December 11th, 2011:
Text: Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11
Closing: John 1: 6-8, 19-28
Read: Advent (201)
The Proclamation
Two weeks ago, on the first Sunday of Advent
We hollered out to God
and we - as a community - pleaded that God would
step dramatically into our lives
and put our relationship back together.
We begged and we pleaded
not because we thought we deserved God's help
but because we recalled and we were inspired
by what God had done for us in the past,
things that demonstrated the love God had for us.
One week ago, on the second Sunday of Advent
God responded
By preparing us for that reunited relationship,
Telling us to remove the obstacles to a relationship
By leveling the hills - our sins of commission
and filling in the valleys - our sins of omission
and thus creating a highway-like connection between God and us
sort of a heavenly Autobahn
for quick and unimpaired interaction.
Today on the third Sunday in Advent, God issues a proclamation
Now, a proclamation is an official formal public announcement
And generally issued by an executive without legislative action
We think of kings issuing royal proclamations.
In the story books, we might find a king saying,
"Whoever can save my kingdom from the dragon can marry my beautiful daughter and succeed me as king."
In the book of Esther we find the king being manipulated into issuing a proclamation that would result in punishment for being Jewish
In history we find numerous times that proclamations are issued
Not just by kings, but by other executives
Three weeks from today is the 149th anniversary of the most famous proclamation in American History
A proclamation which had been promised three months before
A proclamation
That was issued by a man named Lincoln
That was issued without Congress having passed it
That set some captives free.
We call that January 1, 1863 American proclamation
"The Emancipation Proclamation"
That same title would be appropriate for the proclamation in our scripture
The one delivered to us through Isaiah
The one delivered to others through us.
For the words of this "third Sunday in Advent" proclamation
Surely proclaim the emancipation of a people
And like most proclamations, the word was to be spread.
And as Isaiah delivered it to us, with the charge to deliver the word
We are to
Deliver to the oppressed
the good news of Christ's coming
and the emancipation that it brings
we are to
use this news to put back together the brokenhearted
we are to
proclaim liberty to the captives
we are to
proclaim release to the prisoners
we are to
comfort all who mourn
we are to tell them
that they shall rebuild a relationship
that has been devastated by many people over many years
for this is the time of the coming of the Lord
the time of the Lord's favor
we are to tell them that God
loves justice
and that God hates wrongdoing
We are to tell them that God will make an everlasting covenant with them
A covenant of salvation
A covenant of righteousness
We are to tell them
That God will cause righteousness and praise
To spring up
Like a bountiful garden.
That is what God, in response to our plea proclaimed to Isaiah
That is what Isaiah proclaimed to us
That is what we are to proclaim to others
God is alive and God is active in this world.
Picture it as sort of a relay race
With the proclamation being the baton
God runs the first leg and gives the proclamation to Isaiah
Isaiah runs the second leg and gives the baton to you and me
You and I run the third leg and we give the baton to ...
Do we give the baton to anyone?
Or do we hold onto the baton
And simply say,
"Thank you, God, for setting me free
for emancipating me from the captivity of my sins"?
I hope not. I pray not.
Our pleading to God for help was made as a community
Not as individuals.
If we don't pass the baton to someone
Then our team fails to complete the relay race.
If that happens,
I'll let you tell God that we gave up on the race
Because I don't want to be the one to deliver that message
I am afraid to even tell Isaiah - let alone God.
Delivering this proclamation by passing that baton
Is not nearly as hard as we often fear.
We do it, in part by together helping others
And particularly when we help those named in the scripture itself
The oppressed,
the broken hearted
the captives and prisoners
those who are mourning
we are told to deliver to them
the good news of liberty, release and comfort
of justice and righteousness
of the coming of the Lord.
I see our Thanksgiving and Easter baskets
as a way our congregation does that
I see our Global Mission Dinner
as a way our congregation does that
I see our response to natural disasters
as a way our congregation does that
I see our shoe box ministry
as a way our congregation does that
I see the turning over of our basement to the Holiday Fund
as a way our congregation does that
and I see that the fact that we do all these as a community
as a way our congregation passes the baton
and spreads the word
about God's presence and God's coming
about God's proclamation.
And while we do this pretty well, we must keep doing it.
Another way we pass the baton of proclamation
is by giving priority to worshiping God.
That means that when we have guests on Sunday, we say to them
That God is a priority, by simply telling them
"Our worship starts at 10:30, we'd like you to go with us, but if not, expect us home about noon."
That means that when we have chosen to be out late Saturday night, we remember and demonstrate
that God is a priority
by also choosing to get up for worship on Sunday morning
And taking a nap on Sunday afternoon.
A year ago,
I would have said that we do pretty well with this as well.
We had moved up to having the third largest weekly worship attendance in the District
Much more importantly, our attendance had increased every year of my appointment
It was (and is) a good forty per cent higher than in 2006, the year before my appointment.
But this year, our attendance has slid slightly
At the end of November we were down 4 people from 2010.
Very frankly,
despite all the positive things we have done this year
and there are many -
this is unacceptable.
The question I present to us is whether it is
simply a bump in the highway
or an acquired carelessness with the baton you and I are expected to pass?
We have to give priority to worship
And if we do so,
we pass the baton and we deliver the proclamation
to all who observe us.
Even - or especially -
to those who think we are silly for doing so
And if we don't,
Then you and I have failed God
Who told us to deliver and proclaim
And who came into the world
And gave us the great commandment
And charged us with the great commission.
But the great thing in an Advent that begins in a year of a very small slide
is that we get to start all over.
That is the point of the proclamation
God, our king, is to be among us
Our punishment and imprisonment is over
That is the good news of Advent and Christmas
The good news of the proclamation
That you and I are supposed to pass
In the relay race that is life.
This Christmas,
Let us give God the gift
Of our enthusiastic willingness to pass that baton.