Advent 3 (C) + A God who sits high and looks low + 12.13.15

(divinemercy.sg)

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Zephaniah 3:14-20, First Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 12:2-6), Philippians 4:4-7, St. Luke 3:7-18)

“We have a God who sits high, and looks low.” This was the refrain that the Rev. Dr. Renita Weems repeated to us over and over during her words at Diocesan Convention last weekend. These words have echoed in my mind as I have noticed many things about the world in the past couple of weeks and months. We have an anxiety in our country right now – an understandable one – but it is at risk of robbing the soul of our belief system. We must be careful. We must remember that we have a God who sits high, and looks low.

And here, the words of St Paul to the Philippians today: “Rejoice always… DO NOT WORRY…” These might seem very disconnected from our current context, but in reality they are not. The Philippians had unrest in their lives, reasons to be anxious. But as one commentator put it, gratitude counters anxiety.[1] Paul knew that. If we spend time being grateful, as we have been invited to be in our Living Compass reflection book, then it is a lot harder to think about all of our worries.

Walter Brueggemann has written a book called Journey to the Common Good, and in it he uses the image of how God provided for the Israelites wandering in the desert to show that God always offers us abundance. Bread in the wilderness is an image we can use for the fact that God will always provide our basic needs if we trust in God.[2] But that trust is vital. We must not buy into anxiety. If we find ways to combat anxiety and live into God’s abundance, including practicing Sabbath time, we will have the energy and the resources to focus on the common good.

John the Baptist in his endearingly brash way shows us a very common sense way to do this in today’s gospel reading from Luke. After his listeners are sensibly scared out of their wits by his dire predictions, the good news veiled as bad news, they ask what they can do. And his response is simple: share what you have, and take no more than what is prescribed for you, that is, no more than you need. There is a simplicity in John’s message for those of us in Advent waiting time. Start simple. Don’t take it all on, but do share what you can.

Sharing comes from gratitude. I will be able to give as soon as I recognize and give thanks for the fact that I have two coats, or food to spare. And gratitude counters anxiety. What a great message, indeed, for those of us in Advent waiting time. I at least, get anxious. What have I bought? Will it be enough? Have I forgotten someone? But it’s not about stuff. It is about sharing simply, togetherness, and most of all, time with Jesus.

This idea is also timely regarding the events on a national stage, because gratitude does not just lead to the generosity of sharing food and clothing. We of all countries know that one of the deep sources of our national abundance is our freedom of religion and expression.

And indeed, after describing how the Israelites are so abundantly provided for in the wilderness, Brueggemann describes how God has a purpose for all that abundance. As our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry described it in his address to us at convention, remembering his father’s words to him: “You are not here just to consume the oxygen.” And neither were the Israelites. They were meant to use that abundance to exercise God’s attributes of steadfast love (or hesed), justice (or mishpat) and righteousness (or sedaqah) with their neighbors. These qualities mean “standing in solidarity… [with] all partners,” having a fair distribution of resources— and remembering the widow, the orphan and the immigrant, and taking an “active role in social affairs, taking initiative to intervene effectively in order to rehabilitate society.”[3]

So the language we speak as Biblical Christians is: standing up for the poor, the immigrant, the stranger. Standing up for justice. This is something that some in our society have forgot. When we would limit the entry of some to our country due to their creed, and thereby put lives at risk for those who come from war-torn nations, what is the difference between us and those who say that some people deserve to live or die due to their creed? We, who historically hold the gold standard for interfaith coexistence, at least in our better moments, can show the world how it is done. Could we be hurt? We could, but in faith there are always risks we take in love.
Dr. Renita Weems challenged us at convention. She mentioned how the church was growing by leaps and bounds in parts of the developing world, and she asked us: can you share the church with the least of these? Now that can be a challenge. Some of the least of these have a lot more traditional idea of the family, of women’s roles, and it will take a lot of dialogue to find a place for common ground. For common good. But we must try.

In the same vein, Islam is growing. A 2015 Pew Research Report says that Muslims are the world’s fastest growing faith group.[4] This is not something to fear. It means we Christians have to find a way to share. We must learn to live with our Muslim brothers and sisters. And the truth is that most of us have a common language of faith, of devotion to God, of prayer and peaceful coexistence. The more violent interpretations of Islam are a travesty of the beautiful tenets of that faith. They are about human power being wielded, which is a trap we Christians have also fallen into time and again.
So we must get to know each other. Gratitude counters anxiety, but also knowing your neighbor counters prejudice.
When I was campus minister at UC Riverside, I was involved in interfaith dialogue with the Muslim students. So I fasted one day during Ramadan and attended the Islamic Center of Riverside that evening. Incidentally, the same place where the couple who killed in San Bernardino attended. Was that young man there that night, before he met his bride? Maybe not. But I will tell you, I was welcomed. I was a guest. I was fed. There were rules. I came covered up and I stayed with the other women. I followed the protocols. But I was a sister, for a night.

The truth is, we are all brothers and sisters, all children of a God who sits high and looks low. Of a God who tells us not to be afraid.

A Rumi poem says: “Why are you still in prison, when the door is so wide open?”

We must be radicals in hesed, in God’s love. Radicals in generosity. Share our food and clothing, yes, but share our country, our towns, our supermarkets, and parks. They are all really God’s after all.
We are all brothers and sisters.

Acts of horror are lies. They tell us that we stand alone, and they teach us only to fear each other.

But Jesus has shown us another way. God has taught us about hesed, mishpat, and sedaqah. God has taught us that gratitude for what he has given us means that we need not worry; that we need not fear.

It is hard in this season, but let us think of ways to be grateful—perhaps we already have enough, or close to.

Maybe we don’t even need so many gifts. We can share. Less stress about holiday preparations will lead us to greater generosity, to living out God’s dream. The power of love is unquenchable. I believe it.
All the sages of the great religions have told us, as we hear in the Song of Solomon, “may waters cannot quench love (8:7).”
We have had storms lately. We hope for some actual rain.

But we have a God who sits high and looks low.
God knows what we need.  God loves us. Be not afraid. Love boldly.

Share freely, and in so doing you may change the world.

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[1] Leander E. Keck, “Philippians Commentary” in Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary, 855.

[2] Walter Brueggemann, Journey to the Common Good, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010), 22.

[3] Walter Brueggemann, Journey to the Common Good, 62-63.

[4] “Why Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group,” Pew Fact Tank, April 23, 2015, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/23/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religious-group/.