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2 Advent C—December 6, 2015

Baruch 5:1-9

Song of Zechariah

Philippians 1:3-11

Luke 3:1-6

The Rev. David R. Wilt

“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…”

Every era has it rulers, its people in control, those who wield the power over others, its Emperors, it Governors, its prime ministers and Presidents that rule over Empires and counties and regions. And. every era has its religious leaders over denominations and sects and cults and Diocese and parishes.

Historically, this power has been either obtained by inheritance or popular choice and, often through force, treachery, deceit, or murder.

At the end of each era the names change. In looking back we can see that a few will have prospered a lot, some more will have prospered a little and many will still be poor, displaced, discriminated against, hungry, homeless and more frustrated than the last generation at their continued plight, sometimes frustrated enough to protest, or revolt

Long before the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius this pattern of power had been established. And, there is a common thread that runs through most of these anthologies of power; fear, retribution, retaliation, and despair, promises of equality with little realization. That’s the way things were in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was ruler of Galilee, Yada Yada Yada.

But at that time the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah in the wilderness and he went into all the regions around the Jordan a voice crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, every valley shall be filled, and every mountain 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.”

So the people had hope. They put their despair aside and looked for the ruler who would make it all happen right here on good old earth. They searched for the ruler who would restore dignity to the oppressed, freedom for the captives and hope for those whose lives are ignored by the rest of society as meaning little or nothing. One of the problems that seems to always crop up in these situations is that they wanted to oppress the oppressors.

And they waited. And they waited. And they waited.

And they searched. And they searched. And they searched.

I would hope and I do pray that in this seventh year of the reign of Barak, when Vladimir ruled over Russia and Rick was governor of Florida, and Assad ruled over Syria, and Elizabeth was in her 64th year as Queen of England; when Michael presided over the Episcopal Church, and Leo finished his final month as Bishop of South East Florida, and Peter waited patiently in the wings, in the eighth year of the Rectorship at Holy Trinity for David, that out there in the wilderness hearing the word of God as did John son of Zechariah and 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.”

If we really listened to those few words and heard what they were speaking to us what a change may occur. What John is proclaiming in this cry in the wilderness that this new King will usher in is not more struggles for power, not more seeding of hatred, not more poverty and disproportion of wealth. What John is proclaiming is not just different names in the hierarchy of power to be lorded over others. What John is proclaiming is not business as usual.

What John is proclaiming is a cataclysmic levelling of the playing field in human interaction. Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be made low, the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth. What John was proclaiming was that in God’s eyes all of humanity deserves hope and dignity, not hurdles and impediments.

But, the power structure of history does not give up easily. And so, when this Messiah came, both the governmental and the religious leaders were unwilling to the point of death to allow this leveling of the playing field to occur.

I suppose you could say that not much has changed. Power structures continue, both in the church and in the government. The churches get dragged down in the dogma of judgment and feel like they have to keep busy deciding who is capable of being saved when that was never the churches’ purpose at all. That has always been God’s job.

Another week goes by where we are given yet another reason to live in fear of our neighbors. Another week goes by when our level of distrust for those who look different then we do raises our angst.

We are moving ever so quickly (only 19 days until Christmas) to that time when we gather at the manger and thank God for sending his son to live among us and teach us. That time when God chose to become human to show us how much we are adored by our creator.

If we could spread a fraction of that love in the year to come to someone we feared or avoided this year what might it do to level the playing field? What might it do to ease the dis-ease of mistrust or apathy or separation? What might it do?

Back in 1964, during the first year of the reign of Lyndon Johnson, P. F. Sloan wrote a song the lyrics of which were modified by Barry McGuire when he recorded the song in 1965.It went like this:

The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill, but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'
But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.
Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say
Can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy]
And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.
Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin'
I'm sitting here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'
And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.
Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it's the same old place
The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace
And, tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don't believe
We're on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don't believe
We're on the eve
of destruction.

Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire 1965

In the Fifteenth year of the reign, in the first year of the reign, in the seventh year of the reign, can this be the year we begin to do more than just update the names of those who perpetuate power?

When we leave the manger don’t leave the baby behind.