Preparing for 2020: Taking Out the Trash

Preparing for 2020: Taking Out the Trash

Last week we leaned into the hope and the anticipation of Advent. The first candle represented hope. Today Advent continues with the longing for peace.

Peace… We heard it in the readings from Isaiah, the Psalms, and Romans. Isaiah said, “When the Messiah arrives, he will lead us into peace through love, justice, and righteousness. The Psalm said the coming King would crush the oppressors so the poor would live in peace. The epistle reading even paraphrased Isaiah. Paul said, “Jesus can change the hearts of all people who choose peace.”

Then along comes preacher John. His sermon is different… a lot different… in fact, he was the polar opposite. He didn’t offer comfort and hope; instead, he used language like “God will cut you down, eternal fire, and repent.”

It’s tempting to leave Preacher John with his fire and brimstone sermons on the banks of Jordan. I wanted to do just that. I wanted to preach Isaiah’s sermon of peace. However, there was a nudge to listen to Preacher John. 

His sermon made me wonder if repentance actually leads to the peace spoken of by the prophets and apostles. And if that’s true, how can it help us prepare for the turn of a new year and a new decade.

The more I wondered, and the more I studied, the more I began to believe the Gospel reading has something to say. I think it shows us a couple of essential ideas about peace: 

First, peace and repentance go hand in hand.

That said, when you take a step back and look at John, it’s clear that he was a strange character. He favored camel hair over Armani, and grasshoppers over caviar. He didn’t have a celebrity hairdresser. The poor guy didn’t even own a beard trimmer or a straight razor. In every sense of the word, John was a weird man.

Most of us want to pull John aside and tell him about the importance of… “style…” and “perception.”  I want to say, “John, brother, dress the part. Don’t be one of those frumpy priests who do not own a lent roller.”

Preacher John wouldn’t listen. He would just say, “It is time for you to repent.” 

Oh that word… “Repent.” It makes us cringe. It’s a trigger word. Over the years, it’s been a weapon. The church has used it for centuries to condemn, control, and manipulate. Medieval priests and popes used it to launch crusades. Puritan preachers used it to control behavior.  

Though he was rough around the edges, Preacher John had one thing going for him. Despite is his rugged appearance, he did something impossible for most people. He held the present circumstances of abusive governments and oppressive religious systems in tension with a kingdom of peace. 

John said, “Repent.” Then he followed with peace; “Because Kingdom of God—the place where the poor are not hungry, where people no longer wage wars, and where we are not judged by our mistakes or our appearance, but by our hearts—the Kingdom of God… peace… is at hand.”

For John, repentance was the way to peace. In other words, “Take out the trash in your life, and the Kingdom of peace will come.  

Here’s a little secret… repent is not a cuss word, so we can say it in church. 

In the original language, it means to rethink something after a negative experience. It’s a reconsideration of one’s ways. Repentance is a reimagining of the self. Reimagining ourselves in a new light is harder than simply changing my behavior and calling it a day.

To creatively imagine ourselves in a different light makes us confront ourselves. What is repentance? It’s actively imagining ourselves and our world differently. When we do that, we can courageously confront the negativity and the anger. Then, when we see it, we can bag that garbage and take it to the curb.

If repentance and reimagining the world and ourselves differently, the first step to peace, then the second is to confront our pride. 

Pride and peace do not walk together. 

Speaking of pride, it’s hard being a Pharisee… I’d know, I’ve tried it a few times. No one enjoys a good time only to have the buzzkill of a Pharisee show up. That’s what happened to Preacher John.

His revival crusade boomed! They played “Just as I  am,” and people chose to walk the aisle and go to heaven instead of hell. John’s church, “The River Jordan Prophetic Hope Worship Center,” was the biggest in the desert.

… and then the Pharisees arrived. They brought with them the constant need to correct people. There’s always a self-appointed prophet and psychologist who wants to tell you why you’re wrong, and how they would do it better.

Preacher John, that masterfully poetic prophet known for his delicate application of imagery and emotion said, “You brood of vipers, you better get ready because judgment is coming. God will chop you down and throw you into the fire.”

Nothing says, “The Episcopal Church welcomes you” quite like the priest’s sermon opener beginning with, “Everyone gathered here today is the offspring of a rattlesnake den.”

His sermon wouldn’t win the Gold Star trophy at the Sewanee institute for excellence in preaching. But he highlights an important message: Pride doesn’t allow peace. 

Pride is actually the rotten food in the garbage that you can’t smell until you leave the house and come back inside. In my house, the response sounds like…, “… Oh my God, what’s that smell?…. Brooooody…. Get that garbage can out of here!”

Pride led the Pharisees to follow the rules perfectly. And we all know what happens when we set high standards for ourselves and then reach them… we hold everyone else to our standards. That is the knife that sacrifices relationships on the altar of ego.

If we want peace, personally and congregationally, it means giving up the pride of preferences and choosing the integrity of love. The Kingdom of God is at hand. The decade changes in three weeks.

But, we cannot forget the Pharisee inside either!

When I say, “the Pharisee inside,” you probably expect me to talk about the hypocritical side of ourselves that is quick to criticize others, point out their flaws, or compare them to others to belittle them. And yes, we should be mindful of that temptation. 

However, there’s a different kind of Pharisee from the ones on the banks of the Jordan River. The internal Pharisee I want to confront is the one that continually criticizes us and plants seeds of doubts in our hearts. 

There’s always a voice trying to tell you, “If you try something new, you will fail,” or, “You can’t serve as church leadership, you’re not spiritual enough, and you don’t have enough theological training.” Or maybe your Pharisee whispers… “You’ll never be loved, and you’ll never be good enough.” Or the one we all understand, “People don’t like you, so you should just stop trying and give up.”

John speaks to those Pharisees; “Take the garbage out. Use an ax on the root of that tree, chop it down, and let it burn in hell.” 

Amen. 

Sermon for the second Sunday in Advent, Year A