Friends in Christ, grace to you and peace, from our Creator God and from Christ who comes to us, the Holy Spirit who renews us. Amen
Stand up and raise your heads, beware, watch, be alert…take notice, open your eyes, see, hear, listen…do not be weighed down, distracted, distressed, discouraged…what you seek is drawing near!
Recently I went out for a run on one of these beautiful November afternoons we’ve been having. Though the daylight is getting shorter and shorter, at the peak of the sun, the days have been rather warm and inviting.
So, I decided to take a jog around the pathway near our home. It is a journey through nature, the asphalt path surrounding by trees and wild grasses. There are a few rolling hills and plenty of picturesque views. I feel blessed to have this preserved area nearby.
On this particular day, I decided to take my run a bit further than usual. Inspired by the weather and lost in my thoughts, I took to another pathway beyond the ritual run. As I went further, I could feel some of the distress building in my body, which was not accustomed to the distance I was tacking on. My lungs were getting tired, my knees and feet took on a slight ache, and as they did, my mind turned away from its random thoughts and began focusing on the various aches and pains.
It was then that I noticed, that the fatigue in my body brought my eyes to the ground. I was now running with my head completely down, seeing only the gravel beneath my feet and the laces on my shoes. My feet were pounding now, instead of the lighter, more buoyant stride with which I had started.
Suddenly, there was a little voice inside of me that said, ‘pick up your head, you’re missing it.’ And when I did, I realized I was in one of the most beautiful areas of the path, one where the gravel takes a serpentine through a forest, just past a grove of cattails, twisting through some tall trees. I picked up my head and I saw the last of the day’s sunlight dipping down between the trees, blasting me on the face, due to the leaves which have already fallen. The light beamed on me, drawing my attention away from my bodies struggle to keep running and brought a wide smile to my face.
I picked up my head the rest of the way home…and what a difference it made.
“Stand up and raise your heads,” Jesus says, “your redemption is drawing near.”
Today marks the beginning of Advent, which marks the beginning of a new year in the church. Each year this Sunday is shaped by scripture texts that speak to the future, to the unknown, up ahead future that God imagines for the world. It is the day when we hearken to Christ’s coming, both the entrance into the world in the baby Jesus, but today, we hearken to Christ’s coming again.
“Stand up and raise your heads,” Jesus says, “your redemption is drawing near.”
In our Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah, we find ourselves alongside the Israelites in 587 BC. They are faced with being stripped of their land and taken away by the mighty Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah has recorded 28 chapters of warning and foreboding about what is to come, that the Israelites, because of their unfaithfulness to God will be taken away to a foreign land and will find themselves under foreign rule. It will be a time of loss, suffering and pain.
But today, Jeremiah’s words come from the portion of his work, which Martin Luther called, “the little book of comfort,” chapters 30-33 of Jeremiah, where the prophet’s voice turns and promises something new, something to come, an imagined future from the heart of God, unlike the suffering, pain and struggle that defined their current situation…
“The days are surely coming…says the Lord…when the promises I made will be fulfilled…the days are surely coming says the Lord…when I shall execute justice and righteousness in all the land…the days are surely coming…
Stand up and raise your heads, Jesus says.
The people of Luke’s Gospel experienced much of the same. Some time around 70 AD, after the birth of Jesus…we know that the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by Emperor Nero and the Romans. We know that there was widespread persecution and suffering for both the Jewish people and for members of The Way, not yet known as Christians. We know that there was reason for distress and even despair, their people dying off around them, their communities in hiding for fear of destruction, and into that setting…
Jesus says, “Stand up and raise your heads, your redemption is drawing near.”
What does he mean?
I remember a time when I was at a Rochester Hotel attending a Pastor’s conference of the Minneapolis Synod. It was many years ago and Lisa and I went together for a couple of days away in the winter, to listen to speakers, spend time with others, and likely to get away from our children for just a bit(not that they weren’t fun to be around, but time away was also quite good).
I remember there was an art display showing religious work from local people. There was one piece that stands out in my memory, one that both Lisa and I were drawn to, perhaps because it’s beauty and meaning, but mostly because of what it said about children and future.
The painting was in beautiful blue tones, a mother draped in what looked like a first century robe and head dress, the garment flowing with life and inspiration. Cradled in her arms was a new born baby, wrapped safely and securely, held tight in its mother’s embrace.
Beneath, the painting was captioned with Jeremiah 29:11…”I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.”(repeat)
When all seems lost…when life is too much to bear...when all around you appears to be hopeless…rest in the arms of the mother God who cradles you tightly to the Godly chest and says, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm, plans to give you a future and a hope.”
The God that I know and trust…the God that I turn to, believe in and follow, is a God who imagines the future of our lives and the life of the world, far out ahead of my human imagination, bringing hope and promise, beauty and restoration before we can even begin to see it ourselves…
Raise your heads, Jesus says. Pick up your eyes from the ground of hopelessness and fear. Pull your chin from your chest and imagine the future that God imagines.
There is a longing in this season. The minor notes of Advent, the Scripture texts of fear and foreboding, remind us that things in the world are not the way they should be. When we are on the verge of sending 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, things are not as they should be with the world. When a child dies every minute somewhere in the world, due to hunger-related disease, things are not as they should be.
There is a longing in this season.
When suffering seems to be the prevailing voice in the world, maybe even in your own life, the voice of Jesus rings….the voice of the prophet resonates…
Stand up and raise your heads, the days are surely coming says the Lord. I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm, plans to give you a future and a hope.
I know that I long for that day, that day that is surely coming when God’s future is the only future we know…I long for that day, with my head raised high, with hope in my heart and trust in the arms of God.
I long for that day that is surely coming, where the poor are not sent to shelters or forced to sleep on the streets. I long for that day that is surely coming when children are not abused in their own homes, but find love and grace in which to grow. I long for that day that is surely coming where God’s future has no room for violence, when we will stop producing body bags, because there will be no more dead soldiers to put in them. I long for that day, that is surely coming, where God’s future allows no room for religious difference and hatred, where racism, sexism and all difference are seen as part of the great array that is God.
You may say I’m a dreamer…but I’m not the only one!
Stand up and raise your heads to that future, Jesus says…pick up your eyes and see the future God imagines before, a future to prosper and not to harm, a future filled with hope and promise, where children are safe, a future where justice and righteousness prevail over greed and hatred, a future of peace, love and grace.
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one!
All week long, I have had pregnant mother’s in my head(no, Lisa and I are well beyond that point). I have had them in my head, because in Luke 21:23, just prior to the passage in our Gospel, Jesus says, “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!”
And I believe Jesus means that there is no one with greater concern about the future, than one who carries or has just born a child. For all that is not right with the world, there is no greater longing than the longing of a pregnant mother. We need to raise our heads and see the future God imagines, on behalf of the child inside of the pregnant mother, but not only that child, but the child who comes from that child.
Imagine dear people…imagine with me the future God has for our children and our children’s children…and then, long for it today…see it today…live it today, a day to prosper and not be harmed…a day, a ray, a promise of hope! Stand up and raise your heads…God is coming…Jesus is coming…freedom is coming…hope is coming…
You may say I’m a dreamer…but I’m not the only one. AMEN
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