November 29, 2020 - The First Sunday of Advent
Sermon for Advent 1, Nov 29, 2020 by Carolyn Smith. We Make the Road By Walking.
Out of character for me, we’ve got our Christmas lights up early this year - I actually had
them turned on to celebrate the US Election, just one night, but now they are brightening
my mood nightly, and hopefully our neighbourhood too. And while I’ve been prepping
for this Sunday, i’ve put on the Christmas music - I know - I hear some of you
groaning... but you try to shift from the noise of 2020 to some sense of Advent hope.
And the St. Paul’s Sanctuary has been decorated! Likely, tonight, on this first day of
Advent I’ll settle down to watch the Grinch (original of course) which is in character for
me...
If you know the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas from 1957, the original with
Boris Karloff, the song about the Grinch could easily be revised to reflect the prevailing
mood these days. And I laughed when I saw some Grinchy ornaments that say “2020
Stink Stank Stunk.”
In the story, The Grinch attempts to steal Christmas from the town...”he slithered and slunk with his smile most unpleasant, stealing the Christmas trees and food and he took every present.” The miserable fellow has lost any sense of holiday joy. But in the most wonderful ending rivalling any story, it’s discovered that despite his darkest efforts, Christmas came after all:
" It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!"...
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought,
"doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!”
And the whole town bursts into song, holding hands, gathered together, and the Grinch
heart is turned and be-loved back into the Christmas Spirit. Now That sounds more like
an Advent message to me - to turn from our grumbling and our distractions, to re-turn to
what matters most - being together, singing, and sharing time and meals and love.
Except that was 1957, or any year except this one, with our lockdowns and masks and
distancing. This year, in 2020, we’re afraid that all we have is the boxes and bags
delivered curbside, and strictly no feast. I’m afraid that we’ve secretly convinced
ourselves that all that we’re preparing and waiting for this Advent is a let-down.
Do not be afraid. Sprinkled through the Story, and this time I mean our true Advent and
Christmas story, Luke chapter 1 and 2, angels appear and say “Do not be afraid.” But I
am, and I know some of you are... afraid that everything we count on is suspect this year.
Turning to family and friends, rekindling connection, finding comfort and joy in
gatherings at church and home - those are things we don’t know how to replace.
The angels who confront us, though would stand silently as we protest, and then repeat:
“Do not be afraid,’ their message long rooted in ages past, and visions of the future. A
timeless message, even 2700 years ago as Isaiah shakes his head and dares to speak of
peaceful vision...
Yahweh’s temple will be raised above all other hills - all Nations will stream toward it,
instructed in God’s ways, never again training for war, walking in the light of God. .....
in the end times.
Watching and preparing for a better time, waiting for a Messiah or saviour, is as old as
time. Isaiah begged people to awake, to listen and follow Yahweh towards Peace. How is
it we still find purpose in such a dusty proclamation, when we have never actually
arrived?? And here we are again today, still trudging on.
How is it that the world we hope for feels so distant, still?
Well, for one, we aren’t those same people from ancient times, We don’t “remember” all
the joys they found, relationships reconciled and the successes and celebrations that
buoyed them. Nor are we the same we were 20 years ago, or 5, and certainly not 1 year
ago, preparing for Christmas 2019. We aren’t the same congregation or community....
We grow and we change, and some die and new ones are born... and we must each find
our way to this pathway of peace. We live in the times we live, with the people we meet,
making sense and seeking meaning... and creating our holy time year after year with
whatever gifts we have. And we’ve laughed and found peace and encouraged each other
along the way. Our human race has innovated and discovered and enlightened along the
way. Was there ever a Destination to arrive AT, or an end time to land in? and maybe
what we treasured was not the destination, but a bit of light for the journey, some sense of
purpose, and good company.
If you knew that hope and despair were paths to the same destination, which would you
choose? This thought of writer Robert Brault, remembers something like Isaiah’s
beckoning....
With people streaming around you, Where are you if you aren’t on the road to peace?
We make the road by walking.
And I so want to walk through Advent with you! So what does our hopeful road ahead
look like this year? On a broad scale, it finally looks like vaccine roll-outs, neither
simple nor fast, but something we’ve held onto as a turning point, that will free us to
gather again! We’ve seen hope for a shift on climate policies, and racism, and and
renewed focus on supports for marginalized people. That election I spoke of earlier
seems like a good step forward. These roads forward were made by people trudging
along step by step, keeping alive a vision of a promised land. And the road isn’t just at
that broad scale, it’s within our own hands and hearts, it’s our weariness with where
we’ve been, and the hope we have to change it. It’s our peace making within our
families and relationships, it’s reviving our courage to begin something new, or give up
something old, even beloved traditions this year. It’s the smiles we’ve shared and
nurtured with calls and gifts and creativity. It’s even silly videos and fun tv and pizza
when we can’t go out anywhere else. It’s knowing how much that matters for our hearts
and our wholeness, enough to slow down in this Advent time and allow ourselves to
acknowledge darkness, and recall, or maybe even call into being God’s promise of light
to come.
We make the road by walking, we make the light by shining, we make a world of love
and hope and joy by daring to walk that road even when it seems so very dark. Just
maybe, the word Advent is actually a Verb, one of the most important verbs we can do,
when it is most needed.
I have seen that resilience in our church family. This year, our congregation ‘Advents’ with phone calls and cards and shawls, with radical affirming welcome and online carol sings and Christmas Eve communion and even a pageant.
Back to that Grinch... He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming... it came! Somehow or other it came just the same!
This is Advent, its meant for dark times, all of them, and the promise is never broken.
Do Not be afraid.... We - you , me, us, We make this hopeful, peaceful road by walking,
streaming, with hope in the light of God.