A Heart of Hope
Matthew 3:1-12
December 8, 9, 2007

The Lord be with you! (And also with you!) Some of you come from church backgrounds where this blessing and response were a part of every worship service. A few of you would probably like us to do more of that around here. But one of the dangers of doing something every week is that it becomes a habit and meaningless. You’ve heard that old story about the somber, stoic, old minister who moved slowly to the pulpit to speak. There had been trouble with the sound system, so he tapped the microphone to make sure it was on. Nothing—no sound. So the minister looked up to the sound system operator and said, “There’s something wrong with this microphone.” And the congregation responded, “And also with you.” The Lord be with you! (And also with you!)

LAST WEEKEND WE BEGAN THE SEASON OF ADVENT. The theme for our Advent and Christmas season is “Discover the Heart of Christmas.” During our worship services we will be thinking about what it means to have a “heart of Christmas.” Dr. Hull offered an eloquent message last week as he talked about Isaiah’s vision for peace. Surely, one of the characteristics of having a heart of Christmas is having a heart of peace. May the peace of Christ be with you! (And also with you!)

In the next few weeks, we will be thinking about joy, love, and light. Today we are thinking about having a heart of hope. May the hope of Christ be with you! And also with you!

AND YET, DID YOU LISTEN CLOSELY TO TODAY’S SCRIPTURE LESSON? You may be wondering how we’re going to find any hope in this text at all. It’s full of all kinds of scary words from one scary-looking dude! He looks like a character out of the chainsaw massacre movies. He pounds away on his pulpit: “You brood of vipers! You’re just a bunch of snakes!” “Repent! Get with it! Shape up!”

Dr. Gary Straub talks about John the Baptist in this year’s Advent devotional booklet. “Echoing Isaiah’s warning, John proclaims: ‘The ax is laid to the root; every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’” “Not exactly ‘Have yourself a merry little Christmas,’ is it?” “These prophets insist that there is no growth without radical pruning. “Chop out the dead wood, the extraneous, the unnecessary. “Get rid of the distractions and distortions, the attitudes and lack of repentance that keep the “rough places” rough instead of smooth.” Gary wonders: “Perhaps our Advent starts by repenting about repentance? “Repentance starts with opening our eyes to the truth about the dark, seedy side of our own soul.” “Repentance starts with acknowledging those cherished illusions we cling to, even though we know better.” “Repentance starts with reversing direction and backing out of those bad neighborhoods where our bad habits of the heart have carried us. “The truth is there are aspects of our inner life that are a mess.” “If Christmas isn’t shaping up to be all the holiday we hoped, maybe it’s because we aren’t all we need to be?” How many of you are planning Christmas parties? How many of you are very careful about who you include on your guest list? “Oh, let’s invite them—they’re a lot of fun—the life of the party!” “Oh, let’s skip them this year—he’s so quiet and boring—and she’s such a gossip.” “And let’s leave him off too—he’s always bringing up controversial topics.” How many of you would invite John the Baptist to your Christmas party? Then we have to wonder, why do we invite him to attend worship every year right before Christmas? Someone once said half jokingly: “If we are not careful, John the Baptist can take all of the fun out of Christmas.”

But I disagree. I think that it is John’s message that puts the hope into Christmas. John’s message calls us not to the way that Christmas is, but that the way Christmas ought to be. I suspect you’ve heard the relentless commercials about an attorney in town. He describes himself as the “heavy hitter.” “If you’ve got real problems—call the heavy hitter!” In a way, John the Baptist is kind of the “heavy hitter” for the Advent and Christmas season. Sometimes we make this season all cheery and light and comfy and cozy and syrupy and sweet. Sometimes we forget that there are people inside and outside of these walls who are wrestling with some real problems. There are countless people in seemingly hopeless situations who need the hope that is Christmas. And they have faces and names and families.

I have been made painfully aware of some of these situations from stories I have heard from my wife, who is teaching at Ballard, and from other teachers in the congregation. There are folks among us who are working with children and young people in area schools. Many of these students come from very challenging socio-economic backgrounds—and some just come from challenging backgrounds. Here are some comments from personal narratives—and they are real, though the names have been changed. Michael hopes that the leukemia will go away. Bobby hopes that some day he will have a dad, “for real.” Amber hopes that some day she and her mom can be “safe.” Marcia hopes that she can stay in her home, and that the judge won’t make her go back to “the one where she was always scared.” Monica wishes that Daddy really wasn’t killed so Mom can buy something that isn’t food. Tim hopes that someday he can be an artist and not have to fight. Perry hopes that people will stop selling drugs so the cops will stay away. Here are young people—still hoping in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations.

But the prophet is not afraid to step into these situations, stand toe-to-toe, face-to-face, eye-to-eye—and proclaim a word of hope: “Repent!” Change your life, change your relationship, change your family. Change your community, change your country, change your world! Change the situation, change the circumstances, change the system! BE the hope that is Christmas! And don’t be afraid to repent, because the conditions for repentance that the world gives are not the same as the repentance that comes from God. Hear these graceful, timeless words from Henry Ward Beecher. “When we undertake to repent toward others, it is repenting straight up a precipice.” “When we repent toward the law, it is repenting into the crocodile’s jaws.” “When we repent toward public sentiment, it is throwing ourselves into a thicket of brambles and thorns.” “But when we repent toward God, we repent toward all love and delicacy.” “God receives the soul as the sea the bather, to return it again, purer and whiter than before.”

BE the hope that is Christmas. Change—change yourself, change the things around you. Get up off the couch, get involved, bring hope to the hopeless. We have seen examples of the ways small gifts, small seeds of hope, can blossom and flourish and make a difference. The church receives letters of appreciation all year long from people who have been given hope through our gifts. The Alternative Giving Fair is a “John the Baptist” kind of idea that has helped us reframe the season and open channels of hope. When the “up and in” repent and change, we can provide resources for the “down and out” to repent and change.

We were recently recognized for our support of the prison ministries program of Jefferson Community Technical Schools. The recognition for the church family was wonderful. But the real rewards are the fruits of repentance and hope that have come from the gifts. Here are some of the words of appreciation that have been sent to us. Dirk writes: “The opportunity to attend college is a blessing that I would never have hoped for.” “I am able today to accept responsibility for my life of bad choices.” “I entered the prison system exhausted, depressed, and totally disgusted with life.” “But today I have so much to be grateful for.” Gregory writes: “I just want to express my thanks for allowing me to work and attend college.” “My experience at JCTC has been the most important part of my rehabilitation process.” “I know from experience that people in my position make the wrong choices because they don’t feel that they have hope.” “This program has given me that hope.”

Some of you are familiar with the life and experiences of Nelson Mandela. Mandela spent 27 years of his life in prison? Why? He was a “John the Baptist” kind of person. He dared to stand up to the unjust apartheid policies of the South African government. One day, in the midst of that 27 year prison term, his daughter visited him. She brought her newborn baby girl to meet her grandfather. In his autobiography, Mandela recalls the incredible joy he felt when he held this tiny, delicate child in his rough, callused hands. In her face, he saw hope for the future of South Africa. He saw a future in which all people would live in peace. In Mandela’s culture, it is customary for the grandfather to name the children of the family. Nelson chose to name his new granddaughter Zaziwe… …which means Hope. May the Hope of Christ be with you…(and also with you).