This sermon was preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Connellsville, using the texts for the second Sunday of Advent. (We shifted Advent a week earlier to accommodate Christmas Eve on a Sunday).
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Isaiah’s words pulled at me this week, particularly the
image of preparing the way of the Lord. “Every valley shall be lifted up, and
every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and
the rough places a plain.” This sounds like hard, messy work. The landscape
will look vastly different, even unrecognizable, when the process is through.
But, these bold changes make it so that, when the glory of the Lord is
revealed, all people shall see it together. All the barriers that separate us
from God, all the rocks that obscure our view, all the distractions that pull
our attention elsewhere are gone. And in their place? God’s glory, available to
everyone.
I can see parallels between the lifting up and tearing down,
leveling and smoothing described here and the recent tide of reckonings around
men in positions of power and their actions of sexual misconduct. From politics
to media, women are climbing out of valleys of secrecy and shame and men are
being toppled from the mountains and pedestals of power and privilege.
This leveling is painful, and uncomfortable. It is hard, messy work. The landscape will look vastly different, even
unrecognizable, when the process is through. With the barriers removed, we are
forced to come face to face with the ways we have turned a blind eye, blaming
victims and excusing men we’re sure have just made one little mistake. It’s
difficult for us to reconcile our public view of men who seem so nice and wholesome,
men who make us laugh, men who seem so trustworthy, men who have been given a
place of honor in our memories and experiences. It’s easy for us to say that
surely these women did something to deserve it, or to lament how no one can
take a joke anymore.
But this is what sin does. It deceives us. It draws our
attention away from the real issue at hand. Sin tells us that women aren’t to
be believed, that women don’t get to have the final say about their own bodies
and experiences. Sin tells us that everything’s fine, that there won’t be
consequences for our actions and the choices we make. But sin is a liar.
Isaiah writes, “A voice says, ‘Cry out!’ And I said, “What
shall I cry?” We cry out about injustice and abuse and sin. We cry out for
voices that have been silenced for far too long. We cry out in hope that the
future can be different, that all people can be honored, valued, and cared for.
We cry out for God’s redemption, for only God can transform and redeem the
suffering of this world.
“Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and
hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a
plain.” Yes, this leveling shakes us and feels destructive.
And, it is absolutely necessary to prepare the way for the
new things God is doing. Coercion, fear, manipulation, and abuse have no place
in God’s kingdom. No place. This leveling causes us to re-examine where we are
grounded, and where we place our trust.
In his explanation of the Ten Commandments in the Small
Catechism, Luther describes an idol or “god” as anything we fear, love, and
trust more than God. It seems that many of us have idolized power and prestige
and wealth. In doing so, we have chosen to look past bad choices and
inappropriate behavior and selfish actions. But this is not God, our God.
Isaiah writes, “say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your
God!” Here is your God – found with the powerless and suffering, not the mighty.
Here is your God – found as a helpless baby, not as a wealthy king. Here is
your God – found on a cross, not in a palace. Here is your God – the prince of
peace, not a warmonger. Here is your God – present in word and water, bread and
wine.
We trust that God is always on the side of those who suffer abuse,
and that God’s comfort and peace accompany them. We trust that God’s promises
to be present with us through the midst of destruction and rebuilding, lifting
up and tearing down. We trust that God will stay with us in our discomfort as
we journey through the desert and wilderness places toward the wholeness and
new life God desires for us.
And so we cry out in desperation and hope for God to come
and be with us. We cry out in desperation and hope for God to do whatever it
takes to heal and restore all creation. We cry out in desperation and hope for God’s
glory to be revealed among us, so that all people shall see it together. Come, Lord
Jesus. Amen.
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