2022.12.25 | Sentinels for Joy
“Sentinels for Joy”
Rev. Pepper Swanson
Eden United Church of Christ
Christmas Day
Dec 25, 2022
Today’s scripture reading, like much of Isaiah, is a poem and it tells its own story, a story that time and Christians have woven intricately into our Christmas story. As a homage to Isaiah, and in search of my own way of understanding both Isaiah’s strong and vibrant fibers and the finished textile that is Christmas today, I offer you this poem:
Behold:
A people in captivity,
their ruined city,
a glorious temple destroyed
all its beauty, all its sacred symbols,
carted away with its wealth.
Their God,
Missing in action, they hear
abandoning, punishing
his children,
and their children,
and their children’s children.
Why?
For forging alliances with nations,
for waging war
for hypocritical worship,
for neglect of the needy,
for broken promises, broken covenants.
Good News
Arrives at last for those
In a dismal state of disbelief,
into generations of desolation in Babylon
Into the subsistence survival
That is life in Jerusalem
Isaiah says:
“How beautiful the feet
of the messenger who runs
to us and announces:
peace and salvation;
your God reigns.
Our God?
They must wonder and ask:
Not dead? Not missing?
Not punishing? To us, slaves still
demolished still, our God returns
And now to reign? Redeem? Restore?
The Message:
Yes, God returns to them
to save them from themselves, their disbelief,
their terminal discouragement
to re-establish his role
In their land, in their hearts
Sentinels,
scan their horizon and see
There, there in plain sight
Their God returns
They lift up their voices,
and sing for joy
Call out
Call out to the captive people
Call out to the ruined city
God has comforted his people
God has redeemed Jerusalem
God has returned to reign
Today
Millenia have passed, one, two,
Almost three since the ancient prophet
Built this bridge of faithful stone
To bring his people back
Across time and space to God.
And we
Wonder if there are steps for us?
Is there a handrail for us?
Is there a handhold for a post-modern people?
In this timeless story of
Sheer and utter joy.
2023 (almost),
In prosperous America,
In trendy California,
In hometown Hayward,
Can we know?
Do we need this kind of joy?
Grab
This scripture like a coat
And pull it on
You may find it fits many, you, us
Uncomfortably for sure
But fits nonetheless.
Captivity?
Life captures us by circumstance,
Responsibilities becomes burdens
Work is a necessity
Housing is too expensive
Mistakes are made
Dependencies are forged
Ruins?
Radical change creates a sense of loss
Pandemics alter our landscape
Divorce alters our happy families
Death rearranges our emotions
Disasters destroy what a lifetime of work has built
Truth,
Ancient Israel never cornered the market
on captivity and ruins
Life, wherever we are, presents us
with a myriad of ways
To relate to their captivity and ruins.
Challenge:
The tricky part, the trickiest part
of getting a handhold on Isaiah’s bridge
Is how we will imagine, visualize,
actualize the Good News
The arrival of God Into our captivity, into our ruins
Christmas
offers us one gift, one great tool
For this work of imagination:
Emmanuel, Jesus
Word of God
Embodied
A baby
Destined to reveal:
wealth and power
Must take a backseat
To the poor and powerless
And building a commonwealth
A baby
Destined to reveal:
Love and forgiveness as
God’s divine purpose
For each who believe and
For all as a practice of faith.
A baby
Destined to reveal
Salvation grows
During life and death
From small acts of faith,
Love of neighbor,
Kindness and service
Each year,
each Christmas we are gifted with
Many messengers, many messages
God’s presence — here and now
God’s love — here and now
God’s comfort and joy — here and now
Sentinels
Watchers we who hear and see
This message of an infant God’s return
For us, one task remains:
Sentinel, lift up your voice
Sing for joy!
Pause:
It isn’t easy to be a sentinel for God or joy.
It seems like a big job,
Too big for a short winter day
Too big for someone with doubts
Too big for someone short on time or money or energy.
Remember
You can sing or talk or act out the good news
To yourself, first and foremost
Then to your family & friends
Then to your neighbors
Then to your community.
Remember
Your song is your song
Your song of joy is unique
No song of joy is too personal or trivial
No song of joy is too quiet or too loud
No song of joy is not good enough
So sing
Cup your hands and catch the flow
Let joy spill over and out to others
Let music vibrate from your nose to your toes,
Every note, every word, every action
Will land in the ears and on the hearts
Of those who need joy the most.
Recap
Into every life a little captivity and ruin appears
It sometimes seems like God has abandoned us
Christmas is a messenger with the beautiful feet,
It runs up and announces:
God lives and lives for us.
Gifts
From God: all the images we need
God is a presence, a person, a promise,
a covenant of love, forgiveness, faith, and service.
To God: We sing of joy with joy for joy
We bring good news, we announce salvation
We say: Our God reigns today.
Amen