All Saints Lutheran
Pastor Raita Neely Advent 2C - Philippians 1:3-11; Lk. 3:1-6
December 7, 2003

Here we are this morning on the second Sunday in Advent, this wonderful season of waiting, preparation, urgency, and expectation.  Our Scripture for this morning catches our imagination because it is full of history and mystery, replete with the ordinary and with awe and holy happenings.  It opens our ears to  Isaiah's voice heard by the Hebrew people in exile in Babylon , it brings us John's voice as he prepares the way for Jesus' public ministry, it makes us listen to Luke's voice as he speaks to the early church.  God's word through all these messengers gives us the ongoing story of God acting in human lives to make the impossible possible.  It is the miracle of God entering human history, giving a word for our ears to hear, and as we obey that word, radically altering our lives.  This active word in Jesus Christ, tells us once again the promise, the good news - it is God's intent that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Repent! Turn back to God.  Repentance is the garment we wear as we come before God.  To repent is to "change your mind"  to do an "about face" with your life. Repentance is to move toward God's way with body, mind and spirit.  Repentance is turning to the Lord for everything that matters.  It is  trusting in Jesus Christ and what he has done through his life, his death and his resurrection. Repentance is an active necessity every day of your life.

Some of you probably remember the story of Terry Anderson, arguably  the best known of the American hostages kept in Lebanon .  Abducted by three armed young men he was held hostage for 2,454 days.   His ordeal began on March 16, 1985 . Anderson 's first days of captivity were appalling.  He was blindfolded most of the time.  Held in chains.  Interrogated roughly.  His mind did not know how to react.  Anderson realized that he was on the edge of madness.  He was losing control of his capacity to think.  "I can't do this anymore," he finally told his captors.  "You can't treat me like an animal.  I am a human being."  When asked what he wanted he replied that he wanted a Bible.  Not long afterwards a heavy object landed on his bed.  He pulled down his blindfold.  It was a Bible. He read - beginning with Genesis.

Terry had been raised in the Catholic Church.  Even though he had not been a practicing Catholic for years, the Bible came to him as a gift from God.  He hungered for God's word.  He thought deeply about his life.  He began a litany of confession in his mind.  He confessed many things, things that were hard to think about - that he had hurt his first wife and daughter, that he had misused his body in many different ways, that  he had made many mistakes.  He had been a very arrogant person.  He did not think others liked him, he didn't like himself.  He had abandoned the church.  He knew he had become estranged from God.

Later in that first year of captivity, Terry became aware of the fact that other hostages were living next door.  One was a priest - Father Lawrence Jenco. Terry asked his captors if he could see the priest in order to make a confession.  To his surprise, his wish was granted.  Father Jenco came to his room.  They both took off their blindfolds.  Terry hardly knew where to begin -it had been 25 years since he had made confession.  Father Jenco was encouraging.  And Terry was given the grace to reflect on his life and his walk away from God.  When he had finished sharing the many ways his life had become a wilderness, both he and Father Jenco were in tears.  The priest then laid his hands on Terry and said, "In the name of a gentle, loving God, your are forgiven."

Terry Anderson's faith deepened immensely in his hostage years.  The confession in Father Jenco's presence, and the reassurance of God's promises in baptism were the first steps back to God, back to the church.  Even in captivity Terry's life began to turn around.  Out of deep darkness, he began to see the light of Christ and  to ask Christ to direct and lead him.  God's mercy and faithfulness continued to work in his life.

God's will is to reach all people.  To make all things right and new.  To bring all people to God.  To work in, with, and under and many times despite the structures that surround us and the things that would alienate us from God.

So often, you and I think that life just rolls along, with no plot, purpose, or direction.  Luke assures us that God is at work in the world.  In Jesus, God entered and continues to be a part of human history in a decisive way and things can never be the same again.

John the Baptist's message puts us all in the same category and creates a moment of truth:  all our efforts for maintaining an illusion of personal or corporate innocence must be abandoned.  We are all in need of making our hearts ready for God's rule, for returning to obedience to God's word.  What do we need?  To invite the Holy Spirit to work in us a change, to become open to God's ways in our lives.  To let God become for us not merely a doctrine,  a proposition, or an idea, but a presence to know and to embrace.  A presence who becomes our light in this Advent season, the one who helps us illumine what is worth living for and fighting for.  And to know as the apostle Paul says that God is the one "from whom we come, unto whom we return and in whom we live and move and have our being."

Think about that, God is the one from whom you come, to whom you return, in whom you live and move and have your being!  Some of you are already living that reality.  If you aren't it can happen for you.  God can become your foundation. God can become the unifying reality which gives you sense and meaning and works in all your relationships.  God can become your refuge in trouble and your strength as you oppose the evil around you.  God will meet you in your need, but also confront you in the people and events of every day.  You can know God's presence in the way you draw on God for support and in the way you react to the personal and social issues which involve you.

Advent reminds you and me of the birth and the presence of God in Jesus - God in our midst as a baby-someone we can hold, rock, love and get sentimental over. But  we also know that is not the end of the story.  We all know that our rebirth is not through the birth of Jesus, but through his death and resurrection.  The church and each of us is born through the cross.  The Holy Spirit through the word and sacraments makes the cross effective in us and our witness is Christ crucified, risen and coming again. 

As you hear and live Christ's word, as you are washed in the waters of baptism, as you receive Christ's body and blood, you are assured of your part in God's family history - adopted in Christ - child of God for ever.  And so, like John the Baptist you become one of God's instruments in mission to let the whole world know that God is at work so that "all flesh shall see the salvation of God."   Christ's birth, life, death, resurrection and coming again all point us to the future and to the knowledge that God's rule is not complete in the world as we live in it.  Our history is not yet finished.  We still await God in God's fullness.  It will be a time with no more tears.  God will gather up and heal our brokeness for ever.

In this season of Advent you and I tell the family story with emotion and with delight.  It is your story.  You tell of Isaiah, John and Luke.  You tell of Jesus your Lord.  You tell it in music and prayer.  You hear it as the children share with you their learning in Sunday School.  You tell it in your homes as you read together the stories from Luke and as you sing or listen to the many wonderful carols of Advent and Christmas.  You participate in the story as you serve those around you who don't know why we celebrate and rejoice this time of the year.  You know the story is yours as you worship and as you take the bread and wine and hear the words spoken to you, "The body of Christ given for you, the blood of Christ shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."    The story of Jesus and his love has to be told and heard because our world continues to be in want.  We desperately need to hear of the joy and healing God's love can bring to the world.  This  year, the war in Iraq though declared as over, continues to make deep and ugly scars on many lives.  The ever rising national debt, personal financial setbacks for many and continued job issues for others affect our lives.  Political actions and inactions by our national and regional leaders are so complex, that it takes years to understand exactly how they will affect us.  The plight of many people in Africa troubles us.  Wars and rumors of wars take their toll on us.  With news at our fingertips at every hour, it would be  easy to give in to despair.  Sometimes we can feel every bit as captive to unknown, unmoveable and unshakable powers as Terry Anderson did in 1985.  In his news conference after his release, Terry said that what helped him through his years of captivity were his Bible and his faith in God's presence in his life and in the affairs of the world

Only God can catch you up in the wonder, mystery, surprise and joy that come in a life lived in Jesus Christ.  The troubles in the world are not eliminated. God challenges you to  continue working within the structures of the world to the best of your ability - to foster peace, justice, compassion and mercy.  But you also realize that in the end you're not in charge of the whole world.  And you have a family story that tells you that you are a part of  something that is very ancient, which also has the possibility of something ever so new.  Your roots are embedded in Jesus Christ who has the power to arrange your world in new patterns and give you new possibilities.

This Advent, as you prepare for the coming of your Lord, celebrate God's grace and presence and recognize your need for repentance and renewal.  Whatever else may come, God in Christ comes to you this very day, with understanding, forgiveness and acceptance.  God is in our midst.  God loves you.   Rejoice, break out in thanksgiving, go prepare the way of the Lord.  Amen.