Sermon December 13, 2009

Advent III, Year C

Zephaniah 3: 14-20; 1st Song of Isaiah, Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3: 7-18

If I was to say, "Barak Obama, George Bush, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon" what one word immediately comes to your mind? I hope it's "President"! That's how we know them first, isn't it? If they hadn't been elected who would remember, fifty years from now, very much - if anything - about them? No one. For instance - can anyone tell me who lost to FDR in 1936? (Alf Landon). Even if you could, could you say anything about who he was … his life's history?

We move backward with some peoples' histories. We start with the fact that Obama, or Bush, or Carter, or Nixon became president, and only then do we look back at their own personal histories. We do that mostly because their own personal histories aren't really very important in the greater scheme of things until they became president. Only then does a history growing up in Indonesia, or Hawaii, become important.

We do that with lots of people, and we pretty much do it the same way. At first the only thing we're interested is the reason they came to prominence - when someone becomes president,, or comes up with some great scientific discovery. Would we remember Einstein if not for E=MC²?

And we don't always remember backwards - some folk aren't that important to us that we remember much more than the events that brought them to prominence - is Bart Starr or Joe Montana's childhood the topic of conversation? Not really!

So it is that some people's histories are written down backward - starting from the most important moment or moments, and then, gradually working in reverse.

I want you to think of the gospels being constructed by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in exactly the same way.

For the earliest Christians, the ones who were contemporaries of Jesus, and in the generation that followed, the most important part was the passion.(from the Latin "passio", meaning "suffering"). Why? Because it was a story everyone could remember, and it was what made Jesus more than an itinerant backwoods rabbi.

They didn't write the passion story down at first for just that reason - it was a story - powerful, simple, easy to remember. What was less easy to remember were some of Jesus' sayings - so ironically they were written down first.

That's what Mark - the earliest gospel writer - begins with: the sayings. Then the passion story. Then the parables. And the last piece recorded was, ironically, the beginning!

By the time Mark was writing the beginning the early Christians had a distinct opinion about John the Baptist.

Now you know how the Gospels were put together!

Here's why I'm telling you - two reasons really. Firstly it's really important to understand that the core of each gospel is the passion narrative, the story of Jesus' last week. Our faith is totally encapsulated in that story.

Secondly, it's important to the hearing of the readings from the gospel we've had for the last few weeks. Those passages are written in the light of the passion. They are interpretive pieces that help explain the passion of Jesus - not the other way around.

So what John the Baptist says is very important. And what does he say? He says that the Jewish Messiah is coming - one who will come as an earthly ruler - a warrior king - and overthrow all empires that oppress and replace their rule with that of God's. Then he will judge everyone, and those who are found lacking will be cast into hell-fire. Here is a view of the Messiah right out of Isaiah - the classic Man of Fire.

So I ask you - was John right? Did an earthly Messiah come like a warrior-king and overthrow all earthly empires with the sword? Did someone show up who spent all their time talking about judgment and hell-fire?

No! John got it wrong. His description of the coming messiah wasn't accurate. He did describe a traditional Jewish messiah, but no such messiah showed up. AND ALL THE GOSPEL WRITERS WANT US TO KNOW THAT JOHN GOT IT WRONG.

The one who showed up was Jesus. You can see that John is confused later, when he sends some of his disciples to ask "Is he the one, or do we seek another?"

So this week Luke (and last week) the passages we've heard are Luke reminding his readers that John got it wrong. Next week he tells us who got it right - who really understood what Jesus was going to be about. So when you hear the Gospel next week, remember what I said!

If John the Baptist got it wrong then where are we now?! Remember what I said last week - that Advent is on great, reflective retreat? The other readings follow on from those of last week and there's one word that sums them up: "Rejoice!" The Stretching Season is dominated by celebration - this is quite different than the way we used to approach Advent.

If, last week, the invitation was to see both the joy and the sorrow, both the celebration and the pain, this week has moved toward the former states, and away from the latter: toward joy and away from sorrow.

And isn't that the hope of Advent - and the hope of our lives? That these four weeks model for us the long hoped-for transformation of our lives up from the depths to the heights?

Perhaps this weeks' question is about that movement: can you handle the joy? Can you put cynicism aside and embrace the celebration that's coming? AND can you do so while keeping your feet firmly on the ground? Because if you can't keep this all in perspective, if you can't keep your feet on the ground, then after the great celebration you'll have a hard fall.

So this week reflect on the joy that is, now, so close to us, the promise of transformation and new life. Hold close Paul's words: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." Hold them close and you can't go far wrong! Amen.