To be honest, I don't even want to bother with Christmas this morning.
Well, but maybe that's not true. The point I've been working on this Advent is that Christmas is really about resurrection and creation, and I can make a pretty strong argument for that point from the opening stories in the Gospel of Luke, which have been my texts. In the very first story of Luke's "birth narratives," God blesses barren, aged Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, with a child, John the Baptist ( Luke 1:5-25). Picking up on an Old Testament theme, Luke begins with a dead, lifeless womb and a conception in that womb in what amounts to a resurrection. Life comes from death. In my first sermon this Advent (here), I drew on a survey of recent events in the local and regional press to make the point that barrenness is not merely a biblical category. It is a reality that touches us, sometimes deeply and painfully.
The tragic events in Connecticut illustrates the point in a way that leaves us all profoundly sad and feeling just a little helpless. If something like this can happen in Newtown... Well, it is only about a four-and-a-half hour drive to Newtown from Lowville.
So, I plan to start by reading the names of all of those who died Friday morning and share the text of the President's remarks (here) with the congregation. I will continue with Psalm 147:1-11, esp. verse 3, which reads, "He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds." (NRSV) The President concluded his brief remarks by alluding to this verse. And then what?
As pastor and preacher I must deny the idea that God caused this thing to happen, which idea I have already heard alluded to by at least one observer. The question, then, is where was God when these events unfolded? Some will ask, why wasn't God there? As best as I can answer that question, God was there. God was in the cowering teacher, frightened to death, whose first thought was for her students. God was in the officers who entered that school building not knowing what danger they might face, but going in anyway. God was in the sad, shaken voice of Governor Malloy when he had to tell the remaining parents whose children had not been returned to them that their children would not be going home with them—not ever again. God was in the tears of our President and in the tears of so many others—in our tears. God is in the outpouring of sympathy for the victims including the family of the shooter. God is in our sadness prompting us to learn a better way than this.
The point of the Cross, as we Christians have come to understand it, is that God is not above our suffering but painfully shares in it. So, we come back to the fundamental nature of God as best we understand it. God is Beyond, and no miniscule event on Planet Earth touches the Creator & Lord of the universe. God is also Present and suffers the suffering of all who are involved in this horrendous event.
So, I guess I will read this posting to the congregation.
Jesus said,
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28).
Amen.
