2024-12-11
Brooke Strong
Sermon Text...
Pastor Vicki McGaw
Sunday, December 8, 2024
When we spend time in Hocking Hills, one of the places we always visit on a day that is too rainy or too steaming hot to hike is Jack Pine Glass Blowing Studio. In addition to a
retail space full of beautiful glass pieces for sale, there is a studio where visitors can watch the artisans at work. I am mesmerized every time we go! Similarly, whenever there is an exhibit of Dale Chihuly’s work, I make a point to see it. I’m still a bit upset with my husband who has foiled my plan to make a quick trip to the Biltmore estate in Ashville to see Chihuly’s work currently on display there.
Hands down, my most exciting experience of watching glass being blown was during a trip to Sweden a few years ago. We spent a few days in the southern part of the country, going from studio to studio in an area known as the Glasriket or Kingdom of Glass.
In a country where litigation isn't such a huge top-of-mind concern, we were able to go into a factory and be extremely close to the furnaces. I have to tell you I was terrified of the heat that was billowing out and I was so worried that someone swinging those long poles with molten glass on the end was going to hit another person walking by. But what an experience it was to be so close as that glass was superheated to remove impurities so that it could be moldable, then to witness as color was added to create these glorious pieces of art.
As I reflected on our scripture this week, I started thinking about a parallel between blowing glass and God's foundational work in our lives. God refines us and removes from us what keeps us from being who God intends us to be, and then instills in us qualities that add complexity and beauty in the same way that an artisan adds frit and blows the glass into an elegant shape.
As he is singing a blessing to his son, Zachariah praises God and tells John of his mission in life: to prepare people for the coming of a Messiah, to lay a foundation for all of us to repent, and to guide our feet in the way of peace. Can you imagine being a baby shower celebrating John’s birth and someone asks what the parents’ dreams are for their child. "Oh, we hope he’ll be a killer shortstop, and prepares the way for the Lord, and helps everyone find peace. Some camelhair and locusts would just be the cherry on top."
Can you imagine being this infant with such expectations laid out for you? As if preparing the way for Jesus wasn’t enough, let’s throw in the little task of guiding people to the way of peace.
But let's be clear: peace seems a long way off in our world today. The Geneva Academy of International Human Rights is currently monitoring 110 armed conflicts around the world. The UN reports that more than 117 million people are currently displaced from their homes due to war, environmental disasters and political instability. And none of these numbers take into consideration the tensions that exist in many nations, including the US, where polarized views of the world keep people anxious and separated from one another.
So that last chore on John’s to do list – guiding people in the way of peace – is clearly not easy one but it is exactly what the scripture is calling us to do! Seeking peace requires humility, the willingness to change, and the strength to persevere. We have to confront our short-comings and be willing to do something about them, not just once, but over and over again if we are truly to find our way to peace.
And this is difficult work that takes tremendous commitment because none of this is natural for us. Like the glass being blown by artisans, it's why we need refining. We need to purge ourselves of our selfishness and learn humility so that we might put peace into practice. We need to build a foundation of acceptance and love for one another because for there to be peace in any relationship, we must be honest with ourselves and willing to give up our need for control.
All of this may feel rather over-whelming and stir in us the kind of anxiety I feel when watching glassblowers getting near that super-hot furnace. And yet we might take a lesson from the artisans. They are calm and patient as they're shaping that glass into beautiful art, the kind of things that you see on the screen. Similarly, when we
learn the qualities that Jesus taught of hope, peace, joy, and love, we can become peacemakers in the way that John speaks of.
A little aside here: if you get any ideas about adding these pieces to your Christmas list, this chandelier is just a cool million and a half dollars. Even the earlier pieces, found on the economy pages, are in the five to six thousand dollar range. Glass blowing and being near that furnace doesn't come cheaply!
But just as those artisans are at peace and comfortable around the furnace, so too is God at peace watching and shaping us, continually refining us through the challenges that life brings. This talk of refining and repentance may seem a bit frustrating to some of you who just want Advent to be all about the shepherds and the stars and the angels. We want to jump right over the first chapter of Luke to get to that beautiful second chapter, the beloved story of Jesus' birth.
But let’s notice something else in the text. Just before Zachariah's song, everyone was asking a question we often fail to ask in Advent: what is going on here? What does this really mean? Zachariah answers this in part in his song, as he weaves together a rich tapestry of biblical images: God’s covenant with Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, stories of King David, and the beautiful images of the sun rising to illumine the path of peace.
This reflection gives us an opportunity, in the midst of our noisy, chaotic and uncertain world, to reflect on John's birth and pause to lay a foundation for what lies ahead. For it is when we slow down and take time that we realize that peace comes not in the absence of turmoil, but in the presence of the One who calms the storm. Peace is not contingent on external circumstances but is anchored in the unchanging character of God.
Our nature is to want everything to be sweet and easy, but as I said before, the way of peace is hard. And so this pause, this chance to take a deep breath and lay a careful foundation to ponder John the Baptist's birth and life helps us to be ready to celebrate another birth – that of Jesus – in just a couple of weeks.
We'll get there my friends. But for today, let's pause to secure that foundation that God has laid for us, a foundation on which we fight for justice, work for love, and insist on a world where violence ends and peace can reign. In this Advent season, may it be so. Amen.