Advent II + Malachi 3:1-4, Canticle 16, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6
Saint David of Wales Episcopal Church, Elkhart, Indiana
Rev. Joshua Nelson
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
The Wilderness of Temptation - The Judaean Desert
Photo by: Joshua Nelson, May 2016
Why are the prophets always in the wilderness? Luke has given us this quote from Isaiah, connecting that prophecy and us with John the Baptist, who is a literal voice in the wilderness. But what is so radical about that?
It’s what prophets have always done. What’s so strange about this particular prophecy? It’s a little difficult to get across in Northern Indiana, where we do not have many hills or valleys. Not too many crooked places, and absolutely no mountains. I’ve heard it said, “well, we’ve got sand dunes.” Those don’t count. The one comment most of my friends from Tennessee make when they visit here is, “golly its flat.”
But as someone who has lived in Tennessee and whose family hales from mid-Appalachia and the coal hills of Kentucky and West Virginia, I can tell you that the mountains mean security. My great-grandfather's still was not just out the kitchen door, no, it was hidden up in the hills where the revenues would be hard pressed to find it, where sometimes my uncles weren't able to find it. When my great-grandmother was in trouble with the law she went and hid out in the mountains. All those crooked hollers and caves and crags are terrific places for hiding what we don’t want to be exposed to the light. There are secrets in those hills, and unlike Tolkien’s fantastical Ent’s, these trees will not divulge what they know.
The ancient Israelites where people of the hills. It was the Philistines and Hittites who lived in the valley along the coast. It was the Egyptians who rode their chariots through the valley of Megiddo. Horses pulling wagons do not fare well in the hills of ancient Palestine. So the ancestors of Jesus and John, all lived up in the mountains. They were hillbillies, you might say. I find that comforting. From up there, it was safer, where you could see the enemy coming, where you could hide. Even Nazareth itself was a few dwellings among the caves on the hillside. No fine walls or patios. Just some steps and door hinges carved into the cave. Jesus grew up in a cave. Yes, Jesus was a caveman. Get your mind around that. It was cheaper, it was cooler, it was safer.
So what then when the valleys are filled in, and the hills are brought low? What happens when the crooked ditches are made straight and the rough patches made plain? We are made vulnerable. Everything comes into the light. All that was hidden is exposed. Those who dwell in darkness are forced to see the brightness of the sun.
This is why the prophets go to the wilderness; to show this physically. This is why Isaiah and Elijah wonder around through the wilderness, tracing the crooked watercourses in the Negev desert, and the hills of Galilee, from Mount Carmel to Mount Zion, they go to shout out what it is they see. What those in power have tried to keep hidden and what those who dwell there have tried to ignore.
What is it that they say out in the wilderness? ‘Why are the poor still hungry? Why are the widows indebted beyond help? Why are there homeless among you? Why do you go to war when God has provided everything you need? Why is profit for some more important than financial stability for all? Why? Now, this may sound like I pulled it from the headlines yesterday, but I didn’t. This is the prophets. This is Isaiah, this is Elijah, this is Jeremiah. This is the prophets and the prophets’ heirs. The true prophets stand on their soapbox, not to through blame, but to point out what they see. When everything is made level and the salvation of God is made clear, all this we have chosen to leave hidden, to look away from, to ignore, can no longer be kept in the shadows, can no longer be ignored. It can be seen by all. Our sins are exposed to the light and must be dealt with. This is why prophet Malachi ask’s “ who can endure the day of the lords coming?” With all our shame, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the needy, the lonely, and the despairing.’ It is known great shame to be poor. But for those that have, to not take care of them, that is shameful, that is sin. A few of us serve at Susannah’s Kitchen the first Friday of every month. It is a soup kitchen that serves lunch to the homeless (unsheltered) and the working poor, every day of the week, Monday through Friday. Last Friday, I got a slightly different perspective. I sat in the kitchen and opened up hot dog buns as the others served and I got to really see the faces of everyone who went through the line. I can tell you, there were a lot of faces on Friday that I didn’t recognize. There have always been a lot of people there, but there were a lot of new faces. What does this say about us? All we have not cared for is right before our eyes. When this is exposed in the light of God, who would dare to stand.
Firstly, this is why Advent is also a penitential season. A little Lent. Another wilderness. Our sins are exposed and we are called to repent, to prepare ourselves for the day of God’s coming. As I said last week, God comes to bring judgment, to make justice, to set what is wrong a-right. But remember, that is part of our job too. Expose our own ignorance and compliance as it is, and work to make all things as they should be. If you wonder what it should be, read your Bible.
If you have been coming to my Sunday School Class, you would have heard some of this before, but I promise, a second booster won’t hurt. The repentance that John proclaims comes with baptism for the forgiveness of sins. A few weeks ago our class explored the history and theology of Baptism. For that class, I pulled from Rowan Williams’ little book “Being Christian.” In it, he points out how dangerous our baptism and the vows we make in it really are, if we are willing to live up to those standards. Williams’ suggest that baptism calls us all to be prophets in the wilderness. This is what he says.
“One of the very uncomfortable roles we have to play in the Church is to be prophets to one another - that is, to remind one another what we are here for. By that I don’t mean that every Christian needs to go around nagging every other Christian (attractive as that might be to some kinds of people). I mean rather that we need to be, in a variety of ways, ready to show one another what the integrity of Christian life is about. It is much more a case of nudging one another from time to time and saying ‘What do you see?’; ‘What’s your vision?’; [What has God placed in your line of sight];‘What are you making yourself accountable to?’ And to go on gently holding one another accountable before God doesn’t mean nagging or censoriousness. It means something much more like a quiet, persistent re--calling of one another to what is most important. [This is what prophet’s do]. We do it silently every time we meet for worship. We do it, ideally, when we meet together privately. We do it in all sorts of ways. The Church needs always to hear that critical voice saying, ‘Back to the beginning, back to where it all comes from. [and I would add, back to when God was seen by all.] Let’s try and listen again to what God first said to us.’ So, as prophets we lead one another back to the essentials: back to baptism, {study of scripture}, Holy Communion, and prayer.”
(Being Christian: p. 13-14).
When we get back to these essentials, we can't help but to live as Christ out in the world. When we get back to these essentials, you can’t just walk passed somebody on the street. You sit in the kitchen and you are keenly aware of all the new faces coming through the line at the Soup Kitchen. And your heart burns with a desire to do something about it.
When we do that, the church will be able once again to rise as one. After all, it is in baptism that we are all made one. To go out into wildernesses of our communities and to be prophets again. The age of the prophets is not over. We are called to proclaim the Good News and work for peace, and freedom and justice, truth, and love.
After all, that’s what Jesus did. That’s what Jesus does when we let him. Sometimes we just get in the way. I don’t know about you, but I rather repent and deal with the little bit of discomfort, than to dwell in darkness and the ignorance. Instead of sitting back, I’d rather go with Jesus, and be prophets in the world again.To close I’d like to draw your attention to the last hymn we will sing today. It number 65 in the blue hymnal if you’d like to follow along. It is said that we as Episcopalians go to scripture for the story, but to our hymns for what we believe. But how often do we not actually pay attention to the words we are singing, especially those in the middle. That’s where I’d like to draw your attention today. After the hill and valley are made level and we greet the one foretold, what does he bring with him? “He brings God’s rule, O Zion; he comes from heaven above,” and here it is, “His rule is peace and freedom, and justice, truth, and love.” I’m sorry if this sounds a bit pointed today, but it was very fresh on Friday morning.“His rule is peace and freedom, and justice, truth, and love.”
Continue in the way of Love. Go into the wilderness proclaim the way peace. Be prophets one to another, and be God’s voice for all those who are ignored. Be the light of hope for all those who are hidden in the darkness. That is your charge. That is your homework.
Amen.
