1st Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who molds us into the image of God. Amen What time is it? Are we at the beginning? The middle? The end? We have so many ways of organizing time that when they overlap it starts to get confusing. According to the secular calendar we are at the end of the year, one more month before the clock ticks over to read a year later at the end of our dates. According to the sacred calendar we are at the beginning of the year, the circular journey through the life, death and resurrection of Christ is at the start again, anticipating God’s entry into the world but not just the observance of the birth of the baby Jesus but anticipation of God’s final return to make the world complete. Confused yet? At the heart of our confusion is the reality that while we try to control time by organizing it in as many ways as possible, managing the seasons, looking for signs to anticipate what is coming next the truth of it is that it’s out of our hands, God is on God’s own schedule of which we are not privy to nor can we anticipate. We know the what, God’s return, we do not know the when, but we are called to be watchful, to be ready for God, whenever God happens to come. Sometimes when the imperfections of the world become too much we get impatient and cry in the words of Isaiah “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down” we long for God to come mix things up, to show those people that are messing up the world who is really in charge, whose side God is really on, the ones who remember and follow God’s ways And then in the next instant the next breath we realize the we’re not ready for God to come, that we’re the ones who have forgotten God, that our relationship needs healing, that we need more time to get things on our end in order. Isaiah realizes this as well and after lamenting the many ways the people have failed in their relationship with God still says this: “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. “ God is the creator and we are the creation In the end, ready or not God will arrive on God’s own time regardless of what our calendars read. and honestly there will never be a perfect time for us for God to come, we will always be a work in progress, and God the potter is the one working. God has claimed us as sacred clay and is constantly working to mold us into the image of the divine, I don’t know too much about the art of pottery but I do know that it takes a lot of skill to work the clay into the desired form and even then it may not look exactly like what the potter intends because the clay participates in how the object is formed. As sacred clay we participate in how God is forming us, we let ourselves be molded into a receptive vessel or we resist the gentle or sometimes not so gentle nudges that are intended to smooth out a rough patch on our exterior or interior and how we are molded matters because we are how God has chosen to work in the world at this time, how we respond to God’s molding work in our lives makes a difference in the life of the world around us. So when Jesus in Mark tells us to stay awake for the coming of God to watch for signs like the fig tree about to blossom, it is a call to pay attention to how God is working in us right now, molding and shaping us in preparation for God’s final arrival often the signs are subtle, the growing feeling that we are being called to do something about the injustice of some having a great deal while others have very little Or perhaps it’s discomfort at something that once seemed normal but when examined is shown to be harmful to others. Or maybe it’s a renewed sense of joy in your relationship with God and the fellowship of those who come together to worship, pray and serve. Taking part in a community that has faith when we find it difficult All these signs and more point to the coming of God who will end injustice, loneliness and hurt, who will make all joyful, fed and free. But in the meantime we do the best we can to prepare, and God knows exactly what we’re going through because God is with us, at this time of ending and beginning, beginning and ending God starts by molding the divine self into the form of an infant, joining creation to work from the inside out. Amen
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AboutPastor Emily Johnson preaches weekly at Christ Lutheran. These are manuscripts of her sermons given at Christ Lutheran. Feel free to engage with them in the comments section of the blog. Archives
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