{"id":2575,"date":"2019-12-15T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T16:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=2575"},"modified":"2020-01-16T10:38:55","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T15:38:55","slug":"the-adventure-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2019\/12\/15\/the-adventure-of-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventure of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

Isaiah 35:1-10<\/a><\/p>\n

James 5:7-10<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew 11:2-11<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to hear just the sermon<\/a><\/p>\n

Frontispiece<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The adventure of Advent is part memory and part hope.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, our Christmas tree appeared, here in the NE corner of Marsh Chapel, whence the sermon this Lord\u2019s day.\u00a0 It took six men and a boy to bring it in, and set it up.\u00a0 At about 12 feet in height, it is our largest tree in memory.\u00a0 Carrying caked ice, the tree tested the mettle of those carrying her.\u00a0 Many have commented on the tree\u2019s stature and beauty.\u00a0 Some have rightly noticed the fragrance, the scent, the pine needle and pine woods perfume it has brought along, to help us, downstairs and upstairs, to welcome a new season, a familiar return of the rhythms of Advent leading to Christmas.<\/p>\n

One or another, it may be, sitting quietly in the nave, embraced by the fragrance, aroma, scent, perfume of Advent, may have wondered, even aloud, whether the return of a season\u2014secular, religious, cultural, familial all\u2014might bring with it a healing balm.\u00a0 Our climate is in calamity.\u00a0 Our government is in an uproar:\u00a0 \u00be of Americans cannot name the three branches of government. Our denomination is in tatters.\u00a0 Our semester is at an and.\u00a0 Our work places are more human than divine.\u00a0 Our families are in need of prayer: 200,000 opioid related deaths since oxycontin was approved, 1995.\u00a0 \u00a0Incidents of self-harm for young adults, ages 10-24, increased from 2007 to 2017 by 56% (during the same decade as the full expanse of social media).\u00a0 Our souls themselves are divided, part hope and part fear.\u00a0 And here stands the tree, mute, but claiming our senses, at the turn of the ages.\u00a0 Lovely thy branches<\/em>.\u00a0 Can the return of a season, sensed in the senses, bring balm, bring a healing balm, bring judgment and redemption?\u00a0 The tall tree before us is laden with ornaments of memory and lights of hope, ornaments of memory like that in Matthew, lights of hope like that is Isaiah.<\/p>\n

Adventure in Memory (Matthew)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

You will have noticed that our Matthew reading is from chapter 11, in the middle of the gospel.\u00a0 Jesus has gathered the twelve disciples, on Matthew\u2019s rendering, in the prior chapter.\u00a0 He has given them directions, marching orders, discipleship for disciples, and has sent them forth.\u00a0 Now, oddly, in chapter 11, John the Baptist, reappears, with whom the Gospel began long chapters ago.\u00a0 He emerges, he returns, like a familiar season, or scent.\u00a0 The Gospel writer wants to be sure that his hearers, his readers remember those who came before.\u00a0 The community will nod, and knowingly, at his mention.\u00a0 The cross is foreshadowed in John the Baptist, the greatest of all, says the Lord, before the turn of the ages, he whose head was severed.\u00a0 He came before, and preached before, and baptized before, and died before Jesus.\u00a0 Even Jesus, even Jesus, even Jesus had predecessors.\u00a0 John predeceased Jesus.\u00a0 A part of our judgement and of our redemption lie in seeing and hearing and sensing our forebears.\u00a0 Who told you, as Carlyle Marney asked, \u2018who told you who you was\u2019?\u00a0\u00a0 Our liturgy, our ritual, make sure that we don\u2019t get to Christmas without going through Advent, that we don\u2019t get to the manger without the woods and its trees, that we don\u2019t get to the warmth of cattle lowing and mother and child, without the ice water of the Jordan. The past is not dead.\u00a0 It is not even past.\u00a0 Some memories depend on diversity, some rely on unity.\u00a0 We need both going forward, diversity and unity.<\/p>\n

I came in to see my Aunt Hazel one December day.\u00a0 I was glum.\u00a0 She asked if my girlfriend had given me the \u2018wet mitten\u2019.\u00a0 She had, but I did not know it because I did not understand the metaphor.\u00a0 My great Aunt, who worked her adult life as home care giver, was raised on the St. Lawrence River, whence, she often said, \u2018we could look down into Canada\u2019.\u00a0 She and my uncle Bob, a janitor with the electric company, childless themselves, raised my Dad while his single mom worked as a scrub nurse, day and many nights.\u00a0\u00a0 She taught my dad to become an excellent cook, at least in the making of apple pies.\u00a0 Once as a boy my dad asked Aunt Hazel, repeatedly:\u00a0 \u2018where was I before I was born?\u2019\u00a0 She reportedly replied, irritated, \u2018down in Canada boiling soap\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Anyway, that afternoon at age 16 she asked about my despond with a mysterious metaphor.\u00a0 The image is of a winter sleigh ride.\u00a0 The horses pull through the snow.\u00a0 The young people ride in the hay in the back keeping warm.\u00a0 They hug, they kiss, they enjoy each other.\u00a0 Until or unless one gives another a shove away, using the instrument of a hand gloved in a \u2018wet mitten\u2019.\u00a0 It is telling image, and a memorable one, and in that far gone winter afternoon conversation happened to be entirely accurate.\u00a0 We had split up, my girlfriend and I, at least for 48 hours or so.\u00a0 We had fallen out of love, at least for a couple of days. \u00a0But life went on. \u00a0Memory, diverse and utterly personal, of some similar seasons from the past can guide us now.\u00a0 Life will go on.<\/p>\n

On a Wednesday in December 2007, I walked late to the University Christmas party here at Boston University. I entered the packed hall to various greetings and smiles. Greetings a tad to various and more than the usual smiles. Had I seen the ten sleds decorated for competition? No, I had not. More greetings, more smiles, a few little moments of happy laughter. I began to feel followed. In fact, I was. My friend drew me through the crowd. Then, with a woosh of surprise, the throng parted and there before me was Marsh Chapel. I mean a four-foot sled decorated with Marsh Chapel made of marshmallows and ginger bread and licorice and chocolate. A group of administrators from the Metropolitan college had built it. They gathered in kitchens. Singing Christmas tunes they baked and cooked. They sampled the chapel as it came out of the oven. You could tell they loved doing so together. It was an emotional moment for me to see the true affection they have for their chapel, their chapel, and its architectural, symbolic, historical, physical and spiritual centrality in this college community of 40,000. They gathered. They sang. They worked. They ate. They found meaning. In baking the church, they came home to church, in their own way. You could call it a second birth, a new rebirth of basic religious rhythms. For all the sorrow, there is still, on your part, and on mine, and on others\u2019, a listening ear, a willingness to tune in, a hard to articulate longing, a reaching toward\u2026Another.<\/em> \u00a0Memory of some seasons now past can guide us now.\u00a0 Their gift provided a unifying memory, like that familiar refrain from Howard Thurman:<\/p>\n

When the song of the angel is stilled,
\nWhen the star in the sky is gone,
\nWhen the kings and princes are home,
\nWhen the shepherds are back with their flock,
\nThe work of Christmas begins:
\nTo find the lost<\/em><\/p>\n

To heal the broken<\/em><\/p>\n

To feed the hungry
\nTo release the prisoner<\/em><\/p>\n

To rebuild the nations
\nTo bring peace among brothers and sisters
\nTo make music in the heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

Adventure in Hope (Isaiah)
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A return can bring healing.\u00a0 Just listen again to the passage from Isaiah, about fertility in the desert, written probably on the return of Israel from bondage in Babylon.\u00a0 Chapter 35 fits better with later parts of Isaiah.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a hymn of hope.\u00a0 Some hopes depend on diversity, some rely on unity.\u00a0 We need both going forward, diversity and unity.<\/p>\n

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>the desert shall rejoice and blossom;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

3\u00a0<\/sup>Strengthen the weak hands,<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and make firm the feeble knees.<\/span>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>Say to those who are of a fearful heart,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cBe strong, do not fear!<\/span>
\nHere is your God.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

5\u00a0<\/sup>Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and the ears of the deaf unstopped;<\/span>
\nFor waters shall break forth in the wilderness,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and streams in the desert;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

10\u00a0<\/sup>And the ransomed of the <\/em><\/span>Lord<\/em><\/span> shall return,<\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and come to Zion with singing;<\/span>
\neverlasting joy shall be upon their heads;<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>they shall obtain joy and gladness,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, perhaps, we simply want to pause before the mystery, one of life\u2019s great mysteries, the birth of any idea.\u00a0 Where do the aspirations of Isaiah 35 come from? The Scripture teaches us: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength\u2014and mind.\u00a0 And you love your neighbor as yourself.<\/em>\u00a0 For this to come to pass, we shall need:\u00a0 \u2018an educated citizenry fluent in a wise and universal liberalism\u2019 \u2018This liberalism will neither play down nor fetishize identity grievances, but look instead for a common and generous language to build on who we are more broadly, and to conceive more boldly what we might be able to accomplish in concert.\u2019\u00a0NYT 8\/27\/18.<\/p>\n

Our minister at Riverside Church, some decades ago, William Sloane Coffin, of blessed memory, spoke in aphorisms and in epigrams, to evoke the triumph of the invisible, to speak resurrection.\u00a0 His voice is one of the diverse, personal and particular signs of hope, the hopeful lights around us.\u00a0 Each of us has someone different to whom we turn and return, it may be.<\/p>\n

On Faith:\u00a0 faith is being grasped by the power of love.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Reality:\u00a0 God is reality.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Safety:\u00a0 God provides minimum protection and maximum support.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Adversity:\u00a0 We learn most from adversity.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Sin:\u00a0 Sin is a state of being.\u00a0 When the triangle of love, GOD SELF NEIGHBOR, is sundered, there is sin.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Guilt:\u00a0 Guilt is the last stronghold of pride.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Will:\u00a0 The rational mind is not match for the irrational will.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Mercy:\u00a0 There is more mercy in God than there is sin in us.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Justice:\u00a0 Pastoral concern for the rich must match prophetic concern for the poor.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Love:\u00a0 The religious norm is love
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

On prejudice:\u00a0 White racism.\u00a0 Male chauvinism.\u00a0 Straight homophobia.\u00a0 It is what is known and unspoken that causes the most trouble.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Truth:\u00a0 Faith gives the strength to confront unpleasant truth.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Journey:\u00a0 Faith puts you on the road.\u00a0 Hope keeps you on the road.\u00a0 Love is the end of the road.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

(He could be acerbic too: I\u2019m not OK and you\u2019re not OK\u2014but that\u2019s OK\u2026And I wish my father in law were not some Liberace\u2026Preachers are egotists with a theological alibi).<\/em><\/p>\n

On Loss:\u00a0 When my son died, God\u2019s heart was the first to break.<\/em><\/p>\n

Those who have seen the recent beautiful film about Fred Rodgers will recognize his time-honored pastoral practices.\u00a0 His work provided a unifying hope.\u00a0 He preached from this pulpit, at Baccalaureate, 1992.\u00a0 He was a Presbyterian minister, you know, a religious man, you know, a practiced pastor, you know:<\/p>\n

Pray for people by name.\u00a0 This is good.<\/p>\n

Exercise each day.\u00a0 This is good.<\/p>\n

Read the Scripture in the morning.\u00a0 This is good.<\/p>\n

Play the piano, including banging bass notes, when moved.\u00a0 This is good.<\/p>\n

Talk to people (at work, in transit, by phone, all).\u00a0 This is good.<\/p>\n

Visit people in their homes.\u00a0 This is good.<\/p>\n

In the film abroad, and in the sermon right here, Rogers asked people a question:\u00a0 who has taught you, believed in you, supported you, and loved you?\u00a0 His way of being, of teaching, of speaking to children as though they were adults, and to adults as though they were children, is a kind of unifying hope for us, which we sorely need.<\/p>\n

Coda<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Advent Adventure:\u00a0 Memory, Hope.\u00a0 One part diversity and one part unity each.\u00a0 An ornament or three for memory, a light or three for hope.<\/p>\n

Good News:\u00a0 In the long run, those who accept him as an influence in their lives will experience that comprehensive peace which is the effect of the Christ event itself.<\/p>\n

Take a minute, in the quiet, as the organ plays, with the tree listening and within a season of healing, to remember someone who helped bring you to who you are today.<\/em><\/p>\n

-The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel
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Click here to hear the full service Isaiah 35:1-10 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 Click here to hear just the sermon Frontispiece The adventure of Advent is part memory and part hope. A couple of weeks ago, our Christmas tree appeared, here in the NE corner of Marsh Chapel, whence the sermon this Lord\u2019s day.\u00a0 It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2575"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2575\/revisions\/2600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}