Advent 2C
December 5, 2021
Good Shepherd, Wells, MN
Luke 3.1-6
Before Cindy and I were married, we were at my parents’ house, and I was helping my Dad. I think we were moving a piece of furniture. It wasn’t going well and my sister, Cheryl, turned to Cindy and said, “Scott’s the one with patience in the family.” Cindy’s eyes got big because she knew how little patience I had. In fact, she had given me a plaque that says, “Lord, give me patience, but I want it right now.” She was also the one who told me that I should never pray to God for patience because God doesn’t give you patience, God teaches you patience. It is difficult for one who walks the way of impatience to also walk the way of peace.
Peace is the theme of the second Advent candle, a difficult road in both our time and that of John the Baptist. Notice in the first few verses of our Gospel reading how Luke sets the stage for John the Baptist’s proclamation. The word of the Lord doesn’t come to the power brokers in the world, the “A-list of earthly powers” as Audrey West says. Nor does the word of the Lord come in the seat of power like Rome. Rather, it comes to an eccentric prophet in the wilderness of some supposedly insignificant country. The Pax Romana, the so-called “Peace of Rome '' was an illusory peace. It was a peace wrought by military oppression and subjugation and therefore no real peace at all.
John the Baptist’s call for us to prepare the way of the Lord, the way of peace, comes into a world that is just as chaotic as his was. It’s also a world that seems just as incapable of the ruling powers to do anything about it. Trigger alert (which means I’m going to say something that might upset some of you): I’m going to get political because Luke makes both a political and religious statement. So here it is: with some notable exceptions, our government and religious leaders seem more capable of sewing discord than traveling the way of peace and do so by playing power party politics.
In 2005, Jim Wallis wrote a book called “God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.” The book was mostly about how our two major political parties interact with religion, but the subtitle could also be a general statement about their situation today. The Right continues to get it wrong whereas the Left still doesn’t get it. Full disclosure (because you deserve to know where I’m coming from): I’m not a member of any political party and have voted for candidates in both major parties and some other ones as well.
If some of you are emotionally or psychologically on a ledge right now, I’d like you to take a deep breath, come down, and hear me out. Although I despair of the ability of our national and state governments to govern meaningfully, I see today’s reading as good news for us, just like Gospel-writer Luke and John the Baptist. Just as God chose a nobody in a desert wilderness to usher in the way of peace, so too God can use ordinary people like you and me in obscure places like Wells, MN to do the same. In fact, God insists upon it.
Yes, we should still vote for candidates and be involved in the political process, but our biggest contributions to the way of peace begin with us, both in us and within our spheres of influence. Yes, we can be passionate about our beliefs, but can we do so with respect and humility, bringing more light than heat? I was at a meeting recently where there was a wide divergence of ideas about how to do something and although it may be a stretch to say that we went at it hammer and tongs, the discussion was lively. Yet, at the end of it all we said, “What a great meeting!” There was an honest sharing of viewpoints and each of us respected the others’ voices. Respect and humility are a way of peace.
It’s taken me most of my adult life to realize that my impatience comes out of my gifts for planning and thinking ahead, to come to peace with it, and to use seasons like Advent to remember to be in the moment. So, how are you hearing the voice of John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord, the way of peace, today? What wilderness that you inhabit is God entering to encourage you to be the way of peace? Thank you, beloved sisters and brothers, for listening and heeding the call of John. Amen.
My written sermons often preach differently "live," but today's was more so than usual. To watch the video, click here.
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