Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
In El Salvador, across each table at each place we visited, the question was with us: Are you the one? Are you the people who will hear our stories of war, of poverty, of hunger and make a difference? Are you the ones whose eyes will haunt our dreams until we must respond? Are you the ones with whom our lives will be woven in a Sister Parish partnership? Are you the ones?
Are you the ones who will bring our stories back to tell your congregation? Will you tell your leaders in Congress what happened in our country as a result of the School of the Americas? Are you the ones who will partner with us to bring justice?
We hear the question again today in the
gospel according to Matthew. This time John the Baptist asks: Are you
the one? Or are we to wait for another? John's question from prison reveals
that Jesus isn't really the Messiah he was expecting. John the Baptist called
for repentance. He was waiting for the one who would baptize with the Spirit
and fire. John had called people to prepare for the one who would bring
political, social, and economic salvation. John warned them to get ready for
the destruction of the unrepentant.
This is serious business for John. John is in prison. He will soon be killed by
the political powers. John was anticipating fire and judgment, and here comes
one who heals and makes whole, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 35: restoring
sight, sound, movement and cleansing of lepers. Even raising the dead! This was
not what was expected, it was even more by way of miracles and the presence of
God.
What do we expect of Jesus? Are we willing to have our expectations refocused
by the reality of who Jesus is? Can we handle the news that Gods incarnation
came as a baby boy, a vulnerable child, an adult who traveled and ate with
sinners and those the world judged as inappropriate for the presence of the
divine? In this seasons of gift gathering, of preparing presents, we receive
the gift of Gods presence here with us.
And perhaps most importantly, do we expect God to work among us now? If God
does, how does that work look? Can we see God at work in the world around us,
in our church, our own lives--and point to what God is doing?
Lots of questions to ponder today. I dont have all the answers, but Im going
to keep them questions coming.
What if we really allow Christmas to be more than a holiday and advent more
than a precursor to Christmas? What if we open ourselves to the possibility
that Christ can and will come into our lives if we are open?
And If we are open, are we not called to be the sacramental presence of Christ
for the world? Are we "the ones" as well? New people come to St.
Paul-Reformation who have been hurt, and alienated from church.
"Are you the Ones?" They seem to be asking. Are you the ones who
really talk and live the way of Christ? Or does all the talk of peace and love
and joy and hope get put away after Christmas here too? Are you the ones who
live justice and mercy?
Are we the ones? Well, what do people see? What do they hear? Are lives being
changed? Are those who are deaf to the Words of God's grace able to hear with more
clarity? Those who have been paralyzed with fear or prejudice able to leap to
new life?
These are ways Ive seen it just this past week. Volunteers came in one evening
to prepare the pasta packs to be added to the offerings of the food shelf
during this holiday time. Prayer shawls made with love and healing were
delivered to people in hospitals and nursing homes. People preparing for
surgery were wrapped in your prayers. I heard how important it is that some of
you have been visiting our shut-in members regularly. People across the
internet join us in prayer for the folks we include each week. Families with
loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan tell us it makes a difference that we pray
for them each week.
After we saw Christmas on Glory Hallelujah Street put on last Sunday by our
Sunday School, I talked with a woman, with an large grin on her face. She said
shed never had such fun in church before, or seen anything other than a
traditional crche scene Christmas program. The kids not only pointed the way
to Jesus, they were the Christ in allowing us to experience their shyness and
their exuberance. You could see and hear it in the leadership our Minister of
Music Dr. Cammy Horne provided, in the work of the Sunday School teachers and
parents—even the ones who had to help a little ham or two leave the
stage.
People start to see new things in their lives—that they have family here,
where they thought they had none. We celebrate with each other. We cry with
each other. I cant tell you how many times this week youve asked me about my
sister. As her body declines, her spirit is still very clear and faithful. As
others prepare for the life transition of their loved ones, we share our
sadness in this season of glittering lights. There are people here who long for
the presence of Christ. They may not have jobs. They may be depressed and
lonely, grieving the death of someone dear who wont be at the table this
Christmas. Our community cares for the brokenhearted.
We are the ones whose efforts join those of a gazillion Lutherans around the
world to feed hungry people, to advocate for justice, to change the world
toward peace so that all may live in Gods grace. Through the hunger ministries
of the ELCA, we do the things Jesus did: people are fed, people are healed,
justice is proclaimed and lived out. Feeding people and justice go hand in
hand. Both are necessary.
It was Leo Buscaglia who said: "We will have
mastered the real meaning of Christmas when Christmas becomes a way of
life" So it is that Advent becomes more than a season when we are willing
to prepare the way; when we become "the ones" for others.
Christ is the one for whom the world waits. And now, with Christ in our hearts,
we too, are the ones charged with care for the world. Are you the one?
Amen