First reading: Isaiah 63:16-17 and Isaiah 64:1,3-8
Psalm: Ps 80:2-3,15-16,18-19
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Gospel: Mark 13:33-37

Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful;
we have all withered like leaves,
and our guilt carries us away like the wind.

Black Friday:

I have always deeply disliked the term “Black Friday.” I suppose it is the Christian in me. When I hear that term, my mind turns to Good Friday. I don’t want black Friday’s, I only want that day that purchased my salvation.

This past Friday was one for the record books. Not in terms of sales volume or profits, but in terms of the degradation and evil we saw. A woman at Wal-Mart pepper sprays twenty people, including children, just so she can get to the bargain bin first; so she can get more of what’s there. At other Wal-Mart locations shootings and robberies in the parking lots. A riot and looting in the Soho section of New York. The retailers contribute of course. Open earlier. Hype it up more. Deep discount.

We shake our heads and wonder. What do people believe in? What do people care about? Where are our ideals, values, and beliefs?

Far and wide:

Now, imagine we are overlooking over a very large body of water. We are on the shore. Considering the water in front of us we might ask: ‘How wide and how deep is it? It seems to stretch on forever.’ Ideals, values, and beliefs work the same way. We need to ask the same question. How wide and how deep are my ideals, values, and beliefs?

The examples of last Friday are indicative of very wide and very shallow beliefs and values. I wouldn’t be surprised to find most of the ‘get out of the way its mine’ folks don’t have much of a value structure in their lives.

The shallow way is inwardly focused. It is selfish. These are self-centered ideals, values, and beliefs. In this way of living it is easy for people to strongly assert their rights, because they only see themselves and what they want. They present their ideals, values, and beliefs in a litany:

‘I have a right to…’
‘I am free to…’
‘I control my life.’
‘Get out of my way.’ and
‘Don’t tell me what to believe.’

Crying out:

With the Psalmist we want to cry out: ‘Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.‘

The beliefs and values of the world seem more and more foreign. We want the security of the returning Lord. We want Him to change us, to gather us in, to cleanse us. Like Isaiah, we seek the Father’s care.

Pottery:

Like Isaiah, we must recognize that we are already in the Father’s hands. We are the clay, and He is the potter. He moulds and shapes us. He has not left us abandoned or alone.

What He has created is this: a people whose beliefs are not wide and shallow, but compact and deep.

Sleeping:

Sometimes we fall asleep. We don’t always live up to the ideals, values, and beliefs Jesus gave us. We fall short. But by His grace, His forgiveness, His love, we are continually reawakened. We know where the right set of ideals, values, and beliefs are found. Advent is the time to wake up again.

Whenever we drift off, or loose sight of that compact and deep set of ideals, values, and beliefs, we are called back. That’s the action of grace, giving us the nudge to: “Be watchful! Be alert!” Today’s gospel is a perfect start to our Advent reawakening.

Here, we seek the help of the Church, and we set back on the course to reconnect with the ideals, values, and beliefs Jesus left us.

What to do:

This Advent we are called to reconsider and do what Jesus taught.

He told the Pharisees: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13) In saying this, He told us that rituals are not enough. Coming here every Sunday is not enough. We have to live a life that is deep in mercy and love. Then when we come here to worship, we worship in truth.

God, speaking through Isaiah, said: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17). In teaching this God points to ideals, values, and beliefs that are centered on serving God through our loving, serving and caring for others.

Jesus washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:2-9). He told us to do likewise, to forgive, and to serve.

Jesus told us: “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:43)

Jesus stood up in the synagogue, and reading from Isaiah said: “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free.” (Luke 4:18)

He left us the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), a concise list of how we are to live.

Those, my friends, are our compact and deep set of ideals, values, and beliefs. They are the way we are to live. If we have lost sight of them, let’s reconnect. If we feel worn out and sad, stand up and take charge this Advent.

Soap boxes aren’t necessary:

Election season is coming. Everyone will have an opinion. Retailers will put more and more items on deep discount. Everyone will rush, push, pepper spray, and even kill to be first. Even Christians, who have misunderstood Jesus’ message, will tell us how righteous they are, but will do it without showing love or care, without helping or serving anyone else.

As the world exposes its wide, all encompassing, and very shallow set of opinions, values, and beliefs, we must stand ready to show ourselves as a people who hold Jesus’ ideals, values, and beliefs. We must live our compact and deep ideals, values, and beliefs.

If we are standing next to the bargain bin, and the very last item remaining is in our grasp, let’s hand it to the next person in line. As the crowd pushes to the door, let’s put ourselves at the end of the line. As the politicians and pundits spout their opinions, let’s keep ours to ourselves. When someone asks us what we want, let’s ask them to come to church with us, to go to work at a homeless shelter with us, to visit the lonely and the shut-in with us. When we do all these things, and even more, without a second thought, without surprising ourselves, we are living in Christ’s ideals, values, and beliefs.

We live rooted and deep in the message of Jesus. This Advent, let us recommit to the Christian life, to the ideals, values, and beliefs that will show Jesus we are awake and ready when He returns. Amen.