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Tuesday, 13 December 2005 |
The text for this third Sunday of Advent is a familiar one. It comes
from Isaiah 61, but we are more familiar with its quotation from Luke.
“ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ... I have come to bring good news
to the oppressed ... liberty to the captives ... release to the
prisoners. ” One of the wonderful experiences of Advent is our journey
back into the Old Testament. If we pay close attention to the Old
Testament lessons during Advent we will notice how God’s activity in
the birth of Jesus, in the life of Jesus, and in the completion of
God’s salvation of the creation was not a new word. Prophets had been
telling the people about God’s desire for centuries. But, as humans are
prone to do, often the message was either unheard or disregarded.
It’s no stretch to claim our common humanity
with our faith ancestors. Sometimes we miss the message, too. We have
been guilty of thinking too literally about God’s promises. Or, maybe
more correctly, we have been guilty of taking those promises too
personally. There seems to be a natural tendency to personalize all the
good news we hear during this time of year. We hear the word and
receive the word, allowing it to wash over us and cause a swell of
jubilation to rise within us. We are released from the bondage of sin!
We are established as the children of God! We are set free! These are
the Advent cries of jubilee. But, they are not accomplished by God so
that we can feel better about ourselves. They are accomplished by God
so that we can embrace all of God’s world and everyone of God’s
children with the love that God has given in Jesus.
Take the central thrust of the passage for
this week: freedom. Now if there’s a word that is near and dear to the
hearts of American Christians freedom would be it. We spout about
freedom all the time. We live in a free country! We are free to
worship! We are free to congregate! I’m grateful for those freedoms.
But, do we hear our own voices and our own proclamations? It seems that
our freedom speak is about some personal, selfish advantage that we
hold. Maybe, even one that we dangle as a carrot in front of others to
get what we want. This is not why God has acted to set people free.
These proclamations of personal freedom are not proclamations of Advent
freedom. They miss the point. They fail to hear the message.
These words are more kin to Advent freedom.
They are from Charles Kingsley, a 19th century Anglican social
reformer. “ There are two freedoms – the false, where a person is free
to do what he likes; the true, where a person is free to do what he
ought. ” Of course, these words are not new either. John wrote words
like them, “ And the Word came and lived among us .. Full of grace and
truth. ” And, “ You will know the truth and the truth will make you
free. ” Advent is about waiting and watching, listening and responding.
And, part of what we are asked to consider is the freedom of God given
to us in Christ. Not so much freedom for ourselves to be as we want but
the freedom of hope, peace, joy, and love to be the voices, faces, and
people of God. The people we ought to be. The people God calls us to be.
Grace and peace
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 December 2005 )
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