So…be honest….how many of you enjoy coming to church? I mean, really
enjoy waking up and getting ready for to come to church? If you have kids, you
know that this is a weekly struggle of getting them roused and out of bed,
dressed to be somewhat acceptable for societal standards and then throw some
breakfast down them and throw them in the car to get them to church on
time.
In my house, Sunday
morning normally begins something like this:
Me: Owen…wake up.
Owen: uhhhhhhh…….(rolls
back to bed)
Me: Owen…WAKE UP!!!! We
have to go to church!
Owen: uhhhhh……..why do
we have to go to church?
Me: Because God said so!
Owen: I don’t want to go to church!
Me: I don’t care what
you want to do….you are going to church! Now GET UP!!!!
So, this conversation probably
sounds familiar in your household.
Church has never been a place that most people have bounded out of bed
and headed towards. Even time is
different at church. I can watch a movie
and it feels like no time has passed at all, but a 15 minute sermon….oh my!
In a lot of ways, I can
sympathize with kids…and others…that don’t find church enjoyable. Growing up, I never wanted to go to
church. Of course, I was an atheist, so
maybe that had something to do with it.
I remember one Christmas when my friend really wanted to bring me to
church. He mustered all his nerve up to
ask me to go to church. When he finally
did, I simply responded by saying, “Church? Church? It’s Christmas Eve, why
would I want to go to church?” (Irony is not lost on me now)
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| Most of us are probably not morning people... |
My attitude was a long
way from the Psalmist’s attitude: “I was glad when they said to me, let us go
up to the House of the Lord.” Glad? As a kid, I never went to church gladly. I always resentfully and never found it
joyful….simply boring. I mean, after
all…what does the Church have to say to me? To us? To the World? Anything? What
can the Church offer?
This really is the
question that the Church asks itself again at the beginning of Advent. As we begin a new year, the church asks
itself, “why do we exist? Do we have any meaning? Is there a purpose to
this?” In the midst of the holiday
season, after the busyness of the year, the Church often forgets why we are
here and what we are about.
It’s almost like every
Advent, the Church needs to be reminded about its purpose, its vision and its
destination.
That’s why Advent starts
off with these magisterial images of a new world. Isaiah kicks off our new year with a vision
of a different world…a world renewed…a world changed…by God.
In days to come the mountains of the Lord’s house shall be established
as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the
nations shall stream to it. Many peoples
shall come and say, ‘come let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house
of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in its
paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall
arbitrate for many peoples. They shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn for war
anymore.” (Isaiah 2:2-4 NRSV).
Now talk about an
unbelievable picture! Not only will there be world peace…but people will
ask…and WANT to go to CHURCH! Seriously,
though, we see that the world is to be transformed into a different
place…different from the one we know…the one filled with anger and violence,
warfare and strife. It sounds almost too
good to be true. But it’s not…it’s the
Gospel in action.
Isaiah’s vision is meant
to inspire the people of Israel…and the world…to look forward to a new
dawn. The time of Advent is a time to
refocus on where we are going as a people.
We have been wearied by reports of World events…of wars and rumors of
war…that it is hard for us to imagine that anything else could be
different. One of the reasons perhaps
that many people find church ‘boring’ is because we have forgotten this vision
of where we are going. We have forgotten
the message that we are supposed to be living out. We have forgotten to offer people the very
thing they are looking for: peace.
The vision of Isaiah
offers something completely different than anything the world can offer. We often speak of ‘peace’ in political terms.
And while the vision definitely
encapsulates this, it is much more expansive than this. It is for the Hebrew word ~wlv that captures the sense
here. This means ‘completeness’ or
‘wholeness.’ People will be so at peace
that disarmament will be an individual project, where people will give up their
weapons and contribute to the common good by providing food for all.
But how is this supposed to come
about? We sometimes read a passage like
this and we think that this is going to happen overnight, as if we don’t have
to do anything. We can sit back and let
nature take its course and peace will magically appear. But that’s not how it happens, is it? This vision of Isaiah is the destination to
which we are heading. It is God’s promise, but the way we get there is to live
ourselves into it.
That is why Paul, in his letters to
the Romans, tells people to ‘wake up.’ “you
know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep’ (Rom
13:11 NRSV). What does he mean by this?
Paul declares that it is a ‘new day’
and because of this new day, people are changed people. What is remarkable is that even in the midst
of preaching the gospel of grace, Paul declares the ethical imperative for the
people to enact the gospel promises of peace. We are to become ‘peace’ people…a
community of Shalom. We are to ‘walk in
the light’ and to encourage others to live into the gospel values of peace and
love and wholeness.
I love when the church gets this
right…and we do! We have to remember
that it was the Church that built and developed many of the early
hospitals. It was the church that
retained a love of education and sought to educate much of the world. It was the church that led the way in
developing orphanages and it was church that has helped many people get back on
its feet.
Personally, I remember a time when
my church personally helped a young family get back on their feet. It was near Christmas time and this family
was living out in their car. They had a
very small child and another child on the way.
Our small church, with its budget stretched beyond imagination stepped
up and provided a place for them to stay.
We were able to get the young man a job so he could work and provide
money for his young and growing family.
This was a time when church ‘worked,’ when we were able to be that
community of shalom.
But too often, the church has lost
sight of this. I mean, how often have
you heard of a church that has been a shining example of shalom to the
world? Too often, we get bogged down in
internal conflict within the church. We
fight over…well everything! We fight over what type of music should be played,
we fight over the color of carpets and we fight over who said what to
whom. Forget ‘world’ peace…often times
we would like to find peace in our own church!
And yet, isn’t this the entire point
of what we have been celebrating? Isn’t this what Jesus, Paul, and Isaiah point
us to during this time…during every time?
What would happen if we took these
passages seriously? What would happen if we truly began living in peace? What
would happen if we became a ‘shalom’ people? Sound too good to be true? Maybe…but when people become captivated by
the message of peace…with the message of the gospel…anything can happen…at any
time!
There is a reason that Jesus warns
his disciples that the kingdom of God can break out and occur at any
point. Advent should be for us a time to
stay alert for new possibilities, for new signs of the coming of the
kingdom. Jesus warns his listeners that
life may seem to go on normally, as if nothing would ever change. But here…and there…change can happen! The
kingdom of peace can break in at any moment.
You may have heard the story that
happened during WW1 on Christmas Eve, but it is worth telling again. The trenches of France were hardly a place
where peace could reign…it was hardly a place that peace could have a foothold!
People had been shooting at each other, killing each other and it seemed like
there would be no end. Then Christmas
Eve came around and there was a ceasefire.
Somebody began to sing ‘Silent Night’ and before you know it, others
joined in. The German lines heard the
singing and then they began to sing the song.
In that moment, dreaded enemies…people who had been shooting and killing
each other just moments before, were joined together in their hearts and in
their voices as they sung of eternal peace.
After this, hockey games happened between the two sides and there was,
for a brief shining moment, a living realization of Isaiah’s vision. Peace had come into the world!
As Advent begins, we hear the Gospel
call back to the vision and promise that God has for the world. We are called to come awake and to live out
the gospel values that help embody the kingdom of Peace that Jesus has come to
establish. We are called to look out for
signs of that peace that is breaking into our world.
People have learned to ignore the
Church because we have strayed from our vision.
Instead of a kingdom of peace, they see a people who have lost their
way, who no longer know what they are living for. The church has often times lost its
excitement and passion for the coming kingdom… to embody the promises of
God. They may hear us singing our Carols
and our Hymns, but they don’t think we mean them.
Advent is a time for us to renew
ourselves and our Church. At Advent, God
calls us to
Wake Up!
But the message is not, “Wake up, we
have to go to church.”
No, instead, the message is and
always has been, “wake up…it’s time to be the Church.”
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