Jeremiah 33:14-16
First Sunday in Advent November 29, 2015
On the front page in this Tuesday’s digital edition of the New York Times were headlines and stories that provoke fear[1]. One article noted that “Four months after a historic accord with Tehran to limit its atomic ambitions, American officials and private security groups say they see a surge in sophisticated computer espionage by Iran, culminating in a series of cyber-attacks against State Department officials over the past month.”
Five people were shot and wounded Monday night near a police precinct in Minneapolis where demonstrators have been protesting the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man, the police said. After attacks that resulted in the death of 130 people, concern is rising, particularly in Muslim communities being singled out, that France’s government may favor security at the expense of individual freedoms and of instigating tension with a large Muslim population. Other stories included Turkish fighter jets on patrol near the Syrian border down a Russian warplane. There were several articles on various ways to combat ISIS.
In each of these cases, it seems, our security and our safety is threatened. It feels as if, as Luke says, “the signs are present in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.” The overwhelming reaction to these events is fear. And fear creates more fear. Decisions made out of a place of fear are never healthy decisions. Fear can make us see people in need as the enemy. Fear causes us to close ourselves in and shut others out. Fear causes us to violate our own values. Despite our attempts to procure security for ourselves, we have failed. We live in fear for our safety, much like the people of Jeremiah’s time and place.
Jeremiah was born into a time when Judah’s security was threatened by the Assyrians. By the time he was in his thirties, the Babylonians had overrun both Assyria and Judah. People had been, and were continuing to be, sent into exile. Jeremiah’s warnings only caused him trouble. After telling King Zedekiah of Judah that Judah would fall to Babylon, the king confined Jeremiah to the palace court of the guard, a kind of house arrest.
Under confinement, Jeremiah was suffering. His land and its people were on the brink of disaster. It is in this context, that Jeremiah speaks words of restoration and salvation, words of hope. Listen again. “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” Jeremiah continues to speak in a prophetic voice that proclaims a secure future in which people live in safety. It is a future obtained not by war or violence. Hear again his words. “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.” The time is not now, not yet, but the time is surely coming, says the Lord.
To people in the middle of great suffering and at the edge of despair, God speaks through Jeremiah the promise of a safe future. In a time of collapsing security and its resulting sense of the world being out of control, God has a word for us. Fear and despair do not have the last word. God does. Hate, violence, and fear cannot and will not revoke God’s promises. God’s promises will not fail. We cannot let hate and violence and fear tell us who we are, and we cannot let them determine our values and our actions. We are God’s beloved, and that is what defines us. Now is the time to be faith-filled and not fear-filled.
We are called, as Jeremiah was, to name suffering and injustice. We need to speak those words both loudly and clearly. But we also need to rely on God’s continuous presence, and to lean into God’s promised future,–a future in which our leaders practice justice and righteous, a time, as Jeremiah prophesies, when the city and the land will be healed and saved, a time when we will live together in safety and peace. If we are unable to imagine God’s promised future, we will miss our opportunity to participate in it, and sink into despair. When the world collapses around us, God calls us to stand confidently, trusting in God’s faithfulness and goodness, trusting that love is greater than hate, and that God’s goodness is stronger than evil. The sure and certain hope of Advent is that light will overcome the darkness.
There are signs of that now, but we don’t always hear about them. After 14 years as a Brooklyn police officer, Commander Peters made several traffic stops, and gave the drivers gift cards instead of tickets. Last week, a New York woman bought out an entire toy store and donated the toys to the city’s Department of Homeless Services. A Cincinnati businesswoman collects gently used suitcases to give to foster children who have to move. Colleges are implementing programs for students aimed at improving race relations. Lutheran World Relief is supporting a coalition that is providing humanitarian aid to refugees in Greece, Hungary and Serbia to provide hygiene items, winter coats, and camps. People here at St. Stephen help to bring in God’s kingdom by providing quilts that provide comfort and warmth to needy people all over the world, donating sneakers to the children of the Grove community, volunteering at FISH and repairing homes, time and money given to Avalon, our local center for victims of abuse, and driving people to doctor’s appointments. Soon we will help feed the homeless through the Community of Faith Mission. There are more ways that people around the world, including we here at St. Stephen help to bring in God’s kingdom than can be spoken about in a month of Sundays. These efforts are faith-focused and not fear-focused.
Advent is the season of now and not yet, of God’s kingdom coming and to come. Advent calls us to live in hope instead of fear. God’s promise and the promise of Advent is that even as we live searching for security today, God is creating a new tomorrow.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord. On this first Sunday in Advent, we pray that longing in our hearts, “Thy kingdom come.” Thy kingdom come, Lord, so that people will not have to sleep on the streets. Thy kingdom come so mothers will not see their innocent children gunned down. When thy kingdom comes, people will not blow themselves and others up in the name of religion. When thy kingdom comes, there will be no refugees searching for a safe place to live. Thy kingdom come so that people of different races, nationalities, religion and gender will live together in safety and peace. The days are surely coming says the Lord.
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] http://www.nytimes.com