3 Advent, Year C
Sunday, December 16, 2012
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Canticle 9
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
“How long, O Lord? How long? Will you forget me for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?" "How
long, O Lord, will you look on?" (Psalms 13:1 and 35:17) Before Friday, I was looking ahead with
joy at the thought of God’s kingdom coming fully. I was excited about God’s final restoration
of creation, and realizing I’ll likely have to wait for it, I was ok with
waiting.
Then I heard about the shooting at
Sandy Hook Elementary School, and part of me was no longer ok with
waiting. Rather than looking ahead with
joy at the coming of God’s kingdom, part of me now I struggles with frustration
that it hasn’t already come…blaming God for humanity’s faults, maybe?
We are still waiting. We’re waiting for violence to end. We’re waiting for the restoration of creation
for the end of all sin, all unrighteousness, all harm, suffering, and
death. How long, O Lord? John the Baptist said the coming of God’s
kingdom involves wrath, and at times like these we can see why. At times like these, I think, come on, God,
bring on your wrath. Bring on the
judgment, and get your kingdom going already.
Just end the suffering and the heartache.
That’s an ok way to feel for
now. Right now we are in pain, in
shock. We mourn with those who mourn and
weep with those who weep, and we wonder, “how long?” Jesus may even wonder, “how long?” as he
mourns and weeps with us, as he mourns and weeps with the families of the
victims.
Over the weekend, Rabbi Shaul
Praver of Temple Adath Israel in Newtown, Connecticut was interviewed about
being there with families of the victims on Friday. The interviewer asked how he responds when
people inevitably ask why these things happen.
Rabbi Praver responded:
Yeah, I don’t know the answer to
that. I never try to present a
theological answer to that. I think that
it’s more important just to have compassion and humanity and hold someone’s hand
and hug them and cry with them. I never
liked answers, theological answers for things like that, personally, when I
lost people that I love as well. So, I
don’t try to solve it like some kind of a math equation or anything like
that. (http://www.npr.org/2012/12/15/167321212/difficult-days-ahead-for-for-town-in-wake-of-shooting)
I suppose God could answer our
question and give us a date so we would know how it will be until his kingdom
comes, but rather than simply give us calendar updates, God chose to be with us
as we wait. Rather than simple answers,
God has given us compassion and love.
What, then, are we supposed to do
in the mean time? That was the question
people asked John the Baptist after his exhortation and call to
repentance. “Who warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? 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.” (Luke 3:7, 9). The people then asked, “What should we
do?” The answer, one might think would
be to perform herculean feats of generosity and kindness with wrath to come and
the ax lying at the root of the trees, but that’s not what John told the
people.
Our feats needn’t be
herculean. Go, be kind, honest, and
generous was basically John’s answer.
“If you have two coats,” John said, “give one of them away.” He didn’t say give both of them away and go
live in a gutter somewhere. You get to
keep one of your coats. Share your food
with people who don’t have enough to eat.
Don’t starve yourself, still eat, just share what you’ve got. Be satisfied with what you’ve got and don’t
cheat people what they have in order to get more.
Go, be kind, honest, and
generous. Maybe unsurprisingly, the
answer to the question, “what should we do?” is the same for us as it was for
John’s listeners. Go, be kind, honest,
and generous. Love deeply. Share what you have with others. Keep your hearts full of compassion, mercy,
and love. Mourn with those who
mourn. Weep with those who weep. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
Pray. Pray daily, multiple times a day for the
families of the children who were killed.
Pray for the children, for God to hold them in his arms. Pray even for the man who did this. Right now, I don’t even like saying that,
much less doing it. I’m sad, and I’m
angry, and not even knowing anyone involved, I want vengeance on the man
responsible. Regardless of the fact that
he’s dead, I want vengeance.
Even so, over time, I have to let
that go, lest it consume me and the darkness overtake me. Let the anger and sadness happen. Let any desires for vengeance happen. Let them happen, and then let them go.
What are we to do in the face of such evil as the killing
of innocent children? As Paul wrote in
his letter to the Romans:
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what
is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another
in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be
ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend
hospitality to strangers. Bless those
who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
(Romans 12:9-14)
We cry until we laugh. We cry how long, O Lord, until we can laugh,
rejoicing in hope. Then, we remember the
command of Jesus to his disciples. "Love one another, as I have
loved you." The greatest command we have been given is to love each
other. The greatest way to combat evil is to love. Light casts out
darkness. Love overcomes despair, hatred, and evil. So love deeply. Go, be kind, honest, and generous. Mourn with those who mourn, weep with those
who weep. Cry till we laugh. Pray.
Constantly pray. Pray for those
who are suffering. Pray that love among
us may increase. Pray that God will
create in us clean hearts, that we may be light bearers, casting out darkness
and bringing his love to others. Amen.
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