Sunday, December 8, 2024

Theme

According to the Gospel of Mark, the message of Jesus of Nazareth was simple, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). The word ‘repent; is a compound word in Greek, metanoia, meaning literally ‘to go beyond the mind.’ It means a conversion, a change of direction, a change of mind, a transformative change of heart. This message to ‘repent’ is one that Jesus shared with John the Baptizer, and untold prophets. All of them called their audiences to take stock of their current behaviors, recognize the ways that they do not align with the righteousness that God calls them to, and shift accordingly.

The season of Advent, while still being a joyous season of preparation, is also one where we are called to repentance. In this season we tell “scary ghost stories of Christmases long long ago¹,” specifically of one Ebenezer Scrooge who is called to repentance by his former business partner, Jacob Marley, who was “dead as a door-nail²,” yet visits him not long before Christmas day. Marley caries the heavy chain forged by his uncharitable actions, and warns Ebenezer that the same fate will meet him in death. Only by the visits of three spirits; those of Christmas past, present, and yet to come; will Scrooge be convinced of the necessity of his own repentance, to change his mind and heart.

Our reading for this week is from the prophet Joel (Jo-el). Joel was a prophet called to Jerusalem sometime after the return from Exile. Cyrus the Great of Persia allowed the Hebrew people to return to their homeland, to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, and the Temple of Adonai. However, while many of the people returned, it was not the end of their need for repentance. They soon go back to the wealth inequality, classism, unrighteousness, and injustice that prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah had warned would lead to exile in the first place. Joel simultaneously uses the imagery of an attacking army and swarm of locusts, both common enough catastrophes of his day, to point to a greater catastrophe, the great and terrible “day of the LORD³.” Joel and his contemporaries develop an understanding of a final judgement, when God (a God of justice and also gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, who relents from punishing) will finally bring judgement upon all of the people for their deeds. There is a point at which the bill will come due, when God “will turn your deeds back upon your own heads³.” Joel warns his own people, and us, that we are “captive bound, and double-ironed²” by the chains we have forged in life.

So blow the trumpet, sanctify a fast, repent and believe the good news.

¹ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams

² “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

³ the prophet Joel

Questions

– What is your experience with the concept of repentance? In what ways has it been helpful, in what ways has it been harmful?

– What is something that you have ‘changed your mind’ about?

– What is your experience with the idea of a final apocalyptic judgement?

Reflections:

Second Sunday of Advent: Peace

Introit: For the four Sundays of Advent, we will use the various verses of “Come Now, O Prince of Peace”, in the order most closely matching the week’s advent candle – making this week verse one, “Come now, O Prince of Peace”.

Opening Hymn: There are actually two hymns that reference Joel 2:13. The reference is minor, and we did one of them recently, so we’re sticking with Advent hymns again. We start with “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” – from the footnotes: “Its blending of memory and hope helps us to give voice to our present faith as we stand between the past and the future.”

Transition Hymn: For Advent, we will sing the hymn “O Come, Emmanuel” as our Transition Hymn.

Special Music: Second preview of the music from our Lesson and Carols program, “O Come Redeemer of the Earth”, by Brian L. Hanson.

Responsive Hymn: The text of “Now the Heavens Start to Whisper” touches on what is hidden and what is revealed in the coming of the long-awaited Messiah.

Sending Hymn: The author/composer of “Awake! Awake, and Greet the New Morn” set out to create a contemporary accessible carol that drew on familiar images in a new way.

Benediction: For the four weeks of Advent, we sing a more contemplative text (vs. the more traditional entreaty/invitation) focused on individual preparation, the first verse of  “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You”