These impeachment hearings these past weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster for me as I am sure they have for you as well. On one hand, I have been so impressed by the people who have been called to civil service. The introduction of each individual who testified was awe-inspiring. I thank God for their service to our country. Their commitment to the United States and its constitution is so admirable. Some of them have lived in foreign countries representing us for decades. After hearing them, I believe they are called to civil service, much like ministers, teachers, and first responders are called to their work as well. But the weeks of these testimonies were stressful. Party lines were drawn and it was pretty obvious that sides were made by the elected officials before the hearings and they appeared to be like a show that was been put on for the American people.
And you could not miss the show. It was the event of the media for this fall. And, because of the circus, it became tawdry and the polarity of people’s opinions seemed to pull us even more apart as a country.
But other news stories bubbled up and surfaced these past few weeks as well. One of my favorites was about a PGA Tour golfer Brandon Matthews who missed an eight-foot birdie that was not only going have him win the tournament but it was also going to guarantee his spot in The Open Championship. Unfortunately, a fan yelled during his backswing which made him miss this pivotal shot. At first, he was angry with the violation of spectator etiquette until he learned that the fan who yelled was a middle-aged man with Down Syndrome. Matthews then headed over to meet the fan and gave him a big hug and an autographed glove and ball. What a nice man Brandon Matthews is. What a kind thing to do.
I think we cling to stories like the one of Brandon Matthews’s kind actions toward his overenthusiastic fan because we live in a dark time and are looking for signs that things will get brighter. We look, for hope and bright lights when the world and society seem dark. This morning’s scripture lesson is also a sign of hope in a time of despair. The prophet Isaiah is living in a dark time too. He lived in an era when Israel was vulnerable to powerful neighboring nations and notions of peace and security were just hopes and dreams. His vision, because it is also found in Micah 4:1-3, is often called the ‘floating oracle of peace’. Listen again to words that were spoken as the first Advent Candle, the candle of hope was lit earlier by the Hannemanns.
(Read Isaiah 2:1-5)
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
3 Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!
I keep on hearing that we are living in a dark time. It is a time of polarization… opposing views…. lack of communication…. and insecurity. Perhaps that is why the picture Isaiah paints of a new reality is so precious to us. We want it. We crave it. Isaiah says the future is going to be better than today. God will speak. God will speak words of justice and mercy God’s temple will be lifted high and people will stream into it. We know that is what the world needs; a beacon of light to remind us that there is a higher power and a better way. And God speaks in words and actions in this passage. A new community will be formed and people will gather to hear God’s word and God will reign and the PEOPLE will make peace. Swords will become plowshares and spears will become pruning hooks.
What I hear in this passage is that God will lead, that God will be our light and our hope in our darkness, but the people will act. We will be the peacemakers, the lovers of the earth, the communicators who bring the people together. We will be the hands that make God’s peaceful kingdom come about.
This past week Bo and I went to the movies to see the film about Mr. Rogers called A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. And, it was the beautiful movie we need so desperately right now. The so-called action of the movie centered around a dysfunctional relationship between a journalist for Esquire Magazine, Lloyd Vogel, and his father and how Mr. Rogers was able to help the two of them make peace with each other and re-establish ties. But the movie also gave insight into the man, Fred Rogers and his ministry as the host of a children’s television show. Although the movie never actually said he was a Presbyterian minister, his ministry to others was very apparent. Mr. Rogers always found time for people, communicated love and compassion to people, and had a peace about his persona which was really quite holy. At one point in the movie when the journalist was trying to find out who Rogers really was behind the persona he played, Mr. Rogers had to explain that he just was who he was. It was not that he was perfect, but that he consciously chose to be kind. Vogel asked what he did with his anger and negative thoughts and he admitted he had them. To control them he swam laps in a pool or pounded the keys on his piano, or found other ways to work through the negative in him, but he purposely chose to be the Mr. Rogers we all know and love.
This message of the movie was what was in the passage from Isaiah.
Peace will come when we do God’s work of peacemaking.
And perhaps it is because we seem to really need good, just, and fair people in our world today.
Or perhaps it is because actions like the golfer Brandon Matthews who could have been angry at the man who yelled as he took that important swing of his club which ended up with his losing the golf champion, but instead chose to greet his fan with a hug and good wishes.
Or perhaps it is because of the Mr. Rogers movie emphasizing that it is our choice to make as to how we respond to the world around us, but the message I heard loud and clear as I read the scripture passage this week was that God supplies the vision of love, of peace, and security, but we, God’s folk, supply the action.
God’s vision for us in the peaceable kingdom. It is a vision of understanding, of feeding people instead of starving them through warfare, and of learning how to live in peace and not war. But God’s vision becomes a reality only through our work.
We, like Fred Rogers and all the other bright stars in our dark sky, must choose to be kind. We must chose to appreciate the other in others and try to find understanding and ways to communicate and find mutuality where none at first seems to be present.
We need to choose to look at the world with awe, with gratitude, acceptance, and love. Then we will find that we can make God’s peaceable kingdom. This is the first Sunday of Advent. This is the Sunday of Hope. Living with hope is a decision we make. It means that we know we can make the world a better place. So, what I am trying to do this Advent as we prepare ourselves once again for the celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace, is to be a little more like Fred Rogers. I am going to purposely try kindness. I am going to try and put away my snarky-ness and try and see the world as Jesus taught us. I want to focus on kindness and caring, so this realm of God might become a reality. We are all, every single one of us, God’s beloved children. So, I am going to try my best to model kindness to this hurting world throughout Advent with the hopes that it might be something that becomes a part of me and the world might be a little better because of it.
After all, as Fred Rogers sang,
‘It’s you I like.
It’s not the things you wear.
It’s not the way you do your hair,
But it’s you I like.
The way you are right now,
the way down deep inside you, not the things that hide you, not your toys they’re just beside you.
But it’s you I like, – every part of you: your skin, your eyes, your feelings; whether old or new.
I hope that you’ll remember, even when you’re feeling blue: that it’s you I like, it’s you yourself, it’s you.
It’s you I like.’
Amen.