Jeremiah 33:14-16 & Luke 21:25-26
Today we enter the season of Advent, which is the beginning of the Christian year. Like every new year’s celebration, we begin by wondering what the year ahead will bring. The traditional theme for Advent is waiting, and every year we wait and wonder about what lies ahead Most year’s we hope that something better is around the corner. Waiting implies that something good is coming.
In the first century most folks were waiting for something better. They were surrounded by oppression, taking the forms of slavery, poverty, hunger, warfare and hopelessness. Religious folks turned to the prophets, longing for a promise of redemption and reform. They wondered if the struggles of daily life were the signs that God was going to act on their behalf.
Our part of the twenty-first century may not be as dire as the first century experienced, but folks seem to think that our society is broken. Every day I hear friends wonder how we can be so divided, how people can think and act so contrary to the values we hold. And then I hear the folks whom I’d like to call out saying the same things about me. There’s a lot of fear in our world – fear of other people, of economic disaster, of Covid and other illnesses. We, too, are waiting for something better!
Our scriptures remind us that fearsome times can be the harbinger of important change. When things seem to be falling apart, they may be about to fall together in a new and better way. Or not. So we, too are waiting for something new and wondering if the love of God will be in the heart of whatever that is.
Today our scriptures and Advent candle readings invite us to consider what it means to hope in the midst of hardship and chaos. The ELCA Hunger Program has also given us an Advent study booklet to consider where God is moving among us. On this first Sunday they give us stories of health care ministries and ask us to remember that these ministries bring hope to many people around the world. They tell the story of Charity Toksang, who was able to birth a healthy baby boy in a hospital in South Sudan because the church opened a free hospital there. South Sudan is a troubled place, but babies being born are a sign of hope, even there.
When I think about hope and health care, I think about my brother-in-law and sister, who are medical missionaries in Angola. Ten years ago they moved to the remote village of Cavango and re-opened the clinic there. Patients were reluctant to trust them and living conditions were difficult. Today they see almost more patients than three providers can keep up with. They are building a hospital and a larger clinic with a lab. They have brought reliable electricity to their clinic. They opened a TB sanitorium where patients learn to take their medications correctly so they can be cured. They fly patients to the city for life-saving surgery. Because last year’s crops failed in a drought, they are keeping families alive by buying corn for them, in exchange for labor in the building projects. What once was a place of despair is becoming a place of hope.
In our own community I think of our partnership with Spectra Health. People without insurance have better access to medical and dental treatment. Because Spectra sees a whole person and not just a patient, folks are getting help with housing and food and transportation. Sometimes we help make that possible. As health care is expanded in our country, Spectra is there to be sure people access the care they need.
I’m reminded also of the many people in our families who are medically fragile or in need of special care. Because we are an older congregation, several of our members deal daily with health concerns and even life-threatening conditions. We wait with them from day to day, hoping for good days ahead. We support our members and their families who seek mental health treatment and deal with conditions that make some days uncertain. We hope for medications and treatments that make life easier. We know that in most families there are folks who deal with addiction and seek a treatment program that will work for them. We hope for days of sobriety.
As a congregation we have advocated for a health care system in our country that makes it possible for everyone to access the care they need – medical, dental, vision, mental health, behavioral health. Jesus healed people in his ministry. In his name we work to see that the means of health are available to all people worldwide. In small steps we are moving toward hope in health care.
Our Advent candle lighting gives a place for each of us to think about how we see signs of hope in our own lives and the world around us. I’d like to end with a time for us to consider what is hopeful and perhaps to speak those hopes aloud. (If you are reading this sermon, you may want to pause and think of some specific ways you find hope in your life.)
Like the people in the first century we wait with hope because we believe that something better lies ahead. We believe that God is with us and through that holy presence our world is being transformed.