North American theologian Douglas John Hall
names the task of Advent proclamation as one of
telling the truth
while staying hopeful
God help us
I hear the prophets promise that there’s coming a day when
God will judge between the nations
and arbitrate for many peoples
but domestic violence impacts more than half of all families in this country
I hear the prophet’s promises of peace
of swords and spears
transformed into implements of farming
caring for the earth
feeding the multitudes
but listen to these statistics about the current state of our world community:
The United Nations defines “major wars” as military conflicts inflicting 1,000 battlefield deaths per year. In 1965, there were 10 major wars under way. The new millennium began with much of the world consumed in armed conflict or cultivating an uncertain peace. As of mid-2005, there were eight Major Wars under way [down from 15 at the end of 2003], with as many as two dozen “lesser” conflicts ongoing with varying degrees of intensity.
Most of these are civil or “intrastate” wars, fueled as much by racial, ethnic, or religious animosities as by ideological fervor. Most victims are civilians, a feature that distinguishes modern conflicts. During World War I, civilians made up fewer than 5 percent of all casualties. Today, 75 percent or more of those killed or wounded in wars are non-combatants. Africa, to a greater extent than any other continent, is afflicted by war. Africa has been marred by more than 20 major civil wars since 1960. Rwanda, Somalia, Angola, Sudan, Liberia, and Burundi are among those countries that have recently suffered serious armed conflict. War has caused untold economic and social damage to the countries of Africa. Food production is impossible in conflict areas, and famine often results. Widespread conflict has condemned many of Africa’s children to lives of misery and, in certain cases, has threatened the existence of traditional African cultures. Conflict prevention, mediation, humanitarian intervention and demobilization are among the tools needed to underwrite the success of development assistance programs. Nutrition and education programs, for example, cannot succeed in a nation at war. Billions of dollars of development assistance have been virtually wasted in war-ravaged countries such as Liberia, Somalia, and Sudan. – GlobalSecurity.org |
and I hear the prophet’s promise that nations will no longer lift up the sword
against one another
or learn war anymore
but, like you, I see the news
the war in Afghanistan continues
and just this week
North Korea has launched missiles into civilian populated areas –
The first time this has happened since the end of the Korean Conflict
It all seems like so much darkness
and darkness can be a frightening thing
night terrors
fear of the dark are painfully real
and it’s not just the little ones who experience such torment in our days
I know people of faith
Leaders in the Church who struggle regularly with night terrors
Darkness, real and metaphorical
is a scary thing
and so I guess I can understand the popularity of the escapist mentality
found in things like the Left Behind series of books and movies
which uses as a starting point
a misreading of Matthew 24 – our Gospel text for today
You see, the truth is
There’s no rapture here –
being taken in this context is not a comforting thing
but we miss this because we’re so stuck in our own context
those of us in this room don’t live with the threat
that someone might snatch us up
or one that we love
but living in Matthew’s Christian community
during a time of Roman persecution
this was a constant reality
I don’t know if any of you saw the movie, The Nativity a few years ago –
it’s historically, fairly accurate
There’s a scene that shows Herod’s soldiers collecting taxes in Nazareth
Only there’s a man who can’t pay
Apparently he was unable to pay on a previous attempt as well
And he begs the soldiers to wait until harvest
But instead, they rip his teenaged daughter from the arms of her mother
Throw her on a horse
And take her away
It’s a heart-wrenching scene
To see these two women working around the house
One is taken –
The other is left
Of course, the people living in Nazareth
around the time of Christ
Aren’t the only ones ever to face such threats
Consider those living in Cambodia during the cultural revolution
or in Soviet Russia just a couple of decades ago
or in the Sudan among other places today
Consider, for example, the people
right in our back yards
for whom the threat of being snatched up
and locked away
is a very real possibility
because they don’t have proper documentation
or those who are wasting away in federal detention centers
and in 5 county jails right here in New Jersey
because they escaped one threatening situation
only to find that, after all, they weren’t welcomed here
in the land of the free either
In such contexts being taken means something far different
than how American evangelicals tend to read it
as if Jesus is sanctioning
or even participating in escapism
through some sort of rapture –
as if the best thing that could happen is for us “to git outta Dodge”
and to get on with some other life
a supposedly more real life
in what we suppose to be the real kingdom of God
But that’s not what Jesus is teaching
and looking at the larger context of Matthew’s Gospel makes that quite clear
What we read today comes from Jesus’ teaching in the temple in Jerusalem
during the last week of his ministry
and over and over the subject of the teaching returns
to what the coming of the Son of Man will be like
it’ll be like a wedding banquet
like the days of Noah
like ten virgins waiting for a bridegroom
like a master who entrusts silver pieces to his servants
and the whole series of teachings culminates
with Jesus teaching about the final judgment
about the separation of the sheep and the goats –
a judgment based on what?
Well, based on how they lived among others
and not just any others
but specifically
some are sheep
and some are goats
based on how they lived among
and stood with the victimized
the outcast
the excluded
the hungry
the thirsty
the homeless
the naked
the ill
the imprisoned
like it or not, this is the stuff of real life
and this is where we’re called to stand as God’s beloved children
not looking for a way out
not looking to a pie in the sky time and place
to some distant reality of living in God’s reign
No!
God’s reign comes here and now
in the mess and darkness of daily living
in the real world
where real people
suffer real injustices…
This coming Wednesday is World AIDS day
So did you know that infections are again on the rise here in the US?
Or that right now, 22,500,000 Africans are infected with the AIDS virus
Or that about 6,600 die of AIDS every day –
that’s somewhere around 50 people during the time of this sermon
and well over 300 people during the length of this worship service
And more
Right now, tensions are boiling over into open hostilities between N & S Korea
Right now, our society seems to think it’s not only okay
to exclude people from the most basic human forms of relationship
as 44 states claim to protect traditional marriage
either through statute
or through their constitution
and that many in the Church believe it’s representative of the gospel of Christ
to exclude people from full participation in the life of the Church
because someone says they love the wrong person
in the wrong way
Right now, we’re living in a country
with the highest death rate among police officers since the 1970s
Right now, we’re living in a world where
Bullies think it’s okay to humiliate others
Using the internet
And other technologies
Driving those being bullied to make the most desperate decisions in response…
But right now, we’re also living at a time when
A little boy risks his own freedom
And, supported by his parents,
Goes to Tiananmen Square
To call China’s leaders
And our President as well
To intervene in the escalating conflict between North & South Korea
And right now, we are living in a time when
God’s reign in Christ Jesus
continues to call us to shine as lights
to wake up
to pay attention
to put on the armor of light
to put on the Lord Jesus Christ
to walk in the light of the Lord…
In our experience of creation at this time of year
The days are growing shorter
The hours of darkness increase daily
And the church’s traditional response to the gathering darkness of the season
racing rapidly toward the winter solstice
the shortest and darkest day of the year
is to begin lighting candles
adding one more each week
countering the world’s gathering darkness
with the increasing light of Christ’s promise to come
to dwell among us
to be our God
to gather all things to himself
in his loving grace that conquers all
to gather all things into the light of his presence –
that light which no darkness can overcome
In much the same way we’re called to shed more and more light in the world
to speak the truth
to call hatred what it is
to call exclusion what it is
to call prejudice what it is
to call poverty what it is
to call hunger what it is
to call disease what it is
in short, to call sin and death
and all that is dark and demonic
what they are
But, we do so remembering that we speak the truth
while all the while holding to the hope we have in the gospel of Christ
whose promises are trustworthy and true
whose coming is certain
whose advent is near
even so, come Lord Jesus!
Amen.
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