Malachi : 3: 1-3; Luke :3: 4-6

The Verbs of Advent II

In a recent interview on TV (Tavis Smiley, PBS) actor Ted Danson talked  with his interviewer about the horror that is presented on cable news all day long.  They agreed that it can kill our spirit or at least dampen it if we watch too much of it.  But Danson explained that today’s world is a mixture of so many things; so much doom and despair in our face, but also incredible discoveries that are making the world a better place for so many.   He said:” it all comes down to what story you tell.” Today we talk about verbs again.  The verbs from the lectionary readings we have looked at are: send, prepare, seek, come, delight, endure, stand, written, cry,  fill, make straight, low and  smooth.  There are two important themes here that can be expressed in verbs. These are “preparing” and “straightening  out.”  There are two versions of the story they present.  The first is in Malachi and the second is in Luke who quotes  Isaiah.  This part of the book of Isaiah was most likely written in about the sixth century BC and the  book of Malachi  not too long after that. They present of the Babylonian captivity which was ended by King Cyrus of Persia in 538 BC.  Malachi and Isaiah tell the story slightly differently.   They both have the messenger to prepare the way of the Lord. Most Christians interpret that to refer to John the Baptist.  But Malachi’s is more a warning tone and Isaiah’s more poetic and hopeful.  It all comes down to what story you tell. Jay Busbee argues that people have told different stories about Tiger Woods over the years (“Tiger Woods is far more interesting as a person than as a golfer,”Devil Ball Golf, dec. 3, 2015). Several days ago he wrote a column about Woods: Time to admit the truth: we used Tiger Woods. You, me, all of us.  We spent the last 18 years turning Woods into whatever we needed him to be: Savior of golf. Battering ram against the sport’s inherent whiteness. Marketing juggernaut. Family man. Philanderer. Disappointment. Icon. Failure. There was an element of truth to all of these one-dimensional facets, but only an element. Tiger Woods used “Tiger Woods,” too. He knew the weight his presence carried in the clubhouse and with golf’s governing bodies. .. Through his handlers, he could stiff-arm media and strong-arm sponsors, negotiating the deals that made him a billionaire while showing only a carefully crafted, deliberately bland persona to the world. Now, though, Woods has nothing left to lose. And that means there’s nothing left to use. Friends, when it came to Tiger Woods, it was all about the story people chose to tell and what verbs they used to tell it.  He was a messenger for the sport, a kind of savior of golf, preparing and laying out new pathways. But what he change in the end? Austin Beutner, the former publisher of the LA Times talked about the importance of local journalism  in another interview. He thinks it is critical. There are two things it should accomplish he thinks: first,  ask the hard questions and 2. Celebrate community accomplishments.  In doing that, it all comes down to what story you tell.  So often journalism just goes for what people will watch, not what prepares them for the future and makes things right.Friends, what kind of story will we tell with those verbs, preparing and making right?  How do we do that in our day and age, when global warming and terrorism are the main issues that scare people.  People do all kinds of things to prepare: for hurricanes and tornadoes and floods, for vacations, for retirement.  The ISIS sympathizers think they are preparing for the Caliphate, probably the worst kind of preparation.   But what do Christians do?  Hoarding weapons is not an answer, hiding in a bunker isn’t either.  Moving to Bhutan is not a solution also.  No, we are to stand in this world with all its problems and do what the Prince of Peace would ask of us:   To cherish and include people of all imaginable backgrounds and to prepare for a next generation and the one after and the one.  Is it going to be a world awash in guns?  Guns are supposed to make us feel free.  That’s the line we hear.  But will all those psychotic people around with assault rifles, do you feel free? I don’t.   We must also prepare to leave a world for the generations.  The parents of my generation are often called the “greatest generation.” I sure hope our generation isn’t going to be known as the selfish generation who failed to act to keep climate change from going out of control.  We must prepare and we must set things right, the two things the text asks us to do in honor of Advent.   And then there are the poor.  They are getting lost in the conversation.   But let’s not get depressed. As the actor says: ”It matters what story you choose to tell.” Friends, Leave the story of doom to the cable networks.  Let’s make new good stories, of individuals and families and congregations, acting in small decisive ways.   Even if the news media don’t,  let’s  ask the hard questions and  let’s celebrate the  good news.  For this is what our passages also tell; the coming of the messenger who will prepare and straighten things out is good news. Thanks be to God.