Something's Coming
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As we turn to Advent and the first Sunday of the church year and a new lectionary cycle, the foremost theme in the readings is one of anticipation -- characterized both by hopefulness and (in the gospel text) the perils of not being prepared. That mood of anticipation coupled in many cases with underlying dread is also seen in our secular culture -- but as team member Chris Keating points out in this installment of The Immediate Word, what our culture is pointing toward is very different from what we as Christians are waiting for. Paul counsels the Romans (and us) to “lay aside the works of darkness” and to “make no provision for the flesh,” yet because our Thanksgiving feasting, holiday shopping, and family gatherings are all too often wracked with arguments and division (especially over politics) we seem to be engaging in precisely the sort of “reveling and drunkenness... debauchery and licentiousness... [and] quarreling and jealousy” that Paul maintains distract us from being prepared for the coming of the Christ. Instead, as people of faith, our primary mission this Sunday and in the coming weeks is to remain focused on the hope of salvation that is the essence of Advent anticipation.
Team member Beth Herrinton-Hodge shares some additional thoughts on the imagery in the Isaiah text and Psalm 122, and how they call us away from despair by offering hopeful visions of turning implements of war into peaceful tools, and of the splendor of God’s house. Taken together, Beth notes, they are a powerful reminder not to get caught up in the cares and worries of our temporal existence; instead, we have a great deal to look forward to as we await the coming of the Christ child and of God’s kingdom -- a realm that is inclusive for all.
Something’s Coming
by Chris Keating
Romans 13:11-14; Psalm 122
The days are surely coming when leftovers will fill the refrigerator and people will be nursing the after-effects of Black Friday sleep deprivation. Yea, verily, football will be splashed across the screen and families shall rise up against families, uncles against nephews, and in-laws against in-laws. Debates about the Electoral College will be heard in all the land, and red-state cousins shall sleep on the sofa beds of their blue-state kin.
For the sake of our families we will join in prayer, perhaps using the words of the psalmist: “Peace be within your walls.” Something’s coming -- but we’re not exactly sure what it is.
As portrayed by “Welcome to My Couch,” the Holderness Family’s hysterical parody video of FloRida’s “Welcome to My House,” the divisions can erupt at any moment. Some may honor a Thanksgiving truce, while others may find the holiday dinner to be as inviting as the DMZ. Many have anticipated icy moments this season as fights initiated on Facebook are carried over to face-to-face gatherings.
Our world is divided, and it’s not just over what type of cranberry sauce should be served.
Following the election, noted Jake Silverstein in the New York Times magazine, Americans began wondering if the words to Woody Guthrie’s classic song “This Land Is Your Land” still applied. It’s possible that the divisions even extend to Trump Tower, where rumors circulated about a chaotic scrambling for power among the president-elect’s transition team. One adviser called it “an absolute knife fight,” though Donald Trump downplayed reports of jockeying for power.
Ultimately, our feisty feasting and ever-deepening wounds may only distract us from the hope-filled message of Advent. Paul warns the Romans to take note of what time it is. He chides them to put aside the works of darkness and to take on the armor of light. The lesson for Advent seems clear: now is the time to set aside quarreling and prepare instead for God’s unexpected arrival.
It’s a message, as lyricist Stephen Sondheim wrote in West Side Story, that declares “with a click, with a shock, phone’ll jingle, door will knock... something’s coming.”
Something’s coming -- and now is the time to get ready.
In the News
Topping the list of what is coming soon, of course, is a new presidential administration. Transitioning from campaigning to governing has proven a bit uneven for Donald Trump. Some call it a Trump-branded beauty pageant. Indeed, finalists for jobs paraded in and out of Trump’s New Jersey golf club last weekend, adding to the roster of hopefuls who have been observed dropping by Trump Tower in Manhattan. Contenders made their appearances, departing with little or no comment from the president-elect.
The Trump Tower parade has become a spectacle somewhat akin to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, with a motley cast of characters making cameo appearances, including Trump loyalist Rudy Giuliani, former adversary Mitt Romney, and even a Bernie Sanders supporter (Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard).
Despite furtive nods to diversity, so far the administration seems to be shaping up to be rather white and male. Some suggest the turmoil inside Trump Tower has been something along the lines of a “total sausagefest.” There have been reports of infighting, and concerns about Trump’s ability to isolate his business projects from government. Rumors of quarrels prompted comic Seth Meyers to joke that “the world has gone insane when Glenn Beck and Bernie Sanders are on the same page.” He added, “So all we know so far about Trump’s transition is that there’s infighting among his advisers, and there may not be a firm division between his presidency and his business.”
Meanwhile, over at CBS Stephen Colbert lampooned two of Trump’s advisers -- chief of staff Reince Priebus and strategist Steve Bannon -- in a parody of The Odd Couple. Whether these are growing pains for a new administration or harbingers of Trump’s presidential style is unclear. What is clear is that something is coming.
But what?
In typical Trump style, the process is quite different from previous administrations. Gone is the even-handed and orderly vetting of potential officeholders which characterized the Obama and Bush administrations. As one Republican strategist noted, “Trump does things Trump’s way.”
While Trump has been trying to convince the country that a fresh start is needed to heal divisions, Steve Bannon’s appointment seems to suggest that the administration will be marked instead by ongoing factious behavior. Bannon and Priebus notably tussled throughout the campaign, and there are suggestions Trump would have preferred giving the chief of staff position to Bannon. Much like families divided by politics and religion, Trump’s West Wing is shaping up to be an arena ripe for rivalry and bickering.
It’s like imagining Jed Bartlett and Frank Underwood battling it out on The Celebrity Apprentice. Stay tuned, America!
Fractures and fault lines are not unique to Trump’s team, however. The divisive character of this year’s election cycle continues to foment and gather storm -- just in time for family get-togethers. Turkeys won’t be alone in feeling the heat this holiday season. More and more families are expressing concerns about maintaining peace around holiday tables. Some homes have declared a “no-politics zone” for the holidays.
Pass the stuffing, sample the cranberry sauce, but please skip diatribes about your team’s success or the other person’s failings. It’s a debate that is carved deep into the bone, according to the Miami Herald. “You want to talk about Thanksgiving dinner? Are you gonna use my name? No? Then I’m going into therapy mode!” said a Miami businesswoman. She then recited a list of worries about an upcoming meal with her pro-Clinton sisters and a group of Trump-leaning siblings.
Divisions between families are nothing new, but some see the current political atmosphere as especially volatile. The New York Times noted that much of this is the result of ever-widening political and cultural gaps within the nation. “If you went to Thanksgiving dinner 50 years ago, you’d be very likely to have dinner with people from a different walk of life,” said Robert D. Putnam, a Harvard professor and prominent sociologist. “Today, there are far fewer people who are different from us around that table.”
So, not just reveling and drunkenness but also quarreling and jealousy -- all of it signs of the difference between Advent’s hopeful anticipation and the imagining of a God’s future, and a persistent inclination to live according to what Paul describes as “the flesh.” Social media plays a role, as well, with families “unfriending” each other and even blocking relatives with different worldviews.
Something is indeed coming. Let’s hope it’s not a lap full of hot gravy courtesy of your uncle whose sees the world differently from you.
In the Scriptures
Like a little boy bursting into his parents’ bedroom on Christmas morning, Paul leads the parade into Advent in Romans 13 with the bold declaration “It’s time to get up!” Get moving, sleepyheads! He clangs the pots together and whistles at the top of his lungs. It’s the time to get going! The moment has arrived.
Christians understand that Advent appropriately begins with strong eschatological notes that provide an important corrective to the culture’s headlong plunge into Christmas. This is no time to savor spiced lattes, Paul suggests. Don’t worry about plugging in the new LED “Star Shower” and giant blow-up Snoopy yard decoration. Instead, “the night is far gone, the day is near.”
Paul chooses his words carefully, and this section is replete with concise imagery. Focus on what truly matters. Get dressed, and stop doing things that do no good. “Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul argues that the unexpected coming of Christ demands that our lives be reshaped accordingly. Something is indeed about to happen. For Paul, this means living as faithful disciples who understand that our lives have been changed by baptism. It’s time to take off the loungewear and exchange it instead for “the armor of light” befitting disciples.
David Bartlett (in Romans [Westminster Bible Companion]) shows how Paul’s words are marinated in baptismal imagery. He suggests that this would be familiar territory for the Roman Christians. They could well remember putting on baptismal robes, shedding the garments of their old life as they were immersed in Christ’s death and resurrection. The white robes signaled their adoption into the body of Christ. Clothed in righteousness, the disciple is enabled to live for Christ, making “no provision for the flesh.”
As Bartlett observes, “flesh” is not meant as a sexual reference but rather as a sign of the old age, the inky-dark night which has been transformed into the brightness of Christ-filled daylight. The text underscores the importance of transformed relationships -- as the believer is transformed by Christ, so too is the believer called to live in new ways.
Examining the text’s context yields clues about the shape of this new life. The believer is called to a stance of active hopefulness. In contrast to lifestyles promoting selfish and licentiousness, the Christian life is one oriented toward fulfilling the commandments (cf. 13:8-10), and welcoming those weak in faith (14:1). It is a life lived to the Lord (14:8), accountable solely to God.
Other behavior is distracting and unhelpful. Paul points to a vital and growing relationship between the believer and God that understands faith hardened by eschatological longing. Faith is a journey shaped by a sense that the day of salvation is growing closer and closer every day. Paul’s words exude deep urgency.
Get going. Wake up, wipe away the crusty sleep crystals from your eyes. Shed the outgrown clothes that are no longer helpful, and instead “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the Sermon
When it comes to Advent preaching, contextual awareness is essential. For example, the preacher who thinks a sermon about not gratifying the desires of the flesh or engaging in “reveling and drunkenness” and “debauchery and licentiousness” would be appropriate on a Sunday when college students are home for the first time might want to proceed with caution.
So, avoid the temptation to scold and point fingers. Instead, look carefully at the eschatological wrapping paper surrounding this text. Where do our congregations need hope? Where do the disappointed millennials need encouragement? There is an intense yearning for hope in our pews this season, and it comes from both ends of the political spectrum.
There are concerns from LGBT individuals that the new administration will scale back gains they have achieved. But there are also concerns from those who feel that the migration of jobs to other countries has cost them dearly. Both groups are afraid, and both may be feeling as though they are sleeping through a nightmare that will not end.
What would it be like for both sides to hear that daylight is dawning? It comes, says Paul, not through political policies, but by the grace of God that does no wrong to the neighbor. The night is far gone, the day is near, and it is time to live honorably with each other.
Advent is chock full of anxieties, expectations, and deeply scripted family roles. It can feel like a slog at times, but if we listen to Paul, we will remember that we know that the false expectations of society have no lasting grip on us. We know what time it is. Forget about wearing that ugly Christmas sweater and put on the baptismal garments.
Something’s coming.
As our families gear up for the non-stop freneticism which defines our holiday season, how can we help them explore what time it is? Likewise, how is that we can provide words of hope to families who have been living with the stress and strain of competing political and world views? What reminders can we offer this Advent season? Perhaps all of us need reminders that daylight has arrived. It’s time to put away unhealthy and self-centered patterns of relating.
Something’s coming, and it will be here sooner than we think.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122
Like many, I continue to despair over the results of the recent election. In my view, white Christian America has appeared to sell out its morals to the promises of a “Fifth Avenue tycoon” who has no history and little inclination to uphold the Godly vision of peace for creation and for people.
Standing on the first Sunday of a new liturgical year, we receive a word of hope, a promise that God’s kingdom transcends the reality we face in our nation, in our communities, in our churches, and in our homes.
Isaiah “sees” it in Isaiah 2 -- God’s word is to a battered and divided Israel. In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain, rising above all hills -- God resides there, above the fray, surpassing the mess we live in. Yet not unaware, not isolated from creation, God resides on this mountain.
Come, let us go there... let nations stream to the mountain of God.
Let us look beyond the intra-continental squabbles that embroil us -- look up, look higher. Let us climb that mountain with our sights set on God, that we may teach God’s ways and walk God’s paths.
Can’t you see it? Throngs of people streaming toward God’s mountain, like the Million Man March or the March on Washington, people packed together and moving in the same direction -- toward God, toward peace, toward justice.
Isaiah’s vision calls me beyond my despair. It reminds me that there is something bigger, better, truer beyond the predicament I despair these days. The word of God, the promises of God, point to a different reality beyond the challenges of these days.
“God’s promises always looks toward fulfillment” writes Noel Leo Erskine in Feasting on the Word [Year A, Vol. 1], p. 2. Do God’s people look toward this fulfillment as well?
Beyond the despair of today, God’s promise from Isaiah’s vision is for a new future: “A break, a discontinuity with the ways things are.” God will judge between nations. God will arbitrate for many peoples. People will beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
Our actions in the world, toward God’s promises, are to transform the weapons of war -- estrangement, racism, sexism, misogyny, discrimination, oppression, mocking, hatred, mistrust, fear, and despair -- into tools of provision. Plowshares and pruning hooks are instruments used for farming, planting, cultivating food to sustain.
Our call is not to raise swords to fight against this present reality, nor to sow seeds of hatred to match other words and actions. Ours is to walk in the light of the Lord -- following God, the King of Glory, as God processes into this Kingdom bearing plowshares, pruning hooks, and instruments of peace.
There’s a well-known quote: “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” An example of a necessary use of words occurred on Friday night, November 18, 2016, when Vice-President-elect Mike Pence attended a performance of the Broadway musical Hamilton. At the close of the performance one of the actors called out to Pence with a message from the cast:
Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at Hamilton: An American Musical. We really do. We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us -- all of us. Again, we truly thank you for sharing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds, and orientations.
These are words of hope, sown in a message of peace -- albeit a challenging message. They don’t condemn, they don’t disparage, they don’t judge. They are a plea for light to be shown on the path walked by our future vice-president, for a light to shine favorably on the diversity of the American people whom Mr. Pence will soon lead. These words turn spears into pruning hooks. The cast members seek to sow seeds of peace.
Psalm 122 extends the imagery of following our King where Isaiah’s words leave off, inviting God’s people to “Go to the house of the Lord.” The house of the Lord identified by the psalmist is in Jerusalem. People are invited to move from the gates of the city into the temple, to God’s throne, where they worship and give praise to God.
Giving praise to God is central to the identity of God’s people. Numerous composers have set these words to magnificent and stately music, as befits a monarch. In fact, this text has been sung at the appearance of the British monarch at every coronation since Charles I in 1625. Perhaps the most familiar setting of Psalm 122 is Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry’s regal anthem “I Was Glad,” composed in 1902. The imperial tune evokes the imagery of God’s splendor, an image transferred onto the regal splendor of a crowned royal. Parry’s piece is often used for many royal services, including the weddings of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer as well as Prince William and Kate Middleton (where it served as the processional). While Parry’s setting evokes God’s regal splendor, Joe Pace sets Psalm 122 to a strong gospel style with the Colorado Mass Choir in “Let Us Go into the House.” The strains of this setting sing of a mighty God who stands on the side of God’s people. Singers offer praise, pray for peace and security, and seek guidance to live into God’s good. This song of praise offers a more accessible, singable, down-to-earth anthem that expresses the people’s celebration of God.
There is good news found in Psalm 122 -- assurance of a house to go to, a God to turn to in the midst of the craziness we’re steeped in these days. God’s people pray for peace, for God’s peace, and for security within God’s walls.
In Feasting on the Word [Year A, Vol. 1], p. 12, Christian Scharen writes: “The psalm seems to end as the flip side of a lament.” In a lament, one cries out against what is broken. Psalm 122 contains a cry out for what is right and what will be right again when God sets things right: “As we look at the sorrow of our world, its economic turmoil and ceaseless wars... we too cry out for the promised house of God, where [God’s people] find refuge and an image of a new shalom.”
The psalm begins and ends with the house of the Lord. God’s temple is there, on a great high mountain. On this first Sunday in Advent, God’s people look to God’s house on God’s mountain -- seeking hope, peace, justice, security. And as with the coming of Jesus, which we await in this season, we look (and work) toward the coming of God’s peace for all.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Romans 13:11-14
Rhythms of Life
“Now is the time to wake from sleep,” Paul writes to the faithful in Rome. “The day is near,” he urges them. Seeing, or sensing, the movement of time draws us into Advent, as we know that the time for Christ’s arrival is near. Wayne Muller writes that “Carolus Linnaeus, an 18th-century Swedish botanist, became so enamored with the rhythmicity that lives within the rhythms of plants that he deigned, planned, and grew a garden by which he could tell the time. He planted flowers that opened or closed their blossoms at specific intervals, precisely marking the hour, from morning to evening, throughout the day. All life vibrates to these inner rhythms. These daily rhythms guide most living things, and they often approximate a 24-hour cycle -- even when isolated in a laboratory. These circadian rhythms (from circa, ‘about,’ and dies, ‘daily’) live deep inside us all.”
Muller adds that this attunement to time is part of our very being, urging us that “if we take the time, if we listen with tremendous care, wonder, and awe to the symphony of the spheres, we too will hear those potent inner rhythms within us all speak to us, and tell us where we are, and where we may need to go. No matter, then, our 50- and 60-hour work weeks, this refusing to stop for lunch, the bypassing sleep and working deep into the darkness. If we stop, if we return, if we rest, our natural rhythms reassert themselves. Our fundamental wisdom, our self-correcting balance, they are with us always. They come to our aid, and can find, again, our way to all that is good, necessary, and true in our days, in our journey. There is within us something that Thomas Merton called a hidden wholeness. We can get frightened, we can work too hard and long, we can feel confused, and begin to lose our way. But we cannot ever be permanently seduced, entrained, or bullied out of our natural rhythm. It cannot be taken from us.”
Now is the time to wake up, and see what God is up to this Advent.
*****
Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Paying Attention
Writer Tom Chatfield says that we now live in an “attention economy,” and we -- our attention -- is a product to be sought and sold. Citing data from Upworthy, he says: “To be truly viral... content needs to make people want to click on it and share it with others who will also click and share. This means selecting stuff with instant appeal -- and then precisely calibrating the summary text, headline, excerpt, image, and tweet that will spread it.” Our attention is tracked, and coveted, but this economy focuses on quick bursts of attention. It doesn’t work for long periods of paying attention to one thing -- say, the expectation of God’s presence.
In this attention economy, attention “is an inert and finite resource, like oil or gold: a tradable asset that the wise manipulator auctions off to the highest bidder, or speculates upon to lucrative effect. There has even been talk of the world reaching ‘peak attention,’ by analogy to peak oil production, meaning the moment at which there is no more spare attention left to spend.”
In Advent, we are called to pay a different kind of attention to God. Chatfield reminds us that “in Latin, the verb attendere -- from which our word ‘attention’ derives -- literally means to stretch towards. A compound of ad (‘toward’) and tendere (‘to stretch’), it invokes an archetypal image: one person bending towards another in order to attend to them, both physically and mentally.” Advent invites us to bend toward God in ever deeper ways.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
Making Waiting Better
Best-selling author Gretchen Rubin, who writes about happiness, says that we can transform our experience of waiting. As we move into the practice of waiting this Advent, Rubin says we can make waiting a fruitful time. Rubin says: “Put the word ‘meditation’ after the activity that’s boring you.... If you’re impatient while waiting for the bus, tell yourself you’re doing ‘bus waiting meditation.’ If you’re standing in a slow line at the drugstore, you’re doing ‘waiting in line meditation.’ Just saying these words makes me feel very spiritual and high-minded and wise.” She adds another suggestion: “Dig in. As they say, if you can’t get out of it, get into it. Diane Arbus wrote, ‘The Chinese have a theory that you pass through boredom into fascination, and I think it’s true.’ If something is boring for two minutes, do it for four minutes. If it’s still boring, do it for eight minutes, then 16, and so on. Eventually, you discover that it’s not boring at all.” If we’re bored with waiting, the cure, it turns out, is to do more waiting.
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Frank Luntz, a political analyst for CBS and Fox News, was critical in the New York Times of both parties for conducting a vulgar presidential campaign. “The consequences?” Luntz wrote, “We the people, will suffer.” The citizens of our nation will suffer “because once you inject hyper-anger into a civil society, it is almost impossible to undo.” This has caused the vast majority of Americans to become “fed up with the partisan conflict and political gamesmanship.” His solution is that it now may be time for us to have an established third party.
Application: Isaiah put before the people not a message of partisan politics or gamesmanship, but one of peace and solidarity.
*****
Isaiah 2:1-5
Hillary Clinton was understandably distraught at losing the presidential election. When she addressed her supporters her eyes were wet with tears. She said the loss was “painful.” But she also asked her supporters to listen to her new mandate: “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”
Application: It was Isaiah’s hope that the people would listen to his words of the new mandate before the people.
*****
Isaiah 2:1-5
In an op-ed piece for the New York Times, Harry Belafonte wrote that he was not supportive of Donald Trump’s victory and the policy implications it will have for the country now and in the future. What was intriguing is how Belafonte, who is 89, introduced each of his points in the article -- he began each paragraph with the words “What old men know...”
Application: We would be wise to listen to the prophets of our age in the same way we are to listen to the prophet Isaiah as recorded in the scriptures.
*****
Isaiah 2:1-5
Evangelist Franklin Graham believes that God intervened in the last moment to have Donald Trump elected as president. Graham wrote, “I believe that in this election, God showed up.” Graham went on to say, “I believe that God’s hand intervened Tuesday night to stop the godless, atheistic progressive agenda from taking control of the country.”
Application: There are wise prophets we listen to like Isaiah, and others we dismiss for their lack of wisdom and their faulty assessment of the social environment.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
The 2016 presidential election offered a lesson for the news media -- and that is “don’t predict the future.” Going into the election Hillary Clinton was considered by most news outlets as the clear and undisputed winner. The New York Times website Upshot gave Clinton an 85% certainty of success on the day of the election, and only as the evening wore on and results came in did it declare the certain election of Donald Trump.
Application: Jesus was very clear that we will not know the day or the hour when he shall return.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
The 2016 presidential election offered a lesson for the news media -- and that is “don’t predict the future.” Going into the election, Hillary Clinton was widely expected to be the clear and undisputed winner. When it was learned that Donald Trump was going to be elected, Cecilia Vega of ABC News said: “I am sitting here surprised by the fact that we were surprised by this, in a campaign full of surprises.”
Application: Like in the days of Noah, everything will seem normal -- then Jesus will suddenly come in a day of surprises.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
Several articles in the New York Times discussed how, even though Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election, it was a historic time. Though the articles varied in content, there was one overriding theme -- that many women who voted recalled their mothers and grandmothers who were denied the constitutional right to vote. For these women to be able to vote for Clinton was a historic milestone. One article stated, “Women all across the country felt history tapping on their shoulders, propelling them out the door, following them into the voting booths. Just as casting a ballot for Barack Obama eight years ago felt like a turning point for African-Americans, so it was for women voting this time for Mrs. Clinton.”
Application: When Jesus returns, it will be a historic turning point. The question is: Will we be ready? The question is: Will we understand it for what it is?
*****
Thanksgiving
Norman Rockwell longed to use his artistic abilities to support the war effort during World War II. It was his desire to display the “big idea,” summarizing the ideal for which Americans were fighting. Months passed without an inspiring thought. Suddenly at 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 16, 1942, Rockwell sat bolt upright in bed with the answer. President Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, had pronounced “four essential human freedoms” that justified the nation’s engagement in armed conflict. Rockwell would place these four freedoms on canvas, translating the spoken ideology of the president into commonplace scenes everyone could understand. “Freedom of Speech” portrayed a man standing, speaking openly at a New England town meeting. “Freedom of Worship” depicted a group of people in prayer, each of a different faith. “Freedom from Fear” pictured two children being tucked into bed, safe and secure as their father held the evening paper with headlines reporting the bombing of Europe. “Freedom from Want” placed a multiple generational family around the Thanksgiving dinner table, prominently displaying a turkey upon which all would feast.
Application: During the season of Thanksgiving we recognize and celebrate our cherished freedoms. The public rejoices for the peace and prosperity that spans the country. Grateful for the civil liberties guaranteed every citizen, we respect our religious traditions and are mindful of the sacrifices made on our behalf.
*****
Thanksgiving
Patrick Henry stood at the third pew in St. John’s Church. He looked older than his 39 years, dressed in a black suit, adorned in a white scarf, wearing a wig common to his day. He spoke to the Richmond convention without notes, but it was obvious to all that his speech had been prepared beforehand. The Continental Congress convened in March 1775, debating if a militia should be organized to defend the colonies against the tyranny of King George III. It was the third day of the convention, and the representatives were still undecided. Many wanted to succumb to the rule of the monarch, even offering to write a letter of apology; others demanded to be self-governing. The burgess from Hanover spoke clearly, calling for the formation of a militia, challenging the delegates’ patriotism with these thunderous last words: “Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” Henry’s speech was greeted with a somber silence. Awed, no one applauded. The resolution passed and a militia was enlisted. Individuals standing forthright have guided America through the decades. Each patriot’s act of bravery has protected this nation’s sacred honor.
Application: The freedoms of the land prevail this day because of personal acts of heroism and sacrifice that were borne by previous generations of soldiers and civilians alike. It is a mantle that has been entrusted to us, and one that must be faithfully borne until passed onto the next. It for this that we celebrate Thanksgiving.
*****
Thanksgiving
Buoyed by the Union victory at Gettysburg, the 16th president of the United States acknowledged that one’s attention in a time of national turmoil must be directed heavenward, with a thankful and contrite spirit. Thus, on October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a “Proclamation of Thanksgiving” in which he summoned the nation to prayer with these words:
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
Application: Societies, the same as individuals, require a “moral compass” by which to govern public affairs and individual behavior. As accommodating as we desire to be of all religious orientations, a nation absent of true north will wander in the desert of despondency. This is why Thanksgiving is our only national religious holiday.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: With gladness we say, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
People: Our feet are standing within your gates, O God.
Leader: Jerusalem is built as a city that is bound firmly together.
People: To it the people go up to give thanks to the name of our God.
Leader: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all the cities of governments.
People: Peace and security be within your walls.
OR
Leader: May God be the judge of all the nations.
People: May God’s wisdom reign in the hearts of all rulers.
Leader: May we learn to turn our instruments of war into peaceful tools.
People: May we all produce work for the common good.
Leader: May war become a thing of the past.
People: May we all turn our hearts to peace.
(If you wish to use this as an Advent candle lighting piece, you may light the first candle as the people read the last line.)
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”
found in:
UMH: 203
H82: 616
AAHH: 187
NCH: 104
CH: 140
LBW: 87
ELA: 311
AMEC: 107
“I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELA: 815
W&P: 248
“Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates”
found in:
UMH: 213
H82: 436
PH: 8
NCH: 117
CH: 129
LBW: 32
W&P: 176
AMEC: 94
“The Voice of God Is Calling”
found in:
UMH: 436
(This is only in the United Methodist Hymnal, but it is such a fitting piece that you may want to have it sung or read as poetry even if you do not want to use it as a congregational piece.)
“All Who Love and Serve Your City”
found in:
UMH: 433
H82: 570, 571
CH: 670
LBW: 436
ELA: 724
W&P: 625
“Seek Ye First”
found in:
UMH: 405
H82: 711
PH: 333
CH: 354
W&P: 349
CCB: 76
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“Lord, Speak to Me”
found in:
UMH: 463
PH: 426
NCH: 531
ELA: 676
W&P: 593
“Arise, Shine”
found in:
CCB: 2
Renew: 123
“Holy Ground”
found in:
CCB: 5
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who enters into our world to bring peace: Grant us the grace to open our hearts to you and to all your children that we greet; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you love us enough to become one of us. Open our hearts and lives to your peaceful presence, that we may share your peace with others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to welcome the Christ into our hearts.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have come among us time and time again, and we have failed to recognize you or welcome you into our lives. We prefer to live to ourselves and our own ways. We ignore the way that leads to life, and choose instead the way of destruction. Reclaim us as your children, and so fill us with the Spirit of the Christ that may live out the reality of being children of the Most High God. Amen.
Leader: God’s love is ever new and ever renewing. Receive God’s love and forgiveness, and be a new creature in God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for your faithfulness in coming to us and guiding us into life.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have come among us time and time again, and we have failed to recognize you or welcome you into our lives. We prefer to live to ourselves and our own ways. We ignore the way that leads to life, and choose instead the way of destruction. Reclaim us as your children, and so fill us with the Spirit of the Christ that may live out the reality of being children of the Most High God.
We thank you for all the ways you have blessed us, and especially for your guiding presence in our lives. We thank you for those who have faithfully followed you and shown us the way of salvation.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for the needs of all creation. We pray that together we may find our way to peace and wholeness. We pray that divisions may cease and that we may accept each other as your children.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about how difficult it is to wait. We want things, and we want them right away. But anticipating is important, as it helps us get ready for something. Right now we are getting ready for Christmas. We are buying presents and decorating, but we also are getting our hearts ready for the Christ child.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Comp’ny’s Comin’!
by Dean Feldmeyer
Comp’ny’s comin’! Gotta clean
Everything that can be seen!
Dust the living room and then
Dust the family room and den.
Run the vacuum, mop the floor.
Sending Dad out to the store --
Bring back some delicious treats,
Ham and ’tatoes, and some sweets.
Comp’ny’s comin’! Change your clothes,
Put some powder on your nose.
Time to wear that brand-new dress.
Give that wrinkled shirt a press.
Fresh-cut flowers on the table,
Fresh baked bread if you are able.
Christmas day is drawing near,
Just a few days ’til he’s here.
Comp’ny’s comin’! Must behave.
Grandpa, don’t forget to shave.
Decorate the house with greens:
Christmas trees, and manger scenes.
Scrub our faces, brush our teeth,
Don’t forget to hang the wreath.
Everyone on best behavior,
Comp’ny’s comin’. Christ the Savior.
I don’t know about you, but when company is coming to our house we go crazy. We clean stuff that hasn’t been cleaned in about a hundred years. We go to the grocery store and buy food for our guests that we would never buy for ourselves. We put on nice clothes and we spray stuff around the house to make it smell nice.
Why do we do all that? Well, there are probably lots of reasons -- but one of the most important is that we want our guests to know that they are special to us. We want them to know that they are important to us, so we go out of our way to make sure that things are nice when they get here.
Well, you know what? Company’s coming to our church. He’ll be here in about four weeks, and we have only four Sundays to prepare for his arrival. Today is the first Sunday. That’s why we are putting up special decorations.
Do you know who that special company that is coming to our church is? That’s right, it’s Jesus! And do you know when we celebrate his arrival? That’s right, on Christmas.
So he’ll be here in just four short weeks. Hey, we better get busy so we’re ready for him to arrive, okay?
Company’s coming. It’s time to clean up our house of worship -- and time to clean up our lives. Company’s coming, and it’s Jesus Christ, the newborn king. He’s on his way. Are we going to be ready for when he gets here?
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 27, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Team member Beth Herrinton-Hodge shares some additional thoughts on the imagery in the Isaiah text and Psalm 122, and how they call us away from despair by offering hopeful visions of turning implements of war into peaceful tools, and of the splendor of God’s house. Taken together, Beth notes, they are a powerful reminder not to get caught up in the cares and worries of our temporal existence; instead, we have a great deal to look forward to as we await the coming of the Christ child and of God’s kingdom -- a realm that is inclusive for all.
Something’s Coming
by Chris Keating
Romans 13:11-14; Psalm 122
The days are surely coming when leftovers will fill the refrigerator and people will be nursing the after-effects of Black Friday sleep deprivation. Yea, verily, football will be splashed across the screen and families shall rise up against families, uncles against nephews, and in-laws against in-laws. Debates about the Electoral College will be heard in all the land, and red-state cousins shall sleep on the sofa beds of their blue-state kin.
For the sake of our families we will join in prayer, perhaps using the words of the psalmist: “Peace be within your walls.” Something’s coming -- but we’re not exactly sure what it is.
As portrayed by “Welcome to My Couch,” the Holderness Family’s hysterical parody video of FloRida’s “Welcome to My House,” the divisions can erupt at any moment. Some may honor a Thanksgiving truce, while others may find the holiday dinner to be as inviting as the DMZ. Many have anticipated icy moments this season as fights initiated on Facebook are carried over to face-to-face gatherings.
Our world is divided, and it’s not just over what type of cranberry sauce should be served.
Following the election, noted Jake Silverstein in the New York Times magazine, Americans began wondering if the words to Woody Guthrie’s classic song “This Land Is Your Land” still applied. It’s possible that the divisions even extend to Trump Tower, where rumors circulated about a chaotic scrambling for power among the president-elect’s transition team. One adviser called it “an absolute knife fight,” though Donald Trump downplayed reports of jockeying for power.
Ultimately, our feisty feasting and ever-deepening wounds may only distract us from the hope-filled message of Advent. Paul warns the Romans to take note of what time it is. He chides them to put aside the works of darkness and to take on the armor of light. The lesson for Advent seems clear: now is the time to set aside quarreling and prepare instead for God’s unexpected arrival.
It’s a message, as lyricist Stephen Sondheim wrote in West Side Story, that declares “with a click, with a shock, phone’ll jingle, door will knock... something’s coming.”
Something’s coming -- and now is the time to get ready.
In the News
Topping the list of what is coming soon, of course, is a new presidential administration. Transitioning from campaigning to governing has proven a bit uneven for Donald Trump. Some call it a Trump-branded beauty pageant. Indeed, finalists for jobs paraded in and out of Trump’s New Jersey golf club last weekend, adding to the roster of hopefuls who have been observed dropping by Trump Tower in Manhattan. Contenders made their appearances, departing with little or no comment from the president-elect.
The Trump Tower parade has become a spectacle somewhat akin to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, with a motley cast of characters making cameo appearances, including Trump loyalist Rudy Giuliani, former adversary Mitt Romney, and even a Bernie Sanders supporter (Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard).
Despite furtive nods to diversity, so far the administration seems to be shaping up to be rather white and male. Some suggest the turmoil inside Trump Tower has been something along the lines of a “total sausagefest.” There have been reports of infighting, and concerns about Trump’s ability to isolate his business projects from government. Rumors of quarrels prompted comic Seth Meyers to joke that “the world has gone insane when Glenn Beck and Bernie Sanders are on the same page.” He added, “So all we know so far about Trump’s transition is that there’s infighting among his advisers, and there may not be a firm division between his presidency and his business.”
Meanwhile, over at CBS Stephen Colbert lampooned two of Trump’s advisers -- chief of staff Reince Priebus and strategist Steve Bannon -- in a parody of The Odd Couple. Whether these are growing pains for a new administration or harbingers of Trump’s presidential style is unclear. What is clear is that something is coming.
But what?
In typical Trump style, the process is quite different from previous administrations. Gone is the even-handed and orderly vetting of potential officeholders which characterized the Obama and Bush administrations. As one Republican strategist noted, “Trump does things Trump’s way.”
While Trump has been trying to convince the country that a fresh start is needed to heal divisions, Steve Bannon’s appointment seems to suggest that the administration will be marked instead by ongoing factious behavior. Bannon and Priebus notably tussled throughout the campaign, and there are suggestions Trump would have preferred giving the chief of staff position to Bannon. Much like families divided by politics and religion, Trump’s West Wing is shaping up to be an arena ripe for rivalry and bickering.
It’s like imagining Jed Bartlett and Frank Underwood battling it out on The Celebrity Apprentice. Stay tuned, America!
Fractures and fault lines are not unique to Trump’s team, however. The divisive character of this year’s election cycle continues to foment and gather storm -- just in time for family get-togethers. Turkeys won’t be alone in feeling the heat this holiday season. More and more families are expressing concerns about maintaining peace around holiday tables. Some homes have declared a “no-politics zone” for the holidays.
Pass the stuffing, sample the cranberry sauce, but please skip diatribes about your team’s success or the other person’s failings. It’s a debate that is carved deep into the bone, according to the Miami Herald. “You want to talk about Thanksgiving dinner? Are you gonna use my name? No? Then I’m going into therapy mode!” said a Miami businesswoman. She then recited a list of worries about an upcoming meal with her pro-Clinton sisters and a group of Trump-leaning siblings.
Divisions between families are nothing new, but some see the current political atmosphere as especially volatile. The New York Times noted that much of this is the result of ever-widening political and cultural gaps within the nation. “If you went to Thanksgiving dinner 50 years ago, you’d be very likely to have dinner with people from a different walk of life,” said Robert D. Putnam, a Harvard professor and prominent sociologist. “Today, there are far fewer people who are different from us around that table.”
So, not just reveling and drunkenness but also quarreling and jealousy -- all of it signs of the difference between Advent’s hopeful anticipation and the imagining of a God’s future, and a persistent inclination to live according to what Paul describes as “the flesh.” Social media plays a role, as well, with families “unfriending” each other and even blocking relatives with different worldviews.
Something is indeed coming. Let’s hope it’s not a lap full of hot gravy courtesy of your uncle whose sees the world differently from you.
In the Scriptures
Like a little boy bursting into his parents’ bedroom on Christmas morning, Paul leads the parade into Advent in Romans 13 with the bold declaration “It’s time to get up!” Get moving, sleepyheads! He clangs the pots together and whistles at the top of his lungs. It’s the time to get going! The moment has arrived.
Christians understand that Advent appropriately begins with strong eschatological notes that provide an important corrective to the culture’s headlong plunge into Christmas. This is no time to savor spiced lattes, Paul suggests. Don’t worry about plugging in the new LED “Star Shower” and giant blow-up Snoopy yard decoration. Instead, “the night is far gone, the day is near.”
Paul chooses his words carefully, and this section is replete with concise imagery. Focus on what truly matters. Get dressed, and stop doing things that do no good. “Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul argues that the unexpected coming of Christ demands that our lives be reshaped accordingly. Something is indeed about to happen. For Paul, this means living as faithful disciples who understand that our lives have been changed by baptism. It’s time to take off the loungewear and exchange it instead for “the armor of light” befitting disciples.
David Bartlett (in Romans [Westminster Bible Companion]) shows how Paul’s words are marinated in baptismal imagery. He suggests that this would be familiar territory for the Roman Christians. They could well remember putting on baptismal robes, shedding the garments of their old life as they were immersed in Christ’s death and resurrection. The white robes signaled their adoption into the body of Christ. Clothed in righteousness, the disciple is enabled to live for Christ, making “no provision for the flesh.”
As Bartlett observes, “flesh” is not meant as a sexual reference but rather as a sign of the old age, the inky-dark night which has been transformed into the brightness of Christ-filled daylight. The text underscores the importance of transformed relationships -- as the believer is transformed by Christ, so too is the believer called to live in new ways.
Examining the text’s context yields clues about the shape of this new life. The believer is called to a stance of active hopefulness. In contrast to lifestyles promoting selfish and licentiousness, the Christian life is one oriented toward fulfilling the commandments (cf. 13:8-10), and welcoming those weak in faith (14:1). It is a life lived to the Lord (14:8), accountable solely to God.
Other behavior is distracting and unhelpful. Paul points to a vital and growing relationship between the believer and God that understands faith hardened by eschatological longing. Faith is a journey shaped by a sense that the day of salvation is growing closer and closer every day. Paul’s words exude deep urgency.
Get going. Wake up, wipe away the crusty sleep crystals from your eyes. Shed the outgrown clothes that are no longer helpful, and instead “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the Sermon
When it comes to Advent preaching, contextual awareness is essential. For example, the preacher who thinks a sermon about not gratifying the desires of the flesh or engaging in “reveling and drunkenness” and “debauchery and licentiousness” would be appropriate on a Sunday when college students are home for the first time might want to proceed with caution.
So, avoid the temptation to scold and point fingers. Instead, look carefully at the eschatological wrapping paper surrounding this text. Where do our congregations need hope? Where do the disappointed millennials need encouragement? There is an intense yearning for hope in our pews this season, and it comes from both ends of the political spectrum.
There are concerns from LGBT individuals that the new administration will scale back gains they have achieved. But there are also concerns from those who feel that the migration of jobs to other countries has cost them dearly. Both groups are afraid, and both may be feeling as though they are sleeping through a nightmare that will not end.
What would it be like for both sides to hear that daylight is dawning? It comes, says Paul, not through political policies, but by the grace of God that does no wrong to the neighbor. The night is far gone, the day is near, and it is time to live honorably with each other.
Advent is chock full of anxieties, expectations, and deeply scripted family roles. It can feel like a slog at times, but if we listen to Paul, we will remember that we know that the false expectations of society have no lasting grip on us. We know what time it is. Forget about wearing that ugly Christmas sweater and put on the baptismal garments.
Something’s coming.
As our families gear up for the non-stop freneticism which defines our holiday season, how can we help them explore what time it is? Likewise, how is that we can provide words of hope to families who have been living with the stress and strain of competing political and world views? What reminders can we offer this Advent season? Perhaps all of us need reminders that daylight has arrived. It’s time to put away unhealthy and self-centered patterns of relating.
Something’s coming, and it will be here sooner than we think.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Beth Herrinton-Hodge
Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122
Like many, I continue to despair over the results of the recent election. In my view, white Christian America has appeared to sell out its morals to the promises of a “Fifth Avenue tycoon” who has no history and little inclination to uphold the Godly vision of peace for creation and for people.
Standing on the first Sunday of a new liturgical year, we receive a word of hope, a promise that God’s kingdom transcends the reality we face in our nation, in our communities, in our churches, and in our homes.
Isaiah “sees” it in Isaiah 2 -- God’s word is to a battered and divided Israel. In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain, rising above all hills -- God resides there, above the fray, surpassing the mess we live in. Yet not unaware, not isolated from creation, God resides on this mountain.
Come, let us go there... let nations stream to the mountain of God.
Let us look beyond the intra-continental squabbles that embroil us -- look up, look higher. Let us climb that mountain with our sights set on God, that we may teach God’s ways and walk God’s paths.
Can’t you see it? Throngs of people streaming toward God’s mountain, like the Million Man March or the March on Washington, people packed together and moving in the same direction -- toward God, toward peace, toward justice.
Isaiah’s vision calls me beyond my despair. It reminds me that there is something bigger, better, truer beyond the predicament I despair these days. The word of God, the promises of God, point to a different reality beyond the challenges of these days.
“God’s promises always looks toward fulfillment” writes Noel Leo Erskine in Feasting on the Word [Year A, Vol. 1], p. 2. Do God’s people look toward this fulfillment as well?
Beyond the despair of today, God’s promise from Isaiah’s vision is for a new future: “A break, a discontinuity with the ways things are.” God will judge between nations. God will arbitrate for many peoples. People will beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
Our actions in the world, toward God’s promises, are to transform the weapons of war -- estrangement, racism, sexism, misogyny, discrimination, oppression, mocking, hatred, mistrust, fear, and despair -- into tools of provision. Plowshares and pruning hooks are instruments used for farming, planting, cultivating food to sustain.
Our call is not to raise swords to fight against this present reality, nor to sow seeds of hatred to match other words and actions. Ours is to walk in the light of the Lord -- following God, the King of Glory, as God processes into this Kingdom bearing plowshares, pruning hooks, and instruments of peace.
There’s a well-known quote: “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” An example of a necessary use of words occurred on Friday night, November 18, 2016, when Vice-President-elect Mike Pence attended a performance of the Broadway musical Hamilton. At the close of the performance one of the actors called out to Pence with a message from the cast:
Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at Hamilton: An American Musical. We really do. We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us -- all of us. Again, we truly thank you for sharing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds, and orientations.
These are words of hope, sown in a message of peace -- albeit a challenging message. They don’t condemn, they don’t disparage, they don’t judge. They are a plea for light to be shown on the path walked by our future vice-president, for a light to shine favorably on the diversity of the American people whom Mr. Pence will soon lead. These words turn spears into pruning hooks. The cast members seek to sow seeds of peace.
Psalm 122 extends the imagery of following our King where Isaiah’s words leave off, inviting God’s people to “Go to the house of the Lord.” The house of the Lord identified by the psalmist is in Jerusalem. People are invited to move from the gates of the city into the temple, to God’s throne, where they worship and give praise to God.
Giving praise to God is central to the identity of God’s people. Numerous composers have set these words to magnificent and stately music, as befits a monarch. In fact, this text has been sung at the appearance of the British monarch at every coronation since Charles I in 1625. Perhaps the most familiar setting of Psalm 122 is Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry’s regal anthem “I Was Glad,” composed in 1902. The imperial tune evokes the imagery of God’s splendor, an image transferred onto the regal splendor of a crowned royal. Parry’s piece is often used for many royal services, including the weddings of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer as well as Prince William and Kate Middleton (where it served as the processional). While Parry’s setting evokes God’s regal splendor, Joe Pace sets Psalm 122 to a strong gospel style with the Colorado Mass Choir in “Let Us Go into the House.” The strains of this setting sing of a mighty God who stands on the side of God’s people. Singers offer praise, pray for peace and security, and seek guidance to live into God’s good. This song of praise offers a more accessible, singable, down-to-earth anthem that expresses the people’s celebration of God.
There is good news found in Psalm 122 -- assurance of a house to go to, a God to turn to in the midst of the craziness we’re steeped in these days. God’s people pray for peace, for God’s peace, and for security within God’s walls.
In Feasting on the Word [Year A, Vol. 1], p. 12, Christian Scharen writes: “The psalm seems to end as the flip side of a lament.” In a lament, one cries out against what is broken. Psalm 122 contains a cry out for what is right and what will be right again when God sets things right: “As we look at the sorrow of our world, its economic turmoil and ceaseless wars... we too cry out for the promised house of God, where [God’s people] find refuge and an image of a new shalom.”
The psalm begins and ends with the house of the Lord. God’s temple is there, on a great high mountain. On this first Sunday in Advent, God’s people look to God’s house on God’s mountain -- seeking hope, peace, justice, security. And as with the coming of Jesus, which we await in this season, we look (and work) toward the coming of God’s peace for all.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Romans 13:11-14
Rhythms of Life
“Now is the time to wake from sleep,” Paul writes to the faithful in Rome. “The day is near,” he urges them. Seeing, or sensing, the movement of time draws us into Advent, as we know that the time for Christ’s arrival is near. Wayne Muller writes that “Carolus Linnaeus, an 18th-century Swedish botanist, became so enamored with the rhythmicity that lives within the rhythms of plants that he deigned, planned, and grew a garden by which he could tell the time. He planted flowers that opened or closed their blossoms at specific intervals, precisely marking the hour, from morning to evening, throughout the day. All life vibrates to these inner rhythms. These daily rhythms guide most living things, and they often approximate a 24-hour cycle -- even when isolated in a laboratory. These circadian rhythms (from circa, ‘about,’ and dies, ‘daily’) live deep inside us all.”
Muller adds that this attunement to time is part of our very being, urging us that “if we take the time, if we listen with tremendous care, wonder, and awe to the symphony of the spheres, we too will hear those potent inner rhythms within us all speak to us, and tell us where we are, and where we may need to go. No matter, then, our 50- and 60-hour work weeks, this refusing to stop for lunch, the bypassing sleep and working deep into the darkness. If we stop, if we return, if we rest, our natural rhythms reassert themselves. Our fundamental wisdom, our self-correcting balance, they are with us always. They come to our aid, and can find, again, our way to all that is good, necessary, and true in our days, in our journey. There is within us something that Thomas Merton called a hidden wholeness. We can get frightened, we can work too hard and long, we can feel confused, and begin to lose our way. But we cannot ever be permanently seduced, entrained, or bullied out of our natural rhythm. It cannot be taken from us.”
Now is the time to wake up, and see what God is up to this Advent.
*****
Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Paying Attention
Writer Tom Chatfield says that we now live in an “attention economy,” and we -- our attention -- is a product to be sought and sold. Citing data from Upworthy, he says: “To be truly viral... content needs to make people want to click on it and share it with others who will also click and share. This means selecting stuff with instant appeal -- and then precisely calibrating the summary text, headline, excerpt, image, and tweet that will spread it.” Our attention is tracked, and coveted, but this economy focuses on quick bursts of attention. It doesn’t work for long periods of paying attention to one thing -- say, the expectation of God’s presence.
In this attention economy, attention “is an inert and finite resource, like oil or gold: a tradable asset that the wise manipulator auctions off to the highest bidder, or speculates upon to lucrative effect. There has even been talk of the world reaching ‘peak attention,’ by analogy to peak oil production, meaning the moment at which there is no more spare attention left to spend.”
In Advent, we are called to pay a different kind of attention to God. Chatfield reminds us that “in Latin, the verb attendere -- from which our word ‘attention’ derives -- literally means to stretch towards. A compound of ad (‘toward’) and tendere (‘to stretch’), it invokes an archetypal image: one person bending towards another in order to attend to them, both physically and mentally.” Advent invites us to bend toward God in ever deeper ways.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
Making Waiting Better
Best-selling author Gretchen Rubin, who writes about happiness, says that we can transform our experience of waiting. As we move into the practice of waiting this Advent, Rubin says we can make waiting a fruitful time. Rubin says: “Put the word ‘meditation’ after the activity that’s boring you.... If you’re impatient while waiting for the bus, tell yourself you’re doing ‘bus waiting meditation.’ If you’re standing in a slow line at the drugstore, you’re doing ‘waiting in line meditation.’ Just saying these words makes me feel very spiritual and high-minded and wise.” She adds another suggestion: “Dig in. As they say, if you can’t get out of it, get into it. Diane Arbus wrote, ‘The Chinese have a theory that you pass through boredom into fascination, and I think it’s true.’ If something is boring for two minutes, do it for four minutes. If it’s still boring, do it for eight minutes, then 16, and so on. Eventually, you discover that it’s not boring at all.” If we’re bored with waiting, the cure, it turns out, is to do more waiting.
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Frank Luntz, a political analyst for CBS and Fox News, was critical in the New York Times of both parties for conducting a vulgar presidential campaign. “The consequences?” Luntz wrote, “We the people, will suffer.” The citizens of our nation will suffer “because once you inject hyper-anger into a civil society, it is almost impossible to undo.” This has caused the vast majority of Americans to become “fed up with the partisan conflict and political gamesmanship.” His solution is that it now may be time for us to have an established third party.
Application: Isaiah put before the people not a message of partisan politics or gamesmanship, but one of peace and solidarity.
*****
Isaiah 2:1-5
Hillary Clinton was understandably distraught at losing the presidential election. When she addressed her supporters her eyes were wet with tears. She said the loss was “painful.” But she also asked her supporters to listen to her new mandate: “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”
Application: It was Isaiah’s hope that the people would listen to his words of the new mandate before the people.
*****
Isaiah 2:1-5
In an op-ed piece for the New York Times, Harry Belafonte wrote that he was not supportive of Donald Trump’s victory and the policy implications it will have for the country now and in the future. What was intriguing is how Belafonte, who is 89, introduced each of his points in the article -- he began each paragraph with the words “What old men know...”
Application: We would be wise to listen to the prophets of our age in the same way we are to listen to the prophet Isaiah as recorded in the scriptures.
*****
Isaiah 2:1-5
Evangelist Franklin Graham believes that God intervened in the last moment to have Donald Trump elected as president. Graham wrote, “I believe that in this election, God showed up.” Graham went on to say, “I believe that God’s hand intervened Tuesday night to stop the godless, atheistic progressive agenda from taking control of the country.”
Application: There are wise prophets we listen to like Isaiah, and others we dismiss for their lack of wisdom and their faulty assessment of the social environment.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
The 2016 presidential election offered a lesson for the news media -- and that is “don’t predict the future.” Going into the election Hillary Clinton was considered by most news outlets as the clear and undisputed winner. The New York Times website Upshot gave Clinton an 85% certainty of success on the day of the election, and only as the evening wore on and results came in did it declare the certain election of Donald Trump.
Application: Jesus was very clear that we will not know the day or the hour when he shall return.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
The 2016 presidential election offered a lesson for the news media -- and that is “don’t predict the future.” Going into the election, Hillary Clinton was widely expected to be the clear and undisputed winner. When it was learned that Donald Trump was going to be elected, Cecilia Vega of ABC News said: “I am sitting here surprised by the fact that we were surprised by this, in a campaign full of surprises.”
Application: Like in the days of Noah, everything will seem normal -- then Jesus will suddenly come in a day of surprises.
*****
Matthew 24:36-44
Several articles in the New York Times discussed how, even though Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election, it was a historic time. Though the articles varied in content, there was one overriding theme -- that many women who voted recalled their mothers and grandmothers who were denied the constitutional right to vote. For these women to be able to vote for Clinton was a historic milestone. One article stated, “Women all across the country felt history tapping on their shoulders, propelling them out the door, following them into the voting booths. Just as casting a ballot for Barack Obama eight years ago felt like a turning point for African-Americans, so it was for women voting this time for Mrs. Clinton.”
Application: When Jesus returns, it will be a historic turning point. The question is: Will we be ready? The question is: Will we understand it for what it is?
*****
Thanksgiving
Norman Rockwell longed to use his artistic abilities to support the war effort during World War II. It was his desire to display the “big idea,” summarizing the ideal for which Americans were fighting. Months passed without an inspiring thought. Suddenly at 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 16, 1942, Rockwell sat bolt upright in bed with the answer. President Roosevelt, in his State of the Union address, had pronounced “four essential human freedoms” that justified the nation’s engagement in armed conflict. Rockwell would place these four freedoms on canvas, translating the spoken ideology of the president into commonplace scenes everyone could understand. “Freedom of Speech” portrayed a man standing, speaking openly at a New England town meeting. “Freedom of Worship” depicted a group of people in prayer, each of a different faith. “Freedom from Fear” pictured two children being tucked into bed, safe and secure as their father held the evening paper with headlines reporting the bombing of Europe. “Freedom from Want” placed a multiple generational family around the Thanksgiving dinner table, prominently displaying a turkey upon which all would feast.
Application: During the season of Thanksgiving we recognize and celebrate our cherished freedoms. The public rejoices for the peace and prosperity that spans the country. Grateful for the civil liberties guaranteed every citizen, we respect our religious traditions and are mindful of the sacrifices made on our behalf.
*****
Thanksgiving
Patrick Henry stood at the third pew in St. John’s Church. He looked older than his 39 years, dressed in a black suit, adorned in a white scarf, wearing a wig common to his day. He spoke to the Richmond convention without notes, but it was obvious to all that his speech had been prepared beforehand. The Continental Congress convened in March 1775, debating if a militia should be organized to defend the colonies against the tyranny of King George III. It was the third day of the convention, and the representatives were still undecided. Many wanted to succumb to the rule of the monarch, even offering to write a letter of apology; others demanded to be self-governing. The burgess from Hanover spoke clearly, calling for the formation of a militia, challenging the delegates’ patriotism with these thunderous last words: “Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” Henry’s speech was greeted with a somber silence. Awed, no one applauded. The resolution passed and a militia was enlisted. Individuals standing forthright have guided America through the decades. Each patriot’s act of bravery has protected this nation’s sacred honor.
Application: The freedoms of the land prevail this day because of personal acts of heroism and sacrifice that were borne by previous generations of soldiers and civilians alike. It is a mantle that has been entrusted to us, and one that must be faithfully borne until passed onto the next. It for this that we celebrate Thanksgiving.
*****
Thanksgiving
Buoyed by the Union victory at Gettysburg, the 16th president of the United States acknowledged that one’s attention in a time of national turmoil must be directed heavenward, with a thankful and contrite spirit. Thus, on October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a “Proclamation of Thanksgiving” in which he summoned the nation to prayer with these words:
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
Application: Societies, the same as individuals, require a “moral compass” by which to govern public affairs and individual behavior. As accommodating as we desire to be of all religious orientations, a nation absent of true north will wander in the desert of despondency. This is why Thanksgiving is our only national religious holiday.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: With gladness we say, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
People: Our feet are standing within your gates, O God.
Leader: Jerusalem is built as a city that is bound firmly together.
People: To it the people go up to give thanks to the name of our God.
Leader: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all the cities of governments.
People: Peace and security be within your walls.
OR
Leader: May God be the judge of all the nations.
People: May God’s wisdom reign in the hearts of all rulers.
Leader: May we learn to turn our instruments of war into peaceful tools.
People: May we all produce work for the common good.
Leader: May war become a thing of the past.
People: May we all turn our hearts to peace.
(If you wish to use this as an Advent candle lighting piece, you may light the first candle as the people read the last line.)
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”
found in:
UMH: 203
H82: 616
AAHH: 187
NCH: 104
CH: 140
LBW: 87
ELA: 311
AMEC: 107
“I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”
found in:
UMH: 206
H82: 490
ELA: 815
W&P: 248
“Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates”
found in:
UMH: 213
H82: 436
PH: 8
NCH: 117
CH: 129
LBW: 32
W&P: 176
AMEC: 94
“The Voice of God Is Calling”
found in:
UMH: 436
(This is only in the United Methodist Hymnal, but it is such a fitting piece that you may want to have it sung or read as poetry even if you do not want to use it as a congregational piece.)
“All Who Love and Serve Your City”
found in:
UMH: 433
H82: 570, 571
CH: 670
LBW: 436
ELA: 724
W&P: 625
“Seek Ye First”
found in:
UMH: 405
H82: 711
PH: 333
CH: 354
W&P: 349
CCB: 76
“Open My Eyes, That I May See”
found in:
UMH: 454
PH: 324
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
“Lord, Speak to Me”
found in:
UMH: 463
PH: 426
NCH: 531
ELA: 676
W&P: 593
“Arise, Shine”
found in:
CCB: 2
Renew: 123
“Holy Ground”
found in:
CCB: 5
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who enters into our world to bring peace: Grant us the grace to open our hearts to you and to all your children that we greet; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you love us enough to become one of us. Open our hearts and lives to your peaceful presence, that we may share your peace with others. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially our failure to welcome the Christ into our hearts.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have come among us time and time again, and we have failed to recognize you or welcome you into our lives. We prefer to live to ourselves and our own ways. We ignore the way that leads to life, and choose instead the way of destruction. Reclaim us as your children, and so fill us with the Spirit of the Christ that may live out the reality of being children of the Most High God. Amen.
Leader: God’s love is ever new and ever renewing. Receive God’s love and forgiveness, and be a new creature in God.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for your faithfulness in coming to us and guiding us into life.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have come among us time and time again, and we have failed to recognize you or welcome you into our lives. We prefer to live to ourselves and our own ways. We ignore the way that leads to life, and choose instead the way of destruction. Reclaim us as your children, and so fill us with the Spirit of the Christ that may live out the reality of being children of the Most High God.
We thank you for all the ways you have blessed us, and especially for your guiding presence in our lives. We thank you for those who have faithfully followed you and shown us the way of salvation.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for the needs of all creation. We pray that together we may find our way to peace and wholeness. We pray that divisions may cease and that we may accept each other as your children.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about how difficult it is to wait. We want things, and we want them right away. But anticipating is important, as it helps us get ready for something. Right now we are getting ready for Christmas. We are buying presents and decorating, but we also are getting our hearts ready for the Christ child.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Comp’ny’s Comin’!
by Dean Feldmeyer
Comp’ny’s comin’! Gotta clean
Everything that can be seen!
Dust the living room and then
Dust the family room and den.
Run the vacuum, mop the floor.
Sending Dad out to the store --
Bring back some delicious treats,
Ham and ’tatoes, and some sweets.
Comp’ny’s comin’! Change your clothes,
Put some powder on your nose.
Time to wear that brand-new dress.
Give that wrinkled shirt a press.
Fresh-cut flowers on the table,
Fresh baked bread if you are able.
Christmas day is drawing near,
Just a few days ’til he’s here.
Comp’ny’s comin’! Must behave.
Grandpa, don’t forget to shave.
Decorate the house with greens:
Christmas trees, and manger scenes.
Scrub our faces, brush our teeth,
Don’t forget to hang the wreath.
Everyone on best behavior,
Comp’ny’s comin’. Christ the Savior.
I don’t know about you, but when company is coming to our house we go crazy. We clean stuff that hasn’t been cleaned in about a hundred years. We go to the grocery store and buy food for our guests that we would never buy for ourselves. We put on nice clothes and we spray stuff around the house to make it smell nice.
Why do we do all that? Well, there are probably lots of reasons -- but one of the most important is that we want our guests to know that they are special to us. We want them to know that they are important to us, so we go out of our way to make sure that things are nice when they get here.
Well, you know what? Company’s coming to our church. He’ll be here in about four weeks, and we have only four Sundays to prepare for his arrival. Today is the first Sunday. That’s why we are putting up special decorations.
Do you know who that special company that is coming to our church is? That’s right, it’s Jesus! And do you know when we celebrate his arrival? That’s right, on Christmas.
So he’ll be here in just four short weeks. Hey, we better get busy so we’re ready for him to arrive, okay?
Company’s coming. It’s time to clean up our house of worship -- and time to clean up our lives. Company’s coming, and it’s Jesus Christ, the newborn king. He’s on his way. Are we going to be ready for when he gets here?
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, November 27, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
