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Sermon December 10, 2023
The Rev. Canon Robert Schiesler
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Second Sunday of Advent, Year B
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Advent/BAdv2_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__December_10__2023
Video: https://youtu.be/6jgKrJCl-Fc
ADVENT 2B, NATIVITY, DEC 10, 2023
As you go through the back lanes of our countryside in central PA, you will notice low, stone walls that were constructed many decades ago by farmers to keep cattle in and more importantly, to mark the boundaries of their farm. Clearing the fields of this stone and arranging it made for back bending work as the large boulders were put in place for generations to come.
The prophet Isaiah paints a picture of clearing the land of obstacles like those boulders that obstruct planting and harvesting, not so much that others could not access the land but that folks could find a straight and clear path in both their physical and spiritual lives. His message thus becomes one of comfort and reassurance in the midst of demoralized times. Israel is a herald of glad tidings, proclaiming the divine presence to all and neglecting none, removing obstacles, both physical and otherwise for the sake of community thriving. Here is a witness to God's might, not as a punishment or retribution but a might known paradoxically in the gentleness of God who protects like the shepherd, feeds like the farmer, tenderly hold each like a parent with a new born.
The Gospel contrasts Isaiah's description with that colorful and charismatic figure of the prophet and Baptizer, John; he is actually in all four Gospels and today we hear about him through the Gospel of Mark. Mark actually begins his narrative with John and a powerful proclamation about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John quotes familiar texts from the Hebrew Scriptures and the crowds need not interpret them as they are very aware of Isaiah's admonitions and exhortations. They too live in an oppressed and depressing time and are ready to trade repentance for their inertia and despair for a sense of renewal and hope. Thus, John forcefully says what needs to be said with the reminder that there is no cheap redemption, only the work that make straight the paths and make ready the arrival of the Messiah.
We all know the remainder of this Gospel segment as the crowds push in upon John, willing to walk into the baptismal waters; willing to hear John's dramatic words; but not as willing as the days grow long and Jesus' demand of conviction in following him becomes more obvious. And what of us? We too have been baptized, heard stirring words and given the command to make ready the coming of the Lord. Where do we proclaim with John's forcefulness, "Prepare the way of the Lord....Here is your God?"
Where do we cry out against the sin and evil that corrupts God's creation and endures genocide of a people and economic raping of the land? Do we cry a little as the world, God's creation, becomes just a little more despoiled in the name of personal satisfaction or economic gain? Where do we begin to say the words that should be said with estranged family members so that hurt is surmounted with sibling love and care? Where do we offer blessing and the hope of justice in the face of those who desire eternal revenge and retribution on another; is every person a child of God, worthy of change and redemption or some more deserving of isolation and damnation, despite mature remorse and transformation of life? When do we turn towards the marginalized and the poor and the displaced and offer a prayerful boost or offer only disdain for the inability to pull themselves out of a self imposed poverty or gutter? Would we offer blessings to immigrants, refugees or undocumented workers, those who often do the invisible work we would never do, that they too might create stable lives for their families and live in peace just as we desire?
Mark's Jesus will suffer with the struggle to bring good news to this world and that work will not lead to adulation but persecution. His message of repentance and hope will be too heavy a task for many and rejected by even more. In countless parables and encounters, Jesus will preach about the coming reign of God, exhorting his disciples to tear down the walls of division and corruption and bring God's reign to fruition in the hearts and lives of all of God's people, without distinction. In the early Church, the thought was that God's reign was imminent so an obvious urgency to the words and acts. Yet, here we are, still proclaiming the mystery of faith: God is coming now, breaking into our world, seeking justice in and through us. As we light another Advent candle, we stand in awe of a God made flesh, entering history, then and now, asking us to make the message of John our own: God is coming. Clear the way and remove those obstacles; make straight the paths to peace and justice.....Here is your God!
