St. Thomas’s Episcopal Parish

Newark, DE

Third Sunday in Advent – December 11, 2011/Year B

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126; I Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

The Reverend Paul W. Gennett, Jr.

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May my words reveal the greater glory of God.

AMEN

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I suspect we have all begun to countdown in earnest the days to Christmas – 14 days in case you would like to know! Our hearts feel a bit more of the warmth and joy the season can bring, the promise of good cheer and good stuff IF we have been heavier on the nice versus naughty scale. We see at time of respite from our work, the gathering of family and friends to share in Christmas joys together.

The Third Sunday in Advent gives us a taste of this joyful promise as well. Known as Gaudete Sunday, we move from the preparation calls of the prophets over the past two Sunday scriptures into moving forth into God’s promise as reflected in the brightly burning pink candle of our Advent wreath, and our collect for this day – “Stir up you power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; …” I also suspect we have been humming, if not outright lustily singing, many of those Christmas carols and songs that fill the airwaves. Well, except one song for me.

“All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” is like raking fingernails down a chalkboard! I suspect if I was in need of two front teeth, it would have greater meaning – but I do not, so it does not. Yet of course, in God’s sense of humor, what is the song I almost always hear when I turn on the radio in my car or at home? I give you three guesses, but a hint is that it is the song I have been mentioning.

Over the years in seeking to keep my Advent holy by slowing down and listening deeply for the song that will lead me to the manger of Christmas. And I have also been blessed, even if reluctantly, with God’s word and wish for my heart and soul. God’s word and wish that point my living faith in the direction needed for the days ahead, stirred up with God’s power and presence. All this reflected in this irritatingly present song and its opening words –

“All I want for Christmas is … All I NEED for Christmas is …”

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Today’s readings of scripture are good pointing moments for us. They point us to hope … point us to faith … point us to believe in God’s coming present to the world.

Isaiah points to hope for an exiled people, some forty years later, still in captivity in Babylon and other lands. Torn away from them is the land God led them to in the Exodus of old, the land and faith they squandered by their unfaithful life and ways.

Isaiah stirs up the reminder of God’s everlasting faithfulness … God who NEVER forgets his people, his created, his beloved … God who is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast mercy.

I was reminded by a meditation I read this week that if you wrote down all the scripture references that reflect an angry warrior God on one side of a ledger, and then wrote down all the scripture references that reflect a loving redeeming God, guess which side would have more on it? I think you know the answer through God’s loving and redeeming power in your life. It is not surprising that these very words of Isaiah are the first words read by Jesus that will form his ministry and life. “Stir up you power, O Lord …”

Paul’s constant witness to God’s redeeming love points us to see that our Advent preparations are not for the blazing and soon fading light that the consumer Christmas brings. It is living life in the present, and the Presence, of the life-giving light that comes in the birth, the life, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul points us to the nourishment that gives life always to our heart and soul – “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you … The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.” Our Advent “Jesse Tree” in our entrance hall, prepared for us by our young people, invites us to name, claim, and write those desires of our hearts now, so that they may be lived always. “Stir up you power, O Lord …”

We encounter once again John the Baptist in the Gospel today, but an easier, softer form of J the B from John the Evangelists perspective. This is John as the witness, pointing the way to God’s Presence to the world in Jesus. Like the prophets before him, John has come to point the way TO the light and life for the world now come. John the Baptist bears witness to Jesus in his word and living, clearly knowing his call to bring the people of God to the Presence of God in Jesus once again. There are no favored ones in his call, no “insiders” or pedigreed genealogical connections, or higher knowledge hold only by the elite few. The Word of God is IN THE WORLD, and to all who believe, the Word is a verb and not a noun -- “Stir up you power, O Lord …”

Isaiah … Paul … John the Baptist … John the Evangelist. They ALL are witnesses to point us on the highway of faith made straight by them then, and by them now. Now is our time, our call to faithful living and present witness, our living the faith as a verb and not a noun, and seeking our answer to Advent’s prophetic question – “All I want for Christmas is … All I NEED for Christmas is …”

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I have held two Advent traditions closely over my 19 years of ministry that feed me, correct me, and send me forth with a renewed heart and soul to do the work of ministry to which I am called.

The first tradition is that of an intentional time of meditation on the classic H. O. Tanner rendition of The Annunciation, a copy of which hangs in my office near my desk. I make time to be with Mary, pressed in the corner of her bed in Gabriel’s presence, not fearful per se, simply listening … being … wondering … witnessing through her life the power of God.

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I make time to be with the announcing angel Gabriel, simply visage as sheer light yet filled with form, substance, power, and love. I make time with them, and they bless me each and every Advent.

The second tradition is to begin my days with a prayer I found by Dr. Howard Thurman, an educator, theologian, Civil Rights activist, and spiritual companion. It has become, and continues to be, an anchor to my life, pointing my heart and soul to the Light of God come to the world, the Christmas mystery and promise, the wholeness that God intends and desires for my life. The prayer is I Seek Room for Peace.

“I seek the enlargement of my heart that there may be room for Peace.

Already there is room enough for chaos. There is in every day’s experience much that makes for confusion and bewilderment. I do not understand quite how my relations with others become frayed and chaotic. Sometimes chaos is a positive thing: it means that something new, creative, and whole is beginning to pull together the tattered fragments of my relationship with a person and to fashion it into that which delights the spirit and makes glad the heart. Sometimes the chaos is negative, a sign of degeneration in a relationship once meaningful and good. There is [more than] room enough for chaos.

But the need of my heart is room for peace. Peace of mind that inspires singleness of purpose; Peace of heart that quiets all fears and uproots all panic; Peace of spirit that filters through all confusions and robs them of their power. These I seek now. I know that here in this quietness my life can be infused with Peace.

Therefore, before God, I seek the enlargement of my heart at this moment, that there may be room for Peace.”

“All I want for Christmas is … MORE STUFF? I think not … I know not!

“All I NEED for Christmas is … peace … joy … strength for the journey ahead … renewal for my soul … Jesus … Jesus … Jesus …

“Come, O come, Emmanuel …”

AMEN

For the Inward Journey. Harcourt Brace Jovanavich, Orlando FL; 1984. p. 95