What is and what could be (Advent)

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For the second Sunday of Advent, Hayley reflects on the beauty of slowing down and the gift of the tender mercy of God. (Art: Jesus Offering the Light, 2004, by Jyoti Sahi)

SPEAKER NOTES

What is and what could be (Advent)

HAYLEY

Advent Intro

• We are in the season of Advent right now- this is the 2nd Sunday of Advent
• Whether you are familiar with the regular rhythm of approaching Advent in December, or your only exposure is the truly impressive amount of different advent calendars in store aisles now- (chocolate to candles to beauty products — even one for cats?)
• I wanted to take some time to introduce the season and how we are engaging with it this year.
• The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus — arrival or anticipation” and it is a season of preparation during the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas.
• It’s this reflective time of inward and communal preparation.
• This liminal space — the in between, theological wording of the now/not yet.
  • We take on the posture of waiting for God to be born
• Some discrepancy over when the practice of Advent began but it was officially recognized in the late 500s by the global church —
  • part of a larger, liturgical calendar that marks different seasons and religious high points, and even time periods called “Ordinary Days”.
• You may have grown up in a church setting that stressed the liturgical calendar - typically certain scripture readings that align with the Sundays throughout the year.
• Or maybe this has you saying “Hayley, what are you even talking about.” And that’s fine!
• The biggest point for today is that before the big celebratory moments — Christmas and Easter (birth and resurrection) we have these periods of preparation, the fasting before the feasting. This is a well worn and longstanding tradition.
• Growing up we would light an advent candle at the front of my childhood church each Sunday (like we do here)
  • each week a  different child and their family would go up to light the candle and read a scripture passage.
  • and I remember 2 things about that experience— I was always really nervous about the lighting the candle part BUT I always wanted the week with the longest reading cause I liked being on the mic. And here we are.
• I think the season of Advent is perhaps the most helpful, the most counter cultural, piece of the church calendar.
• We need Advent! The push toward acceleration and accumulation this time of year is SO STRONG. They were putting out Christmas decorations in stores before people had even picked up their Halloween candy.
• From late August to the start of January, we have this go-go-go pace of life that’s hard to keep up with!
• And yet, as the days are growing darker and longer, many of us feel that inner impulse to retreat, to slow down, to rest.
• And that resting and slowing down can be purposeful! (Doesn’t have to be productive. But it purposeful!) Listen to that desire!
• I’d love to know if there are any books or practices that have helped you embrace rest and slowing down.

Advent slows us down!

• It brings us themes of hope and love, joy and peace.
• Waiting within darkness. Candles shining.
• The singing of songs and reading of words that call us back to ourselves and help us to remember the birth of Jesus. It is a time of remembering — of taking an honest look at where we are and holding onto hope for what could be.

Prophetic Intro

• And that is the phrase we are going to hold onto this year: What is, and What Could Be.
• Lately, I’ve been thinking about how advent is a season that is driven by prophecy.
• Maybe you hear the word prophetic and you think of the voices that are calling us forward into a new, more hopeful future.
• Not just biblical prophets, but the prophetic voices of today — the artists and singers and poets and teachers and activists who call us toward a new way (who are the prophets in your life?)
• But a big piece of the prophetic is also presenting the current reality —
  • Examining the state of things right now and wanting more- more liberation, more love, more justice. What is, what could be.
  • The Biblical prophets were not always the most popular people in their original settings. Because their words were often radical!
  • And revolutionary, honest proclaimations don’t typically sit well with the privileged and the powerful, those set in their ways
  • Reminds me of the words of poet Andrea Gibson: “The truth isn’t always hopeful but the telling of it is”
• From these prophetic voices we get a collection of texts that are later connected to Jesus. That Jesus would fulfill prophecies in his birth, life, death, and resurrection
• And we return to some of these specific readings each year in Advent

(put up little graphic)/

• To help us “trace” the prophetic voices of Advent for us this morning (a little doodle)—
• OT prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi), often quoted and cited throughout the New Testament; the Angels guide the story, Zechariah (who we are reading from today) — John the Baptist — Jesus
• Overall messaging of the prophets we look to in advent, is that the one who is coming will bring salvation from sins, restore peace and justice, replace shame with rejoicing, and shine light into darkness

Scripture: Luke 1:76-79

Particular text for today comes from the end of the first chapter of Luke (one of the gospels in the New Testament). This is a prophetic word from Zechariah about John the Baptist and Jesus - we’ll put this on the screen:

“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1:76-79

Two themes we’ll spend time on today: the forgiveness of sins and darkness/ the shadow of death

• This prophetic word is coming from Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.
• Really interesting figure, John the Baptist would go on to be this voice in the wilderness calling out for people to repent, or as Zechariah put it here- giving them the knowledge of salvation thru the forgiveness of sins.
• They both are offering a picture of a Kin-dom of God that is marked by peace- there is hope of a different way and Jesus will usher in this radical, revolutionary love.
• This is a prophetic vision of John “preparing the way” for Jesus as he invites people to repent

Forgiveness of Sins (Repent)

• Repentance is a really key part of naming What Is. Of being in the right now. Of taking an honest look at ourselves and the world.
• But repenting or even just talking about sin can feel uncomfy for those of us who have left highly religious settings or are in a deconstructing, re-learning space.
• Maybe you can notice some tension in your body even hearing “sin” or “repent”
• In unhealthy religious spaces, the emphasis on sin can feel like heaping layers of judgment on yourself- the primary messaging becomes“you are sinful” (and that means you are bad)
• And whether it’s intentional or not this can become louder than the messaging of  “you are loved”. And that can be really damaging!
• You learn not to trust yourself, not to trust your body, not to trust the world.
• Author Tara Teng tells this story in her book Your Body is a Revolution about her son being told in school that he had sin in his dna, and how sad and discouraged that made him - and how angry it made her.
• This child being told that sin was wrapped up in his dna- fundamentally bad and in desperate need of a separate good.
• That is clearly not a helpful picture of sin.
• Now there is something in here — from the voice of Zechariah, and later the voices of John the Baptist and Jesus — that is helpful and I think can be a key part of naming what is, of being honest about the right now.
• We need to talk about sin - we can’t get rid of it - but we do so in a way that is rooted in love and forgiveness
• The reliance piece of acknowledging our sinfulness is not bad! It can be weaponized. But it is very true, that we are (and need to be) reliant on a source outside of ourselves for forgiveness and peace and love.
• Because we are human. And we can’t escape that.
• I’ve heard sin framed before really simply as “separation”. Sin causes us to be separated from one another and separated from ourselves- disconnected from who we are, disconnected from our own bodies. There is harm but there is also potential for repair
• We can hold a healthy picture of sin- it doesn’t have to be this dirty word we avoid.
• A therapist gave me a reminder way back that I’ve kept with me since:
  • “You are not needy for having needs. You are human.”
  • We are in need of saving from ourselves, from the cycles we get swept up in, from harm - whether we are the wounders or the wounded
• Acknowledging sin isn’t heaping layers of judgment on ourselves.
• It isn’t viewing God as this disapproving authority figure shaking his head and punishing us from above.
• But a posture of need is necessary when we embrace our humanity.
• In our individualistic, competitive, power-hungry culture, slowing down and recognizing what we are in need of can be seen as weak, counterproductive.
• We can be so uncomfortable with our own flaws and mistakes that we resort to being self-deprecating or despairing.
• Acknowledging sin is taking an honest look at our shortcomings. Our humanity.
• And the love and goodness within me - within all of us — is amplified when we recognize our need for love and goodness beyond ourselves.
• A healthy view of sin does not cause us to dissolve into despair or be stuck in shame
  • We hold in the balance that the most true thing about us is that we are loved AND we are human and we are in need.

Author and theologian Nadia Bolz Weber is one of my favorite people to look to in her framing of sin and forgiveness.

She talks about how we can’t write of sin as this unhelpful, outdated notion

AND we can’t reduce it to something we can avoid by being a squeaky clean person. She writes: (put on screen)

“Sin is strangely enough one of my favorite things to talk about. I sometimes greet my friends by saying “hello sinner”. It’s a term of deep affection…When sin is boiled down to low self esteem and immorality then it becomes something we can control or limit in some way rather than something we are in bondage to…To me, there is actually great hope in admitting my mortality and brokenness because then I finally lay aside my sin management program and allow God to be God for me.”

• Repentance then is really simply just turning in a new direction. Away from the harm, toward the love
• Repentance is an invitation to examine what is keeping us from flourishing -
  • How are we getting in the way of our own flourishing?
  • How are we getting in the way of the flourishing of others?
  • How can we turn in a new direction - toward love and justice- choose different, remove the roadblocks as we are guided into the way of peace.
• When Zechariah prophesies that there will be salvation through the forgiveness of sins — when John the Baptist calls out from the wilderness “Repent!” This is encouragement, not condemnation
  • We are flawed imperfect beings who are consistently in need. Because we are human.
  • Advent and Christmas ground us in our humanity AND ground God in humanity as well
  • Love and neediness are shown so clearly in a longwaited baby

Transition: So we can talk about sin and repentance! In a helpful way!

The passage in Luke also bring up the theme Darkness / shadow of death

• This contrast between the rising sun shining light and those living in darkness and the shadow of death
• The duality of dark and light is present in a lot in ancient writings and we see it present today
• Cole Arthur Riley is someone who’s work I’ve found really helpful in examining the obvious damage, the anti-blackness that can come from labelling dark as bad and light as good.
• The metaphor light shining in the darkness comes up a lot in Advent and so we have to be nuanced in the way we approach it
• Cole writes on her instagram Black Liturgies: (we’ll put this up)

“We make space for the season of darkness. We grant ourselves permission to tell the truth about the terrors of the dark — our collective fear, despair even. But we also reclaim the dark as a sacred site. The darkness of the womb. A time of formation, mystery, and rest. We slow down. We keep silence. We remember the darkness can also be a harbor.”

When you think of the dark - what comes to mind for you?

• Maybe what you’re afraid of, maybe loneliness, uncertainty, pain. Darkness can be disorienting!
• When the lights are freshly turned off and your eyes start scanning for any source of light to help you get your bearings.
• Or maybe it brings to mind the emotions we tend to label as heavy - grief, fear, depression, sorrow, despair.
• I love Cole’s call to us to reclaim the dark as sacred - a space of formation, of potential, of dreaming

There’s a book I always go back to when I think about darkness and it would be nice advent read if you’re looking for something! Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor

• The book is a little personal study of darkness that Barbara walks us thru

  • She talks about how our relationship with understanding darkness has all sorts of layers- personal, social, cultural, economic, political. We have been taught what to think of the dark by many different teachers
  • She comes to the conclusion (not a spoiler) that we need darkness - we need it for our physical health, our circadian rhythm. Think of how light pollution can mess with ecosystems.
  • We need it for our spiritual health, embracing the emotional rhythm of night turning into day turning into night again.
  • We can’t have sunshiny, “full solar” spirituality all the time because darkness is inevitable. And what do we do then? Do we overspiritualize our problems? Do we invalidate the pain with a silver lining? She writes:

  “When, despite all my best efforts, the lights have gone off in my life (literally or figuratively, take your pick), plunging me into the kind of darkness that turns my knees to water, nonetheless I have not died. The monsters have not dragged me out of bed and taken me back to their lair. The witches have not turned me into a bat. Instead, I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.”

• When we feel like we are swallowed up by darkness - in the shadow of death- whatever that has looked like or may someday look like for you, how comforting to know the both/and of what is, and what could be.

  • You are still being formed in the current darkness (what is) and you will be led into paths of peace when the sun begins to rise (what could be).
  • We move more carefully in the dark, we instinctly have to slow down because we recognize we could bump into things! Hurt ourselves. Hurt someone else. One wrong step after putting my daughter in her crib and I’m kicking a toy that lights up or stepping on a lego. Not good for either of us
  • We listen more carefully and look more closely when we’re surrounded by night - I think this could be a helpful posture to maintain even when the light is shining

End: Tender Mercy

• Sometimes when we slow down - like we do in advent - we come face to face with the painful parts of our reality.
• Swept up in the busyness and chaos it’s easier to ignore the pain and just push on ahead. Power thru.
• Maybe you’ve experienced having a really demanding season and then when life slows a bit, you get sick.
• Maybe you’re someone who likes to occupy your mind all the time so you don’t have to be alone with your own thoughts, you don’t have to feel the weight of whatever it is you’re carrying.
• If busyness has been a coping mechanism the Advent call to embrace stillness can be scary.
• But I love the phrase from our Luke passage today, in the words of Zechariah, the tender mercy of God.
• Tenderness as a reminder of gentleness. Coupled with mercy it’s a beautiful picture of the grace of God.
• That we can be rescued from our despair and shame by a loving God who joins in our humanity. Who weeps with us and dreams with us.
• Mercy we see more clearly when we pause and we rest.
• Tenderness also brings to mind the way we feel when we’re hurt or injured in some way.
• Pain that feels tender — whether it’s a recent injury or even a scar that’s still lingering
• I think of the healing process for the c-sections I’ve had.
  • Even the simple act of walking for the first time after surgery, having to tell myself “Just breathe and stand up. Move forward.”
  • I was forced to be patient and gentle with my body, even though I wanted to rush the healing.
• The mercy, the forgiveness of God recognizes the pain of sin — whether we have sinned or been sinned against — there is a wounding that has taken place.
• And God accompanies us and reminds us “You can stand, you can move forward.”
• Tenderness in the arrival of the infant Jesus —
• that familiar tune “Holy infant, so tender and mild.”
• Now, I don’t know if I’d describe the infants in my life as mild
• But how tender new life is as it’s beginning. New life that is formed in the dark.
• So much beautiful potential ahead. Wonder and awe right alongside uncertainty and unknowing. We instinctively are really careful not to harm this tender new life we hold.
• Would Advent serve as a reminder to slow down and move carefully.
• To do our best not to cause harm to those around us or cause harm to ourselves.
• And when there is inevitably pain and sin - because we are human -, would we stay tender as we navigate repair. As we embrace the darkness and the light
• Knowing that mercy surrounds us in our right now and guides us into what could be.

Prayer

Breathe

Bring to mind ways each of us can invite more stillness in our lives — would slowing down not feel like an inconvenience but a deliberate choice

If we feel like we are in the darkness and the shadow of death, would your tender mercy feel like a close companion

If we are feeling energized in this season, would you make clear the paths of peace and justice ahead of us

Would this be a season of gathering, a season of honesty and preparation.

Replace the rush and hurry, the frantic searching with a slowed-down foraging for all things beautiful. Help us to find our bearings as our eyes adjust to darkness. Help us embrace the ways mystery and unknowing can form us, even now. We await your birth with longing. We look to what could be with Hope.