"Wishing Things Were Different"

Monday evening I was catching up on the news from Ferguson and thinking to myself that I would need to alter my sermon idea for Sunday. How could I not mention this civil war of sorts that continues to tear our country apart? What should I do?  I then remembered an advent passage I preached on a few years back from Isaiah 64. It begins, "O God, tear open the heavens and come down."  That's the scripture I should be using, I thought. That's it.  I remembered my theme from Charlie Brown Christmas where Lucy tells Charlie Brown what he really needs is involvement. I thought this seemed trite. What to do?

Then I looked up my scripture I had already chosen for this Sunday's message, weeks ago. Oh wow. Isaiah 64. The lectionary has circled back around to it again. And then I looked at my sermon title written about six weeks ago and my heart leapt and my mouth fell to the floor. "Wishing Things Were Different."  Who would know how perfectly that title would fit this moment in time? Who would know?  The Spirit knows; she always does.

The prophet Isaiah is crying out for a world in despair. He is asking God to please, please come and be with the people in their time of need. Please come, O God, tear open the heavens and get here now.  The mothers of people of color everywhere last night were likely crying a similar prayer.  I remember thinking last night how different I would feel about Jake living in NYC last night if we were a black family instead of a white one. As it was, I had the luxury of being pretty confident my own kid was safe and secure, though some of his friends' mothers could not have had the same thought.

I chose my December sermon series "Charlie Brown Christmas" because this is such a wonderful holiday classic everyone loves.  The forlorn Charlie Brown looking for an answer to what Christmas is really about. The overbearing Lucy telling him he needs involvement (which he does, actually). And then the prophetic voice of Linus who calls out from the darkness, bringing light... "Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord."

We start this advent season as we always do. Waiting. Waiting for Christ to come and save us. This year, we start by wishing things were different.  We start by finding a way to be involved and work to tame the chaos that is surrounding us with the message from the Prince of Peace who brings good tidings of great joy.

It is hard to hear the cry of the needy when all we do is sing Deck the Halls and Jingle Bells. Perhaps we start by saying every day of Advent the words of the prophet Isaiah "O God, tear open the heavens and come down."  That serves to us as a reminder that we are not yet in the Promised Land. That serves to remind us that we are struggling to create a new way of being in this world. We are searching for a prophet to tell us what to do, but we need search no further than the yearnings of our own heart to follow the Way of Christ. Serving the lost, the least, the marginalized, the oppressed.  Not pretending that isms like racism are behind us, but recognizing that they are more alive, perhaps, than ever before.

Advent is a time of waiting for the arrival of peace.  Boy, do we ever need peace.  Advent is also a time of rising up to hear the call of the needy and offering to be the prophetic voice that tells the world we are capable of more.  We need involvement. The world needs us to step up and get involved. Perhaps there is no more critical moment to change the world than now.  When we find ourselves wishing things were different, time to hit the spotlight and cry out "Fear not..." and step forward.

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