Third Sunday of Advent: Listen, Rejoice, Speak Up

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11 (NRSV)

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and release to the prisoners;

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to provide for those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.

They shall build up the ancient ruins,

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

For I the LORD love justice,

I hate robbery and wrongdoing;

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants shall be known among the nations,

and their offspring among the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge

that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

Psalm 126 (BCP., p.782)


1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 (NRSV)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

John 1:6-8, 19-28 (NRSV)

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

Blog Reflection

Advent is a wonderful Season for listening.   In their book: Benedict's Way: An Ancient Monk's Insight for a Balanced Life; Lonnie Collins Pratt and Fr. Daniel Homan, OSB suggest that God speaks to us through the events of daily life (see p. 31).  God is not limited to our churches, monasteries, homes or prayer chapels.  God is interacting with us through those many moments when our hearts shake because someone else makes us uncomfortable.  God is inspiring and empowering us with the Holy Spirit to bring the good news to the oppressed and the captives.  The prophet Isaiah heard this word from God and knew that he had news to share.  Those who may have gone without a voice in the past, could look forward to God showing a vested interest in their lives.  It took a prophet to open the ears of their hearts to listen to what God was doing among them. 

St. Paul tells the Thessalonians to rejoice always and to not quench the work of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit wants the message of the Gospel of Christ to be alive in the Church there.  In 1 Thessalonians, Paul is correcting some messages they received about the return of Christ.  In one of the messages they received, they were told that Christ already returned, but they missed it.  Paul is telling them in the Epistles that they did not miss the return of Christ, and that they need to continue to live holy lives as evidence of the impact of Christ on them.  

When we hear bad news, our spirits are easily dropped because of what we heard.  St. Paul tells us in our day and age to not allow the joy that we have as Christians to be snuffed out because of bad news.  On the contrary, hearing news such as the horrible Senate report about torture should incite in us the power of the Holy Spirit to object to any human being, any where for any reason being tortured.   The Matthew Shepard Act was an attempt to address the torture and violence experienced by LGBT people as hate crimes.  Since then, we have seen many outrageous forms of torture and violence of LGBT people.  One burned outside a bar.  A number of others in New York City and in various places have experienced horrific acts of violence; many of them transgender individuals.  We are right to be outraged about the torture report from the U.S. Senate this week.  We should respond to it with a call for accountability and an end to any kind of torture.  But, that should include the torture of individuals through economic poverty, poor quality health care, unemployment and the racism that has become inescapable.  Holiness of life includes responding to these things out of devotion to our Baptismal Vows.

The voice of St. John the Baptist calls us to prepare for the coming of Christ.   All of us have the opportunity to prepare a way for God to come to the center of our lives and communities.  We prepare a way for Christ by listening ever so carefully to one another.   In Chapter 53 verse 1 of The Rule of St. Benedict we read, "All guests who come should be received as Christ...".  The message of St. John the Baptist is to make a way for God to come by letting go of our preconceived notions and expectations.  Christ often comes to us in the midst of everything about our lives that is not what others think it should be; let alone what we think things should be.  It is in the moments of our deepest questions and fragile emotions that God is seeking us out to hold us closer to God's Self in Christ.

In these last two weeks of Advent, may we take time to listen, rejoice and speak up in preparation for the coming of Christ.  May we be open to allowing Christ to come as He chooses to arrive, ready to greet Him in the marginalized, sick, poor and those who are without their equal place in society and the Church.

Amen.


Prayers

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come
among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins,
let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver
us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and
the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 212).

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this
land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as
their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to
eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those
who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law
and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of
us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Oppressed. The Book of Common Prayer, p. 826).

   

Second Sunday of Advent: Prepare the Way for the Real Jesus

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 11:1-10  (NRSV)

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide by what his ears hear;

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

They will not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Psalm 72 (BCP., p.685)


Romans 15: 4-13 (NRSV)

Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

"Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to your name";
and again he says,

"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people";
and again,

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him";

and again Isaiah says,

"The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope."

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:1-12 (NRSV)

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
`Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'"

Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Blog Reflection

There are many problems with the readings and the meaning of the 2nd Sunday of Advent. 

The problems come from interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures in such a way, that their meaning within the context of the Jewish Faith is to be dismissed because of Antisemitism on the one hand.  On the other hand, Jesus Himself throughout the Gospels identifies Himself with the prophesies in the Hebrew Scriptures. 

The other problem that cannot be too easily dismissed is that the figure of St. John the Baptist is all too often used to prepare for the coming of the judgmental and superficial Jesus who supposedly condemns abortion, same-gender marriages, wipes out entire areas by tsunami's and tornadoes because of a change from super conservative to progressive liberalism.

Another image that is also quite troubling as these Scriptures are interpreted comes from those of us who are progressive Christians, that might lead many of us to dismiss what Advent and Christmas are really about.   During Advent we recall the events that led up to that first coming of Christ at Christmas to help us remember and celebrate that Christ will come again, and in fact, is already here.  But, not yet.   Rev. Susan Russell likes to remind us this time of the year, that these seasons are a matter of both/and as opposed to either/or.  

The real Jesus who came as God's perfect revelation of Self, came to bring real change.   It was the difference that gave hope where all hope seemed lost.  He came at a time when God's people were in need of a revelation of God in a way that was not just written in the tablets of the Law, but became an imprint of God's footprints on the human soul.  Those who were considered as lost, would at last be shown the Way to friendship with God.  Where religious authority had become an excuse for excluding people, Jesus was God's reason why every person was already counted as God's own.   Where oppression and injustice caused people to question what God was really doing, Jesus came and told us to deny ourselves, pick up our Cross and follow Him to give our lives for the sake of the Gospel.  To live in humility, through being a servant to one another.

St. John the Baptist, the prophet that prepared the way for Christ is placed in each of the Gospels after Jesus had already been born.   St. John the Baptist lays out the path to the real Jesus.  The Jesus who changes the real lives of real people, by affirming God's unconditional love for all of us, without distinction.   If God can use a simple prophet who lived in the wilderness, ate locusts and drank honey, dressed in camel's hair to prepare the way for Jesus to change the history of the world as the Word made flesh; imagine how God can change the world through us.  Imagine how God can use us to prepare the way for the real Jesus here and now.

Yesterday, December 7th, 2013 was seventy two years since the disastrous attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.  It changed the United States at a profound moment in our Nation's history.  Many of the things that were taken for granted were shaken to their foundations.  Lives were lost, a sense of the security of the nation was completely devastated.  Yet, out of that tragedy, a new one began.  Instead of just responding with military action which was bad enough, the US began internment camps for Japanese Americans.   An entire race of people were targeted for discrimination and the worst kind of social and political violence.  How dare anyone celebrate the horrific attack and our nation's response by way of internment camps as being "heroic" or even "necessary." When racism is the response after a horrific act, the horror continues and we become part of the continuation of the horrific action.

This past week, we heard about the death of former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa.  A man who was already in the thick of apartheid, of prejudice and violence of horrific proportion.  Yet, he was willing to go to jail, and he did to speak and act against the discrimination.  At that time, Nelson Mandela was perceived by many here in the U.S. with amazing hate and denounced as a terrorist.   Yet, this amazing man in peaceful protest worked for a new order in South Africa, not only ending apartheid, but also the affects of homophobia so that marriage equality has been the law there for many years.   Nelson Mandela was a prophetic witness that prepared the way for the real Jesus in his corner of the world.

William Stringfellow in his writing entitled The Penitential Seasons in the book Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas wrote best what will be the conclusion of this blog post.

The depletion of a contemporary recognition of the radically and political character of Advent is in large a measure occasioned by the illiteracy of Church folk about the Second Advent and, in the mainline churches, the persistent quietism of pastors, preachers, and teachers about the Second Coming.  That topic has been allowed to be preempted and usurped by astrologers, sectarian quacks and multifarious hucksters   Yet it is impossible to apprehend either Advent except through the relationship of both Advents.  The pioneer Christians, beleaguered as they were because of their insight, knew that the message of both Advents is political.  The message is that in the coming of Jesus Christ, the nations and the principalities and the rulers of the world are judged in the Word of God.  In the lordship of Christ they are rendered accountable to human life and, indeed, to all created life.  Hence, the response of John the Baptist when he is pressed to show the meaning of repentance he preaches is, "Bear fruits that befit repentance" (p.105).

Amen.

Prayers

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to
preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation:
Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins,
that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our
Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.211).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, p.815).

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn
but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the
strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that
all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of
Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and
glory, now and for ever. Amen.  (Prayer for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, p.815).

Second Sunday of Advent: What God Are We Preparing the Way For?

Today's Scripture Readings

Malachi 3: 1-4 (NRSV)

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight-- indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

Canticle 16 (BCP., p. 92)


Philippians 1: 3-11 (NRSV)

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how

I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Luke 3: 1-6 (NRSV)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Blog Reflection

This weekend I attended the Trinity Wall Street's 42nd National Theological Conference with speaker Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB.   During this conference the question was raised: What is the Radical Christian Life?   In her answer to this question, Sr. Joan referred to the evolutionary God.  The God that is forever changing our understanding of who God is, and what God is doing as one age dies and another is coming to life.

There were two statements Sr. Joan made that struck me among many, that I think are relevant to today's mediation on this Second Sunday of Advent as we read about St. John the Baptist preparing the way for God to come.  

1. We have to be careful about how we summarize God.

2. What we believe about God is how we relate to God.

Now to break them down a bit.

1. We have to be careful about how we summarize God.  If we believe that God is the One who has no beginning or ending, then all of what we write or say that tries to define God will always fall short.  Many languages, cultures and religious traditions have made many attempts to define a Being who is beyond ourselves and yet very close to us.  Whether we define God in Christ as Christians do, or as Allah as the Muslims might do, our definition is our own.  What may be true for one, may not be for another.  

Does this mean there is no God to believe in?   Or a God who came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ?   No, it does not mean that there is no God, or that God did not come to us in Christ..  As Christians we do believe in a God who is real, tangible, and who became God's perfect revelation in a Man of Nazareth, born of Mary and Joseph and changed the world forever more. 

What we have to be careful about is how we define (or prepare the way for) a God by our own definition.   The God who is the vending machine who we pray to, to give us what we want, will always disappoint us.   The God who is defined by Biblical literalists who want to continue to subordinate women, oppress LGBT people, people of different cultural or religious practices, because "that's the known law of God" will always leave them, disappointed and feeling that they must martyr themselves, when things do not go their way.

2. What we believe about God is how we relate to God.    If all we believe about God is that God is a vending machine or the mighty law giver, the writer and author of the Bible as God's sexual penal code, etc, then that is how we will relate to God.   It is also how we will relate to others who do not see things our way.   We will never be satisfied with newer understandings of who God is, because God fits into a nice Pandora's Box, and so does everyone else.   We form a sense of self-righteousness and arrogance.

But if we believe that God is calling upon us to be the John the Baptist's of the second decade of this the 21st Century, who are preparing the way for the evolutionary God, we will be open to the movement of God's Holy Spirit.   We can read the Bible, celebrate our traditions and look forward to new developments as opportunities to encounter and become re-acquainted with God who comes to us in Christ, anew and ready to welcome all who want to come to him.  We will be the one's who speak out about the abuse of the environment through global warming and the neglect of the sick and the poor.    We will look for ways of working towards a greater equality fo LGBT people, women, people of different races, religions, economic statuses etc.  Because God is always evolving upon us to prepare new places for God.

As we prepare to welcome the Christ child at Christmas this year, we would do well to pray for ourselves to be open to receiving Christ in however he shall come to us.  That we will never let go of Emmanuel "God with us" and realize that whatever new and evolutionary means by which God makes God's Self known to us, that our hearts, our minds, our prayers and our lives are ready to embrace, receive and make her/him find at home in us.

What God are we preparing the way for?

Amen.


Prayers

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to
preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation:
Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins,
that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our
Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, p. 211).


Gracious Father, we pray for they holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).

Third Sunday of Advent: Awaiting the God of Freedom and Redemption from Oppression

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11

John 1:6-8,19-28 (NRSV)

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

Blog Reflection

Those trying to push a more conservative Catholic social teaching suggest that the only way we can be truly free is to not give in to our whims and urges to do whatever we want.  The idea behind this teaching is that there can only be the possibility of freedom if LGBT people forsake the idea of living our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression openly and be celibate.  Women cannot be free if they are having abortions or using contraception.  Men cannot be free unless they attend St. Joseph's Keepers and agree to be a family father who takes his family and children to Mass every week and becomes made in the image of the Catholic churches' teaching of how a man should be.

I am of the opinion that freedom cannot be found by becoming the ideal walking model of any particular churches' teaching.  Freedom means being exactly who we are before God, others and most importantly ourselves.  We can model our own lives by what we find best suits who we are.  There are many interpretations of how someone should be.  Everyone has some kind of social standards and/or even boundaries that suits where they are at. 

God is not a partial God.  God is not looking for the next poor soul to damn because she/he hasn't measured up to some moral standards laid down by some church or political group.  God is a God of freedom and redemption.  Every individual person is valuable and worth saving.   That is why we celebrate this Advent as we prepare to celebrate the event in which God came to us, in the middle of our filth and poorest conditions in the revelation of God's Self in Christ.

In the reading from Isaiah God has sent God's anointed to "proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners."  God prophesies through Isaiah that "Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples, all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed." 

So many individuals who are questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression are longing to come out and acknowledge their true selves before God and the Church.  They are looking for a path to personal freedom and redemption.   Ex-gay groups do not provide this freedom and redemption as they work with questioning persons to further imprison such people in closets of self doubt and fear of the shame that could come should they ever choose to act on the natural sexual and gender expression that is a natural part of who she/he is.  

In our Gospel today, we see the Pharisees sent to talk to John the Baptist to find out what he has been doing.   They have heard of wonderful things happening in the lives of those who come to hear this man that is so badly dressed and poorly bathed.  They want to confront this man who has caught the attention of so many people.  In reply, John doesn't keep the attention placed on himself.  John tells of one who is among them who is greater than himself.  One who will bring the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and will change the order of how things have been.

Time and again, we can and are continuing to learn that it is not the conventional person only who steers society and the Church towards radical change.  It is those who are most separated from the mainstream looking for their place.   Those who just want a piece of bread or a little water just to make it through until their next meal who can most change society and the Church if we will only let them in.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people can call the Church to a newer understanding of who Jesus is.  We can do it by doing the unconventional things that just don't seem to fit in.  When we are allow ourselves to come out of our closets and develop a healthy relationship with God, others and ourselves we can help create a greater world of freedom and redemption.  Just by being ourselves.

St. Paul in the reading from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24 tells us to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  

The circumstances that make it difficult for us to come out and be who we are, are opportunities for us to face our prisons of self doubt and be released.  We can rejoice and pray without ceasing, giving thanks for every moment we learn something new about ourselves and our relationships with others. 

I have heard endless stories of individuals who have come out.  Many who have said: "When I came out, I finally made my peace with God."  Why do they (I, we) say that?  Because we cannot find true redemption and freedom until we can be the person God made us to be, openly and without self destructive attitudes and behaviors thrust upon us by Christianists who continue to vilify LGBT people.

God desires the personal, social, political and religious freedom of all people.  Because in Christ, God has redeemed us to God's Self.  All of us are among those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Waiting for God means taking time to be alone with God with a good look in our personal mirror and seeing the wonderful person God has made in us.  It means seeing those things that maybe they are not totally right all the way around, but recognizing that God does not love us any less because of imperfection. 

We live in a world where many marginalized persons from LGBT to immigrants, the poor and terminally ill etc live in prisons and are captive to a society that gives all of it's prestige and opportunity to those who measure up to their wealthy standards.  Our political system that is suppose to seek liberty and justice for all persons, only focuses on some who are filling their pockets with corporate interests.   This is not the ideal that God has for our world or the Church.

As we await the coming of God to bring freedom and redemption, let us remember that God is already with us seeking to bring freedom and redemption in the here and now.  Our sins are no match for the wonderful graces of God through Jesus Christ.  God is longing to transform us and the world around us by our participation in the word of preparing the Church and society to be places where all are welcomed and all have an opportunity for a better tomorrow.


Prayers

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. (Third Sunday of Advent: Book of Common Prayer, page 212).

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen.   (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.

Lord, keep this nation under your care.

To all who have executive authority and to all who have administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To those who make our laws give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.

For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen. 
(Prayer for Sound Government, Book of Common Prayer, pages 821-822).

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, page 823).