Advent 1 2014. Gospel of Mark 13:26-37.
"And what I say to you, I say to all: Keep awake."
Anxious, anticipatory waiting. We've all experienced it. Awaiting pending news. Awaiting an arrival. Awaiting a call, a result, a decision. It can cause sleeplessness, restlessness, butterflies. You know that feeling? We experienced it Thursday morning as we anticipated the thanksgiving meal in the kitchen aromas that prepared us. Much anticipation is built up around Black Friday shopping, or is it Thursday? Why wait, right?
We saw anxious anticipation this week in a story unfolding in Missouri. The people of Ferguson, Missouri waited for
the grand jury’s decision about the shooting death of Micheal Brown by Police Officer Darrin Wilson. The news broke. And no indictment will come from that grand
jury. Protests and violence erupted. There were protests throughout the U.S., even
in downtown Lancaster. It was peaceful
here. The point is that many people feel
that an injustice has been perpetrated by the white establishment; when another
unarmed black man is gunned down in the streets and there is no consequence for
the shooter. A black man between 20 and
24 is five times more likely to be killed by a gun than a white man. Racial injustice is hard to talk about as a white man in a predominantly white
congregation. But we must acknowledge it
today. We must because we are theologians of the cross, who see Jesus in the world's suffering and pain. We must because Dr. King was
gunned down. An unarmed black man. Because he was black. And when we subtly justify these deaths by
accusing the victims, we participate in the injustice ourselves. So when we turn the Trayvon Martins and the
Michael Browns into vicious predators on the attack, when we suggest that shooting
our way to safety is the only way to be safe, we justify homicide and make it
easier for the next white man with a gun to claim self-defense because the
black kid is still the boogie man here, still the aggressor, still the
demon. Now you might be asking or thinking,
was race a factor at all? Some in the
media are suggesting it was not. That
this was a bad kid who got caught and ended up losing a fight with a cop doing
his duty. No matter. Think about the people on the other side, who
anxiously anticipated some justice, some sense of acknowledgement of their pain
and their anger and their fears. It is
not safe to be a black kid. That is the
message. And they were hoping against hope
that the law would protect them. For the
black community, it is about racial injustice and white privilege. For them it
is Jim Crowe and lynchings and marches that ended in deaths on the
streets. Across the country people
waited. And when the news broke, people reacted. So the waiting continues…until the next time. And we ask, will there be peace?
Anxious, anticipatory waiting. We wait for an end to racial discrimination,
an end to the street violence, an end to the injustices that surround us and
pervade our lives. We must learn to
impatiently wait. Not to avoid
confrontation with evil and injustice. Or ignore its presence in our community. To impatiently wait is to acknowledge the imbalance of power and the
injustice, and to protest it. Find a way to shine a light. Some protested black Friday shopping, because
frantic shopping is not an Advent spiritual practice. Maybe you can defect a little
more from the consumer insanity and give a little more to lift up the
poor.
I received a text this week from someone
I’ve not heard from in awhile. The text
read that she had a friend whose house burned in a fire and the family was in
need. She asked if they might access our
clothing rooms. "Certainly", I
replied. "Let me know when." I’ve not heard a response. What was that? Anticipatory waiting includes a sense of
readiness, because you do not know the day or the hour. We must be ready to respond with faith to those who are fighting for their lives.
The Jews
waited. They cried out to God. And they waited. For hundreds of years. The prophet Isaiah cried out for God to tear
open the heavens and come down. He said, 4From ages
past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides
you, who works for those who wait for him.”
They waited for the all-consuming power of their God to overwhelm their
adversaries, to purge them from sin, and to make them dwell in safety. They waited for Messiah, for the prince of
peace, for the mighty God and savior to save them. They
are still waiting. They are faithful,
obedient, and patient. We can learn from them. (Israel's national political identity and ongoing war with the Palestinians must not be confused with Jewish religious and spiritual practice).
We need saving too. We need rescue. From what?
Ourselves, mostly. Our economics
and politics, and entertainment, and addictions and prejudices and complacencies
and subtle acceptance of sin that divide the world into winners and losers. We are hastening forward, pushing our way to the front of the line. For what?
And so, we must learn
to wait like the Jews. There has been a
delay in the Lord’s return. And we do not know the day or the hour. In this season, we take up the holy practice
of waiting for Jesus to act. We want
definitive action for the world. We want peace with non-violent justice. We want economic equality, where everyone has
enough. We want forgiveness for sins,
known and unknown, and we want to hope for life after death, for an eternal
reality that overwhelms death and restores life. There will come a day when he will come again
to judge the living and the dead. In the
meantime, we live on the edge of our seats.
We wait and we watch and we respond with faith to those subtle signs of
his coming to us. Like a text message
asking for help. God does break in to our hearts and homes if we’re paying attention. So this week, wake up. Do not avoid the crucified one who comes
among us in the cries of those who need help and hope. Wake up and see that God has come and does
come and will come to you. And pray for the day when His final coming will bring reconciliation and peace to us all. Amen.
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