination and being able to repent/turn around is one of the ways we can experience a new sense of hope at Christmas because like our faith or hope being re-born, it’s another way that God’s greatest gift to us is grace that was born in that manger, the one who will bring peace, hope, love, and joy. It’s a new beginning and a new chance, a message we continually need to hear even if it sounds like a broken record or parrot. As we go into this new week, how are you going to be hope for someone? Where do you see hope around you? What are some things where you feel you need a change of heart?
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let the church say, AMEN!
[i] Derek Weber, “Are We There Yet? Hope in the Desert” in Discipleship Ministries, Accessed 2 December 2019, https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/are-we-there-yet/first-sunday-of-advent-year-a-planning-notes/first-sunday-of-advent-year-a-preaching-notes.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ingrid McIntyre, “An Altogether Hope” in Almost Christmas: A Wesleyan Advent Experience (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2019), 42.
[iv] Ibid., 43
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