Greetings, Favored One

Luke 1:26-38 – The Annunciation, 2019

Surprises can be good or bad and you may enter the land of unexpected consequences if you are the one delivering a surprise.

Knowing your victim – I mean, the honored recipient of your surprise – and all the possible detours and deviations that may arise when pulling off a surprise, and then preparing for them is really important.

Take, for instance, these surprises that were prepared for me the year I turned 50:

The first happened in Connecticut, where my parents and brother lived, and where I had gone to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom. My birthday is just a couple of weeks later, in May.

The ruse they had carried out was for me to visit my brother’s house, about 30 minutes or so from my parents’ while the party planners went to work at my parents’ house. What nobody expected was that a day’s worth of heavy rains would cause the tributaries of the Connecticut River that wound their way between those two places to rise so much during the day, that many of the roads I needed to take were flooded and closed.

When I was finally able to find a clear way back to my parents’ place well over an hour after I left my brother’s, I discovered a group of old friends and family who had all been waiting all evening for my arrival, poised and ready to shout “surprise” only to have themselves be surprised by the lengthy and unexpected delay. All was well, however and we were all “gotten” by the surprises that had played themselves out that night.    

Then, the actual weekend of my birthday, our oldest son, Bill, conspired to get me out of the house by taking me out to lunch so Jim and friends could prepare. Bill lived in Smyrna, Delaware, about 45 minutes from our home and just down the road from a really great gardening center I didn’t get to visit very often.

My birthday is in May, and gardening is one of my favorite things to do, so after lunch I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to go shopping for flowers. I took my time, browsing through the flowers, the shrubs, the trees, the vegetable plants, the hanging baskets, the yard ornaments – until finally my cell phone rang.

“Where are you?” my husband asked me. “Think you’ll be coming home soon?” Then he covered his tracks by asking me where we kept something.

So, we chatted and then I finished up my shopping, filling my mini-van with geraniums, perennials and a few other annuals. Then I made the leisurely drive home, still totally in the dark about what was in store for me. When I got to our house, I was greeted by friends and family who had been waiting for a very long time for my arrival!

In today’s Gospel, Mary receives an infinitely more astonishing surprise. The angel of the Lord appears out of nowhere. Gabriel might as well have shouted “Surprise!” at the unsuspecting girl.

When he first comes to her, “shock” doesn’t even begin to describe Mary’s reaction. First there is this grand intrusion into her life, but the words Gabriel speaks confuse, confound, and trouble her: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

Greetings, favored one?  Mary may be young, but she has no illusions about who she is. She is a person of no account in the culture in which she lives. She is young, and though she is engaged to be married, she is probably only between 12 and 14 years old, the usual age for betrothal in her world.

Typically, after such a match was made, legally binding her to Joseph, she would continue to live in her parents’ home for about a year. Once she reached child-bearing age, she would go to live with her husband.

Further, we know that she comes from a small, po’-dunk town, for that is what Nazareth was in the Ancient Near East. The equivalent of “the wrong side of the tracks.”

So, in case you’re keeping track, in a nut-shell, in Mary’s world, she has these strikes against her – she’s female, she’s poor, she’s from the wrong side of the tracks, and she’s barely more than a child herself. You can’t get much more “lowly” than that.

Yet, Mary’s story is surrounded by and enclosed in the surprising, and the impossible story of God’s astonishing, amazing, saving advent into the world.

We might be surprised at the Lord’s choice of mother for the Messiah, but God knew what he was doing.

There is an adage I’ve heard, and you probably have too, especially as it is applied to trial lawyers headed to court. The adage is this: do not ask a question you do not already know the answer to.

“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

What follows Gabriel’s greeting is not so much a question as it is an astonishing announcement: that God has chosen Mary to conceive and bear the child, Jesus, who will reign over an everlasting kingdom.

Could Mary have refused God’s desire for her? Perhaps. But God knew Mary as God knows each of us, and God called this young, powerless woman for this role in transforming the world. Throughout the Scriptures, God has often surprised those through whom God has chosen to work, allowing and causing the most impossible of events to occur through them. By the same token, God has called and used the most unlikely characters to do the impossible, transforming them and the world through them.   

As we contemplate this Gospel passage, one that we are quite familiar with, God invites us to be surprised once again at the way in which God works. This invitation is especially timely as it comes at a time when we as a people are discerning how God is calling us to function in a world actively opposing the goodness and unending mercy of God, and God’s ceaseless compassion and love for those least likely to be among the “favored” of God.

As we contemplate Mary’s story, God is inviting us to be surprised once again by the ways God does the seeming impossible through the most surprising means and through the most surprising people.

When we have gone astray, diverted by the floodwaters of our own desire and sin, when we have become distracted by the things of the world that appeal to us, while ignoring the things of the world God has instructed us to focus our attention upon, when we have broken our relationship with God over and over again, and when the floodwaters have risen and we have felt lost and isolated, God has faithfully waited for us, prodded and pursued us. To our great surprise, our brokenness and propensity for getting lost and being delayed from answering God’s desire for us doesn’t keep us from God.

Greetings, favored ones. The Lord is with you!

Friends, the good news of the Gospel is that God is still active in the world, still surprising us by his choice of disciples. Through Jesus, God has made each of us as favored as Mary, as blessed as Joseph, as chosen as any of the most unlikely but holy people we read about in the bible.

God’s activity and promise did not end at the cross, and resurrection. Instead, God does the impossible through the cross - it blossoms there, for the salvation of the whole world.

God pursues us through the least likely places and makes us people of God’s own creating and redeeming. The same God who worked through the lowly teenage girl from the wrong side of the tracks is still at work in you, even when you feel that you are unworthy, too messed up, not gifted enough or faithful enough to be God’s vessel for the healing of the world.

God’s favor is with you, and you, and you – and me. Sinners that we are, God’s favor is with us, redeeming us, abiding with us, and using us to bear Christ into the world.

Greetings, favored ones! The Lord is with you!

God favors the lowly ones. Amidst our weakness, our self-centeredness, our apathy, God is at work. Amidst our pain and illness, our depression and despair, God is at work in us. Amidst our confusion and worry, our loneliness and isolation, God is at work in us.

Greetings, favored ones! The Lord is with you and intends to do great things through you!

As we reach out to the other, God is at work in us. As we serve our neighbor, God is at work in and through us. When we extend forgiveness to others God is at work in and through us. When we ask forgiveness of those whom we have hurt, God is at work in and through us.

As we pray and meditate, God’s favor is here, and God is at work in us. As we worship together and share in the feast of Jesus Christ, God’s favor is here, and God is at work in us. As we prepare for the coming of the Christ Child as Mary herself did, God’s favor is here, and God is at work in us, actively doing the impossible, transforming us for God’s service, doing great things in and through us.

I invite you to join me in this exercise this week: reflect on these words: “I am favored by God. Indeed, God wants to do great things through me. One of those things might be…..(fill in the blank). Surprise! May God’s will be done, through you. Amen.

Football, Figs, and Faith

Everywhere I look lately, I see Peanuts. Peanuts characters, that is, the ones created by the late Charles Schultz. There are Peanuts on TV, in the movies, even on Facebook.

With all this focus on the Peanuts, I have a favorite Peanuts scene I’ve been thinking about. It’s the one where the hapless Charlie Brown is playing football with his friends. It’s his turn to kick the ball. He gets himself all ready, and winds up to give that pigskin his all, while his friend Lucy holds the ball in place. And then, just as Charlie Brown approaches the ball, as he rears back with his kicking foot, preparing to send that ball to the moon, what happens?

That’s right. Lucy whisks it away. And poor Charlie Brown, totally unprepared for this deception, flips and falls, flat on his back, stars in his eyes and ringing in his ears.

Today, I view that scene as an allegory for life. It is reflective of our hopes and dreams, our plans and our preparations, and our vulnerability to forces waiting to be unleashed, forces which can turn our world upside down, leaving us with stars spinning wildly before our eyes, and bells ringing in our ears.

Charlie Brown’s football incident illustrates what it might feel like when all that you are aiming for in life is suddenly whipped away, out of reach, leaving you totally stunned, breathless, and disbelieving.

We enjoy a good laugh at the plight of Charlie Brown, perhaps because we recognize – uncomfortably so, at times - that we are all subject to Charlie Brown moments. The truth is that in life, those moments come all too often.

While we might chuckle at the Peanuts gang, and shake our heads at their antics, I have to admit that there is a certain poignancy to the image of the stolen football for me today. Because I think a lot of us are feeling the emotional toll of lost opportunities, of plans and lives gone suddenly awry, of unexpected reversals in life.

Those losses and betrayals might come in the form of facing a first holiday season since the death of a loved one or the breakup of a significant relationship. Or they might take the form of illness, an unexpected diagnosis, the health struggles of your child, your parent, your spouse. Losses and struggles might be work-related. And, we are subject to demons from within and without which have the ability to whisk our feet right out from under us, leaving us a Charlie Brown kind of breathless.

If you are like me, you may have come here deeply troubled this morning, overwhelmed by the news of the past few weeks and the months before them. If you are like me, you sometimes find yourself thoroughly shaken and grieving over the tragedies in this world, the opportunities lost, the betrayal of our expectation that we are safe and secure from evil.

If you are like me, your sense of shock is reinforced when you hear about shootings, child abductions, wars and rumors of wars, a planet in danger of overheating, plane crashes and errant missiles, bombings and chemical warfare, protests and riots, all overwhelming realities of this world.

If you are like me, you experience sadness, discouragement and despair at the realization that our progress eradicating prejudice, bigotry and hatred as a society is but an illusion, and that justice is far more fragile than we ever thought it could be.

While we seek peace we live in a world where turmoil and death, violence and chaos exist. We seek justice yet are surrounded by evidence of corruption and brutality and deception.

But then, Advent comes and with it we hear the promise of the ages. We hear the promise that our redemption is not only coming, it is already among us.

At first glance, our gospel text seems like a creepy way to begin this season of Advent. Jesus speaks of signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and predicts distress among nations who will be confused by roaring seas and waves.

Jesus predicts people will be afraid – so afraid that they will faint. But, when these things take place, Jesus says, pay attention. Be alert. Because your redemption is drawing near. It is present. It is active. It is abundant in Christ himself.

As a common tree that people of Jesus’ time could relate to, Jesus turns to the fig tree. The coming of the Son of Man and your reason for hope is like this - it’s like the fig tree. Just as you know summer is coming, bringing with it the ripening of the fruit, when you see the leaves begin to sprout on fig trees, when you see these signs I just mentioned, stand up and raise your heads and know that your redemption is near.

Don’t be frivolous, Jesus continues, wasting your time so that you are caught unawares. Instead, pay attention, and while you are doing so, pray. Remain firmly connected to God. Remain fully dependent on God. Remain faithful to God.

 When we look back over the course of the Common Era, is there ever a time that doesn’t reflect the signs that Jesus describes?

History reveals a broad record of celestial events – lunar eclipses, solar eclipses, solar storms, the birth and death of stars, meteor showers, and so on. We see “historic” storms and cycles of catastrophic weather events. We see earthquakes and cyclones and tornadoes – droughts and floods, tsunamis and other devastating events. And with each one there are many who faint with fear, predict the oncoming destruction of mankind and our planet, and bemoan our future.

But as Jesus tells us that these things will be part of our worldly experience, he also tells us, that when they occur, know without question that we need not fear. Our hope, our redemption, is at hand. Because Jesus is present. Jesus is acting for the benefit of the world.

Though the sin and brokenness in the world exist, God is fully present, fully working, fully redeeming us from our sin through Jesus Christ.

David Lose explains it this way:

“…according to Luke….. we live and work, love and struggle between the two great poles of God’s intervention in the world: the coming of Christ in the flesh in order to triumph over death through his cross and resurrection”… “and the coming of Christ in glory at the end of time and his triumph over all the powers of earth and heaven. This “in-between time,” though fraught with tension, is nevertheless also characterized by hope and courage because we know that the end of this story, while not yet here, has been written by the resurrected Christ.”

Jesus reminds us that he is the Lord of history and we can trust that he will bring all things to a good end. So, what of plane crashes and war, disease and divorce, death and disaster? God has the final word. For the sake of love, in Jesus Christ God has waged God’s own war on sin and death and has won the victory.

In the meantime, in mercy for the fallen world, God sent Jesus Christ to reign in our hearts and in our world, shaping our behaviors so that they reflect the love and hope that God has for all of humankind.

Alan Boesak has written this beautiful Advent Credo uses Jesus’ own words to describe how Jesus is the one who has both come and is yet still coming, is present yet is still arriving:

It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—
This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life;

It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction—

This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.

It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever—
This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.

It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world—
This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world.

It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers—
This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams.

It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history—
This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshipers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.

So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world.

Amen.

From Walking on Thorns, by Allan Boesak, Eerdmans, 2004.

This is the sermon from November 30, 2015, Advent I. Text: Luke 21:25-36

The Other Side of the Story

          Like the carols we know so well, our gospel reading of the nativity of Jesus describes the story we just love to be reminded of; the sweet baby Jesus, born in a stable, swaddled and laid in a manger, where the animals warm his little body and perhaps a drummer boy even shows up, to sing him a song. It is a story repeated in countless Christmas carols and songs. Books and cards and other beautiful artwork throughout the centuries have portrayed the nativity scene in gorgeous colors and tender depictions which have helped us visualize the scene of this holy family on this holy night. Sweet. Comforting. Reassuring.

          And so, we often gloss over the shocking, frightening, startling and improbable aspects of this story. We rarely contemplate the surprise, the terror, and the radical reality of the event. It becomes for us more like a fairy tale, and less like the history of Christ’s advent that it really is. And so I invite you to spend a little time with me tonight taking a second look at the gospel, rubbing off the familiarity so that the unexpected and mysterious good news at its heart shines out.

          You know the story that begins: “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Quirinius that all the world should be registered…Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to the city of David called Bethlehem….he went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.

          Jesus was born into the humblest of circumstances: unwed, teenage mother, a carpenter father who commits his life to raising this child not his own, poor animals yielding space in their shelter to this child being birthed among the sights and sounds and smells of a barn.     

          Then come the shepherds, “keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Sometimes we think of shepherds as a lot like their charges—peaceable, non-threatening, maybe a little bit woolly.  But in reality, they were tough—tough enough to drive away or kill the beasts that preyed on their flocks.  They were probably cold and dirty and smelly.  They lived in the fields with their sheep, after all, and they were despised by a large segment of the society, who saw shepherding simply as a necessary evil, who thought that while someone had to do the job, the less visible shepherds were, the better. 

          And yet, amazingly, these dirty, despised shepherds lurking in the night are the people God shared the good news with first. Incredibly it is the lowliest of characters who are the first to know the miraculous news of the Christ child’s birth. The shepherds had no right, no expectation, and no hope of being singled out for such great news. And yet, God chose them and lifted them out of the mundane setting of a hillside night to witness to the dawn of God’s coming to dwell with humankind.

          And how did God share the news? Through “an angel of the Lord,” and “a multitude of the heavenly host.”  Our songs and carols often describe the angel host as a heavenly choir, which can make us forget what the word “host” actually means in the Bible— where a “host” is an army.  So if you’re going to imagine what the angels looked like as they sang out the good news, forget the choir robes and harps.  Instead, picture battle gear and war drums.

          We might imagine how the words of the angel must have sounded to the awestruck shepherds. 

“Do not be afraid—”  (Yeah, right! they think). 

“for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people.”  (Sounding good so far…) 

“To you”

“Is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”  (For us? All right!  Yes!  The news we’ve been waiting for!  News fit for an angel to deliver!)

“This will be a sign for you—” (Oh good, signs!  Bring on the tongues of flame, the shining stars, the rushing winds, the invisible hand writing on walls!)

“You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  (Wait—what? Me?)

          I doubt that many of us here tonight would hold out hope for angelic visitations and divine messages to be delivered to us, personally. I for one know that if I were visited in the middle of the night by a heavenly army, lit with the light of a thousand candles and announcing this unexpected, unprecedented, incredible proclamation, I would indeed be terrified. We, too might feel that we have no right, no expectation, and no hope of being singled out to share the good news of Christ’s coming among us, and yet, it is for us that God took on flesh and blood, becoming one of us, one with us, in order that God might truly dwell with all of humankind. And like the shepherds, unlikely though we may be, God has chosen us to help tell the story of a love so strong that it has broken the bonds of evil, sin and death. God has blessed us with grace upon grace, and made us worthy to tell this story.

          The improbable, unexpected and amazing fact of the birth narrative is that it tells us that this good news is for everyone. The promise and the good news of this Christmas story is in the details. When God came, it was not to the high and mighty, the powerful, the flashy, the rich, or even the priestly. Rather, when God came to dwell it was with the meek, the mild, the lowly, unexpected, vulnerable, and weak, and those of no account, except to God. 

          You and I have much in common with these characters. We may or may not consider ourselves weak, vulnerable, or lowly. But we know ourselves to be imperfect, broken, sinful beings. We live in a world fraught with danger. The news coming from our towns and cities, from countries near and far, from the government and our schools is troubling. We ourselves know deep doubt and fear. We know failure and we know the weight of disillusionment. We know the brokenness of addiction, divorce, depression, loneliness that may surround us. We know loss, grief and the inevitability of death.

          And so, while it is true that we might feel undeserving of being singled out to share the good news of Christ’s coming among us, the truth is that if God can work in such an extraordinary way through ordinary characters like shepherds and a teenage girl and her carpenter husband from a town of no special significance, God can work in and through each and every one of us, in and through each and every one of our stories as well. 

          Like the shepherds, unlikely though we may be, God has chosen us to tell the story of the radical love that turns the tables on worldly power. Through God’s astounding, radical incarnation in a stable in Bethlehem, we are assured t

hat the blessed and esteemed of God are found not in earthly mansions and boardrooms, but in the ghetto. God has come among us not to lift up the successful but to raise the struggling, dying, thirsting ones. God is revealed in the mundane everyday places of our lives and in our world – and this truth is terrifying – for the powers that be. And it is wonderful – for us.

          In the birth of Jesus Christ God makes God’s intentions known. In taking on human form, God’s love is made manifest in an infant. God’s incarnate love, Jesus becomes the embodiment of God’s grace, and the world, and our lives, will never be the same. We are freed from all that troubles us, all that binds us. We are lifted up and blessed by God’s amazing grace, to be a blessing for the world. Through this love, we are freed to become the messengers of God that the world needs to hear. Amen.

Expect the Unexpected

Isaiah 11:1-10 ~ Advent II ~ December 8, 2013

 “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”

The Lord sent to Isaiah a vision. And in this vision, what Isaiah saw was a stump - a dead, decaying stump, or perhaps a hardened, petrified stump, but either way, once a glorious tree, this stump has lain for years, hard, utterly dead, utterly lifeless – for a generation, in fact. Once, this stump formed the trunk and foundation for a huge, beautiful and strong tree. The tree was powerful. It provided shelter and food and pleasures for the people who rested under it, who lived under it, and depended on it. Under kings like David and Solomon this tree had thrived.

Once, the people for whom Isaiah writes, the people of Israel, were a proud, strong, vital people. They were people of promise. They were powerful, confident, and sheltered under the mighty arm of their king. That was a glorious time. But that was before. That was before the mighty tree faltered and was infected by disease that grew from within, disease that corrupted it and weakened it, leaving it vulnerable to assaults from without. And then it had been cut down; and now all that remains is this useless piece of wood – this old stump, and those glorious years and stories of grandeur are but rings upon its surface.

Isaiah writes of the stump, all that is left of Israel, the former envy of the nations, now lifeless. Its temple lies in ruin, the best and the brightest of its people exiled to Babylon where they languish, the rest in slavery from the occupying forces. Her people live in despair and darkness and hopelessness. But this is not the end of Isaiah’s image; Isaiah brings a new word, sent by God, that this is not the end of Israel’s story. Look!

The prophet describes a vision in which the unimaginable happens. Out of that lifeless stump sprouts the unexpected, unmistakable sign of new life - a green shoot appears. Out of the hopelessly bound roots, a branch springs forth and it grows. “How can it be?” we ask.

Can you see it? Can you see the green shoot coming from the stump where nothing could have been expected to come? Where nothing should have grown??

This shoot is small. It is surprising. And with the news of its advent, Isaiah gives us a new image, the image of a kingdom in which death and hopelessness and despair are transformed by hope, through the promise of a messiah who is powerful and steadfast, who will usher in a new reality for God’s creation.

Here is another image, like the first. It is the photo of a hard, impenetrable, cold rock face. From the angle of the picture, it looks like it might be the side of a mountain or cliff, surely an inhospitable place. Surely, this rock, wherever it is, is not a place for life of any kind to take root and grow. And yet look at what has not only sprung forth, but has even thrived, obviously existing and growing for many seasons out of ­­­that rock, because it is more than just a sapling. Surely, the first shoot, then the branch, and now that tree should not have been able to grow there.

I’m sure there are scientific explanations for how it might be that something like a tree can possibly grow in this place where it should not, or a shoot spring forth from a long-dead stump. But it doesn’t matter. It is still a miraculous thing that has happened. What Isaiah saw and the reality he names is that while you would never expect such a thing to happen, it indeed does happen. Isaiah receives this vision from God and he tells those people who have been living and dying and waiting in exile for oh so long, “God has spoken” - expect the unexpected; expect new life to spring up where you never would have thought that could happen.

It seems to me that these are words that mean something to us today as well, we who are still waiting for peace, who are still waiting for relief from sorrow and pain and warfare, we who are still waiting for the glory of the Lord to appear - “expect the unexpected” – for new life will come for you as well. And suddenly, there is reason to hope, because if we take a look around us, we find sign-posts of God doing the unexpected, the surprising, the inexplicable.

We all probably have stories that we could relate here. I wonder where have you seen new life springing from unexpected seemingly impossible places?

I saw it this week in the story of Harrison Odjegba Okene, where new life came at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Okene was a cook on a tugboat serving the Nigerian oil-fields when suddenly, without warning, the tugboat flipped over, trapping Okene in a small air pocket of the submerged vessel in 100 feet of water. The other 11 seamen aboard the boat died, and indeed it was believed that all had perished. So it was that three days later divers were recovering the bodies of the seamen, when suddenly, as one of those divers grabbed the hand of one of the victims, the hand grabbed him back! Okene had been waiting for three long days, hoping and praying for a miracle, expecting and waiting for death. He never really expected to be rescued and the divers certainly never expected to find anyone alive. How could anyone survive in that frigid, unforgiving water, trapped in that watery tomb, 100 feet under the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, quickly running out of oxygen? And yet, it happened.

This week the world observed the passing of Nelson Mandela, a man who believed in this vision of a peaceable kingdom, even in his homeland, which bore the inhospitable stump of racism, poverty and inequality under the policies of apartheid. During 27 long, desert years of imprisonment, Mandela clung to the shoot of hope for a better future for his country. And after he was freed he worked tirelessly to bring about positive change in his country, and he taught the world something about giving peace a chance.

It has long been understood that people cannot live without hope. Words and visions of hope held the people of Israel up through the long, long years of captivity and slavery. Today, now, in this season of Advent, these words from Isaiah urge us not only to expect the unexpected, but they serve as an invitation for us to hope, as well.

The seed of hope that sprouted from the stump began as something small. It was hidden within the stump where it germinated and grew until it burst forth out of that dead stump. It was surprising to see it coming forth from a place seemingly devoid of life. It began as something fragile, but it was tenacious and stubborn and it grew and as it grew it got stronger and stronger.

That is how God’s Advent word comes to us in this text today. It reminds us that our God is a hope-inducing God who has promised great things for us, because God delights in taking that which is broken and lifeless and breathing new life into it. This same God delights also in surprising us.

These words reveal the good news of a future where eternal life-giving things, like love, and peace, and justice, and reconciliation, and healing, and joy will be a reality for all of us, breaking through the hardness of our disbelief where faith sits, germinating within our hearts. We need this word of hope, we need to see what Isaiah saw in these seemingly impossible pairings – the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion, all at peace with one another and led by a little child.

There are times when an accident or diagnosis turns our world upside down and leaves us gasping for air. When hope seems cut off. Relationships falter and fail. There may be times when work concerns or family concerns overwhelm us. There may be times when we yearn for the age a long time ago when the tree flourished, and we despair of ever realizing the promise of Isaiah for the coming of the peaceable kingdom, where these beautiful words express more than images on a page but instead describe the reality of peace, equity, justice, harmony, and mercy.

Isaiah’s image of the stump and our image of the rock invite us to embrace the hope of Advent. God sent Isaiah a vision, with images that brought hope and comfort to a people in exile. God sent to us a savior, through whose life, death and resurrection God defeated death once and for all and through whom we receive grace upon grace upon grace, ensuring our hope is not in vain. Hope inspired Mary and Joseph to believe that God’s plan included them in a way that was unexpected, unimaginable, and demanded trust and faith that in God what was seemingly impossible would come to pass.

By the power of the spirit, hope grows in the hearts of people who are told that they can never be “good enough”; or that no one could survive three days in a watery grave at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean; or that a life sentence in prison is sure to silence one who imagines a better world and speaks out against the powers of oppression and injustice.

Hope grows in every circumstance where faith longs to break through the hardness of our disbelief and makes room for a future where expecting the unexpected is the norm, where God will prevail in all the earth, and where God’s vision of peace and harmony in all creation is a reality.  

Let us pray. God grant us the vision to see your spirit at work all around us, granting us hope, strengthening our faith, and causing new life to spring forth in the most unexpected of places, especially the dead places all around. Open our eyes, soften our hearts, and instill in us the knowledge of the Lord that brings peace, harmony, justice and mercy.

Amen.

The Unjust Steward, Or, Sandwiches Anyone?

We celebrated this past Sunday as Youth Sunday, with youth serving in various roles throughout worship services. One of our youth helped write a liturgical drama, embedded within the sermon, and the kids did an awesome job of helping us work with this difficult text. I've left some of the "stage directions" in to help readers visualize how it came together:

The Unjust Steward, Or, Sandwiches Anyone?

PASTOR KAREN: Before we begin the sermon, the youth actually have a quick announcement to make. Sorry I forgot you earlier, guys. You can go ahead now, while I run back to my office to grab something I forgot. It seems to be my day for forgetting things!

ELIZABETH:         Hi! I’m Elizabeth Criss, and I’d like to talk to you for just a moment on behalf of all the youth standing here, and a few who couldn’t make it this morning.

JEANETTE: Yeah – like it’s too early for some people to get out of bed – wish MY parents got THAT memo—

Students around Jeanette giggle and roll their eyes in agreement.

ELIZABETH: (Shooting a look of annoyance to Jeanette) Yes, as I was saying, I am representing the Grace Youth Group with an announcement about an upcoming fundraiser. We’ve been working hard making and trying to sell these sandwiches to support our trips to FreeRide and RoadTrip this year. We really need your support.

BEN: Yeah, so, we have some to sell today, we’re going to be taking orders, and making the sandwiches, and selling them from now until FreeRide.

ELIZABETH:  OR until they are all sold, so that we can all go.

(gestures with hands as if praying/pleading and mouths, “please, please!” – the rest of the youth mimic him/her)

BEN: So, if you have any questions, please contact Matthew or Christopher. Matthew and Chris are two of our senior youth, and Mr. Kevin has put them in charge of keeping track of this fundraiser.

Kevin has been standing off to the side. As he makes his way to the front-center, he gestures with his hands while saying,

KEVIN: Yes, so if you have any questions, about the sandwiches or the fundraiser itself, please call THEM and not ME.

JACK: But wait!........Jack looks all around.

I don’t see them. Where ARE Matthew and Chris? Since they’re in charge, THEY should be here too!

JEANETTE: Right! Like, WE all had to be here, and they’re in charge, so why aren’t THEY here?

All of the youth act like they are looking for Matthew and Chris and grumble

KEVIN: loudly Christopher! Matthew! Yelling  Christopher! Matthew!

Matthew and Chris enter from the sacristy door, shoving food into their mouths and eating quickly.

CHRIS: Mmph?

MATTHEW: Uh, yes?

NEVEN: Are you eating the sandwiches?

JACK: The sandwiches we’ve been working our fingers to the bone to make?

JEANETTE: I’ve been smelling like ham and turkey and pickles for weeks!

BEN: I dream – no, it’s more like a nightmare - that I’m drowning in huge pots of mustard and mayonnaise!

Other youth start grumbling. KEVIN tries shushing them.

NEVEN: You are supposed to be leading us!

JEANETTE: Yeah! But you haven’t given us any direction! You’ve just sat there eating sandwiches! Sandwiches WE all made!

JACK: What a waste!

Youth are ALL muttering, grumbling to themselves and each other, gesturing toward Chris and Matthew, start shoving each other, a couple sit down on the step of the chancel, head in hands.

Our Youth Managers are summoned by Mr. Kevin

KEVIN: (to the congregation) I’m sorry, um, please excuse us for a minute.

Kevin drags Chris and Matthew off to the pulpit side. As he talks to them, the other youth shush each other and very obviously try to listen in.

KEVIN: This is a warning. You guys need to take care of this, but I have to tell you that I am really, really disappointed in you. You get one more shot, or else.

MATTHEW: Or - else what?

KEVIN: Or else you are suspended from Youth Group for not doing your part!

The youth all gasp. Kevin shoots them “a look” then continues on.seniors are supposed to set the example for the younger members.

CHRIS and MATTHEW hang their heads.

KEVIN: If you don’t shape up, Chris, I’ll call the synod and there will be no going to FreeRide for you. Neither one of you will go on RoadTrip in January. And you will not go on any of our outing between now and then. This is serious. I – and they – are counting on you to do your job. Now do it, or you’re out!

KEVIN gives the youth one last look, looks pointedly at Matthew and Chris, then leaves via the pulpit side door.

CHRIS and MATTHEW begin to walk slowly toward the center while talking.

CHRIS: I told you that was a bad idea

MATTHEW: That’s not important! We need to find a way to get in the other kids’ good graces.

CHRIS: You mean, get them on our side so that maybe Kevin will see and stop being mad at us?

MATTHEW: Exactly! But I don’t know what we’ll do…

The youth begin to talk among themselves.

JEANETTE: I’m having a hard time selling all these sandwiches!

JACK: Yeah! Me too!

NEVEN: I still can’t believe we have to sell 10 sandwiches EACH.

CHRIS: I have an idea! Walks over to one of the youth.

CHRIS: Okay, how many sandwiches have you sold?

JEANETTE: Three.

CHRIS: Okay, we’ll write down that you sold 5.

JEANETTE: Wow! Thanks!

CHRIS turns to JACK.

CHRIS: How many have YOU sold?

JACK: Uh, four.

MATTHEW: (to Chris) Okay, I get it –

MATTHEW: (to JACK)  We’ll write down you sold, (he hesitates, looks at Chris) – seven!

CHRIS nods approvingly, smiles.

MATTHEW and CHRIS go down the line quietly, continuing to do the same for each youth. As they go, youth who have already gotten a break compare notes with each other and high-five each other. This continues while KEVIN reenters the room with PASTOR KAREN behind him. They stand there for a moment while CHRIS and MATTHEW go on, unaware that KEVIN and the PASTOR are watching them.

KEVIN: Christopher! Matthew!

CHRIS and MATTHEW freeze for a moment. They slowly turn to face KEVIN while they say to each other,

CHRIS: Uh oh!

MATTHEW: I TOLD YOU IT WAS A BAD IDEA!

KEVIN: moving toward the boys Bad? Au contrair! Thank you! You’ve done exactly what I asked of you – you showed leadership and you handled this problem on your own.

CHRIS: Thanks? Oh! Um. You’re welcome!?

Youth receive relief from their indebtedness.

MATTHEW: It was all MY idea!

KEVIN: You have truly shown compassion for your fellow youth.

MATTHEW: We did?

CHRIS: Yeah, we know – that’s what we were going for.

JEANETTE: But for the right reasons? Or the wrong reasons?

Kids all start to talk amongst themselves, high-five each other, laugh and playfully shove one another.

PASTOR KAREN Bangs “gavel”.

KEVIN: Turning to look at Karen. Why do I suddenly feel like we’re on trial and you are the judge?

PASTOR: Just trying to restore a little order here. Okay, thank you, Youth of Grace – for, um, your announcement, this would be a good time for you to go back to your seats now.

KEVIN: But wait a minute. Jeanette asked a very good question. A lot of people might question why I might think that what Chris and Matthew did was a good thing.

PASTOR: And what would you say to them?

KEVIN: Well, you know, I got to thinking about it, and what just happened here reminded me a lot about the gospel lesson we just heard.

PASTOR: Really?

KEVIN: Yes, really.

PASTOR: Please, say more.

KEVIN: Well, in the gospel, the manager went through his accounts and he gave all of them a break on what they owed, right? I was reading about this lesson last week. The amounts these people owed were worth like one or two years’ wages for the average worker. One or two YEARS! So he really, REALLY did them a favor –

PASTOR: That’s true,

KEVIN: So when I saw Matthew and Christopher bargaining with the youth and letting them off the hook, I guess I just got carried away. Because it seemed like the same thing, and it felt like I was cast in the role of the rich man. In the story from the gospel, it seemed like he was pleased. And the kids were all stressing out and suddenly they seemed so relieved. So that was a good thing, right?

PASTOR: You’re right Kevin, It does seem a lot like our gospel, doesn’t it?

JEANETTE: Standing. But Pastor Karen, I’m confused.

PASTOR: Why is that, Jeanette?

JEANETTE: Because even though we kids were stressed out, and even though what Chris and Matt did helped us out and made us feel good, it really wasn’t fair when you think about it. And in the gospel, it really isn’t fair what the manager did. The people didn’t pay what they really owed. If you owe somebody something you’re supposed to pay them back in full. It seems to me like cheating. The manager cheated and Matthew and Chris cheated and we all benefitted. That’s not fair. But you’re saying something good happened here and it’s like the gospel. Can you help me out here?

PASTOR: Well, Jeanette, here’s one way to look at it. And remember, it really is just one way to look at it. Parables like this one are designed to make us think, and question, and continually look for parallels on how they might help us to understand how the kingdom of God works. They invite us to really think about how God’s justice looks different, sometimes, from justice the way the world sees it. And to be honest, my friends, this parable is one of the most difficult to try and work with.

But this is how I think we can make sense of it today. In the parable, the debtors owed amounts that were staggering, just like Kevin said. It was unlikely that they would ever be able to pay them off, no matter how hard they tried. Imagine having credit card debt in this day and age, and owing an amount equal or better than one or two years of your income - you would never be able to pay it off. If you’re lucky you might be able to pay the minimum payment due each month – if you’re lucky - but with interest rates growing your debt each month, you become hopeless of ever being able to retire the debt. After all, if you had that kind of money, you wouldn’t have the debt to begin with.

It’s the same way with sin. Sin is our debt, and we all know that no matter how hard we try, we just can’t stop sinning and we can’t pay off our debt. We can’t cancel the debt. We just keep adding to it.

But then Jesus comes along. Jesus does even more than the manager was able to do in this parable, he forgives our debt entirely – no, actually, the truth is that he pays it for us. Jesus pays our debt on the cross, and it is at the foot of the cross, when we come to understand the enormous cost of this gift, and the life-changing relief that it brings, that we begin to understand the truth about grace. Is it expected? No. Is it fair? No way! Does it look anything like the system of checks and balances, what we think of as just, or in any way resemble the way economy works in our world? Not on your life! But that’s how it is in the kingdom of God. God does the most unexpected, unreasonable, unfair thing in the universe, when God sent Jesus to set us free from the indebtedness of our sin.

When Jesus came to set us free, he turned the expectations of the world, especially those having to do with what is fair and what is not, upside down and inside out. Because God loves us enough not to play by our rules. That’s what we call grace. It comes to us freely. Grace comes to us unexpectedly, when we are in over our heads in sin, drowning with it in fact, with our debt multiplying daily, and God frees us from the debt we owe. When God does that our lives are changed and transformed in ways we never thought possible.

When I read the rich man’s response to what seems like the crazy dealings of the manager, I am reminded of God’s words regarding Jesus. “This is my son, with whom I am well pleased.” I think that one way we can look at this parable and at what happened here today, is to compare the good news of this gospel with the reality of our lives – God’s grace means that no matter who you are, and no matter how hard you are struggling or how deeply you feel your failings, Jesus is always coming to you, standing there beside you, relieving the burden of your sin so that you might live fully into the kingdom of God. Freed from the enormous burden of our sin, we are able to share the good news of God’s grace and mercy with everyone you meet, even, and especially, with those who are deeply indebted to you.

KEVIN: You know, Pastor Karen that reminds me of the movie, Pay It Forward - you know, the one with Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey? Well, in that movie somebody is given a great gift, with no expectation of paying the giver back. Instead they pay the kindness forward - they can gift other people in a chain of random gifts of kindness and I guess, using your word, grace.

PASTOR: Well said, Kevin. Well, I guess the youth had more to tell us about this morning than a simple fund raiser, whether they knew it or not! I think that they have helped us begin to think about God’s love and God’s sense of justice and how much bigger, more surprising, and liberating they really are. Today, I think we can begin by thanking God for paying our debt, for the gift of grace, and for freeing us so that we might “pay it forward” for the Kingdom of God.

Amen.