1 John 4:7-11

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

C.S. Lewis wrote the seminal book on the concept of love in his work, The Four Loves. In it, he identified four distinct aspects of love: affection, friendship, erotic love, and divine unconditional love. As you might expect, C.S. Lewis champions divine love as the love that exceeds all others, namely for its power to transform one’s self into the image of God.

It is this divine unconditional love that Franciscan Father Richard Rohr is addressing when he writes, “There’s no other way you can know who God is, and who you are, but to love….God is not saying, ‘I demand this of you.’ Rather, God is saying, ‘I invite you into this mystery of who you already are in me.’ Love is not something you decide to do now and then. Love is who you are! Your basic, foundational existence—created in the image of the Trinity—is love. Remember, Trinity is saying that God is not an isolated divine being; God is a quality of relationship itself, an event of communion, an infinite flow of outpouring. God is an action more than a substance, to put it succinctly.”*

I thought briefly about selecting the holiday-themed film, Love Actually, as my subject for this evening. However, as much as I enjoy this movie in all its cheesy British-humor goodness, I couldn’t recall anything powerful about its depictions of love. It is full of uplifting depictions of affection, friendship, and romantic love, but offers little in the way of divine unconditional transformative love.

I did, however, find divine unconditional love portrayed in the 1966 program How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on the book by Dr. Seuss. In case you haven’t seen this, or if it’s been a while, I’ll briefly set up the story.

A creature called the Grinch lives far enough away from the happy village of Whoville (home of the Whos) that he is not a part of that community. He is close enough, however, to hear all the noise they make, particularly around Christmas time. He resolves to ruin the Whos’ Christmas by sneaking in on Christmas Eve and stealing all their trees, decorations, musical instruments, food, and toys.

This is where our clip begins.

Hopefully you see the story of the Grinch as a wonderful example of the power of love to transform one’s self. There is beauty in the Whos lovingly welcoming the Grinch into their community. There is beauty in the Grinch’s literal change of heart. But what struck me (on this, what I can only assume is my eightieth time watching this movie) is what happened to allow love into the Grinch’s heart: he listened.

Recall the image of the Grinch putting his hand to his ear, expecting to hear the groans, angst, and disappointment of the Whos mourning the absence of everything they no longer have. Instead, however, the Grinch hears the unexpected sound of joyful singing.

This is not a new sound that the Grinch is hearing. After all, it was the joyful singing that he refers to as “noise” early on. But for the first time he listens instead of merely hears.

You know the difference between hearing and listening, right? Hearing is what we refer to when we acknowledge the sounds coming in our ears. But listening is a whole-body experience where the sounds serves to create relationship. You don’t just hear your favorite song, you listen to your favorite song. You don’t just hear the person tell you they love you; you listen to the person tell you they love you.

And even though it was a cold-hearted impulse that led the Grinch to listen, he listened nonetheless. In listening he was revealed a truth about life that introduced the concept of love into his heart.

The importance of listening in this day and age cannot be overstated. In a world where we are bombarded with noise, it is increasingly difficult to listen to what is actually true. In a world that can seem so polarized, angry, and isolated, the call to listen to others remains critical. In a world that spends millions of dollars convincing you who you are and what you need to buy in order to be happy, God calls us to listen to the voice of God animating each one of us – the voice that tells us we are loved; the voice that tell us we are called and capable of sharing that love with others.

So, to conclude, I would like to invite you into a spiritual practice of listening.

For a couple of minutes I invite you to take a comfortable posture and sit in silence.

As you find a comfortable position on your chair, close your eyes. Begin to focus around your chest area, your “heart center.” Breathe in and out from that area, as if you are breathing from the heart center and as if all experience is happening from there. Anchor your mindfulness only on the sensations at your heart center, focusing on your breath.

Continuing to breathe in and out, think this phrase several times: “God is love and God is here.”

Repeat this phrase in the hopes that this will eliminate all other noises.

Listen to the truth that God is love and God is here.

Next, think of a person who most invites the feeling of pure unconditional divine love. Perhaps someone you consider a mentor. It might be a parent, grandparent, teacher, someone toward whom it takes no effort to feel respect and reverence, someone who immediately elicits the feeling of care. Repeat the phrases for this person: “God is love and God is here.”

Continuing to breathe out of your heart’s center, think of a person you regard as a dear friend and repeat the phrase: “God is love and God is here.”

Now think of a neutral person, someone for whom you feel neither strong like nor dislike. As you repeat the phrase, allow yourself to feel tenderness, loving care for their welfare.

Now move to someone you have difficulty with–hostile feelings, resentments. With this person in mind, repeat the phrase: “God is love and God is here.”

Let this phrase spread through your whole body, mind, and heart.

Stay in touch with the ember of warm, tender loving-kindness at the center of your being as you slowly begin to draw awareness back to the rest of your body, your chair, and the room around you.

In closing I return to the words of Richard Rohr,

“Jesus says, ‘I’ll be with you only a little while longer. So I’m going to leave a sign that I’m still here. I’m going to reveal myself in the presence of loving people.’ That’s the only way anyone can know God. If you’ve never let anyone love you, if you’ve never let love flow through you—gratuitously, generously, undeservedly—toward other people, you can’t possibly know who God is. God is just a theory or abstraction. But ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8). And those who live in love live in God and know God experientially.”*

God is love and God is here. Amen.

* “Disciples: Those Who Love Others.” Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation (Tuesday, December 20, 2016)

Meditation adapted from “Loving-Kindness Meditation” from the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. (http://www.contemplativemind.org/practices/tree/loving-kindness)

Mark 13:24-37

"But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

After my initial reading of the gospel text assigned for today, I quickly turned to a preaching commentary for some guidance. This is what I found on the very first page:

“Contrary to the manner in which it is often celebrated in the churches, Advent begins not on a note of joy, but of despair. Humankind has reached the end of its rope. All our schemes for self-improvement, for extracting ourselves from the traps we have set for ourselves, have come to nothing. We have now realized at the deepest level of our being that we cannot save ourselves, and that, apart from the intervention of God, we are totally and irretrievably lost.”*

If you’d prefer a message about joy, go listen to my midweek sermon on the Christmas movie Elf. But today we’re talking about an apocalypse.

Advent this year begins with an APOCALYPSE!

Apocalyptic literature is a literary devise in which events are reinterpreted and reapplied in each context.
Things are bad, they may get worse - it does not mean God has abandoned us, nor forsaken us, nor has God “lost” The apocalypse is not about watching and waiting passively, but actively bearing good fruit and participating in the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God
The purpose of Apocalyptic literature is to INSPIRE HOPE not to sow fear
“The basic message of apocalyptic visions is this: The rebellion against the reign of God is strong, as the wicked oppress the righteous. Things will get worse before they get better. But hang on just a little longer, because just when you are sure you cannot endure, God will intervene to turn the world right side up.”**
The in-breaking of the Kingdom and the right-side-up-ing of the world is a tumultuous experience. These things have taken place in the past, through the cross. These things will continue to take place each time those who are suffering rise up against and topple the powers.

“Stay Awake”

Mark is addressing Jesus’ crucifixion as well as the destruction of the temple-centered society
Reference to the disciples’ inability to stay away in the garden as Jesus prays prior to his betrayal and crucifixion
v. 35 - when will the Master come? Evening, Midnight, at Cockcrow or at Dawn?
- “When it was evening”- Mark 14:17-Last Supper
- “He found them sleeping” - Mark 14:40 - in the middle of the night
- “At that moment the cock crowed” Mark 14:72 - the denial of Peter
- “At daybreak” - Mark 15:1 - Jesus is handed over to Pilate
Is our faith lulling us to sleep or keeping us awake at night?
“….[A]ll of our anticipation and preparation of Jesus’ second advent should be shaped by his first advent in the form of a vulnerable infant and as a man hanging on a tree. More than that, I think Mark is inviting us to look for Jesus – even here, even now – in similar places of vulnerability, openness, and need.” ***

Let’s Get Practical
Typically as Advent kicks off I am ready to throw out nuggets of wisdom like:
“Don’t sing Christmas carols during Advent” or
“Make sure you don’t overspend on Christmas presents” or
“Don’t get caught in the mania and commercialization of Christmas.”

However, I’m realizing this year that these are not the most pressing issues we’re dealing with. No, this year I’m realizing that things look bad, and they might even get worse. Right? I mean, things are bad.

Case in point, I bet you don’t even know which bad things I’m about to talk about!

It is the threat of nuclear war?

The prevalence of gun violence unique to our nation?

Well, those are bad; and the list can certainly continue with issues weighing on your hearts. But I’m thinking about an apocalypse that is much more personal – an ugly truth about our world that some of you have known about for a long time and which I am only slowly being brought up to speed.

Given that the message of this first Sunday in Advent is the admonition to stay awake as well as an invitation to look for Jesus in the places of vulnerability, openness, and need and participate in the toppling of the powers; I can think of no more practical issue to address than the prevalence of sexual abuse and harassment in America.

Like you, I’ve watched as men in positions of power have been revealed as predators. Each morning there are new allegations that someone has used his power to manipulate, coerce, or physically force others into sexually inappropriate situations. Each morning there is news that such a person, so long as he’s not a politician, has been fired or stepped down from his position. I’ve watched women step out from the shadows, buoyed by an understanding that they did not bring such action on themselves and that they are not alone.

I’ve watched all this happen with no clear understanding of how I should respond.

As a man in today’s society, what can I say?

As someone who has seen firsthand the wake of destruction left behind by sexual predators, what is my response?

As someone who, by virtue of my career, can claim at least some degree of power in today’s society, what should I do?

I do not ask out of a sense of defensiveness, as if I feel the need to defend the abhorrent behavior of other men. Rather, I ask because this is yet another moment where the Kingdom of God is breaking in on our world. People who have been victimized are standing up and confronting the power structures of today. This is another apocalypse.

Two thousand years ago the apocalypse to which Mark referred in his Gospel was the corruption of the temple-centered universe that failed to treat people equally and kept God at a distance; today it is the corruption of masculinity that has made women around the globe feel inferior and voiceless – a toxic masculinity that teaches boys from a young age women are inferior in every way.

In the midst of this apocalypse God calls us to respond not with watching and waiting passively, but by staying awake and actively participating in the in-breaking of the Kingdom.

I have an idea about what it would mean for me to participate in the in-breaking of the Kingdom in regard to this issue. I think I need to listen.

This week I listened to a podcast called Pantsuit Politics. A friend of mine from Paducah, Kentucky co-hosts the program. It’s a top-tier podcast with millions of downloads. In the episodes I listened to this week I heard an impassioned plea for women to assert themselves and for men to be quiet for once and listen. And not just listen, but believe.

Believe when a woman accuses a man of inappropriate sexual behavior.

Believe when a woman says she’s been treated differently from men her whole life.

Believe when women say that our world would be better if women’s gifts, intelligence, leadership, and insights were given equal weight as men’s.

I was particularly struck by this comment:

Having listening to the episodes and having started to reflect on the scope of this problem as well as the ways in which I have been shaped by a culture of toxic masculinity, I feel compelled to participate in God’s kingdom in-breaking in on our oppressive and unjust society. I believe God is doing something incredible through the courage and bravery of women who have taken a stand and insisted on being treated equally and insisted that men to keep their hands to themselves (and be held accountable when they cannot do that).

In this season of Advent, characterized by anticipation of the arrival of God in a new way both through the manger and through the cross, I hope that women will continue to be inspired and encouraged by the ones who are speaking up and demanding justice. I hope that women will seek out allies and continue to share their stories. I hope men will listen to women who have been victimized and I hope men will dedicate themselves to serious reflection. I hope that if you have been mistreated, abused, or assaulted, you'll realize that it is not your fault. And I hope Cross of Grace can be a safe and open space to accomplish some of this meaningful, kingdom-bringing work.

I hope women will persevere even when people them they are wrong and that “that’s just how the world works,” because God has a habit of disrupting the way the world works when the world doesn’t work for everyone equally.

So maybe my disclaimer at the beginning of the sermon was unnecessary. Maybe this actually is a message of joy. Joy in the despair; joy in the honesty, and joy at God’s promise that something new, beautiful, inclusive, and just will be born out of the struggle.

Amen.

* Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 1

** Christopher Hutson, Feasting on the Word, p. 22

*** David Lose (http://www.davidlose.net/2014/11/advent-1-b/)

Advent Movie Series: How the Grinch Stole Christmas – 1 John 4:7-11

Allegations, Apocalypse, and Advent – Mark 13: 24-37