BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET          INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP

Dateline: New York, December 31, 25:31:46

Matt Hughes

With exclusive coverage, THE ANGELUS TRUMPET is excited to report that Joshua Kristy, amid great fanfare, attempted to demonstrate what life in the new world order might look like. Kristy claimed, “My goal here, is not to create a single standard for global governmental compliance, but benchmarks to be strived for. If how we treat the poorest people in our society indicates our concern for one another, then these bench marks can stand as report card for our nations.”

Speaking outside the United Nations, Kristy divided the countries into two groups: those that were acceptable and those that needed to do work. Kristy divided them into his own categories of SHEEP (Somewhat Helpful Eco-friendly Environs for People) and GOATS (Governmental Organizations Antagonistic to Transformative Solutions). At the end of the first reading, the delegations from  Sweden and Denmark stood alone as SHEEP. After a second consideration, Ireland, Finland, Iceland, and the Netherlands were added.

According to Kristy’s estimations, much work needs to be done in the rest of the world. There were several moments of indecision when the issue of the Vatican and Taiwan were raised. After consultation, it was noted that the Vatican depends on other countries for some of its services, and the nationhood of Taiwan remains undecided.

It appears that Kristy’s benchmarks include world hunger with the NU Food diet including their full-bodied bread; potable water for all including NU Food wines for the discerning palate; open immigration policies (remembering some semi-nomadic early life issues); affordable King of Dodd clothing made from sustainable eco-friendly resources manufactured  by workers who receive equitable salaries; holistic medical care for all people; and prison reform (honoring the treatment and death of Jean Baptiste).

Kristy claimed, “It is clear that even the nations who have made the cut are not fully compliant, but they are moving in the right direction. They deserve to be rewarded and encouraged in the work they are doing.”

When UN representatives were asked about Kristy’s judgment, Torvald Thorsen of Denmark, said, “We are very proud to be among the chosen nations, but all we have done is try to be as good as we can to one another. We do not think that we are doing anything special. We still have issues to deal with.”

Among the nations that did not make the preferred list, UK UN Ambassador Arthur King protested saying, “I believe that we are being punished because of the recent Brexit vote which is primarily a statement of concern trying to preserve our distinguished heritage.”

US UN Ambassador John Q. Jones was heard to say, “Kristy doesn’t understand the complexities of a nation our size. We are currently in a rebuilding stage of our nation’s greatness, and so I am not surprised that people do not understand our need to build a secure boundary between us and our southern neighbors. Prison reform is something that we are studying…, but we have the best medical care money can buy anywhere in the world.…Yes, we have some problems with poverty, but that is because so many jobs have been out sourced around the world. We’re working on bringing all of those jobs home again in the coming years.”

Syria and Liberia did not respond to requests for comment

It is uncertain, at this time, whether the new categories of SHEEP and GOATS will help, but it is certain that Kingdom of Dodd LLC will greatly benefit if nations accept the challenge benchmarks proposed by Kristy.

Light, in the Darkness, Shines John 1:1-14

During this Advent season, we have been talking about time. We have talked about discerning God’s time of coming, the wilderness times of our lives and the assurance of God’s presence, times of transition in new community in Christ’s healing presence, and time to love and to know God’s justice in the world. Today our time of waiting is over. It is now time to begin the conversation of how God has come to dwell among us and what that means for us in this time and place.

Many scholars think that the opening words in John shift our sense of time. No longer do we think of the day beginning in darkness, at sunset, as our first covenant Jewish ancestors did. Rather as Christians, we think of creation and our days as beginning with light. The gift of light is so great that we now order our lives with the event of sunrise.

Yes, all the Gospels push us in this direction. The Easter tomb is discovered by the women in that very early time of day when the dawn is just occurring thereby shifting Christian Sabbath from sunset Friday night through Saturday to sunrise Sunday morning and the rest of that day. Yet, with this focus on light, we lost something of God’s activity in our lives. In the Genesis account of creation, God’s work is done in the darkness of night, and then it is revealed in the light of day. The emphasis of time starting with light alters our thoughts about God’s activity in our lives and our relationship to creation.

This new way of thinking—that the day begins with the light and ends with the darkness—allows humanity to think that the gift of dominion means that we are the primary workers in the world. The world should bend to our will. This new way of thinking pushes the consideration of God’s activity in the world from being the initiating creator to being the janitorial service. God, like our parents when we are little, will come behind us and pick up the mess we make.

This thought of light being the most essential thing has dominated our thoughts on the Gospel of John so much that it has even influenced our translation of the text. Today in the NRSV we read, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (1:5) As life and light have already been connected in the verses before, so now, the light shines into the darkness revealing the subversive machinations of an already corrupt world that has the potential of overpowering the light.

Though this understanding of creation can appeal to us today, it really appealed to Christians of the late first century. When the Church was under persecution, when Christians were being imprisoned for their faith, when Christians were being used as entertainment in the coliseum as cat food for leopards and lions, the world certainly appeared to be a particularly depraved and evil place. If good was going to come out of it, goodness would need to be injected into it. God’s goodness would need to come from outside creation to effect change. Right?

This way of thinking, that the world and all of creation was totally corrupt, was so popular and widespread among early Christianity that early Christian leaders gathered together to say that this is not how God works. God does not work from outside the world as a master puppeteer manipulating the strings of creation. Since the beginning, God always has and always will work within God’s established relationship with creation. God works through vulnerability not strength. God works in the midst of the poor, the disabled, and the disenfranchised, not the wealthy and the powerful. God does not show up like some Superman character who is “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound.” We do not raise our eyes to the heavens saying, “Look! It’s a bird, it’s a plane! No, it’s SuperChrist!” No, God does not work like Superman or any other super hero.

A careful reading in Greek of John 1:5 shows that our desire to have God work from the outside in has influenced how we translate this verse. The Greek does not say “The light shines in the darkness”. It literally says, “And the light, in the darkness, shines, and the darkness has not overcome it.” As long as the light shines, darkness, the absence of light, has no power. And it is in this place of darkness, of powerlessness, that God continues to create.

Through birth to Mary, God, in Christ, enters our lives. From a place of the absence of light, the darkness, God’s life-light shines out as a beacon to the world. From the darkness of the womb, a child is born. In the darkness of the world, a son is given who is the light and hope of all people. From the darkness of the tomb, new life begins, a wonderful counsellor, mighty Lord, prince of peace. Thus, we come to understand that our being and the being of all creation is life that proceeds from darkness with the Word of God; that the Word of God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ; and that his life is the light of the world.

As light is the first thing created from the universal darkness of Genesis, so in John’s Gospel, light is created amid the darkness of the world. This light is not to expose the evil so much as it is to reveal the goodness of God’s work—the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With John, we come to be a witness to that light and hope.

We, ourselves, are not the light, but we can bear witness to the light that is coming to the world, not from outside the world, but from within; not as the ultimate goodness conquering our evil, but as the illumined work of God’s handiwork. We can bear witness not just of a place in the future kingdom of God but of a place to live, in light and hope, here and now. This here and now place is not of our own will and making. It is not the will and making of governments. It is the foundational will of God that we should live in a just and peaceful world.

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (v. 14) This simple English translation of “lived” does not quite capture the more complex Greek idea of “tented”, nor does it help us remember that God’s presence among God’s people was first recognized in the tent of the tabernacle in the wilderness. It does not help us imagine the wilderness times of our lives when we travel with God and how God travels with us. It does not really help us understand that God’s love for us and creation is so great that God comes into the midst of our communities to share in all of the problems of the world. Indeed “the Word became flesh and tented among us.” Christ does not come only to the privileged cities and wealthy neighborhoods. He comes to live among us with alcoholics, drug abusers, arthritics, the injured and the blind; knowing our joys and our sorrows, continuing to show us the light of hope to come.

We have seen his glory, and that glory continues to challenge and perplex us, to guide and lead us, teach and model God’s love for us and the world, full of grace and truth. With this grace and truth, we gain the persistence we need to continue telling our story of life through dying and rising in Baptism and receiving our sacred food of forgiveness and reconciliation with God. We continue to proclaim God’s word of grace-filled love and care for the world: God’s message of hope for the world.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messengers who announce peace, who bring good news, who announce salvation, who say to all the people: “God reigns; listen, lift up your voices and sing with joy for the world; the Lord is come; let earth receive her king!”

JOBLESS AND HOMELESS IN ANGEL HEIGHTS

TEMPLE TIMES

Editorial: B. A. Roman

JOBLESS AND HOMELESS IN ANGEL HEIGHTS

From time to time, social issues come to the attention of this paper which deserve to be covered as a forum for reform and for the public good. Recently one such story came to the attention of the editorial staff at the Temple Times. In the name of law and order, and the future wellbeing of the state, this pernicious story should call our citizenry to examine and address the radical consequences of jobless bums in our public spaces, the problems of teenage pregnancy, and life conditions for run-aways in our urban centers.
 
I must warn our readers that the following material may be dangerous and strong parental guidance is recommended for our younger readers. It is a scandalous story. It is so scandalous that there are those who have told it and been imprisoned and sentenced to death for repeating it, but because of its long reaching ramifications, this paper feels compelled to report this story.
 
A few years ago, a young girl got in trouble; well, she got pregnant. She was only about fifteen years old and of course there were people who talked. Charges of statutory rape were considered. Her boyfriend, Joseph Jacobson, 19, emigrated here recently. After thinking about it for a while, he decided that he would marry the girl, but he wanted to do it right, in his hometown of Angel Heights. The two of them journeyed back to Angel Heights, but no family member would let them stay at their home. They went to a hostel. Even there they were turned away because of her minor status and condition. Finally, in desperation they sneaked into a garage for the night.
 
With all the stress of the trip and the humiliation of being turned away time and again, the young girl went into labor. Fortunately, there were no complications, and a healthy baby was born. They covered the baby with some rags they found there and waited to see what the next day would bring. Later that night they were mobbed by some hard cases—very rough, dirty, men who just showed up. They smelled like they hadn't showered for weeks.
 
It turned out that these men had been staying in Shepherd park a little way away and had been rousted by the Angel Heights Police Department (AHPD). They had also come to the garage for refuge. At first the young couple thought that they were going to be robbed, but, when the men saw the baby, they decided to have a party.
 
I suppose it was because of the poverty of his parents, or maybe it was the bad company the child grew up with and hung out with, but what this paper knows for sure is that while he was young, he ran away from his parents at least once. Then when he was old enough to be out on his own, he chose to associate with the most unsavory people. He was part of the fringe culture disrupting social order advocating for radical social reform and equal rights. He was cited for demonstrating without a permit and was frequently seen in the company of questionable low-level bureaucrats who are presently also under investigation. Finally, after a night of partying which will long be remembered, the child was arrested. It turns out that he and his cohorts were involved with some radical sect who were plotting against the government. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.
 
Following his execution, his body disappeared.  It has never been found and subversives within our community continue to lift up his principles for living claiming that he still lives.
 
With such disturbing life stories rising from the streets of joblessness and homeless despair, this paper asks its readers. “What do you think should be done?

Time for Loving Matthew 1:18-25

Okay, I have to admit that I have always thought of this passage as being lame. It’s sort of like spending a lot of time on the genealogy that precedes this text. Yes, there are some interesting names and situations that arise from the genealogy, but really not that much. Or is there?

We really don’t give Joseph much time. He is the almost contender. He is the guy that God beat out. He is the guy that I never wanted to be or hoped to be. Maybe that is why Joseph doesn’t get much time. It just may be that Joseph makes us nervous. As a matter of fact, aside from this story in Matthew and the second chapter story of Joseph taking Mary and Jesus to Egypt and then returning after Herod has died, nothing else is said about Joseph in Matthew at all.

Yet the imprint of Joseph continues to influence the story of our faith in interesting ways. Tradition says that Joseph is a carpenter and that he passes the trade of carpentry down to Jesus. In some of the non-biblical stories of Jesus we hear that Joseph and Jesus build a cabinet together, and, when they get it finished, it is too big to go through the door. Jesus shrinks the cabinet enough for it to go through, and then he expands it to its original size so that they can deliver it as ordered. Another time Jesus cuts a board, and it is too short so he lays his hands on it and stretches it to the right length. (There have been a few times in the shop when I’ve wished that I could do that.) No, we don’t get this information from the Gospels, but there is a long tradition that says that Joseph is indeed a carpenter, and, because of that, Jesus is a carpenter too.

So, who is Joseph? From the genealogy given in Matthew we learn that Joseph is the son of Jacob. Really? Wasn’t there another Joseph who was the son of Jacob? Wasn’t Jacob the father of twelve sons who became the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel? Wasn’t Jacob’s son Joseph the one who was sold into slavery? Wasn’t Joseph the interpreter of dreams? Wasn’t Joseph the one that the Pharaoh went to with the dream of the fat bullocks and the skinny bullocks? Wasn’t Joseph the one who saved his family in the time of famine and gave them a place to live in Egypt? And wasn’t that first Joseph the ancestor of Moses who led God’s people out of slavery into the wilderness and then to the Promised Land?

We may not know much about this Joseph, but there is a great deal that we know about the first Joseph who was the son of Jacob, and Matthew wants us to remember these things when we begin to think about who this Joseph, the father of Jesus, is. Therefore, we are not surprised when the angel comes to him in a dream and tells him he needs to take the mother and the child to Egypt. We are not surprised when they return from Egypt because of a dream. This is the pattern of freedom and learning to walk in faith with God. The difference this time is that we learn what it means to have God walk with us having faith for us.

So today the outcome of so much depends on Joseph’s decision and actions concerning his betrothal to Mary. We are introduced to him with these words: Joseph is “a righteous man”. For many of us, we might easily translate righteous into good and therefore think, “Joseph is a good man.” And, because he is a good man, we might think he will naturally do good things. Joseph is righteous because he follows the law, not just the 10 commandments, but all of the laws found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy including Deuteronomy 22 which prescribes the consequences of being pregnant  while engaged. By law, both the woman who got pregnant by someone other than her betrothed and the other man were to be stoned. If the woman was taken (raped) in the fields, the man was to be stoned, but the woman was to be unpunished. Still that engagement was ended, and the woman was shamed. This is what the righteous man should do. He should end the engagement and walk away. Although he could be generous by doing this quietly, people would probably still talk.

When the angel comes to tell Joseph that the baby is from the Holy Spirit, Joseph is caught in a dilemma. If he walks away from Mary, he will dishonor God, but, if he honors God, staying engaged to Mary, then he states to the community that he is the father of the child, taking the shame of Mary’s pregnancy upon himself. Joseph is confronted with the other side of righteousness. The first definition of righteousness is to follow the law, but the other is to do justice. What is a guy to do?

Joseph’s decision pushes us in a new direction. His decision marks the beginning for those who will follow this child, this Jesus, our Emmanuel. For from this moment on, when law and justice do not walk hand-in-hand, justice will be the part of righteousness that will win out. This decision of Joseph’s marks the beginning of Christian thought that says to act with concern for the other is sometimes more important than personal appearances.

And so, Joseph makes the decision to choose unrighteousness in order to become righteous for the sake of the world. Doing this, he claims Jesus as his son with all of the responsibilities that go along with that decision. As a righteous man, he teaches his son his trade. He passes on his love of his work. In the process of living, he passes on his understanding of the law and the need for justice that goes beyond personal honor, a justice that lifts up the dishonored and the shamed as having value. He passes on his love of God’s people in a way that claims the need of God’s people to live in relationship together is more important than living by the letter of the law. From this decision, learned and appreciated by his son, we will hear, “You have heard it said,…but I say,….”

In the deserted wilderness place, Joseph’s son will feed thousands. In the midst of the world’s suffering, the outcasts (the blind, the lame, the unclean, the deaf and the poor) will be lifted up into new ways of living. From this righteous man, Jesus will learn to care for the needs of those around him even to the extent that he will suffer death, even death on a cross, taking the sins and the shame of the world upon himself, for the justification and justice of the world.

No, we do not know much about Joseph, but, through his ability to interpret dreams, he discerns the way to go. He claims and protects the one who will free us from our slavery to sin, who will lead us through the wilderness of our lives into the relationship of God’s grace and mercy that lifts up all of creation into God’s own kingdom of justice. With his decision, Joseph claims a time for loving judgment rather than punitive vengeance. By his decision, Joseph initiates a time and a season for loving that will only grow through the life, death and resurrection of his adopted son.

Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way, learning of God’s love and sharing it in our time and Advent season of loving.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET            SOCIETY SECTION

Dateline: Jerusalem, November 21, 01:18:25

Matt Hughes

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

People are all abuzz concerning Joseph Jacobson and his relationship and upcoming nuptials to Mary Hannahsdatter as moral proprieties and social convention became the topic of conversation among the who’s who of Bethlehem. Discovering that Hannahsdatter was “just a little bit pregnant”, rumors have been flying that Jacobson planned to annul his highly touted advantageous engagement and wedding. Not intending to make a publicity circus, Jacobson planned a quiet dinner yesterday at the exclusive NU Food cuisine restaurant, The House of Bread, with Hannahsdatter and her family to discuss relational termination.

In an interview after leaving Bread, Jacobson stated, “Things were going well as we began our discussion after dinner and before dessert. Then Mary started talking about her dream life and ecstatic divine paranormal experiences. I thought she was stoned or just nuts. Things were getting out of control, and, frankly, I was hoping to avoid a scene, so I excused myself to give Mary and her family some time to get it together.”

Returning to the table, Jacobson appeared to reverse his decision. Mumbling that he wasn’t in his right mind, he granted he could see his way clear to go ahead with the agreed upon courtship and wedding after all.

Jacobson explained to this reporter, “I mean, I was standing there, in the men’s lounge taking care of things and trying to remain cool. I like to think of myself as a pretty righteous guy, and I was really het up about things. I mean, I thought that we had this exclusive relationship going, and then suddenly, it’s not? So, I thought that I was within my rights to dump her when it sort of came over me…. I don’t know how to describe it, but I thought, ‘What if she’s not lying?’ And suddenly I could see myself being the kid’s dad, and I even knew what we should name him. Strictly speaking, I know I should have gotten out of the relationship, but, somehow, it didn’t seem right anymore. And then, I just got this really calm feeling. I was so chill, and I knew it was the right thing. So I went back to the table and said so. So, we ordered dessert and talked about enamelware. Things are good with us. If it’s a boy we’re going to name the kid Joshua. You know, it just feels right, and, you’ve got to admit, there’s something about Mary.”

Right now, it looks like a June wedding is likely. The baby is expected sometime in December.

Editor: Peter Heide

Transition Time Matthew 11:2-11

So much of what we do each day is based on our expectations, and those expectations give order to our lives. Over the years, we have developed specific tools for keeping our expectations in check. The most common tool is our calendar. As the days go by in our lives we know what to expect by those all too common symbols—year, month, date, hour. With this simple device, we manage our life expectations.

Just a test. What year is this? What month is this? What day is this? Now for the trick question. What season is this?

Because of the answers you gave to these questions, I can know some of the expectations that determine how you live. Now the expectation that you are going to hear a good sermon today may not be realized, but I’m guessing that many of your other expectations will be.

For instance, you probably came expecting to participate in the liturgy, to confess our sins and to hear the words of forgiveness. You probably expect to profess your faith using the creed. You expect to come to the Lord’s table to be nurtured and strengthened in your faith. You also expect these things to happen in a usual and orderly manner. And these expectations will probably be met.

But when our expectations are not met, our emotional, psychological, and spiritual sense of well-being may be upset. We may feel disappointed, tense, off-balance, wronged, even angry. In general, we may just feel out of sorts. That sense of unbalance will continue until the old order is restored, or until we become accustomed to the new way of doing things.

This last week, Sue had eye surgery. Because of her overall eye condition and eye sight and because she is getting to that age when cataracts begin to inhibit sight anyway, the doctor thought that it was probably time for lens replacements. Because of her extreme astigmatism, the doctor recommended a new and improved type of lens called the toric lens.

We were expecting better vision after the surgery, but no one could predict exactly how much better. We were pleasantly surprised Friday afternoon when Sue read the 20/20 line without any trouble. Now she is looking forward to the next surgery to be done on her other eye. By Christmas she may have a whole new outlook on life.

Of course, there are times when our expectations are not met. Some of those unfulfilled expectations are going to be devastating, life-changing events. When we encounter these expectation challenges, we usually describe them with words like: disease, possibly terminal illness, addiction, mental illness, divorce, death, maybe bankruptcy. In those times, other expectation systems may come into play. We may expect to be shunned or shamed, or we may expect our circle of friends to gather around us. Hopefully, in those devastating, life-changing times of failed expectations, we find support, and, in those times of severe loss, we continue to know Christ’s presence in our lives. The knowledge of support and Christ’s presence can make all the difference between being able to make the transition from what our old expectations were to what the new reality is.

Our texts today address this world of expectation and transition. Let me briefly frame the context for these passages.

Isaiah 35 talks about the transition time between leaving the captivity of Babylon and returning home on the Holy Highway to Jerusalem. It anticipates the road God’s people will travel from Persia (modern Iran) through the wilderness of new life in the land God gave them after the first exile in Egypt.

Echoing the joy of this return, we hear the words of praise in Psalm 146. “Happy are those whose help and hope is in the Lord God, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers and upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked, God brings to ruin. The Lord, our God will reign for all generations, that is forever! Praise the Lord!”

In James, we are cautioned about over-exuberance and to be patient, discerning God’s work in our lives, to wait with expectation for God’s justice to be done.

As-much-as these texts talk about the dreams and expectations of God’s people, they are greater dreams than the reality of their world will admit. The Holy Highway will lead God’s people home, but there will be some who are lost on the way. The desert won’t bloom more gloriously that year, and, as-far-as I know, the leopard and the lamb are still having issues. The justice spoken of in Psalm 146 continues to be a dream of what is possible in God’s kingdom rather than the reality we live in so we hear these words from James with a certain amount of sighing and irritation. Patient? How long, O Lord?

Part of our difficulty in seeing God’s Holy Highway, of seeing God’s creative work among us, is that we want the big picture. We want the great acts of God—those Bible movie special effects acts that make the bad guys shake in their boots, witnessing God’s righteous people being saved from whatever it is that assails them—but God continues to work without considering our expectations.

I know I have said this before, but how we think of God determines what we think about God. If we think that God created the world and everything in it and then stepped aside to watch the world from a distance, or maybe God went off to create something else and left the world to be on its own because God was bored with the last project, then what we think about God is going to be limited to God’s initial work and fascination of the new world things but not the maintenance of the world. If we think that God is involved with planning every detail of creation and the lives of all the creatures including humanity, then God is not only responsible for all the good things that happen to us, but all the bad things too. God caused those bad relationships and our suffering. God wanted the car accident to happen so that people would die or be crippled for life.  If we think that God is always going to take care of us and keep us safe, then, when things don’t go the way we think they should, or when we find ourselves in dangerous places, we wonder whether God cares about us or whether we are being punished for something we did wrong. So, you see, our expectations of God determine whether we can even know God’s work and presence in our world today.

This is the situation John is in when he sends his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one? Or, are we to wait for another?” John’s problem in today’s reading is that his expectations of God and how God will act do not match up with what Jesus is doing. John is living in a world that is thinking, “If God is going to come and be one of us, and God is all powerful, and God’s preference is towards God’s chosen people, and God’s chosen people are being oppressed by the nasty Romans, then God should have a certain amount of power and authority to defeat the Romans and establish God’s chosen people as the rulers of the world.” Right?

Instead of that powerful, vengeful God, Jesus tells John’s disciples that they are going to need to rethink how they think about God. That the God who created the world is also the one who continues to be in relationship with all of creation and continues to create new things in new ways, with new relationships. Jesus demonstrates another way of knowing how God is present in the world, not as conqueror or oppressor, but as healer and worker of justice, of lifting-up the forgotten into new ways of living. And beyond that, Jesus challenges us all to rethink the roll of prophet. Yes, John is a prophet, but he is more than that. A prophet is called up from the midst of God’s people to speak as an advocate for the poor and the afflicted, to claim justice for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. John does this, but John also announces God’s presence among us—God’s Word revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells John’s disciples to tell, that is, bear witness, to what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers (unclean) are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news brought to them.

This is not a world of power to kill and vengefully overthrow. This is the power of healing presence. It is that other Psalm 146 expectation image of God. It is the vulnerable image of God that walks with us knowing our weaknesses, our disappointments, and hurts. It is the God who gives vision to the blind even if they can’t physically see. It is the God who makes sure the lame travel with the rest of God’s people even if they can’t walk. It is the God who cleanses the unclean in his own blood. It is the God who speaks in the silence that only the deaf can hear. It is the God who forgives us when we were dead in sin and raises us up into new ways of living. It is the God who says that poverty is not divine punishment, but an opportunity for the wealthy to share, for the world to recognize that life is not about us individually, but about the relationship of God and one another as we were first created: in God’s image.

This God of healing also works through the lives of others. The gift of sight that Sue is receiving comes through the gifted hands of a surgeon who is God’s child also. With artificial joints and limbs, the lame can walk and the maimed are given restored abilities. Through medicine and therapy those with diseases are treated and healed. Through our caring, the forgotten and the poor are given value. Do these things happen because Jesus is touching and speaking them whole? Well…?

With John, we are asked, “What are our expectations of God? Are those expectations realistic, or do we need to look for, to recognize, God’s presence and activity in our lives differently? Who is this Jesus? What difference does he make in the way we live our lives together?

In times of transition, we all come with certain expectations. When we are growing up, the times of transition are regular and often. There will be some disappointments along the way, but in general, life continues as it should unless something really big comes along to change everything. That change may be physical or psychological. It could be something that completely changes the way you think of and interact with creation—like finding out that the earth is round; or finding out that the sun is the center of the universe; or that we do not live in a universe at all, but a cosmological multiverse. Or maybe, that God has come to live among us as one of us.

During this transition time of Advent, we come with John in the prisons of our own limited thinking, asking with him, “Are you the one we are expecting?” For the question of who this Jesus is is a question that every generation needs to ask and answer. We have to keep asking the question because our world keeps changing. It is this issue of change that demands us to continue to rethink and proclaim who God is and what our relationship with God is going to look like in the coming years.

As the first week of Advent considered the time of when the Son of Man will come and the second week considered our wilderness time together, so it is that this week we consider the transition time of where we have been and where we are going. Of what in God’s name are we doing here? It is a time to consider what our expectations of God are, and then what are God’s expectations of us?

So, tell what you hear and see. If you aren’t hearing anything, make some noise that proclaims Christ’s presence among us! If you aren’t seeing anything, point out God’s activity to those who are also looking and walk in God’s healing justice ways.

FASHION FOODIES GET POLITICAL

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET                           Early Edition

Dateline: Capernaum, December 11, 11:01:15
Matt Hughes

FASHION FOODIES GET POLITICAL

In an unexpected turn, Jean Baptiste, supermodel and NU-Food spokesperson, stepped beyond his eco-lifestyle message, commenting on governmental leaders’ profligate living and including charges of sexual improprieties and abuses These charges have resulted in Baptiste’s arrest and confinement in an area prison pending trial.

In a display of bravado, Baptiste told loyal fans to find “the new message guy.”

It turns out that the new message guy may just be Baptiste “bon ami” creator and designer for Kingdom of Dodd LLC, Joshua Kristy. When questioned early this afternoon about whether Kingdom of Dodd monies would be used for Baptiste’s defense, Kristy replied, “No comment.” But, responding to persistent questioning, Kristy finally confronted fans and reporters. What follows is the full text of his outburst.

“The state of our nation is in serious trouble. We are consuming our natural resources at an alarming rate without proper checks and balances. We are strangling ourselves with our air pollution, irrigating desert land that is unsustainable for future population growth. We poison ourselves using our precious life sustaining water in order to maximize crude oil production without considering what future generations will do.”

“My God, when will the people learn that it is not about things? It’s not about walls that separate us from one another. It’s simply all about people! People are suffering. We need medical care that will serve the needs of all people so that the blind can regain sight, the crippled can walk, the deaf can hear, that diseases will be cured or at least treated. We need an education system that is equipped to train and educate people of all ages; to meet the needs of all our children, including those who are impoverished or have disabilities that can’t be cured; not just some trumped up system that benefits the privileged few.”

“We need to reach out to the invisible people of the world. You know, the people we would rather not acknowledge in our world—those who are not treated any better than the dead—and raise them up into our world, benefiting from the gifts and ideas that they bring to our table. We need to address the oppressive conditions of poverty, the paralyzing stigmas of sexism, racism, and yes, xenophobia.”

“One of the reasons I  got involved with Kingdom of Dodd in the first place was because of Dodd’s commitment to sustainable living practices that promote better world relationships to live in. I thank Dodd and all people who stand with me in this cause and build no fence against me.”

“And now that you got me started, did you think that this was just about a photo op? Did you think that this was just a gig for a weed smoker blowing wind? Did you think that it was just about fashion? “

“This project was not about reward and profit. Jean’s wardrobe was a commitment to waging war on unhealthy living. I admire him for the stand that he has taken, and I am committing myself and all of Dodd’s kingdom resources to continue and expand what he has started. Living in our world without considering the long-term consequences of our lifestyles does violence against our world and promotes violent greed and usurpation. I’m deadly serious about this, I’m not just joshin’.”

Wilderness Time, Matthew 3:1-12

Do you remember the story of Adam and Eve? Do you remember the story of Moses and the Israelites passing through the Red Sea to freedom? Do you remember hearing the story of the Babylonian exile and how Cyrus freed God’s people to return to Judea and Jerusalem to rebuild the temple? Do you remember the day that Jesus was baptized and how God spoke as Jesus was coming up out of the water? And, do you remember the story of the crucifixion and how the tomb was empty on that first, early Easter morning?

Today I am here to tell you that each of these major faith events was followed by a wilderness experience. The same wilderness that we find John in today.

Last week I told you that Advent was all about time. Well, the time that we are going to be looking at today is wilderness time. Wilderness time in the Bible is really important time. It is the time when God’s people learn more about their relationship with God. It is the time God’s people learn to rely on God and the community God gives rather than relying on ourselves alone. It is an already-but-not-yet time of being released from the old life condition or situation but not knowing the reality of the new world we are living in.

 Adam and Eve, when they leave the garden, are dressed for success by God with leather clothing and then sent out to learn about their new relationship with God and one another. After passing through the Red Sea, Moses and the Israelites need to learn how to be God’s people in the world and how to live with one another. (I must admit that they were slow learners because it took them forty years to cover what should have taken forty days. Today it takes about eight hours in a car with lots of stops.)

After the Babylonian exile, we first hear the words of God’s highway in the desert, “A voice cries out in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord.” From the Babylonian exile, God’s people come home changed, with another new relationship with God and God’s people.

 And when Jesus was Baptized, the heavens opened and the division between God and God’s people was forever changed. Even Jesus went into the wilderness to learn about his relationship with the Father, as the Son of God, and with God’s people, as the Son of Man.

Yes, and just before the Baptism of Jesus, John comes to us in that already-but-not-yet wilderness time. I am sure that you will be surprised to know that theology has a word for this kind of time. The word is proleptic time. In this proleptic time, John comes to us in the wilderness saying, “The kingdom of heaven HAS come near.” This is not some theoretical possibility that John is speaking of, it is already a fact. The kingdom is so near that in the verses that follow our reading today, Jesus comes to be baptized.

What is this Baptism of Repentance that John is talking about?  Repentance literally means to “re-think” or more appropriately, “wrap your mind around this instead of what you have been thinking.” It is a mindful life-changing way of doing things that allows reconciliation to be a reality.

So, in this wilderness time, John is challenging people to change the way that they think about God and their relationships with one another. John is asking them to put their old ideas of what it means to be God’s people aside for something new that is coming.

One of the sins that John is addressing, the reason he calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers”, is that they believe they are more worthy to call themselves God’s elect by claiming Abraham as their ancestor.

Another sin is the people do not take seriously the laws God gave the Israelites in their earlier wilderness time to care for the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the poor, the blind, the lame, the deaf, and the maimed.

And, since we too seem to have so much trouble learning how to do that, we need to think about a world where God comes to be among us to teach and lead us into these new ways of living. In our wilderness time today, we are challenged to wrap our minds around a way of living which recognizes and names the issues of injustice in the world and of oppressive or abusive behavior we participate in in our daily lives. Then, regretting those destructive behaviors, we listen again to God’s desire for us to live in harmony and re-orient our lives so that our relationship with God and the community around us can go forward in a new direction.

Does this mean that we will be able to be reconciled with everyone? No! Jesus was never able to be, or even willing to be. reconciled with the power of the Roman Empire, but he made it possible for us to be reconciled with the true ruler of our world, this is Godself.

The reason that Jesus could not be reconciled with the Roman empire is that reconciliation is something that has to happen with all of the parties involved. If all parties are not willing to recognize the problem, or regret the outcome of previous conditions, then being able to reorient our ways of living together are not possible. Since the Roman Empire and the temple authorities were not able to recognize Jesus as God’s anointed, no regret was possible, and therefore re-orienting reconciliation could not take place.

Do not despair! We are reminded that the tree of life in our old ways has been cut down before. The temple has been destroyed, and the people of Jerusalem have been taken away as slaves to foreign lands, but, from the stump of that faith tree, a shoot of faith can grow. In this new growth of the stem there is hope, promise and joy.

Indeed, John tells us that the one who is coming, that is Jesus, will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. With this image, we foresee the Pentecost event. We recognize the fire as the purifying fire of the refinery, the fire that sterilizes and makes safe and good. Indeed, the winnowing fork is in his hand that will separate us from our sins and bring us into the granary, the Eden place where God’s relationship with us is made right again and our sins will be cremated and accounted to us no more.

In this wilderness time of Advent, we are called to bear the fruit of the tree from which we have gained new life, that is the cross. We are called to be the new shoot of faith growing up from the stump of old ways. We are called, in the darkness of our world, to be the welcoming light to those who are traveling in the dark.

And so, with the empty tomb, we recognize that God’s kingdom is not only near, but among us, and that we are living in that wilderness time of the already-but-not-yet, the wilderness time before our entry into the Promised Fullness of God’s Kingdom. We enter that world as the seeds of wheat not as the sheaves that have been harvested.  We enter the world as the harvest that is yet to be planted to be the new way of living with God and one another.

So may the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in Christ Jesus, that we will always know hope in our wilderness time together.