Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship for this 3rd Sunday of Advent, landing on December 17, 2023!
The bulletin can be found here. You can download it to follow along with, or you can just rely on the words that will show up on your screen. The sermon is also included on this page below the worship video.
For an enhanced online worship experience, you can have a candle in your space, lit at the beginning of the service and extinguished near the end when the altar candles are put out after the sending hymn. You are also welcome to participate in communion by having something small to eat and drink ready for the appropriate time of the service. Further instruction will be given then.
May the joy of God’s presence with us be alive in you and all around you, this day and always!
Holy God, you are the giver of life and light. Illumine our hearts and minds that by the power of your Spirit, our lives may reflect your glory, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
The other day I saw this movie that got me a little scared. Not because it was a horror movie or anything, but just the content regular movie got me to thinking. I don’t want to tell you what movie it is, because I’m about to give away some spoilers. Anyway, the premise of the movie is that the world has inexplicably gone dark. Not literally dark like it gets in the early afternoon these days, but dark in that all communication has been cut. TV, phones, internet, nothing works anymore. People were isolated, alone, and above all, confused because there was no way for information about what was going on to get out, and there was no guidance as to what should be done and no assurance that things are being taken care of.
Of course, speculation began to rise as to what was happening and maybe even who is behind it. The people received little tidbits and hints and tried to piece things together, but nothing was for certain. This caused suspicion between neighbours, tension between the different classes, and drew out a lot of assumptions between ethnicities. People didn’t trust each other and so in everyone’s eyes, everyone else became the antagonist.
But the part that really got me thinking was when one character tried to make sense of what was happening. He remembered learning about a method of attack that would destabilize a country from within in three steps. The first step was to isolate everyone, cut off all communication so as to confuse people. That definitely happened. Then the second was synchronized chaos. This is to overwhelm them with confusing and likely false information so there is no specific enemy and thus no way to defend. That happened as well. And the last step… well that was on the citizens to carry out. The first two steps were to break the people down so much that, if dysfunctional enough, would cause a civil war. Why? Because if people already didn’t trust each other, this sort of attack would only exasperate their need to protect themselves from the other. People would act out of fear and their preset assumptions about who is good and who isn’t them. When there is no clear enemy, the other becomes your prime suspect.
And this was scary to me because I see that kind of dysfunction now in our country. Even in this country that is presumably full of nice people and has “sorry” as their motto, it seems like there is a lot of division and lines drawn around what is right and what is wrong, which courses of action we as a country should take and which we should avoid, and who belongs here and who should be thrown out. And really, it’s not just in this country, but we see it around the world, we see it in our communities, we might even see it in our churches. And that’s scary to me. Because it feels like if push were to come to shove, it’ll be easy to just throw the other under the bus and resort to conflict, violence, and division.
But this isn’t a new revelation now, is it. I mean, this sort of dysfunction has been going on in varying degrees for… well… pretty much ever. From the beginning of time we have evidence of war, conflict, and doing harm to the other to gain power, to protect one’s own pride, or even to just prove a point. Other people have always been expendable, because in most eyes, the only one worth protecting, valuing, or just listening to, is the self.
We see this friction, this drawing of lines, this “othering” in today’s gospel lesson. We get another bit about John the baptizer, this time out of the gospel of John (no relation). And John is one of the greatest examples of “the other” that we get in history. I mean, John the baptizer was just doing John the baptizer things when some people were sent to grill him as to why he’s doing said John the baptizer things, other than the fact that he’s John the baptizer. They ask him who he is, and then who he thinks he is, that he can do the things he does, that according to them no ordinary person should do.
It’s pretty clear that they don’t trust him. Their line of questioning makes it obvious that they don’t think he should be doing these things. It won’t be a stretch to assume that they feel like he’s overstepping his bounds and they need to put him back in his place. That is their right, their duty, their absolute moral obligation… according to them. They are the ones that must keep the order. They are the ones who need to show people what is right. They are the ones that have to keep the other in check.
And this is what I mean. If we’re honest, don’t we sometimes think that about ourselves? Don’t we sometimes draw the lines between right and wrong not just for us, but for those around us? Don’t we sometimes look at the other, see how “other” they are, and just assume that we would know better and so we should have some kind of control over their actions?
It would seem then, that we all share in this dysfunction. We all have our superiority complexes, our self-centeredness, our supremist pride. I know I can be like that. Members of my family are definitely like that. And maybe you’re a little like that too. I wouldn’t blame you if you were. We’re all a bit like that if we dig deep enough. And for some of us, we don’t have to dig that deep at all.
But instead of just throwing our hands up in defeat thinking that we can never change, I think that this 3rd Sunday of Advent, this Sunday of Advent that focusses on joy, highlights for us a different way. See we often think that joy is when we get what we want, when we are recognised for who we are, when we are the royalties of our own castles. Basically, we often think that joy is about ourselves.
When questioned by the authorities, John the Baptizer points away from himself. He points to the one among us who is more powerful than he is. He points to the path of righteousness, the road to salvation, the way of joy. It isn’t about protecting oneself, lifting oneself up, or hoarding all that one wants and desires. But as John and ultimately Jesus shows us, it is about humbling oneself, realising one’s own maker and redeemer, and living not for the self, but for the other.
In this unnamed movie that I was talking about earlier, neighbours turned against neighbour and families were falling apart throughout the crazy situation they found themselves in. But it wasn’t until they began to see the value in each other that they began to have hope. Their value wasn’t because they were useful or could contribute a lot to the team, but simply because they were people: unique and cared for. They started acting for the other, treating the other differently, and honouring the needs and the lives of the other. It was in this change in paradigm that we catch glimpses of hope, peace, and joy enter into their lives. Before that, let me tell you, everyone was just miserable.
And so I think this is the lesson for this 3rd Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of joy. In that while John the baptizer had everything to be miserable about, he had no fixed address, his wardrobe and diet sucked, and the people in power didn’t like him all that much, he found joy in his humility. Joy in knowing his position in God’s family and kingdom. Joy in honouring the other.
Joy isn’t found in our own power. It’s not found in belittling others. It certainly isn’t in having more things regardless of what all the ads tell us. But joy is in living for the other in communion with the saints as we are called by God.
And so you see, dear friends, joy can be found in our service, in our communal living, in our giving and providing for those in need. This is the progression through Advent, which shows us that there is hope that the world is not lost, there is peace in seeing the salvation in it all, and that brings us joy in that while each one of us are dearly loved by our Creator, we can live and act and treat the other accordingly in knowing that they too, are exactly and equally that as well: dearly loved.
This is our calling. This is our identity. This is our joy as people loved and saved by God who also is humbled and made vulnerable in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord: God with us, given to us as one of us. Thanks be to God. Amen.