Moe, Larry and Curly Invest their Talents

Matthew 25:14-30 Parable of the Talents (November 19, 2017)

            So here we are this morning, just a few days before Thanksgiving. Some of you are likely running menus through your mind, for the meal you will prepare for your family, and guests later this week.

Others of us might be thinking about the travel plans still to be completed, or are running mental lists of the things you need to pack.

 If you weren’t thinking about Thanksgiving at all when you arrived at church this morning, hopefully the litany we began our gathering with this morning put you in to the mood to think, if not about menus or travel plans, about the gratitude you feel for the abundant gifts that are yours all through God’s generosity.

            As a congregation, today is also a day on which we have set aside some time after worship, first to feast together at our annual congregational meal, and then, to conduct the annual congregational meeting – an event in which we all have both the joy and the call to participate.

At our meeting, we will name and celebrate the ways in which we have been particularly blessed as a congregation this year. We will also talk about some of the ways in which God is calling us to have faith, and to use our imaginations, as the church of Jesus Christ, in God’s kingdom work in 2018.

            On this second-to-last Sunday of the church year and at a time when, in our secular world, we are led to think about the things for which we are most grateful, the assigned Gospel text, known as the Parable of the Talents, invites us to thoughts about the abundance of God and our response to the great gifts God gives us.

            So, first, what are talents? <accept answers> Right - We think of them as the special area of gifts we each have – for instance, some of us are singers or musicians, some of us, teachers, and some of us are handy with tools and are great at building things.  Others among us are scholars and some are poets and some of us are very creative in visual arts. Some of us are great in math and science, others of us are stronger in writing and history and philosophy.

Some of us have one or two areas of talent while others may seem to be good at doing just about anything we set our minds to – which, I have to say, sometimes seems totally unfair. So, we have talents –gifts we possess, gifts we share, particular areas of strength and skill, knowledge and ability. Excellent! I want you to hang on to thoughts of those talents.

             As we look at this morning’s parable, however, the first thing to know is that the kind of “talent” the gospel story refers to, isn’t what we just described. 

The Greek word that is used here, talenta, actually refers to an amount of money that would be equal to about 15 years’ worth of wages for the average person. Think about it. Even at minimum wage, 15 years’ worth of wages is a lot of money.

In our parable, as the master goes away, he entrusts what is a huge amount of wealth to these hand-picked servants. The parable doesn’t give them names, so let’s just call them Moe, Larry, and Curly.

We know that Moe, Larry and Curly were hand-picked and that the master personally knows something about each of them because the text tells us that he gave to each according to his ability. So, the talents Moe, Larry, and Curly were given were chosen specifically for them, knowing that they each had the capacity to use them wisely.

Curly was given one talent – a pretty hefty chunk of change, right? Larry, got two talents, what would be a life-time’s worth of wages; and finally, oh, my word – five talents would be an obscene amount of gold and silver, but that indeed is what the master gave to Moe.

So, the master goes away and leaves his trusted servants to their own devices. Thankfully, Moe and Larry have pretty decent imaginations…generous, joy-filled imaginations.  They know their master: what he likes, what he expects, how he works; and they have the ability to imagine what might be. When they combine their knowledge of their master with their gifts of imagination, these two servants develop an investment plan.

Perhaps they set off for Wall Street, to look at investment possibilities. Certainly they scour the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, or Investopedia. Maybe they decide to invest in tried-and-true Amazon.com, Google, or Apple stock. They picture what might be and they get right to work, risking all that they have been given, to make it happen.

But poor Curly doesn’t have much imagination. Shovel in hand, dirt on his face, Curly buries that talent deep in the earth. Refusing to even try to picture anything new, he goes for the status quo, digs a hole deep and wide, and hides his master’s money.

So, while Moe and Larry exhibit a kind of joy in receiving the master’s talents and freely use them, invest them and grow them to the pointed of doubling the value of the fortune entrusted to them, it turns out that poor Curly has been held captive by fear (according to his excuses) or by laziness (the master’s assessment).  While he didn’t lose the talents given to him, neither did he appreciate, celebrate, and use them. It seems Curly has difficulty accepting the master’s gift in the first place.

Seeing the abundant treasure as burden rather than gift, he is closed off to the master’s joy. Rather than gleefully applying the gift, even to the point of taking a risk with it and therefore allowing it to grow, he seals it off, buries it deep, and hides it away.

What the master handed over to Moe, Larry and Curly – whether one, two, or five talents – represented an abundance of wealth, clearly within the ability of each to choose well, and to use and grow.

God gives us an abundance of treasures as well, with the expectation that we, too, will responsibly use them and treat them as a wonderful gift, given for our joyful use and investment in the kingdom of God.

How do we receive and use the gifts God has given us? Do we receive them as burden or gift? Do we see them as limitations or possibilities? Might we joyfully accept and use them as the investments that God intends?

Home, families, love, and grace, have all been given into our hands by our beloved Master. Individually and as a community, God has provided us with abundant gifts, including these other talents – the ones we named earlier, to grow God’s kingdom, to make straight the path for Jesus’ return, to bear into the world all of the goodness and generosity of our God, realizing that these talents were never ours to begin with. Rather, they are the gifts of God, to be joyfully treasured, used and grown, and returned to God.

What are you going to do with these gifts of God’s that God is letting you use for a little while? As a community we invest and grow the gifts God has placed on our table when:

·         The hungry are fed, and the homeless are accompanied and housed: look around us, for example, at just a small sampling of the food provided through our continual efforts to share our talents with the hungry.

·         The Kingdom breaks through in materials collected for youth service projects, quilts constructed, as well as our support for the ELCA’s advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable in our world.

·         God’s will is being done: when forgiveness is extended to loved ones, and when prayers are lifted for others.

·         Generosity abounds as God’s kingdom breaks through in gifts of time and talent shared with lonely seniors of limited income and families struggling to make ends meet, who will receive Thanksgiving meals and Christmas gifts through the generosity of Grace Lutheran Church.

These glimpses of the Kingdom fuel our imagination for what the Kingdom of heaven will be like. And when we can imagine what might be, what will be, we are empowered to use our talents and work now to make this promised future a reality.

The difference between the servants of our parable wasn’t in what they received—it didn’t matter whether they were given five talents or two talents or one talent—what mattered was how they imagined what God might do in, with, and through the gifts they had been given.

The real risk in the story of God’s gift of talents given for our use and investment is the risk that God takes. God knows his servants well; he knows what they can do. 

So, he laid down his possessions, his whole living; he died, as it were, for all of them by giving up control over his life. Will the servants of the Lord squander their gifts? Will we hide them? Will we play it safe, or will we trust that when we use and stretch and invest our talents for the sake of the kingdom of God, God will bless our efforts and make use of them as God sees fit?

God indeed gives generously to us and shares abundantly with us. All that God gives us is ours to use, share and grow wisely, and that is what our gospel lesson this morning talks about - both the abundance of God and our responsibility to respond faithfully to the blessings, talents, and trust that God places in us.

            On this day, as we give God thanks and praise for the abundance of God’s provision for us, for our families, our church and our world, may we, with imagination and joy, come to the table to be fed and nurtured, so that we might be strengthened to share our talents in the world, for the sake of the kingdom of God.  Amen.

Beggars Made Worthy

October 15, 2017

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon Series, “Barriers to Generosity” – Entitlement

          I have a keen interest in the British royalty. I love to read both history in general and historical fiction of England. I’m fascinated with the lives royals lead, and with the ritual and tradition that surround them.  Last year, for instance, the two television programs I most enjoyed binge watching were “Victoria” – based on the life of Queen Victoria I, and “The Crown,” based on Elizabeth II, the reigning Queen of England.

          As a result, I find royal weddings kind of exciting. The first royal wedding I very clearly remember was that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. I recall the excitement of the crowds, straining to get a look at Lady Diana in her royal carriage on the way to St. Paul’s Cathedral; the pageantry; her charming stumble over the order of her husband-to-be’s multiple names. What fun to be invited to such a spectacle and party!

          So, I have to tell you that if I received an invitation to a royal wedding, I would feel enormously honored and grateful to be among those to be included. There is no way I can expect to ever receive such an invitation. Therefore, if I indeed received one, not only would it come as a great surprise but I would do everything in my power to come, prepared to show not only my gratitude and joy, but my utter respect and desire to please and honor the queen or king issuing the invitation.

          So, what’s wrong with the people who were the first to receive the invitation to the king’s son’s wedding in today’s gospel text? The king must have been so pleased to issue the invitation. With great pride and with over-the-top generosity, surely, he looked forward to having the grateful recipients of the invitation come to honor both him and his son by their presence. What a party he was prepared to throw!

What’s wrong with these people who surprisingly declined the invitation? Who simply would not come? Who had better things to do with their time – more important things demanding their time and attention?

          Not only did they decline the initial invitation, but they made light of it – they behaved as if they were entitled to the invitation, and could simply choose to attend only if it were convenient enough for them to do so – only if they had nothing better to do. They behaved as if this invitation and the honor it conveyed was all about them and had nothing to do with the honor, fealty and praise that was the king’s due.

          Now, we all know that rulers can be incredibly thin-skinned. When thwarted they can behave like children having a full-blown and devastating temper tantrum, with devastating and deadly results. After all, kings expect the ultimate respect, honor, and worship of their subjects.

So, when we read what seems to be the over-the-top reaction of the king to the insult that has been dealt him when even a second invitation he issued was rejected, we are shocked.

But the people hearing this parable for the first time would have gotten it. They would have understood the disconnect - the deep disloyalty of these invitees, who have repaid the king’s generous invitation with disregard and insult; they would have understood the tragic ramifications of their rejection.

          But, as the parable goes on, it is not just the outright rejection of those on the king’s first invitation list that is brought under scrutiny. Another group of people is invited.

These are the ones who probably think the likelihood of them ever receiving an invitation from the king is about the same as my ever being invited to the next royal wedding. Null. So, when they do receive an invitation, they are excited. They don’t even care that they weren’t in the first group, they never expected to be. Instead, they are grateful to be thought of at all.

Anyone accepting this invitation would want to put their best foot forward, to be seen as grateful for the generosity of the king, and worthy by the king’s grace to be in the mere presence of the king and his son, let alone to be their honored guests.

          So it is surprising – shocking, even, when this one person behaves in a manner that shows his hosts less than the honor and praise they deserve. He seems to think that all he needs to do is just show up.

While those attending this wedding would be given the appropriate wedding dress provided by the king himself, this person eschews even that tradition. It just doesn’t suit him. He’s happy to come to the party, but seems to take the rest for granted.     

The problem with the first group who were invited and with this single invitee seems to be the same. They lack the proper attitude toward their gracious host and king. They lack the respect to accept the generosity of the king as pure gift and not simply as their due. They forget to respond with the proper sense of gratitude and awe for being included in the party at all.

Their basic sense of entitlement gets in the way of any gratitude at all.

          Each week, we are invited to the greatest feast imaginable. This is the feast, Martin Luther wrote, of the marriage - the union between heaven and earth. We come together in worship as undeserving guests, to praise God and offer our thanksgiving for this marriage, the incarnation of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We are invited to the banquet to celebrate God’s love and generosity and our inclusion in the marriage feast.   

On our own, we are not worthy to be here, but by God’s good grace we are among both the good and the bad, saint and sinner both, who have received the invitation. We don’t deserve this honor, in fact there is nothing we could do to be so deserving. We come not because we are great but because God is great and steadfast in love, mercy, and generosity.

The problem with entitlement is, that whenever we allow ourselves to believe that we deserve what we have, or are somehow more worthy than another, we will find ourselves incapable of gratitude. The proper response to the king’s invitation is to run breathless to the banquet, dressed for the marriage of heaven and earth, wondering how we ever got on such a guest list.

When we come to church, we answer God’s gracious invitation to unite around the table. While we find community here, we don’t come for community. While we find lovely music and pleasing surroundings and friendships here, we don’t come for those things.

We find forgiveness of our sins here, but we should not forget that we come as beggars in need of God’s mercy, neither entitled to it nor deserving of it. But, because God loves us so, we come to be surprised, humbled and grateful to be among those Christ serve at the table of life. Such gratitude requires us to sing out for joy, and cry out in thanksgiving and praise of God.

In the traditional eucharistic liturgy still in use in some places is this confession: “I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.” We would do well to use these words in our liturgy as well, and to embrace the truth within them.

Our birthright as followers of Jesus Christ is to remember that none of us is worthy – none of us deserves to be here; therefore, we should respond to this invitation with nothing short of humble gratitude and thanksgiving.

Like the guests invited to the wedding feast in our gospel story, we too are provided a garment appropriate for the celebration.

The garment we are provided is the righteousness that comes from God.

This garment, in which we become clothed in baptism, sets us apart as the glad recipients of God’s grace. It is the outward expression of the inward change God performs in us in the sacrament through which God calls us Child of God.

It is no ordinary garment, even by the finest of standards. For this garment is comprised of threads of compassion, generosity, kindness, and forgiveness. The fabric of this garment is knit with concern for social justice, care for the poor and the marginalized. The golden thread that holds together the seams of this garment was spun from the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and it compels us, to welcome other to the feast.

It compels us to be not only guests, but servants. It reminds us that in the eyes of God, whether we came from the stock of the good or the bad, we are forever transformed by God’s grace, united with Jesus Christ and with one another at the table.

Worthy? No, except by the love and mercy of God, which knows no bounds. Deserving to be here? No, but our inclusion compels us not only to come to the party, but to come prepared to give honor and glory to the host with thanksgiving, joy, respect and love. May it be so.

China and Linens

Matthew 25.14-30

I find the concept of the “witness protection program” fascinating. You know the program I mean, don’t you? It’s a program meant to offer life protection to certain individuals and their families. These individuals are witnesses, who have vital information – usually of a criminal nature – about powerfully connected people – think, “mafia.” The information they have must be protected. Both before and after they are finished testifying, the witnesses that possess this information and their families, must be protected. Through this program they are given new identities and a new life. To keep witnesses and their families safe, all of this is done and information about them is kept in absolute secrecy.

In my family of origin, we had a “witness protection program” too. It was called “the china closet.” And when I was growing up, it held and concealed a particular treasure - my grandmother’s tablecloths and china. Today the tablecloths must be over seventy or eighty years old, and truth be told, age in and of itself has had a toll on them. The china is at least that age, probably older. But most of the time, when I was growing up, the china closet hid it all away for its own protection. It was so well hidden, in fact, that I often forgot it even existed. And yet, these items had stories to tell, and by keeping them hidden, the story stayed under wraps as well.

When we had family celebrations, or the holidays like Christmas or Easter came, our treasures were sometimes allowed out of their protective prison cell.  On those occasions the place settings for the adults would include this valued treasure, while we children still ate off the everyday melamine dinnerware. Treasuring these things meant keeping them safe, protecting them and preserving them. And so they were kept, protected, behind the china cabinet doors, for decades.

Although they testified to family celebrations and the stories and people that went with them, many of whom were no longer with us, we couldn’t use these items, because something might happen to them if we let them out of the china closet. This was our own “witness protection program.”

I’m reminded of that china when I read the Gospel for today. Here, the master has gone away but before leaving he calls forth three of his slaves. Now, he knows very well the capabilities of these slaves. And so, when he gives them talents to care for in his absence; to each one he gives amount that he knows he or she can handle.

While in today’s context we might think of talents as those skills, gifts and abilities we possess, in Jesus’ time and in his world, a “talent” was the largest unit of currency or coin. It was a large sum of money, each one perhaps equal in value to about 15 to 20 years’ wage. So a slave who received five talents would be like a millionaire, and even the slave who was given the one talent would be handling quite a lot of money.

The master gives these varying amounts, not because he’s playing favorites here; rather, he knows them well, and is giving each one only what they can work with without being over-burdened. Yet when he returns, he expects to see that they’ve worked well with what he’s given them – and in this case, success means growth of that gift.

In fact, each of the first two slaves doubled the amount they had been given. They knew that someday the master would return and they wanted to be able to show him evidence of their faithfulness. They wanted to make their master proud and to please him. Perhaps they were even motivated by a sense of gratitude. The master had put a great deal of trust in them, and they did not let him down.

Yet the story also has a sad twist to it, too. Because this third servant, while given an amount he had the ability to care for and grow, just like the others, failed to do anything at all with the money. Either out of laziness or fear -- he hid the talent he was given away, for nobody to see. Maybe he eventually forgot it was there. Whatever it was that caused him to bury the talent and hide it away, when the master returned all he could show him was the same talent the master had given him. Unchanged. With no growth, certainly no better off than when he received it.

God has given each of us gifts to use for the benefit of the Body of Christ, and for the kingdom of God here on earth. It makes sense, then, that when we welcome the  newly baptized we say to them, “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We’re not told, “here is the light of Christ, now quick, go hide it and keep it safe, lest somebody try to blow it out.” Rather, we told to shine into the world. News flash! This is no “witness protection program” – we’re not supposed to hide this treasure away and keep it safe! Instead, God trusts us to grow the treasure – and the only way to grow it, is to use it – to share it with others!

The story that goes along with this gift – the gift of life in Christ Jesus, is a story we are meant to tell! Not only as individuals but as a church! As the Body of Christ in the world, we are sent out into the world, to shine our collective lights, and to shine into the darkness! And Jesus goes with us.

Friends, WE are the witnesses that are sent out into the world, to testify to the good news of the salvation of Jesus Christ for the world. We are the witnesses who, rather than being closeted away, are sent into the world to witness to the great and wondrous news of God’s mercy and grace through loving acts of generosity and kindness to others. We follow the commandment Jesus himself called the “greatest” - sharing the love of Jesus Christ with our neighbor and with the world. Jesus gives us this mission, and equips us to do it. Jesus knows our gifts and abilities well, and we are asked to do only what God knows we are able to do. Through the Holy Spirit, God has provided all we need to prosper the kingdom of God in the world, to build up the treasure of God’s kingdom.  

Sharing this treasure is sometimes a risky thing to do. It is sometimes a scary thing to do because we’re not sent to go out just a couple of times a year, and to be choosy about who we share this with. We are not only to share it with certain people as the china and tablecloths at the table of my childhood could only be shared with the people who knew how to treat them and keep them safe.

We are called and gathered to share the treasure of faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, with one another here, and to take that message out into the world, to grow and prosper the kingdom of God on earth, knowing that Jesus goes with us.

Sometimes, when we share who we are as children of God, things get messy. There are some who may not be ready to hear this good news. But by God’s grace we are ready, and we are given the gifts and talents necessary to share it. We are strengthened and fed for this work by God, every time we come together to share Word and Sacrament. We are prepared for it each time we join in song together, sharing our heritage and our hearts.

God enriches our knowledge and trust in the story each time we confess our faith, when we declare, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth! I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. We believe Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried,” for our sake.

A few years ago, I decided that as often as we could, we would use the “good” china. Those linens, so faithfully, stored are fragile and holey now – and I don’t mean blessed – they now have lots of little holes in them, where the natural fibers are losing the battle of aging. You see, not using them, and storing them away didn’t exactly protect them. They needed to be used, to be seen and appreciated and enjoyed.

So today, when we use the china, we are reminded of the people who are no longer with us. We are reminded that they, too had stories to tell even if we don’t know them all anymore. But we are reunited with them in a way, by letting these things out into the light of day to shine and to share in their goodness.

In just such a way, when we let our lights shine, we are reconnected with the great cloud of witnesses that went before us. We are growing the kingdom of God on earth and preparing it for Christ’s return. We are reminded of God’s creative presence in the world, God’s dynamic presence that is still at work, where one day, all things will be made new and whole once again. 

Until then, let’s join together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, opening the doors to the china closet wide, opening our hearts and our imaginations, shining our lights into the dark corners, and daring to risk ourselves for Jesus’ sake. And, at Christ’s return, may we stand tall as we hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

         

 

Can You See them Now?

Isaiah 2:1-5 ~ Advent I, December 1, 2013

Blessed Advent to you all, my friends.                  

With the singing of these beautiful hymns, reflecting themes of hopeful watching and waiting, the lighting of the first candle on our Advent wreath just a few moments ago, and the changes within our sanctuary, we truly know that the season of Advent has begun.

The blue paraments that now adorn our pulpit, and lectern and the beautiful new banners, gifts from another congregation, and the quilt depicting the coming of the angel to Mary all provide visual cues that alert us to the fact that we have entered this holy season. But not all is happy and holy, is it? Did you hear the Old Testament reading?

During Advent this year, all the Old Testament texts are pregnant with hope and expectation, and come from the prophet whose writings are often used to prepare for the coming of Christmas. But it’s not an easy pregnancy. These texts are chosen for the poetic way that this prophet spoke about the house of God that would one day come, bringing with it deliverance for the people of God. They are used for the ways they invite us into imagining a future where fully God reigns, where the world is transformed, where suffering is stripped away, where unity and peace will be more than a dream but instead are a reality. Where all peoples are part of the peaceable kingdom.

Because these readings from Isaiah contain some of the most vivid imagery we have, I thought that for these four weeks of Advent, I would preach a sermon series, “The Things Isaiah Saw.” Together, let’s discover the link between these precious texts written by the prophet centuries before the coming of Christ, and our lives today.

What do we know about the prophets, like Isaiah? We know that they were not popular in their own time. We also know that prophets rose up during times of great distress and tribulation and lament. They all have one particular thing in common. Their central message went something like this: things are bad, they are really bad, and they are going to get worse (hence the unpopularity business). But, they continue, take heart. Repent! Because something is coming that will astound you; God has heard your pleas, and be assured, there will be a grand reversal, the likes of which you cannot even imagine. God will bring this about, and although there will be judgment, there will also be great vindication for God’s faithful ones, and what will follow is going to knock your socks off. There will be salvation in a kingdom that is beyond anything you can imagine. So, wait for it. Look for it. Prepare for it.

Just before the text we have before us this morning, in the first chapter of the book, Isaiah has just described the reality of what he observed around him. And it was bad. It was really, really bad. What did Isaiah see? He saw violence and devastation, destroyed cities; he saw officials selling their constituents out and taking bribes; he saw the people living unfaithfully; Isaiah saw treachery and he saw people trampling on the poor and vulnerable. He saw wickedness, children corrupted by the evil all around them. He witnessed rebels and sinners intent on destroying what God had built up. Yet he declares that “Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.” (1:27)

Then comes today’s reading and Isaiah moves to a different vision – one that comes out of the future. He describes a glorious vision of what he saw coming for Judah and Jerusalem. And what were the things Isaiah saw? He saw God’s house established as the highest of mountains – a position of dominance and authority; and he saw all peoples, all nations streaming to it (even enemy nations, no longer at war). God will judge between them, and they shall war no more.

God shall teach all these people the ways of the LORD, Isaiah prophesizes. They will learn from the great teacher and judge how to live in God’s ways, so that they could “walk in his paths” – that is, so that they could be transformed into righteous ones, doing godlike work for the future glorious kingdom of God. And “they shall beat swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Killing fields will be transformed into life-giving gardens of plenty. Can you see it?

What an image! Can you see the hammer of the blacksmith or the metal worker or a soldier or a king coming down on the sword and spear, pounding again and again, beating the tool of warfare into an implements used to plow the field and harvest good food?

If I could have found one and managed to get it in here this morning, I would have set an old plow up, right in front of the altar, right in front of the table of the Lord. Because I think the visual might help us to see and imagine what this text is saying to us today. And we need to see and hear what this word of God is saying for us today.

Instead, you’ll find an image of a plow like the one Isaiah spoke of right there on the front of your bulletin. Imagine this farming implement, this tool for planting the life-giving grain and vegetables and fruit that are so necessary for life and for strong bodies, and imagine that it was once a weapon of war, once used for cutting off life. Imagine it has been transformed. I wonder, where have you seen killing fields transformed into life-giving gardens of plenty?

In contemplating this question, Barbara Lundblad, a Lutheran pastor, author and teacher, relates this image: Can you see Christian and Muslim women all dressed in white? In 2003, the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, organized by social worker Leymah Gbowee, started praying and singing for peace in the fish markets of their towns and cities, places that were for years torn apart by a horrible, tragic, devastating civil war. They organized nonviolent protests. And at one point, they lay down on the ground, side by side, on their bellies near the main highway in Monrovia, Liberia, where everyone could see them. It was a huge embarrassment to Liberian President Charles Taylor. They protested until he finally agreed to attend peace talks in Ghana. When those talks faltered, the women came to Ghana. Can you see them? They linked arms around the government building until the talks started up again. The tragic civil war in Liberia finally came to an end. Things aren’t perfect in Liberia, but they are not at war any more. Can you see the women dancing in the streets?

Can you see the young black woman holding on to her seat on the bus? Today is the anniversary of the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, an action that spurred a boycott. Things didn’t turn around right away, but Rosa Parks became an icon for social change and the end of segregation and beginning of a new reality for civil rights in this country. Can you see her later working with the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr. bringing a new kind of freedom for many Americans? Things aren’t perfect yet. Racial tensions still exist and devastate communities. But laws were changed, lives and visions for a future were transformed, and the doors of opportunity were opened through the peaceful protest of Parks and so many others like her.

“They shall beat swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Killing fields will be transformed into life-giving gardens of plenty. Can you see it?

This summer, several churches in Talbot County, Grace among them, participated in the Migrant Worker Ministries, providing basic provisions for migrant workers in the area. Because of the outpouring of generosity of members of Grace, one Monday in August, two cars pulled right up alongside the church, right here on Hanson Street, where they were filled to the brim with necessary supplies and clothing and other items which were then delivered to the residents of three different migrant worker camps just up the road. Many of the residents there are alien workers. Many are working here to provide for families in countries devastated by poverty and drug wars.

There I literally witnessed tears of joy from men who live and work in harsh conditions, far from home, toiling in poverty for meager wages and no benefits. “They shall beat swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword again nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Killing fields of poverty transformed into life-giving gardens of plenty through the generosity of strangers. Can you see it?

In the text, Isaiah admonishes the people to come and to learn God’s way. It is more than an invitation, it is a summons to walk in the Lord’s light and glory, to follow God’s instruction, to eventually cross the bridge of truth and justice for all people, and arrive at a place of peace. Isaiah tells us that people will be transformed by this teaching. It won’t be easy; it will take courage and obedience and justice – and patience! But this text offers affirmation that history will one day reach its goal – and the full reign of God will come. And God’s kingdom requires radical transformation of existing conditions.

At the beginning of the journey there is yearning, but take heart; expect the unexpected, where tanks for warring are transformed into tractors; where minefields designed for destruction are transformed into soccer fields; where stories of a future, where hope burns for justice, and peace and plenty will be appreciated by all peoples.

As we prepare this Advent for the coming of Christ, may we find in this living Word of God a word that speaks to us today, calling us to beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, and urging us to transform killing fields into life-giving fields of peace and plenty, through repentance, through courageous love and action, and through hope-filled expectation at the coming of Emmanuel, the final judge and ransom of the world. Amen.