What does it mean to Rejoice?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 12th 2009
Second Sunday in Advent
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“What Does it Mean to Rejoice?”
Zephaniah 3:14-20; Luke 3:7-18

I love it when international events change the direction of a sermon. Hopefully you will too. This week President Obama received his Nobel peace prize. If you did not listen to the speech I do commend it to you. The speech is thoughtful and insightful into the current ideology behind the administration’s approach to national security and war. The Obama Doctrine, as it is not being called, is a refreshingly thoughtful approach to war, though still a justification for war.
In the speech the President mentions Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. on two occasions. While giving credit to both, the President makes it clear that non-violence is something that might have worked for those heroic figures, but not intended for the most powerful nation in the world. While he may be right, the President clearly forgot that Gandhi brought the most powerful nation the world had ever known to its’ knees without ever firing a shot. Fortunately President Obama does point to their work as an ideal that should guide our journey. But Christians can never be reconciled to the belief that the way to true peace comes through violence.
Challenging the President in this way has been dismissed as foolish and naive, not taking into account the real existence of evil in the world. Into those objections the prophet Zehpiniah has something to say. He tells the story of a world where violence and war too had become the accepted way of life. Our passage from the prophet comes after considerable chronicling of a world far more violent than ours. The officials of the state are like lions, judges are like wolves, and the people of faith have lost faith and cast their lots with those in power. Even the leaders of the faith community reminded silent when the powerful seek to paint wars of greed with a brush of justice. Into that time, God says: “I will deal with all your oppressors.” And God says, I will save the lame, gather the outcast, and change shame into praise. The prophet becomes good company for those dismisses as fools.
John the Baptist was another such fool. He too lived in times where violence and greed were the order of the day. John too was not afraid to mention when the Emperors of his day had no clothes. “You brood of vipers!” John challenges the people of faith who have become too comfortable with the current arrangements. But talk like this was niave and foolish. After all, Rome had brought peace to the known world. There would not have been world stability if it were not for the Roman legions. So John is a fool. He may know the scriptures but he does not understand how the real world works. If he did, John would have done a better job of giving thanks for the Roman stability and figured out a way to get comfortable with it.
However, despite John’s appearance of niave idealism, he is actually quite practical. The crowds who have come to hear John’s words are hungry for more than mere escape. They want a plan. Ok, they say, we know all this bible stuff but how are we supposed to live this out? “What should we do?” They understand the depths of evil and sin in the world; otherwise they would not have been baptized. What they want to know is really this: Is there anything that we can do now, or shall we wait till after death for something to change? In other words, short of the second coming shall violence always have the last word?
John is quick to respond with simple and concrete action. If we ever feel like there is just too much wrong in the world and become paralyzed to inaction, this passage is the antidote to despair and belief there is nothing we can do. He begins with clothing. “If you have two coats share one.” It may seem simple but don’t we all have clothing in our closets we do not need or wear? How many of us are thinking we need more? If we share what we have it creates a spirit of charity and might help us cut down on spending more than we really have to spend. But it goes beyond a coat. John says, to a culture built on gaining as much as you can for yourself, sharing is the way of faith.
John then turns to those who are participating in the machine of the Empire. Notice that he does not say, leave the evil system and run for the hills. Instead, he tells the tax collectors and soldiers not to participate in the unjust workings of the system. Only take what you need and make sure not to extort or take advantage of people. These are not words of an idealist. These are not the words intended for life after death. These are words of active non-violence, and non-participation in a system which thrives on greed wrapped in pious justification. At the end of the day John is teaching creative undermining of the machine by the faithful people who were hungry for the word of God.
Ok so that is all well and good, but isn’t the title of the sermon about rejoicing? What has any of this got to do with rejoicing? The good news, the rejoicing is that there is an antidote to despair and anxiety which is concrete. We can make a difference. We can share what we have. We can refuse to take advantage of other people. We can tell the story that non-violence and non-participation in violence is not a luxury for the dreamers. The world is violent and evil exists and we do not have to give in to the despair or belief there is nothing we can do. And if you need a reminder go home today and tear open your closet and find something to share. Go to your pantry and find something to share… something, anything.
So is this my answer to war? Do I believe that war will come to an end? No I do not but that does not mean we can give up and give into the despair wrapped in the guise of practical politics. But here is what I suggest we do. Whenever you feel the despair overwhelm remember the words of John and rejoice because we are never left to our despair. It may seem simple and naive but earth shattering change has come when people finally recognize that there is another way possible. So who is with me? Who is ready to start sharing? Who knows, we might just change the world. Amen.