Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 11/27/2022, Matthew 24: 36-44
There’s a Hole in the Sidewalk
We hope you enjoyed that Bible passage... Easy to understand, uplifting and soft and fuzzy, isn't it?
You see, we want to start off your festive, warm, and joyous holiday season with a stirring reminder that Jesus wants to confuse, scare, and threaten you,
- and, of course, break into your house...
At least some of your houses...
Those who don't get in line quick!
And just like Santa, he knows who you are!
You see, the Church hierarchy that decides which Bible verses get read on which Sundays wants to make sure, on this first Sunday of the Christian year, Advent, that we are reminded of the Second Coming's wrath, hell, and fury that God can't wait to reign down upon us, at any possible moment, if we're not perfectly perfect all the time...
I suppose that's one possible interpretation...
And given the nature of apocalyptic, biblical, literature, that's certainly one of many - though not mine, and probably not yours either...
I tend to see this passage, which comes at the end of a bigger chapter on the prediction of the fall of the great Jerusalem temple - as a description of that Roman terror visited upon Israel back in 70AD.
That's when hordes of Roman soldiers, fed up with the rebellious Hebrews, marched on Jerusalem and, over the course of the following four years, leveled it.
Rome had given Jerusalem many chances to shape up, but it did not - some Messianic interpreters say that included God sending Jesus as a meditating reformer, to get their religion back on track, as it had become an insular, corrupt and self-centered institution, straying far from its intended embodiment of the living and liberating movement of God to bring peace and salvation to the world.
So why do we get this passage, 2,000 years later, in a place and time far removed from its origins?
Why confuse us? - an already fragile Church - with difficult readings like this one?
Especially now, during, "the most wonderful time of the year?"
Especially if you listen to WNIC, that started telling us about this, like, 3 months ago...
I think it's because we're supposed to save the saccharin and sentimentality for next month - and today, to start the New Year with a sober and serious footing, to wake up…
…and more specifically, to wake up to the consequences of our actions.
Like the guy sitting high up in a tree with a saw, sawing off the branch he's sitting on.
Or building his latrine upriver from his watering hole…
Or blowing massive holes in the atmosphere he relies on to keep him alive…
Or pandering to conspiracy theories that can blow up democracy…
Or passive reactions to horrendous incidents of gun violence, that can prolong substantive solutions to the problem.
Most all of these things start out with good intentions and more than a little thought, but even then, we goof it up, which is why we're told to keep awake! Stay alert, realize that even when we do our best, we can still get it wrong, and muck it up.
I quoted a study not long ago about people who speak harshly or reply with perceived aggression in conversations. And researchers found that upwards of 80% of people who are coming off as offensive to others, don't realize it. How do you talk to somebody and not know you're yelling? We do it...
We need to wake up, to keep awake, we need to improve our self-awareness, realizing that much of the time, we're not fully aware of how we’re coming off. We don't make these mistakes on purpose; we don't harm with intention. We just don't know...
This is why humility and curiosity are the two best tools in our toolbox.
So the theme of our sermon is to wake up to the consequences of our actions, which is easier when we embody humility and curiosity.
Many times, our waking up starts with warning signs, somebody says something to us, somebody behaves in a way that makes us think twice.
My friend Tommy is an excellent car salesman. When people come into his dealership and start looking seriously at cars, he gets their phone number and email address. And when he doesn't hear from them in a day or two, he calls them, or emails them. He wants to know if they're going to buy a car, and if they're going to buy a car from him.
Much of the time, these prospective car buyers don't return his calls or his emails. But he persists. He keeps calling, he keeps emailing, until he gets an answer.
What happens, then when he doesn't get an answer, when people just never get back with him? Well, that's a sign. Sometimes the answer we're given, is no answer at all.
So, what are the warning signs around you?
Who's ghosting you?
Who is raising the red flag?
Who's holding up a stop sign?
Who is trying to alert us as to the consequences of our actions?
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I have a friend named Janine whose daughter went off to medical school.
After her first semester, this medical student came home for a visit with a stethoscope, a thermometer, and assorted doctor toys.
She immediately gave everybody in the house a checkup, including my friend, before she quickly discerned that she had very high blood pressure.
Mom, she said your blood pressure is through the roof, you got to go see a doctor, just a simple pill everyday can bring it down.
Unfortunately, Janine did not have ears to hear, and she didn't go to the doctor and she didn't inquire about blood pressure pills.
15 years later, Janine suffered a stroke, due in part, to high blood pressure. While she missed the warning sign 15 years earlier, she got this one, and has become more faithful about going to see the doctor.
Talk to your favorite medical professional, and they will probably tell you a lot of stories like this, when they give warnings to patients, but they don't have ears to hear.
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My friend Dave owns a classic mustang.
He bought it 30 years ago after saving up all of his money from paper routes and carrying golf clubs.
Soon after he bought the car, a funny red light went on in the dashboard. It flickered for a while and then stopped. He figured it was nothing and went about his business.
The next month his engine seized up: He had run out of oil.
He kept the car on blocks for a few years, just didn't want to sell it, until he saved up enough money to get a new engine. Now he knows what all the dashboard lights stand for!
What dashboard lights are coming on for us?
What signals are we ignoring - maybe because tending to then would require too much time, energy, or money?
What are we kicking down the road that we should be paying attention to right now?
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Ever thought about the lessons our less-than-perfect behavior has taught us; in the past:
Do we have any ex-smokers?
Bankruptcy survivors?
12-steppers or divorced people?
How many years did we spend saying and doing things that led up to that moment when we realized: "Oh! This is a problem!"
How many subtle and not so subtle signs did we blow past?
Thankfully, most of us are probably like Dave and learned a bit about preventative maintenance so that we don't ignore the problem... But:
Chances are that most of us are doing something right now that's contributing to a future consequence we do not want.
And the message God may want us to get is,
"Wake up! Take a look at your life.
“Is everything we are about, pointing us in the right direction?
"How are your actions, attitudes, and conversations putting us on a road to a place we don't want to go?"
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Let's return to gun violence, seeing as we've had another horrendous few days, with shootings in Virginia and Philadelphia. In fact, in 2021, Americans were killed by guns at the highest rate in 30 years, with a big increase following the Pandemic - during which, gun sales went up 18%.
Now, a solution, I do not have - but a curious observation I do have:
What if those of us who are fed up with gun violence got so perturbed, we put signs on our lawns, bumper stickers on our cars, and told our political representatives that we would no longer vote for then unless they made progress on this issue?
That's what other advocates for other social issues have done, with success!
Waking up means realizing not only that our indifference will continue to aid and abet the problem - but that our actions can lead to a solution.
And we can effectively address this by using our curiosity and humility:
"Boy, it seems like we haven't made much progress, I wonder why?
“What have we been doing?
“What haven't we been doing?
“What else can we try?"
It's having the humility to admit, "That hasn't worked, that was a dead end, let's try something else."
Friends, our actions today can lead to solutions tomorrow.
Advent is our season of Hope, hope that we can find solutions to intractable problems, none more than the sinfulness of humanity, which God addresses so profoundly at Christmas.
Have you come here today without hope?
Have you come here today thinking that a problem you're facing can never be solved, answered, or even lived with?
Do you think you’re bound to replicate the same behavior, be mired in the same ditch, be bound by the same cords that have you in a rut - for the rest of your life?
No, there is another way -
We can pay attention to the warning signs -
Stepping back, becoming curious and humble help -
Poet Portia Nelson says something very profound about this in her poem “There’s a Hole in the Sidewalk – yes, we can choose a better way:
Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter Two
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.
Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…
It’s a habit… but my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter Four
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter Five
I walk down another street.
Amen.