"Don't get your hopes up."
I heard those words again just the other day as a very young little
boy walked down the aisles of Toys R Us pointing to about every
other item excitedly declaring "that" was what he wanted
for Christmas.
"Don't get your hopes up" his father kept repeating.
If there is one phrase repeated in one form or another this time of year it is a caution not to expect too much from Christmas. As a child I remember looking through the Christmas catalogs--my brothers and I making our lists (with page numbers wherever possible) and I remember well my parents encouraging us to dream, but always cautioning us not to get our hopes too high. We were always reminded that there are a lot of children in the world and only a limited number of toys to go around. Some choices would have to be made we were told--there were priorities to be set--dream and hope but don't expect to get everything you wish for. We would often rank our lists--indicate what tradeoffs we would make to get a certain item. Nowadays the wish lists I send and receive by e-mail to and from family members include web site addresses-but the caution still remains. Hope for anything you want--dream what dreams you will--but there are certain realities even to the holiday season. You may want a Playstation 2 for Christmas but to get it you will need to purchase a ticket on a flight to Japan and even then there is no guarantee. You may want a President elected by Christmas--it increasingly looks like your best be is to try Mexico. There are certain realities even to the holiday season.
We are in the season of Advent--the four Sundays
that mark the count down to Christmas. There is a desire within
most of us to find something special in this time of year. We
hear the news reports and strive to carry on business as usual--but
we also find ourselves yearning for a feeling that we can't always
name or put our finger on. There is a scene in Tennessee Williams
play "A Street Car Named Desire" when one of the characters
exclaims "I don't want realism, I want magic"
That is true for most of us this time of year.
We want Christmas to be magical-something that defies all the rules of nature--that challenges reality to become something wonderful. But life is filled with hard realities. We live in communities that are relatively unrestricted in their financial resources--few if any of our needs are unmet. But there are limits. There are some things no amount of money can buy or guarantee. Love, for example--the desire for love is real in all of us but the reality is that true love finds us--there is much we can do to lose it but little we can do to create it or guarantee it. Or good health--a long life--no amount of money can make us immune to disease or illness. Whether we like it or not we grow older--the intellect and talents we have may be used and developed but there is no gift store selling more brain power. There is no web site offering creative talent for sale--we struggle against the limits that we discover to our lives--and at times we still dream of what might have been--could or even should have been.
This Second Sunday in Advent begins with the
hard realities that marked the beginning of Jesus' ministry--not
his birth but his ministry because that is where the earliest
Christian community first looked to find their salvation. For
the early Christian church the story of salvation began not in
the birth of an infant but in the words of a prophet--the voice
of one crying out in the wilderness. Here are the facts:
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius--Tiberius
Caesar--emperor of the Roman Empire and ruler of most of the known
world--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea--Pilate
was commander of the occupying Roman Legions with absolute power
of life and death over every citizen of these occupied lands.
Herod was ruler of Galilee and his brother Philip ruler of
the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis--two traitors to the
Jewish cause given powers to govern as Roman puppets--during
the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas--rulers of the temple
in Jerusalem also in power by virtue of their duplicitous support
of Roman authority.
The reality was that if Charles Dickens had set his tale of two
cities in Jerusalem rather than Paris he would have begun his
book with the words--It was the best of times for Romans and
the worst of times for the Jews. Harsh social and political
realities were the story of the day--power had become absolute
in its corruption of the political, social and religious spheres
of life--the hopes and dreams of the people were for deliverance
from the Roman rule--a messiah was awaited--the anointed one of
God to lead His people forth again from the wilderness of their
lives into the promised land of peace and prosperity. But while
many dreamed, most also were reminded not to set their hopes too
high. Into this reality conditioned moment of history our Gospel
for today says
the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
The thing that most people like best about Christmas is the surprises--those little moments of the unexpected--a card from someone you had almost forgotten about--a gift that you give or receive that turns out to be particularly meaningful or appropriate--a memory that is called forth from the past by a sound or aroma. We work our way down the wish lists and shopping lists but keep our eyes open for that gift or moment that can't be precisely planned or anticipated.
The word of God came to John son of Zechariah
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall
be made low
and the rough ways made smooth;
Don't get your hopes up. Paths don't straighten all that easily--people like their favorite walking and driving routes and don't change easily. Wide roads only invite more traffic--they don't necessarily make life easier. To be sure our interstate high ways have leveled a few hills but the mountains we usually go around or through. The summer construction season is now just about completed--roads are about as smooth as they are going to be for a while--winter potholes will soon be appearing. As soon as the holidays are over things will return to normal--the good feelings will fade-the magic will return to reality.
But not for everyone. There are some people
who have discovered that God is greater than any reality we might
encounter. This is the proclamation that John the Baptist brings
to the wilderness--a promise of a baptism of repentance--that
sins are forgiven. The prophetic vision sees the familiar in a
new way--the prophet connects what is happening with what has
and will happen. God's ancient acts of deliverance and God's promised
future triumph in establishing his kingdom connect to the realities
of this moment in unexpected ways. In our psalmody for today we
encountered the words of John's father--old Zechariah was granted
a vision that connected past and future to the present moment
of John's birth--the reality Zechariah proclaimed promised that
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace--shalom.
The prophetic word is a transforming word--a critical word that carries within it a vision of hope and the unexpected. John the Baptist came proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Our house is clean. That may not seem like
a big deal to some of you but it is a particularly freeing declaration
for Chris and myself. We cleaned the house to host the ladies
of the Thursday Bible Study--the piles of magazines, papers and
books that regularly threaten to take over our house were all
collected and removed. Now if we can only keep it that way. It
is tempting in the Advent preparation time we are in now to focus
on the things we need to get rid of--the clean-up we need to do
to be ready for the Christ. Often we talk about making this Christmas
different by cutting back or cutting out certain activities or
things. It is tempting to simplify our Christmas by getting rid
of things and activities--but the repentance John the Baptist
proclaimed was not the act of confession--of removing a past burden--repentance
to John was the act of turning around--of looking and going in
a different direction--changing the direction of our lives--looking
at the world with a different perspective--a prophetic perspective
with prophetic imagination.
We are called to prophetic vision in our advent preparations--that
means seeing the present connected to both past and future--to
ask ourselves--what is there about this moment that can reflect
the grace of God's past blessings and hasten the establishment
of his future kingdom. We are invited by God's word and sacraments
to become people of the advent--to now see the world in prophetically
creative and hope filled ways. The world changed for John the
moment God's word came to him--so our world has been transformed
by God's word coming to us. As we decorate our homes for the holidays
our prophetic eyes also see the homeless who turn to PADS for
shelter and warmth. As we prepare special meals for the holidays
our prophetic view also sees those who come to the food pantry
and are helped by hunger offerings to world needs--as we hear
and sing the favorite songs of the season our prophetic tuned
voices are also raised to call for peace in the middle east--justice
for all and freedom for the oppressed. Advent is a time for hope-for
building expectations-for learning to see anew.
Our youngest son is encountering his first
holiday with female friends who give gifts--and more significantly--because
it is the socially correct way to do it--expect a gift in return.
He has been struggling with the question of what kind and size
of gift do you give. As he observed - "These girls have just
about everything they could want."--far more then he has
or could ever provide them
-so what can he give them? His mother and brother both answered
almost together, "You can't compete--you don't have enough
money to come close. Your best bet is to go small--a small but
special gift is what a girl that age really wants from you."
-a particular CD--maybe burned yourself--a stuffed toy--small
but special by the name you give it.
Advent preparation is looking for a small but special gift--something unexpected--something that only the prophetic imagination could conceive or discern. To see new possibilities in the familiar--the stories of this season seem all so common--so ordinary. A lonely senior finds a moment of friendship--a loveless relationship finds a warm embrace--a dreary gray room is transformed by a string of colored lights--a few cookies on a plate become an unexpected gift of joy--a children's program finds in the midst of its chaos a truth previously unknown. No matter what the gift--it can be transformed by God's grace--the meaning is found not in the present but the one who gives it--the hand that offers-the word that is spoken.
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord
Reality is where we find ourselves but it is
not the final word
-hopes and dreams now reign
-our God has revealed ancient power in the triumphant resurrection
of his Son
-our God is present in transforming word and grace filled sacrament
-our God opens to us the future
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth:
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Amen.