November 28, 2010, First Sunday of Advent, Year A

Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)

Today’s Gospel from Matthew reads a little like a Stephen King novel: scary and futuristic. “Two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.” I crouch down in my chair, turn the page, and thank the heavens this is “just a story,” in the same comforting “there, there” tones I would use to shush a frightened child. Of course Jesus is simply using a technique of thriller story-telling to grab his listeners’ attention … right?

Furthermore, this text appears at the end of the same chapter wherein Jesus foresees the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, and he makes other bloodcurdling allusions about war, famine, earthquakes, torture. This must just be the scary climax and soon the happy ending will come … right?

A closer look tells me that the words in Matthew are in fact not predictions at all. Rather, they describe life as it is. There ARE wars and famine and natural disasters. The temple truly WAS destroyed; we DO in fact experience the loss of friends, family and strangers to mental illness, feuds and misunderstandings, addiction, crime, war, poverty, disease, and death.

How can this terrifying description of life on our planet possibly be the Good News???

For the answer, look no further than the first three readings!

Isaiah describes the very same planet as a place where “we may walk in God’s paths.” The Psalmist declares us a people who “give thanks to the name of the Lord.” And Paul reassures the Romans that “salvation is nearer to us now.”

I believe, dear one, that it is in these bodies that could fail us at any time, on this earth that rumbles in places, through the relationships that vex and vitalize us, and within the challenges and joys we face that God’s glory is realized.

Do you remember the photo of the baby in the arms of the firefighter, taken at the sight of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building? Dear One, God holds you just as tenderly every nano-second of your life. You are God's great work of art, fashioned with great love. Give thanks to the name of the Lord.

Did you happen to see the youtube video of Ellen DeGeneres in which she said "I am devastated over the death of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi. He was outed as being gay on the Internet and he killed himself. Something must be done. This needs to be a wake-up call to everyone that teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country, and the death rate is climbing. We have an obligation to change this." Dear One, God's compassion and outrage is even greater than this. God calls out to you when you are in pain and guides you in the way of righteousness. Walk in God's paths.

Dear One, I have not yet fully explained the deep love that I see and feel and smell and taste and hear when I choose to dwell in God's world. When God sings within me I am the Hawaii 5-0 song blasting out of the horns of a thousand-piece marching band.  Dearest One, there is no pain, no sorrow, nothing that can stop God's love. It is the biggest bouquet of the most beautiful flowers. Even though I might happen to be walking in the valley of the shadow of DEATH, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Your way is higher than my way. As high as the heavens are above the earth, that's how much higher God's ways are than mine.

In her book, Here If You Need Me, Kate Braestrup describes how she answers a man whose sister is lost in the Maine wilderness, a victim of mental illness and suicide. The man, whose name is Dan, asks, “Would a Christian church do a burial for a suicide?” Kate answers, “Look around. The game wardens have been walking in the rain all day, walking through the woods in the freezing rain trying to find your sister.  They would have walked all day tomorrow, walked in the cold rain the rest of the week, searching for Betsy, so they could bring her home to you. And if there is one thing I am sure of – one thing I am very, very sure of, Dan – it is that God is not less kind, less committed, or less merciful than a Maine game warden.”

When Jesus tells us to be awake, we can be sure he does not mean that in a scared straight way, as in “You snooze, you lose.” No, indeed, I believe Jesus tells us to be awake to the signs of God’s love right here in the scary future that is now. To be awake to the game wardens and angels in our scary life right now. If you wake up and see one sign of God’s love in your life: maybe one person who was kind to you, one pet who curled up in your lap, one beautiful sunset, one driver who let you into their traffic lane … if you can find one, then you better believe that that is just the tip of the ice berg of God’s love. If You can see one, dear one, then there are a hundred you are missing. Wake up! Smell the coffee! Smell the roses!

Dear One, you may love God or you may not. It makes no difference because God's love is big big bigger than you can imagine. But if you can manage to open your eyes just a little bit and just the tiniest smidgeon of God's love sneaks into your sight and your heart ... mmm mmm good. Your life will just explode with joy.

So don't worry dear one about the scary climax or the happy ending, because salvation is nearer to us now. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! We live on God's holy mountain.

Namaste! Amen!

The Readings

Isaiah 2:1-5

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

   and shall be raised above the hills;

all the nations shall stream to it.

Many peoples shall come and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

   to the house of the God of Jacob;

that God may teach us God’s ways

   and that we may walk in God’s paths.’

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

God shall judge between the nations,

   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,

   and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

   neither shall they learn war any more.

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk

   in the light of the Lord!

Psalm 122:1-9

I was glad when they said to me,

   ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’

Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.

To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,

as was decreed for Israel,

   to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

For there the thrones for judgment were set up,

   the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

   ‘May they prosper who love you.

Peace be within your walls,

   and security within your towers.’

For the sake of my relatives and friends

   I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

   I will seek your good.

Romans 13:11-14

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Matthew 24:37-44

For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of God. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of God. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of God is coming at an unexpected hour.

The readings are from the website below, with tiny adjustments to make the text more inclusive.
http://bible.oremus.org/