Drumbeat of Joy, Part 4

Completely the posts of the sermon from this week

Think of the world today.  We are divided in more ways than I think are imaginable.  We are divided by politics, by faith beliefs. There are those of us who have money and power, and there are those of us who have nothing.  There are those of us who have nothing to wear, no job, no hope. In West Virginia, 1 in 7 people struggle with hunger. 20% of West Virginia children are hungry.  Approximately 20% of adults in West Virginia cannot read above the fourth grade reading level. 

We are at the epicenter of the opioid crisis.  I spoke to one gentleman I know whose daughter is fighting against drug addiction.  Her struggle was so deep and so real to him that he said that drugs were the devil – evil surrounded her.  Knowing him, it was the last thing I expected to hear him say, but he was completely serious.

Setting that aside, you and I both know people who are struggling with illness, grief, despair.  We live in times that are dark for many.  Where is God in this?

In 1944, a Methodist minister in London, Rev. Leslie Weatherhead, was trying to help his people through a terrible time.  Think about what was happening there in 1944.  It was the last year of World War II.  The city was under constant siege – they were seeing death and destruction all around them.  Weatherhead preached about the will of God, and he told his people that what they were seeing was not God’s will.  He reassured them that the ultimate will of God will prevail – and it would not look like what they were seeing now.

It is not God’s will that we would live in a world of darkness.  The entire Bible is the story of God breaking into God’s creation to bring salvation to us – forgiveness, grace, and freedom from present circumstances.

We’ve talked today about the word of the prophet Isaiah, and the word of Mary in her Song.  During Advent, we intentionally slow down so as to remember that God has sent the Word – Jesus – into the world.  We are not alone. We live in a time where the space between us and God is always thin – a perpetual thin place.  God has cleared the Holy Way between us.  We are not in exile.  We are at home in God.  Advent is the time when we open our lives – again – to that reality, and know the joy of it.

But what is the witness to it? What difference does it make in the world?

Mary sang, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” 

How do we magnify the Word? How do we multiply that joy so that others besides ourselves know of it? How do we shine God’s light in the world so brightly that the darkness cannot overcome it, and the world is changed?

How do we do the work of Advent and prepare the way for the Lord?  Not just for ourselves – but for the people around us?

Speak the Word – tell of God’s presence in your life – and then do more.  Be the Word. Be the hands of and feet of Christ. Feed the hungry. Teach children to read. Love your neighbor.  Visit those who are sick.  Comfort those who are hurting. Give of your gifts, your time, your money; give your love to others.  God is close – not only to shine a light in your own life, but so that you will shine that light in the lives of others.

Beat the drum of joy. Change the world. Magnify the Lord.