Songs of Hope and Joy

Throughout human history prophets of every age have proclaimed a vision of justice and peace, and a period of repentance for forgiveness of all that is wrong in our world.  In our Christian tradition the whole purpose of prophetic proclamation is to enable us to greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.  As in the past, so today a new day is about to arrive; it is a day of gladness and a time for songs of hope and joy.

Our reading from the writing of Baruch sets the stage for putting on “forever the beauty of the glory from God.”  Baruch was a friend of Jeremiah’s and his secretary.  He wrote about the return of the Israelites from their exile in Babylon.

Baruch echoed the words of Isaiah in saying, “God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.”  Trees will spring up in the desert and “every fragrant tree will shade Israel at God’s command.”  The result will be joy “in the light of God’s glory, with mercy and righteousness.”

This is Israel’s story.  It is a story of how a community of God’s people can be led from exile, from separation and alienation from God, to a land and time of promise and hope.  It is truly cause for singing a song of hope and joy.

In our recalling this story of redemption we join in singing the Song of Zechariah:  “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free….  Free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life…. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

 Zechariah was the husband of Elizabeth and father of John who traveled around the region of the Jordan and “proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  In this way John was “preparing the way of the Lord.”  As we heard, “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.”

This, like the prophecy of Baruch, is another chapter in Israel’s story.  But it is more than Israel’s story; it is our story too.  In our present-day isolation as Christians, separated from so much of our world by strife, poverty and violence, it calls us to singing a song of hope and joy.  It is a reason for singing the hymns we use every Sunday in our worship.  And so, along with other Advent hymns, we sang the Song of Zechariah:  “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to give his people knowledge of salvation… and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

All of this is part of our history as the people of God.  Our story, however, as followers and disciples of Jesus has only begun.  Paul, in writing to the Christians at Philippi, thanked God and prayed with joy for all of them, “because of [their] sharing in the gospel.”  He prayed that their “love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help [them] determine what is best…having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.”  In our prayers are we thanking God and praying that love may overflow with the knowledge that comes through Jesus for God’s glory and praise?

Our story has just begun.  How are we telling our story?  Last Monday, John Stewart on “The Daily Show” spoke about the so-called “War on Christmas.”  He noted that Christmas used to be celebrated like any birthday on a single day, December 25^th.  Then it got stretched out to “twelve days of Christmas” all the way to Epiphany with “turtle doves and partridges in pear trees,” and a lot

more. After that, it expanded to take over Thanksgiving with “black Friday” then moving to Thanksgiving evening with “black Thursday.”  Soon, he suggested, it will gobble up Halloween. 

According to the theologian, Walter Brueggemann, the church in our culture has been compromised.  All of us are aware of this.  Gospel identity, our identity through our story, has been diluted.  There is, to quote Brueggemann, “an excessive accommodation to consumerism, a tacit embrace of military imperialism, a cynical acceptance of social violence, [and] a casual indifference to the suffering of the poor.”  Our faith has been reduced to a consumerist level that cannot receive the Christmas gift of new life and hope for peace as we should.   

John the baptizer issued a wake-up call to Christians to return, to get back to the depths of our faith.  Today a wake-up call is urgently needed again.  We are to heed

the call to repentance, a turning into a new direction, a change of heart and mind, and an attitude of hope for our common future.  It is “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’”

Yes, our story has just begun.  You and I are going to tell it to one another, to our children and grandchildren, and we are going to sing songs of hope and joy to the glory and praise of God.  Amen.