"Rushing and Realizing" given 11/27/16

Advent was one week away, so Mom and Dad thought they'd see how much

their children remembered from their family devotions the year before.

"Who can tell me what the four candles in the Advent wreath represent?"

Mom asked. Their son jumped in with seven-year-old wisdom and exuberance.

"There's love, joy, peace, and . . . and . . ."

"I know!" their little six-year-old girl interrupted to finish her brother's sentence: "Peace and quiet!"

I don't know about you, but peace and quiet would get my vote.

Advent begins today, but the church is way behind the secular world in rushing Xmas. Mickey D’s has already started selling Egg Nog shakes. Decorations at most stores went onto the counter as soon as the clerks could clear off the Halloween stuff. People are running around in Santa hats, doing their shopping. And for all you non-conformists out there—I’m happy to tell you that you can still get a green Santa hat for shopping this year. Would that make you a non-conforming conformist? One comedian, fed up with the playing of Christmas carols in stores before Thanksgiving, swore he saw a turkey in a pear tree.

And yet this most crassly commercial season of the year is also the season that is so important to believers as we try to prepare our hearts and minds for the celebration of Christ's birth (even if it is only December 1^st .) So, reaching out for spiritual meaning in a time when the culture around us is emphasizing materialism , we fall back on Scripture. Once again we turn to the old, old prophecies of the first Isaiah. And in these priceless words you and I can again find critical truths for our lives. First, we are reminded of what God has done. Then, we try to discern what God wants. And finally we hear once again of our role in God's plan.

What has God done? On a cold bright day in October 1995, scientists at Harvard University threw a switch that they hoped would link earthlings to other intelligent life in the universe. They launched what they called the Billion Channel Extra-Terrestrial survey.

Here is what that means. Around the clock, a radio telescope at Harvard's Agassiz Station observatory listens for a signal from space--even the faintest sign that suggests somewhere in the universe is other intelligent life. When the survey was launched, there were plans to construct a $ 300 million radio telescope three-quarters of a mile in diameter somewhere on earth, extending our hearing 100 billion miles into space. Perhaps some of you saw a movie a few years ago called Contact, which speculates as to what would happen if we ever did hear a message from Space.

This vast and persistent effort at communication with the universe is neither the stuff of science fiction movies nor the quest of mad scientists. One physicist calls it "the space-age version of communicating with God, " but adds that it is "garbled at best." To date, unfortunately, there has been no response from the beyond.

The quest for a conversation with the Ultimate is nothing new. Since the dawn of history, of reason, of curiosity, human beings have looked to the heavens in wonder for an answer to their predicament: “Is anyone out there? If so, then what do you want of me? Why am I here? What am I here for? What will become of me?"

Throughout all history and even before, in every tribe, every culture, every nation that we know of, men and women have struggled with those questions, bowed their heads, raised their arms and cried out to the Universe, seeking an answer--a voice, a miracle, even just the smallest sign.

The Christian knows that God is not silent. We have already had communication from beyond our own solar system. The Christian knows that it happened around 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem of Judea. Indeed, St. John's Gospel begins with this cosmic, poetic phrase: "In the beginning was the word . . ."

Going back even further, the editors of Genesis said Yahweh God spoke the world into existence.

Isaiah of Jerusalem wrote: "In the last days the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Holy One, to the house of the God of Jacob. The Almighty will teach us God's ways, so that we may walk in God's paths.' The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Almighty from Jerusalem."

The prophhet knew that the Creator would reveal God's own self in God’s own good time to God's people. God would not allow them, or us, to forever wander in the darkness of unknowing. And the Christian knows that when our God finally chose the ultimate, perfect act of self-revelation, it was done in the most unusual way. God wrapped God’s own Divine self in human flesh. Advent tells us what God has done. God has revealed God's own nature, God's power, God's purpose for us and the world in Jesus the Christ.

But there is a second thing we need to see. This time of Advent also tells us what God wants of us. Isaiah writes: "The Almighty will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."

What God seeks is a totally new human creation. The old, incomplete human creation is forever giving in to our baser instincts--instincts like violence, prejudice, injustice, exploitation and greed. One poet has put it like this:

God's plan got off to a happy beginning

But Adam ruined it by sinning!

I hope the whole story

Will end in God's glory,

But right now the wrong side is winning.

The wrong side is winning. Sometimes it sure seems that way. But that's not the final reality. That’s not the Divine Will. The Creator wants all people on this earth to live in peace and harmony and dignity together. Our Maker intends that every child be born into a world of love and caring. The Holy One wants people with pure hearts and pure motives.

Our God calls us to become a new human creation. It may well be that until we can start becoming new people, we’ll never be able to fully shut down our noisy minds and stop and listen—just listen for that still, small voice we sang about a few minutes ago.

An anonymous Mexican prayer expresses the change God would like to make in human hearts:

I am only a spark

Make me a fire.

I am only a string

Make me a lyre.

I am only a drop

Make me a fountain.

I am only an anthill

Make me a mountain.

I am only a feather

Make me a wing.

I am only a rag

Make me a king.

Advent is about what God has done-- revealed the Divine self in the babe of Bethlehem. It is about what God yearns for--a new human creation—a creation attuned to God’s word and will in the world--a creation with the heart of Jesus.

But Advent is also finally about our role in that Divine Work in the world. Isaiah writes,

"Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD."

In Isaiah's day the ideal—the Realm of Christ had not been realized. International conditions were grim, and Judah was threatened by powerful enemies. The armies of Babylon were on the borders, looking for an excuse to invade and take over Israel. Yet the prophet cried, "Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord." That is to say, let us live as though the ideal were present now! And in that call lies our role today, more than two thousand years after Christ's birth.

Theologians use the fancy phrase, "Realized Eschatology." It means to live our lives as if Christ's earthly Reign were already established. It means to live our lives now with pure and loving hearts, harboring no anger, no envy, no greed. It means to live now with a commitment to root out injustice wherever it is found, to the end that someday God's plan will be realized. It means to live in the light as if we already surrounded the throne of God.

It means to live as if the End has already come. Why? Because the end of our old world has indeed, already come for each and every one of us, in our individual encounter with the Living Word Jesus. Judgment Day isn’t centuries away in the distant future—it happened when we first truly understood what God was calling each one of us to do and be.

Your and my personal Judgment day continues to happen right now, at this moment—and every moment as we try to live out our response to the Divine call. If we respond in faith, it means we are already walking the path of righteousness by living as righteously as we can—flaws and sins and failures warts and all.

But how can we frail, bumbling human beings possibly even aspire to live in such a way? How can such a radical transformation of our flawed human nature possibly

take place? How we can we broken and sinful and self-centered as we are, possibly

manage to even attempt to live righteously? How does our journey begin?

Thomas Merton wrote in one of his prayers:

“I believe the desire to please you does in fact please you, and I hope I have that desire in all that I do.”

It is after all, our honest willingness to follow Him and make the journey that pleases Jesus.

There’s only one way. It is to invite the Lord of Advent into our lives. When you and I do that, we discover anew what God has to give us and what God wants from us. When we do that, our old broken, world ends and a new one is born. When we do that, The day of the Lord comes. The Eschaton is realized. When we do that, Christ's Realm is established--in our hearts and in our lives. When we do that, strength and integrity and hope are born within us.

And that is what Advent is all about. The Creator has revealed God's own self to humankind. Now we know what God wants--a new human creation. And this is how it happens. When we walk in the light of Christ's love, we carry Our Lord's coming realm in our hearts.

Even amid the rush of Christmas preparations, you and I can realize the fruition of God's plan. "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Almighty, to the house of the God of Jacob. And our Maker will teach us God's ways, so that we may walk in God's paths."

That new human creation will not come automatically or even necessarily easily.

You and I won’t always make the right decisions in life. We won’t always make the most unselfish choice. We’ll still hit our thumb with a hammer and say things we shouldn’t. We’ll still get depressed and frustrated and angry with one another—and with ourselves. We’ll still think and even do things that we’ll later regret.

“The desire to please you, does in fact please you.”

But, we’ll find that the desire to please God does in fact please God, So

when we falter, we’ll find that we will be able to receive strength to persevere. When we fail, we’ll find ourselves able to pray for forgiveness. When we fall, we’ll find that there will be a sister or brother willing to give us a hand back up onto our feet. When others around us fall, we’ll find we have an opportunity to lift them up. When we are wronged, we will find within ourselves the power to forgive. When we lose hope, we’ll find there is inspiration and encouragement available—if we’re simply willing to reach out for it.

And even when others abandon us, we’ll find that there will always be at least one person willing to still accept and love us and offer us a second or third or even seventy times seventh chance. And it is His Advent among us that we celebrate and anticipate today.