Sermon Given at St. Matthew’s, St. Paul, November 27, 201, Advent I

Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37

Blair Pogue

I don’t know about you, but every fall the shorter days seem to catch me by surprise. I wonder if this is the same kind of amnesia many women have after the birth of their first child, so that they can have a second or third. Perhaps survival and perpetuation of the species depends on forgetting some of the unpleasantries of life.

This time of year is always hard for me. When the days get shorter and the weather colder I feel like crawling under my covers. Light and warmth make me feel energetic and inspired. Darkness and a chill make me shut down.

Light and darkness appear in today’s readings as does the admonition to keep alert and awake. As the culture around us gears up for holiday celebrations and the expenditure of vast sums of money, Christians look forward toward the end of the world and then backward to the birth of a poor, Palestinian baby in a barn.

This morning’s readings, with the exception of 1Corinthians, are not easy to hear or digest. Our reading from the 64^th chapter of Isaiah is written from a place of sadness, anger and frustration. The Israelites have returned to Jerusalem after a long exile in Babylon. They had high hopes for their return, but it hasn’t been all that great. Their faith community continues to ignore God and violate God’s law, there is economic injustice, and the people are suffering. The Israelites are trying to make sense of all that has happened, and especially why the present isn’t living up to their expectations. They know God has done mighty things in the past and wonder why God isn’t doing them now. Behind the prophet’s petitions and yearnings is the question “where is God?”

The same question permeates Mark’s Gospel. Where is God in uncertain and difficult times? Today’s Gospel is believed to have been written not long after the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans. Where is God if God isn’t in the Temple? Further, where is God if God isn’t at the center of power or at the city center? Why isn’t God where we want God to be, doing the things we want God to be doing? Where was God for the post-Jerusalem exiles, for the early followers of Jesus to whom Mark wrote, and for us? Where is God this Advent?

About two weeks ago Dwight and I went to the Weisman art museum at the University of Minnesota. Once inside the building we took a right off the lobby and entered a gallery completely filled by a piece of art titled “Merge.” “Merge” is an installation by artist Sharen Louden made of 250,000 aluminum strips varying in size from 1 by 7 to 2 by 10 inches, held together by 14,000 screws and hot glue. It sweeps down from the wall onto the floor, spanning 3,000 square feet. It was commissioned by the Weisman in 2011. They asked Louden to come up with a piece of art that would be in dialogue with the Frank Gehry-designed building.

“Merge” captured my imagination. The aluminum strips shimmered and sparkled, bringing light into the gallery in a magical and playful way. The more I looked at “Merge” the more the light seemed to multiply, and the happier I felt. Even after we moved on I felt compelled to return to the gallery for another look, another moment to meditate on the importance and healing power of light. A museum catalogue described the piece as “made simply,” but “full of whimsy and playfulness, elegance and a child-like beauty.” In this way I think it represents life and faith at its best, full of wonder, playfulness and unexpected surprises.

We live in challenging times. There is much uncertainty and fear in our community and world. Prejudice and economic injustice abound, servant leadership is hard to find, and our environment continues to show forth the effects of its mistreatment and our greed. Alarming events surround us. Mark’s Gospel actually doesn’t sound all that strange this year!

Where is God? Our scriptures tell us that God is with us even when we feel God’s absence, and that God is not usually where we expect God to be. Last week Dwight explored Matthew’s understanding that God is present in the hungry, the poor and the prisoners. The Old Testament reminds us that God was present in the wilderness. The birth narratives in Luke and Matthew tell us that God was born on the margins of empire. John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is found in bread, in wine, in water, in light, and in the Word of God. All four Gospels tell us that God is with those who acknowledge their need of God, those who are sick, poor, lonely, who mourn, or who hunger and thirst for righteousness. God is with those who don’t have everything together. The Gospels also tell us that God is found outside the city center, outside the city gates, in a forgotten and abandoned place. Finally, the resurrection accounts and accounts of Jesus’ first followers remind us that Jesus is everywhere, and often shows up to bring healing and hope when we least expect him.

In the Tale of Despereaux by Cate DiCamillo, the protagonist Despereaux, a romantic and chivalric mouse, is condemned to the castle dungeon by his own kind for not being mouse-like. Despereaux is in love with the Princess Pea, likes to read, and enjoys fine music. He does not want to look for crumbs, learn how to scurry across the floor, or nibble on the pages of old books. Once in the dungeon he encounters the jailer Gregory who has been living in the dark, damp dungeon for decades. Gregory offers to save Despereaux from being killed by rats, and Despereaux asks him why. “Because you, mouse, can tell Gregory a story,” he replies. “Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light” (81).

This first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the church year, we begin to tell the story of Jesus by looking forwards and backwards. We look forward to a future that, regardless of what happens is ultimately hopeful. It is hopeful because God is trustworthy and God promises us a hopeful future in which heaven and earth are transformed and we live in communion with God and others more fully than ever before. We look back to the inauspicious beginnings of God coming to dwell with us, to live our life, to experience our joys, fears, dreams and limitations. The story we hear, the story we live in and tell is full of light in darkness. God’s light is precious and it often manifests itself at the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected places. We must fight the temptation to sleep, to be lulled into complacency by everything that offers to entertain or distract us, or to lose hope. Keep alert and awake. Cast away the works of darkness. Tell your neighbors, tell the world a story of light. Amen.