December 5, 2004

Second Sunday of Advent

Matthew 3:1-12

“Surprise!”

     Wow…this has been quite a week for our United Church of Christ.  Just as our nationwide “God Is Still Speaking” campaign was ready to launch, NBC, CBS and ABC all refused to run the ad.  It’s a good thing that 75% of the advertising is being run on cable.

     NBC and CBS are saying the ad is too controversial.  It shows a scene where it appears that people are being excluded from a church because of their race, physical disability, age and sexual orientation.  An announcer says, “Jesus didn’t turn people away.  Neither do we.  No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here: The United Church of Christ”. 

     It’s a clear message: Jesus welcomed all people and so do we.  There are no statements about gay marriage in the ad and no political opinions are expressed.  It’s just a big, wonderful welcome for all people – young and old, able and disabled, gay and straight, male and female, “red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in God’s sight” as the old Sunday School song used to put it. 

     How can an expression of unconditional love be “too controversial”?  Because it challenges the status quo, the social boundaries and labels that so often define us.  To offer unconditional love is to embody a love that calls into question value and belief systems that thrive on prejudice and segregation. 

     We’ve seen a shift to fundamentalism in religions all over the world in recent decades (including Christianity) and as a consequence, lines have been drawn and boundaries set.  Some religious groups have become exclusive and defensive…sometimes even offensive.

     Maybe this is a sign of our uncertain times.  History shows that when the world is a scary place, people gravitate toward simple, black-and-white solutions.  Fundamentalism, whether Jewish, Christian or Moslem, offers this – the complex world distilled down into basic laws and religious formulas, a handle on things, a simple way of seeing things, of knowing what is “right “ and what is “wrong” and who is “in” and who is “out”.  It is a worldview where unconditional love is too controversial.

     So, the UCC is controversial.  Here, you will find conservative viewpoints and liberal viewpoints and everything in between.  It makes for a lively mix!  But that’s what this church is about – encouraging the whole people of God to allow the Holy Spirit to move in their lives, even if we don’t completely agree on how that Spirit should be expressed.  There are no rulebooks here defining how we must believe or act, just the expectation that will all try to love each other as Christ loves us. 

     This church is part of the United Church of Christ because we want to be, not because we have to be.  We are in covenant, in partnership, with all the other UCC churches.  Consequently, the United Church of Christ is an incredibly diverse faith community.  And that’s the beauty of it.

     John the Baptist was so sure he knew what God’s Messiah would be like.  Surely, he would bring back that old-time religion of law and order!  John warned people to get ready for the Messiah’s coming because he believed they had fallen away and were a lawless people.  Surely, the Messiah would straighten them out and bring down fiery judgment!  Surely, the Messiah would be like an axe used to chop down trees that don’t bear good fruit. 

     But when Jesus came, he didn’t blast people with a message of condemnation as John expected.  Instead, he humbled himself, stepped into the water of the Jordan River and asked to be baptized.  He didn’t pass judgment on them.  Instead, he came to be among them and he welcomed them, all of them, unconditionally.  He reached out to women, men and children, foreigners, the poor and the outcasts of society.  And when he gave his life on the cross, it wasn’t just for some, for the insiders, but for all people, for “the sins of the world”.

     Next Sunday, we will read again from Matthew’s Gospel and we’ll hear John still trying to make sense of Christ’s incredible welcome.  John was caught by surprise, so much so that he wondered if Jesus really was the Messiah after all.

     Perhaps such love catches us by surprise, too.  We are all loved more than we can imagine and more than we deserve.  Dare we love each other the same way?

     We light the candles now and begin looking to Christmas, a time to celebrate God’s wonderful gift to the world, a Savior, the Messiah, Joy to the World.  Jesus is God’s gift of light to a world which people often make dark and difficult.  The gift is unconditional love for all the conditions of God’s people.  It brings light against which darkness cannot prevail. 

     What a gift!  What a wonderful surprise!…joy for you, for me.  Joy to the World.