Kayla Bonewell
Peace United Church of Christ, Rochester MN First Sunday of Advent, December 6, 2009 Luke 3:1-6
Advent LiturgyToday’s candle is the HASTENING CANDLE and the symbol is the drum. The drum sets the rhythm of the music and allows those who are listening to keep instep together. Often in the holiday rush we get out of step with God and with each other. We need to synchronize our steps in time with God’s rhythm, hastening toward the manger, not the mall.
Do you know what it means to hasten? It means to move quickly, but carefully. When a band is marching, the drummer sets the cadence, or rhythm, so the band knows how quickly or slowly to move. That way they stay in step together. With the hastening rhythm of the drum, they can move as one. As Christians approaching Christmas Day, we need to listen to God’s rhythm, a steady heartbeat of love that keeps us moving together toward the real meaning of Christmas. We don’t want to get caught in the confusion of shopping, wrapping, and celebrating so that we forget where we are headed or what we are suppose to do. As we light the Hastening Candle today, we need to remember to let God set the rhythm for our steps in Advent, hastening us toward the babe in Bethlehem, the best present of all.
Scripture Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Contemporary Reading, “I have a Dream” by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C: August 28, 1963
“I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
Prayer: God who fills us with that which fully nourishes, help us to hear in these ancient words good news for us today. Amen.
I always wanted to play the drums. One summer in college I lived in Seattle with my sister and we both took drum lessons. I had a small drum called a dumbek and she borrowed a jimbe. We went every Wed. night and sat in a circle of drummers trying to memorize the simple beats and rhythms. I learned that drumming is a lot harder than it looks. Vangie and I most recently lived in Oakland, California, and right by our home every Sat. and Sun. was a huge flea market. Every weekend a group of 30 or so people would gather at the flea market and bring their small drums and join in a drum circle that would last all day. Sometimes I would like to “window shop” through the flea market and stop by the drum circle, enjoying the music that was created by improvisation. There’s something deeply satisfying about the sound of a drum. The sound seems to seep deep into your bones, almost like the sound of your heartbeat. I would always walk away from the flea market feeling calm and rejuvenated because of the drum music I would encounter there. My only other attempt at a drumming career started last summer. One of our friends invited us over for the day and introduced us to the music video game called Guitar Hero/Rock Band. This is a game you play with friends and each person holds a plastic instrument that is connected to a television screen and allows you to play music by following the notes on the screen. Guitar, pretty easy, Bass guitar, even easier, Drums…not so much. I found it to be too complicated to coordinate my right hand with my left hand with the foot pedal. Every time I was on drums we never got through the song without getting booed of the stage by the animated crowd on the TV screen.
But today, the second Sunday of advent, we honor the drum as a symbol of our commitment to moving together as a faith community to the beat of God’s rhythm. It’s a good thing that we don’t have to have any special musical talents to join in this community journey. We need only hear the beat and set our internal heartbeats to that rhythm.
In thinking about the theme of the hastening drum rhythm this week, I was reminded about those stories in history where individuals or communities heard a strong drum beat and synchronized their hearts and minds towards a common harmony. In high school I always remembered my sophomore English teacher quoting American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, who wrote: "If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away." This quote could be used to describe a man by the name of William Wilberforce. Last night a group of us watched the movie, “Amazing Grace” about a British statesman and reformer from the early part of the 19th century. William engaged in a 20 year fight to abolish the British slave trade. William was in his early twenties and fresh out of college from Cambridge University. William has two desires which tug at his heart. The first is to have a career in politics and work on such issues such as ending British involvement in slave trade. The second comes after a conversion experience and results in an inner calling to enter monastic life and spend his days in solitude and devotion to God. In one of my favorite scenes from the movie a famous female abolitionist by the name of Hannah More says to Wilberforce, “We humbly suggest that you can do both.” She suggested that he could use his passion to end injustice as a practice and devotion to serve God. Wilberforce hears a drum beat which hardly anyone else in the House of Commons heard. Again and again he raises anti-slavery bills which were repeatedly rejected by Parliament for over 20 years. At one point in the movie Wilberforce seems to have lost the sound of the drum beat. He feels bitter about the fact that he’s given his entire youth and energy towards a cause which he does not seem to be able to accomplish. He gathered 390,000 signatures to support his cause, but to no avail. Nightmares of slaves in chains haunt him. His heath fails. Finally he meets and marries a woman by the name of Barbara Spooner who also hears the same drum beat. She convinces and inspires him to continue his march to abolish slavery which he finally won in 1807. William Wilberforce stepped to the beat of a different drummer than that of his contemporaries. He continued to follow and share the sound of that rhythm until the bill passed. The result was new life, salvation, and a new beginning.
Our scripture reading tells the story of John the Baptist. The author goes to great lengths to locate his story in a precise place and time, name dropping as many rulers and dates as possible so that his readers would understand that we’re talking about this-world, not myth, about human history events. In the previous two chapters the author fills us in on the birth of Jesus and the birth of John. Now the two are grown and the author is linking John the Baptist and his ministry to the ancient words from Isaiah which talk about making a highway, or straight path in the desert for the God. Why a highway in the desert for God? In the Old Testament, or Hebrew Scriptures, the desert is the setting of the first place where Israel encountered God and responded faithfully. Years later, the prophet Isaiah speaks about the Israelite exiles from Babylon coming home through a desert, freed by God’s grace, and he envisions a straight and level, path home “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain” so that God’s people can return, rebuild their temple, and never again stray from listening to the drum beat of God’s will for their life. Now we hear that John is coming from the desert, the wilderness, and here again we have a chance to make a highway, a level path towards the salvation of God which this times involves repentance of sin and forgiveness. The primary term for “sin” in the Hebrew Scriptures means "to walk on the wrong path" or "to walk in the wrong direction." So the word "repent” means "to turn around" or "to change direction." The implication is that the people are going the wrong way, that they are not following the correct paths. They need to tune in to a new drum beat, and John is definitely a different kind of drummer, acting from internal alignment with the rhythm of God. John is calling for a return to faithfulness that will be lived out in the reality of the world, and he goes on to describe what traveling this highway in the desert, or this drum beat involves: the sharing of coats and food, of dealing fairly and honestly, and of respecting others. John’s story is one of calling others to listen to the drumbeat of God, and to hasten their steps towards living faithfully.
Earlier I read words from a familiar speech, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. Dr. King uses the same words and images that the prophet Isaiah used in ancient times to sound out a drum beat for the Israelites to follow home after their exile. Dr. King uses the same words and images that the author of Luke uses to inspire the people of his time to change direction and follow the drumbeat of compassion and justice. These ancient words are able to speak to us today because there is always new life waiting to be revealed for every generation…this is a living word. John the Baptist hastened toward a God rhythm in his time 2000 years ago. William Wilberforth hastened toward a God rhythm in his time 200 years ago. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a great community of dedicated citizens hastened toward a God rhythm 50 years ago. What about today? What does the rhythm of God’s drum beat sound like today?
The Girl Scouts of the USA, founded in 1912, is a place for girls to build character and skills for success in the real world. Girls develop qualities such as leadership, strong values, social conscience, and conviction about their own potential and self-worth. Each year several girls are recognized as National Young Women of Distinction. Last year the following 2 girls were recognized for their work in the community. To me these girls are perfect examples of individuals who tune their lives to the sound of a different drummer….of answering the call of the drumbeat with lived action.
Abbe, age 17 is from South Hadley, Massachusetts. She was concerned about wastefulness and its impact on the environment. Abbe began a food-waste composting pilot program at her school. As part of the pilot program students use biodegradable plates and cups and place uneaten food in the compost bin. As a result of the project, her school's waste was reduced from 85 percent to 25 percent this year. Now neighboring schools have contacted her school to replicate the program, others are tuning in and hastening towards the rhythm of the beat which Abbe first followed. She now shares her knowledge with the community and hosts teach-ins at Whole Foods Market.
Emma, age 18, is from Brentwood, Tennessee. She established a program at her synagogue called “Room in the Inn,” which bring homeless men and women into the congregation to spend the night during the winter. Over the past two years, she has worked with over 250 members of her congregation to provide services to the homeless. The program has grown from serving six guests per month to between eight-fourteen guests per month.
I know that this congregation is involved with the Girl Scouts and with the Interfaith Hospitality Network. What other God rhythms are sounding in this community? In this time of advent, we enter into a period of waiting and preparation for Christmas Day. 2000 years ago a baby boy was born to a homeless, teen-age girl, and this tiny birth changed the lives of people in every generation since then. I believe that one of the mysteries and promises of Christmas is that God is able to create new life and transformation out of what may seem to us to be the smallest thing. Today I ask us to reflect on what new life and transformation is in store for us this season? Are we willing to follow the sound of God’s rhythm? What new life and transformation is in store for this community? How can this faith family harmonize and hasten towards God’s work in the here and now?
May we be blessed with the rhythm of the Christ Child in each one of our hearts. Amen.
