So maybe we don’t have powers bestowed upon us from Jesus; maybe we can’t heal the sick with a touch or a prayer. But we do have the words and the teachings Jesus gave us. So, no, we can’t magically make someone rise out of poverty, but we can advocate and work for things like more affordable housing, for cancellation of debt, for accessible healthcare, for real, tangible changes that frighten the powerful because it means the people the powerful have put down for so long finally have a chance…

…today, I want us to focus on the glad surprises that this world gives us, that glad surprises where Jesus is present; the surprises that those in power try their best to stop us from seeing or experiencing. I want us to really sit and be with the joy of this surprise, to think about all the ways Love conquers hate and that Life conquers death in a world that is not at all hospitable to Love or the lives of so many…

We see that glimmer of hope, that sliver possibility of an earth as it is in Heaven. But before we can see that far forward, we have to get through what comes next…

…Mary is preparing Jesus for the horror that is to come. She is not in denial about what is coming. She is not misunderstanding what is coming. She is not trying to twist the tragedy that’s coming for her own benefit. She knows Jesus’ spirit.

Now after the father reminds this cranky, wet-blanket, older son that he will still have everything he will ever want or need in the world, he says, “…we had to celebrate and rejoice.” Not “we should,” or “we can;” “we had to.” There was no choice here…

Something’s gotta give here— “…unless you repent,” Jesus says, “you will all perish just as they did.” I read this as less of a warning of divine punishment, and more of a warning that, you have got to change your ways if you want an earth as it is in heaven—you’ve got to advocate for one another, for a world in which all people are getting the love they need not just survive, but to thrive…

…ignorance is a tough thing to fight. There’s a reason the phrase “ignorance is bliss” exists. Whether we’re not facing hard facts about the world or confronting difficult realities, or whether it’s more personal, and it’s just easier ignoring our own demons and insecurities and staying in this dark place— it might be dark, but it's what we know…

…we’re constantly at risk of being taken advantage of, constantly at risk of falling for scare tactics, for signing dangerous deals with various devils…

Because if this week’s passage, and Jesus’ anger and frustration tell us anything, it’s that we have all the tools we need to make this world the peaceful place it should be, but we just don’t use them…

Think about the way our bodies change and adapt and transform throughout this difficult and delicate life. Think about the many phases, our many different bodies. All our bodies. Think about the different people we become with each change, with each injury, with each surgery. And then imagine all our bodies with no pain, with no suffering…

But I don’t necessarily think that Paul’s vision and Baruch’s vision have to be mutually exclusive, or in any kind of competition. I think that we can be skeptical, we can change with our minds with our circumstances, we can question and wonder and ponder, but we can also have some kind of absurd faith that with God, all things truly are possible…

The resurrection, for all its glory and magic, is ultimately about the Love that God has for us, and the Love that we need to act out in the world. It’s about making sacrifices and doing without for the betterment of all. It’s about honoring and being one with those who mourn, those who weep, those who are addicts, those who struggle…

…Paul is talking about capital L Love. He’s talking about living by way of Love. He’s talking about making sure every action you do, being done with Love in mind, with your fellow humankind in mind…

So Paul came to warn them, this will fall apart if you don’t let everyone in, and let everyone be their true selves. This will all be for nothing if you try to segregate those who may be perceived as “weak” from the “strong.” The church won’t be able to function if it’s divided, if it’s made to mirror the hierarchal, unjust systems that already exist in the world, the very systems that we as Jesus-followers are trying to subvert, to overturn…

The wedding at Cana is a preview of what is possible. We can have a world with never-ending good wine. We can have a world in which we won’t have to wake up to an empty, messy house, missing our friends as the anxieties of a broken world creep back in.

…I hope we can take advantage of this time of another quiet isolation, and find different ways to pray, to meditate, to be mindful, to communicate. I hope we can take some pressure off of ourselves and know that there’s no wrong way to communicate with God. There’s no wrong way to be mindful. We can be fully in the present while discerning the past and seeing potential in the future…

…so even after tonight, we continue to wait for that star, that light, to break free from its prison of clouds. So as we wait, in the meantime, let us remember a young Karl Schwarzschild, before the horrors of war and this uncertain world brought upon despair upon him—let’s remember that brilliant, imaginative, and hopeful child looking up at the cloudy sky absolutely knowing that there was a guiding star there. Let’s remember Schwarzschild’s star…

A sermon from guest preacher, Rev. Connie Moser, for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 19th, 2021

…but Here can be a place challenge and growth in a place that feels tired and stagnant. Here can be a place of perseverance and strength, in the midst of what feels like failure and weakness. Here can be a place of peace and hope in a place that feels war-torn and hopeless…

Jesus not telling us to no worry period—if we didn’t worry at all, it would be clear that we weren’t paying attention. But rather, he's telling us to not let the anxieties of this world completely consume us so as not to get burnt out and break down—because there is hope on the other side, and there is hope in the perfect world to come…