I’m letting you know that towards the end of my sermon, there is going to be a time when I ask a question about what are the hopeful things that you see and experience in our church and in the world… and it’s not going to be a rhetorical question… I’m actually going to be looking for responses… what are the hopeful things that you see and experience in our church and in our world… even in the midst of our weariness.
With that in mind, will you join me in a moment of prayer? May these words, offered with humility and hope, draw us closer to you O God and one another, amen.
On Wednesday morning, 10 of us gathered at Port Wallis for the first session of the Advent Study group… a contemplative exploration of the first chapter of Luke. One of the practices we did was something called Blackout Poetry, where participants were invited to take a piece of scripture and circle all the words that caught their attention, to not give it to much thought, just do it. Then to ‘black out’ with a marker all the rest of the words. Then to write the remaining words if poem form, in whatever way made sense to each person. I am going to share mine, but before I do that, let’s listen to the text itself:
1 Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first,[a] to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.
5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.
8 Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. 1 Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him.
13 But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’
18 Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’
19 The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. 22 When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
My blackout poetry is this:
Undertaken
Excellent priest
Righteous
Blameless
Barren
Serving
Chosen
Whole assembly
Praying
Terrified
Overwhelmed
Bear
Joy and gladness
Rejoice!
Filled hearts
Power and wisdom
Make ready
Presence of God
Mute
Waiting
Wondered
Home.
All of us had different styles and different words that we had been drawn to. That is part of the enduring power of scripture… that not only do we each approach it differently, but we approach it differently each time. I last preached on this text three years ago… I am not the same, the world is not the same and the people I am in ministry with are not the same… so how this passage speaks to me in this time and place is different.
Let’s take a look at the text: In those days, to be without children was to have no standing in society. When the angel Gabriel tells Zechariah that Elizabeth would bear a son in her old age, he didn’t believe the angel. And because of his disbelief, he was struck silent until that day came. Now, I don’t believe that’s how God works, but that’s the way Luke has told this story… and remember this story is being relayed approximately 85 years after Jesus’ death. But getting back to Zechariah… he had no hope… Despite being familiar with Abraham and Sarah’s story of a son in their old age, he didn’t believe. His hope was silenced.
Has our hope been silenced? Have the years of Covid and then the unrealized hope of returning numbers that have not materialized made us weary? Are we too weary to hope? Can we be both weary and hope-filled? First, let me say that hope is not just wishful thinking. Hope, in the faith sense, is working towards an unseen future… with a sense that God is with us… and that new life is possible… that abundant life is possible!
Rebecca Solnit, (rebeccasolnit.net) writes:
Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act. When you recognize uncertainty, you recognize that you may be able to influence the outcomes—you alone or you in concert with a few dozen or several million others.
We may only be a few dozen… but Jesus started with only a dozen. 😉
James Clear who wrote Atomic Habits, said this in a podcast with Brené Brown, “Every action we take is like a vote for the type of person we wish to become. Your habits are how you embody a particular identity.” He writes about consistency over intensity in creating habits and about NOT setting goals. Imagine that! Not setting goals. In our goal-oriented society, that it so counter cultural. He does speak a great deal about creating systems though. In the same way, I think that can be understood collectively. Every action, every decision, every habit we cultivate is like a vote for the kind of congregation we want to be. He speaks of instead of setting goals, ask the question we are trying to answer.
Some of the questions in our Listening Circles reflected that: What Would a Faithful Congregation Be Like? What Do We Need to Be a Healthy, Life-Giving and Relevant Congregation? And then build our systems, our habits, to create the answers to those questions. For instance, perhaps the question this week is, “Can we be a hope-filled and hopeful congregation, even in our weariness?” And if the answer is yes, how can our words and actions reflect that? We’re not going to be perfect. We’re going to fall short, just like God’s people have always fallen short.
And it’s easy to fall into the lure of complaining with one another. Did you know that complaining actually rewires your brain for negativity?
An article in the Globe and Mail says this:
Your brain loves efficiency and doesn’t like to work any harder than it has to. When you repeat a behavior, such as complaining, your neurons branch out to each other to ease the flow of information. This makes it much easier to repeat that behavior in the future –so easy, in fact, that you might not even realize you’re doing it. You can’t blame your brain. Who’d want to build a temporary bridge every time you need to cross a river? It makes a lot more sense to construct a permanent bridge. So, your neurons grow closer together, and the connections between them become more permanent. Scientists like to describe this process as, “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” Since human beings are inherently social, our brains naturally and unconsciously mimic the moods of those around us, particularly people we spend a great deal of time with. This process is called neural mirroring, and it’s the basis for our ability to feel empathy. There are two things you can do when you feel the need to complain. One is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. That is, when you feel like complaining, shift your attention to something that you’re grateful for. Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the right thing to do; it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%.
So the reverse is also true… if we look around us and see how many ways God is active in our lives and in the life of this community… and cultivate an ‘attitude of gratitude, then we can become more hopeful manifestation of God’s presence in this community. We can rewire our brains! Zechariah was struck dumb and mute… because he did not believe… maybe that happened so that he couldn’t complain! 😉
So, when someone starts talking hopelessness and despair about the of the church, or longs for the days of their youth, when it was a different kind of church, you can refuse to listen… you can speak of the reality of the blessings in this place and in our weary world.
What are they? This is your turn to tell me… Turn your attention to them.
This is a new year! This is the start of the church year! Sure, we have challenges, but as someone who has served churches with far greater challenges, I challenge you to allow your God light to shine. God never promises us a life without challenges… God simply promises to always be present. Let us continually ask ourselves this question in the coming week: How would a hopeful person respond?
Thanks be to God for the challenge and the opportunity of being the church today, amen.
Luke 1: 1-23
November 26, 2023 – SJ – Advent 1
Catherine MacDonald
My Window on God's World 