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“1st Sunday In Advent” - November 30, 2008

Rev. Linda B. Hirst

Isaiah 64:1-9

         Our scripture lesson for this morning is from the Prophet Isaiah who is speaking for the Israelites at a tough period in their lives – they had been living in exile for a long, long time – taken from the land that they laved, the land that God had given them, they were living apart from God and though they are not in exile any longer they still feel God is not with them..  They long to know God’s presence, God’s power and God’s care.  Isaiah in this passage is pleading for the Advent of God – begging for God to come into their world – to break into their lives and do the things – the great things God has done in the past for them. They want those times – need those times again desperately – they want to know God, they need God desperately. This passage is a plea for that to happen with some confession and hope thrown in.

Read Isaiah:

         On Monday, Nov. 24 Brad and I were just sitting around watching TV– when he turned to me and said:  “Did you know Christmas Eve is one month from today?”  No, I said. I didn’t, but thank you for that,  for throwing me into a panic.  And for the next few days – I did panic - thinking about everything I have to do and wondering when I will find the time to do it all – until after several days of this I finally  stopped… and took a deep breath and I dug out all my devotional books, my advent books, to try to help me focus and when I was done, I could feel my blood pressure drop, just a little…the to-do list shorten, and the panic ebb for the time being and I thought to myself. I can do this.  I can enter into this season of Advent in the right frame of mind, the right spirit,  the right heart. 

         And this is what I wish for all of us over the next four weeks and 2 days that we can all take a deep breath – let go of all the craziness that awaits us out there – and experience Advent, that we can all know Advent for what it is – for what it can be.

         To help us get in the mood – to help us get the feel for Advent – the hope, the expectation, the anticipation this season brings - I want to share with you this reading by Frederick Buechner.

Read Buchener's Advent.

The house lights go off and the footlights come on.  Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise.  In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised.  The conductor has raised his baton.

In the silence of a midwinter dusk there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself.  You hold your breath to listen.

You walk up the steps to the front door.  The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing.  For a second you catch a whiff in the air of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you’ve never been and a time you have no words for.  You are aware of the beating of your heart.

The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. 

Advent is the name of that moment.

The Salvation Army Santa Claus clangs his bell.  The sidewalks are so crowded you can hardly move.  Exhaust fumes are the chief fragrance in the air, and everybody is as bundled up against any sense of what all the fuss is really about as they are bundled up against the wind chill factor.

But if you concentrate just for an instant, far off in the deeps of yourself somewhere you can feel the beating of your heart.  For all its madness and lostness, not to mention your own, you can hear the world itself holding it’s breath.

         Isn’t that good?  Do you feel it?  The hope?  The anticipation?  The expectation?

         That something big is about to happen.

         No?

         Well, then.  How about this one.  My favorite advent reading ever.

The season of Advent means there is something on the horizion the likes of which we’ve never seen before.  It is not possible to keep it from coming,            because it will.  That’s just how Advent works.  What is possible is not to see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you.  And you begin to grasp what it was you  missed, like Moses in the cleft of the rock, watching God’shindquarters fade in the distance.

So stay.  Sit.  Linger, Tarry.  Ponder.  Wait.  Behold.  Wonder. 

There will be time enough for running.  For rushing,  For worrying, For Pushing.

For now, stay.  Wait.  Something is on the horizon.

            O.k.  Now do you feel it?  That something is about to happen.  Something so big, so amazing, that it’s hard for even the most eloquent of writers to put into words.  Myself included.

            During Advent we remember that God broke into the world over 2000 years ago and changed everything.  But God is not done.  There is more yet to come.  And it is happening now.  Can you feel it?

            This is what’s so wonderful about Advent – each year as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth we get to talk about what his coming means – what God’s breaking into our world means.

         And that is this:  all the things we hope for, wish for, want – and I’m not talking about a plasma TV or a new computer or an I Phone like my husband insists he needs for work – I’m talking about all the stuff that deep down we really want and need and long for…for ourselves and for the world.

         Things like hope…and peace…and joy…and love.

Things like healing and comfort.  Forgiveness and grace.  Reconciliation between family, friends, between us, between ourselves and God.  Things like knowing we’re going to be o.k. when all around us it feels like things are falling apart.  That some day wars will end and all God’s people will be safe and we will all have enough food and shelter and everything we need – the lion will lay down with the lamb – and all will be well.  We will be well.

         Each year, during the season of Advent – we dare to believe that all these things will one day come true.  They will happen.  It will happen. 

         Each year, during Advent, we take a moment and pause – let’s do that now – let’s pause and we remember that God gave us all these things in Jesus and – so the possibility exists that with God’s help – these things will come to pass.  Maybe in our lifetime – it’s possible!

         Each year, during Advent, we begin to hope again that God, who broke into the world long ago, is breaking into our world now, moving us further and further along towards what God has planned for all of us.

         Each year, during Advent, we dare to trust that God is at work, hasn’t forsaken us,

and still loves us and that we will today and every day know what that feels like.

         That’s what’s so wonderful about Advent.

         Now what’s hard about Advent is this:

         It usually comes when we’re not ready – emotionally, spiritually or any other way.  Wendell and I had a wedding here last night and after we were done I brought up the advent wreath, put it together and we both looked at it and said, “Is it Advent already?  When did this happen?”

         It’s hard to switch gears sometimes – one day it’s Thanksgiving - most of us are still trying to work off our Thanksgiving dinner – and deal with the aftermath of family and friends – all good of course.  Then you walk into church and boom – it’s Advent – are you ready?

         It’s also hard to switch gears – to start feeling hopeful and excited about everything when in reality, things are somewhat unstable right now – a lot unstable right now actually.  People are losing their jobs –wondering if they’re going to lose their jobs, we’re not spending as much, we don’t have as much to spend, we’re wondering how we’re going to get through the next few years or the next few months or even the next few weeks.  It’s a little scary out there.  A little dark.  And sometimes it’s hard to see where God is in all this – or where God is at all.  It can be overwhelming and consuming.

         All of a sudden it’s easy to understand where the Israelites – where Isaiah was coming from when he said: O that you would tear open the heavens and come down…please.  We really, really need you.

         It’s hard to move quickly from a place of despair and anxiety to a place of belief and trust. And maybe that’s while Advent is four weeks and two days long to be precise.  So we can ease into it.

         Maybe that’s why – on the first Sunday in Advent– we light one candle – just one.  The candle of hope.   Just to kind of get our feet wet.  And as we do,  we begin to turn –ever so slightly – from all that overwhelms and consumes us – towards all that God has done, all that God has said and all that God has promised.

         We hear it in the music of the season, like in the anthem the choir sang:

         In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,

         make straight a desert in the highway for our God.

         Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low;

         The uneven ground shall become level,

         And the rough places a plain.

         And we hear it in the things we sing:

         Blessed be the God of Israel, who comes to set us free,

         who visits and redeems us, and grants us liberty.

         The prophets spoke of mercy, of freedom and release.

         God shall fulfill the promise to bring our people peace.

         We hear it in the words we hear today and in the weeks to come…words like:

         A shoot shall come out from the sump of Jesse,

         and a branch shall grow out of his roots,

         The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

         And the wolf shall live with the lamb,

         The leopard shall lie down with the kid,

         The calf and the lion and the fatling together,

         And a little child shall lead them.

         And we see it – in the things that happen to us and around us and even within us at this time of year.  As we pray for each other, buy presents for the Giving Tree, think about how we can make someone else’s life a little easier or better and then do whatever that is.

         And little by little, as each week passes and more candles are lit, we begin to think that maybe it is possible.  All these things we hope for, long for, need, want… for ourselves and for our world. 

         Hope…peace…joy and love.  Healing, reconciliation and grace - it could happen.  That wars will end, loved ones will be safe.  That all God’s people might have all the things they need – we need – why not?  That all will be well for us – for our friends and family – for our towns, our country, our world.  All we’ve been waiting for will come to pass.

            It just might happen. 

And slowly, slowly but surely we begin to believe and hope and trust.  That God is doing something – God, who broke into our world long, long ago is doing it again.  Can you feel it?  

         That’s what Advent is all about.

         It’s a time of remembering, hoping, believing, turning, doing, preparing, waiting and trusting.  In God.

         Close with one more reading…

         Advent is a state of mind and a state of being.   We wait for what will happen. We watch for what will happen and we join to help make it happen.  Life is advent if we choose.

         Let us pray:

         Gracious God,

         Come to us again this year – show us you are and who we can be – help us turn away from all that overwhelms and consumes and distract us – you are the potter – mold us into loving servants of your Son, Jesus Christ.  Amen