WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.240 Our first lesson this morning is from the third chapter of Genesis. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:11.119 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other animal that the Lord God had made. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:17.519 He said to the woman, Did God say, You shall not eat from any tree in the garden? 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:32.799 The woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:46.719 But the serpent said to the woman, You will not die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:01:00.079 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:05.439 And she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.480 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:16.159 And they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:30.239 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:36.079 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:45.040 He said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:49.200 He said, Who told you that you were naked? 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:54.400 Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? 00:01:54.959 --> 00:02:03.760 The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:09.520 Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.560 The woman said, The serpent tricked me and I ate. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:31.039 The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals, and among all wild creatures upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:39.039 I will put anemone anonymity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:42.960 He will strike your head and you will strike his heel. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:45.360 The word of the Lord. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.400 The second lesson, a reading from Isaiah. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:54.479 Comfort, oh comfort, my people, says your God. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:58.639 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:08.159 That she has served her turn, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:17.439 A voice cries out, In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:24.639 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be made low. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:30.159 The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:41.439 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:43.759 A voice says, Cry out. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.639 And I said, What shall I cry? 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:52.960 All the people are grass, their consistency is like the flower of the field. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:04:01.039 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it, surely the people are grass. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:06.960 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:13.039 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:15.280 Lift up your voice with strength. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:20.639 O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:26.959 Says to the cities of Judah, here is your God. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:33.279 See the Lord God comes with might, and his arms rules for him. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:38.879 His reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:51.360 The word of the Lord. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:15.199 A covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.800 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:25.759 I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.879 I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:38.879 No longer shall they teach one another or say to one another, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:43.759 For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:47.360 The word of the Lord, thanks be to God. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:50.720 A reading from Isaiah. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:06:00.319 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God, let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:05.279 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:13.600 Then Isaiah said, Hear then, O house of David, is it too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God also? 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.879 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.360 Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:29.199 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.279 The word of the Lord. 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:36.319 The fifth lesson, a reading from Micah. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:49.279 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrata, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth from me, one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:55.120 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:07:09.759 Then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel, and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:11.360 The word of the Lord. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:12.720 Thanks be to God. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:15.519 A reading from Isaiah. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:51.360 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. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:59.199 He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:06.399 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:19.199 The wolf shall lie with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with a kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a child shall lead them. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:28.240 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:36.720 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:48.559 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. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:50.559 The word of the Lord. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:08.399 Jesus said, There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:14.480 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:18.639 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:24.639 Now, when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:26.080 Then he told them a parable. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.080 Look at the fig tree and all its leaves. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:33.279 As soon as they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already here. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.639 So also when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:43.600 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:48.000 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:57.519 Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly like a trap. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:00.960 For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:08.639 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.200 The Gospel of the Lord. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:15.919 Welcome to the beginning of church year. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.759 This is Advent One, so this is New Year in the church. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:28.480 And of course, Advent is a Latin word that simply means coming, and we know to expect on December the 25th it will be Santa Claus. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.200 No, in fact, it will be the Christ child. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:43.600 And uh even though we did this last year and will do it again next year, Advent asks us not to look blithely ahead to the salvation that, frankly, if you're like me, you could use this year. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.519 Salvation in your lives, in new places. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:54.240 In places that are like stables, dirty and smelly. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:59.120 You could use the arrival of the Christ child in your life again this year, I suspect. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:03.200 We're not supposed to look blithely to the fact we know that's coming. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:10.159 We're supposed to prepare ourselves these next four weeks and trust that arrival will come. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:16.159 We prepare ourselves, of course, not by giving the baby Jesus a bottle and a crib and baby blankets. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.159 He won't need those things this year. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:26.320 Instead, we prepare ourselves by cultivating hope, peace, joy, and love. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:31.759 We're asked not to cultivate these things, frankly, in ordinary ways. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:43.039 After all, we come in here into the sanctuary, into a safe place, not to do ordinary things, but to ask God to work in us that which is extraordinary. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:47.360 Ordinarily, hope means something like I wish. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.240 Boy, I hope this sermon is not long. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.240 I hope it cools down, but not too much. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.639 Hope my football team wins. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.320 Ordinary hope. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:14.159 At the end of the day, hope is when we pray, God, my will be done on earth and in heaven instead of yours. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.559 God, do it my way. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:21.440 After all, I've got some pretty good ideas. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:23.759 Advent is not about that. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:33.039 It's too ordinary, too disappointing, and it leads us not to receive a Christ child. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:35.600 It leads us to receive despair. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:38.879 Slightly better, I want to put to you. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:43.519 Brene Brown, who worships up at Christ Church Cathedral, says hope is not a feeling at all. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.399 That helps because I don't always feel hopeful. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:50.320 Brene Brown says that hope is actually a practice. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.159 It amounts to something like goal setting. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:13:07.440 Picking, hopefully, something that is righteous to pursue, having the perseverance to do it couched in the belief, frankly, that I am capable of pursuing this. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:13.679 Sounds like smart goals to me, right? 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.240 That are specific and measurable, achievable, that are timely and realistic. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.320 And I think that is certainly better than just ordinary hope. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:29.039 But I still think, frankly, it's a little bit extraordinary. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:34.639 I think God is asking us to go deeper. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:47.840 At the end of the day, the Oxford English Dictionary says that hope, this is the third definition, it's the archaic one, says hope is really more something like trust. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:49.600 Trust. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:59.919 And I think the scriptures we've read really invite us to think about what it is we choose to trust and where we put it. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:06.960 And maybe that comes back to goal setting, but the question is frankly, do we hope for too small of God? 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.559 Do we hope for too little of ourselves? 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:15.200 Is our vision imaginative and creative and unifying? 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:24.720 Or frankly, do we hope that God will confirm, conform to our wants and desires? 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:27.279 Consider the readings. 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:34.080 You know, I suppose we could hear the first reading from Genesis and say, oh, that describes the fall of human beings. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.399 But you know, the rabbis have never read it that way. 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:46.080 The rabbis have said, at the end of the day, this story tells us about human beings that given the choice between life and knowledge, we pick knowledge. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:50.080 We pick ordinary things. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:58.399 Knowledge is good and evil, we know it, and of course we know it because we learned in middle school and we all went there or are going there. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.919 Knowledge is things like gossip. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.039 And boy, it's attractive, isn't it? 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:15.919 It's attractive to know things and be experts on other people without thinking about whether or not we spread life. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.360 I like knowing things. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:23.519 I believe in education. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:30.559 But sometimes I think we put our hopes, frankly, in the outcomes that we know. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:37.279 And I've pretty much only ever been disappointed when I do that. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:44.320 As a parent, as a child, as a sibling, as a priest. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:55.039 These other readings, the whole panoply sort of talks about God's presence and recreation in the middle of, frankly, catastrophe. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:59.360 Jerusalem is surrounded by an invading army. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.399 And God tells Isaiah, I'm with you. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.559 It's what we call cognitive dissonance, right? 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:12.720 In which the situation we're living does not line up with that which we hope and trust for. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:19.679 In the gospel, the disciples have just said, Jesus, look at this beautiful temple, and he says, nothing lasts. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:22.559 This temple won't last. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:29.519 This beautiful edifice that you think will be around forever won't. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:34.159 The things that last, he tells his followers, are my words. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:40.399 And I want to suggest to you, Jesus is differentiating frankly between ordinary hope and outcomes. 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:50.399 And things that God invites us to cultivate and trust, and those might just be our inputs. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.279 The truth is, we have no control. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:17:01.360 You learn this quickly as a parent over what our children will do with what we put in. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.440 We have control over what we put in. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:11.039 We have no control with what our parents do with what we put in. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:14.960 I've got great ideas on how they should be taking care of themselves. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:22.000 Mom, my will be done in your house, not yours. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:28.720 But we do have control over what we put in. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:35.440 Maybe this is about the God of the small things. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.920 Small things like everyday kindness. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:48.000 Moments that seem insignificant, but our faith tells us in God, frankly, are eternal. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:18:02.559 And I want to suggest to this advent we have this opportunity to reimagine the scenarios in our lives that are most shrouded with our enemies. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:13.279 Because after all, there's this image here in Isaiah that is so beyond me that I sort of think has to be from God. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.119 It's not anything I want. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.799 The wolf will lie down with the lamb. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:24.160 And the calf will lie down with the bear. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:31.440 What God has in mind is not that our natural predators are distanced from us and we never see them again. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:33.039 That's my idea. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:37.039 God doesn't have in mind that people get what they pay for. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:38.799 That's my idea. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:56.640 God has in mind that our predators and those we've preyed upon will be reconciled to the point that we can rest with one another without anxiety. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.759 There are multiple relationships in my life where I don't want that. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:10.400 I want people to get what they deserve. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:19.599 Because then my knowledge will be proved right, and I continue to eat from the tree of the knowledge every day. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:22.799 And Advent asks us to eat from the tree of life. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.160 Advent is the opportunity, I think, to say, God, I have no idea how you're going to do this on earth. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:41.440 But I hope, that is, I trust, that if I cannot do it on earth, you will do it in heaven. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:56.559 What if this week we could imagine God reconciling us with those we've hurt and those who have hurt us after we die? 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:02.559 What if we could imagine God doing that and us enjoying it? 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:09.119 That's what Martin Luther King had in mind when he said, I've been to the mountaintop. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:13.440 He saw a vision of real hope. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:25.279 I mean extraordinary hope, where people with dogs, fire hoses, spraying people on the march to Selma, were reconciled with the same people. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.960 That's what Jesus is talking about today. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:30.640 Hope. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:32.079 Trust. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:42.640 And from the mountaintop, see when Martin had the vision, he was able to come back and live in the middle of cognitive dissonance. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:50.960 Knowing that God would do it one day, he was able to pursue it in his own lifetime. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:57.119 I think that might be the invitation of Advent. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:20:59.440 Hope. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:00.640 One last word. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:05.839 I used to live in Atlanta, and the big water source is called Lake Lanier. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.680 Lake Lanier has got like maybe 5,000 people living there. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:14.400 And within a mile, there's three little churches, all Baptist. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.119 The first one's called Hope Baptist Church. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:26.720 Half a mile down the road, there's New Hope Baptist Church. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:33.359 Another half a mile, there's real hope, Baptist Church. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.680 And every single one of those hopes is ordinary. 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:55.519 And God invites us to an extraordinary hope in which we are not divided, but we are commonly united, frankly, not because of what we believe about some arcane theological principle, but because we are invited to be God's family on earth. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.759 Because our faith tells us we will in heaven. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:05.279 Advent asks the question why wait for that? 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:08.960 Because God has said it is very good.