First Presbyterian Church Of San Anselmo

This Sunday, we begin our Advent theme: "Light Dawns on a Weary World."  In the dawning of Christ’s new day, Jesus invites us to keep on watching – watching out for ourselves and each other, watching for what God is doing in the world, watching for the work that is ours to do.

The kingdom of God is like an ICU nurse.  Christ the King stands in power and tender mercy with those whose backs are up against the wall, and brings about Christ’s reign of justice, healing, and peace. 

In Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, we hear a call to stay woke, to see what we see, and to be changed for good.

Amid the storm, what we are doing here is building the house of our lives on the sure and steady foundation of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. Hope is what we do every morning when we rise with the day and say, “We can do this.”   

In the communion of the saints, our memory of life with God yesterday points us to where and how we might find our way to life today and tomorrow – not just for us, but for our children and our grandchildren, and for all the generations yet to come.

Even in the midst of a troublous world, standing in the unshakeoffable love of Jesus Christ, we affirm: "The world is full of wonderful things."

 The Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus with a question about paying taxes to the Emperor. Jesus surprises us with a life-giving both/and when we’re preparing for an artificial yes or no. We follow One who sees the trap coming, unmasks the hypocrisy, and still sends the questioners away with new things to think about.  The Resurrected One has the power to turn our traps and tricks into astonishment and newness.

In an election year, we stand at the intersection of faith and public life, and consider the danger of tyranny and systemic racism, the promise of the right to vote, efforts to suppress that right, and our power to make a difference.  In God’s sovereignty, God honors our agency to choose, inviting and empowering us to participate in God’s re-making of the world.

This sermon looks at the Ten Commandments as (1) an expression of how free people live, (2) a trust document, and (3) a law called love. Then, thinking of the Ten Commandments particularly as a trust document (an expression of accountability), we ask, "How have we done by Breonna Taylor and her family?" How can we better live into freedom, trust, and love? 

Psalm 121 sustains us on the journey with (1) the open possibility of a question, (2) confession of our own reality (the best and the worst of it), and (3) a blessing and a breath. And then, Rev. Yolanda Norton blesses us with this: “Be the muddy river that accumulates all of the things that God has created and shines in the midst of it.”

Freed from Egypt, out in the desert, the Hebrew people grumble because there is no food and they are hungry.  God listens, and provides manna in the morning.  In the long-haul of a wilderness journey, God provides enough, each day, for the living of these days.

In the gift of Sabbath, God invites us into the practice of compassion, and to ask, “What is it that my soul craves in this moment?”

In the body of Christ, we find our belonging and our calling.

The love that God has embodied for us in Jesus Christ comes to life now in us – in our bodies – in the life we create.

God breathes with us and calls us to become co-conspirators to set the whole world free.  Being a "co-conspirator" requires that we listen with humility to those who have been harmed most, and put something at risk for the life and the well-being and the freedom of others.

In the practice of Sabbath, God invites us to rest in the presence of our Creator, and experience the gifts of balance, time to refocus, and resistance to anxiety and commodity-driven oppression.

In the story of Joseph and his brothers, we see God's providential love at work: Beyond the reality of our decisions and misdirected intention, God intends for us our ultimate good, and accompanies us along the way there.

In the much-told story of the miracle of the loaves and fish, when the disciples think there's not enough to feed the crowds, Jesus says: "They don't need to go away.  You give them something to eat." In a world that feels scarce, Jesus empowers us to create capacity in community.

 In a fearful and anxious world, God is near. We consider this "nearness of God," looking to Jacob's dream of a ladder connecting heaven and earth, our own "pandemic dreams," and Celtic spirituality. 

We consider the Parable of the Sower -- the seed, the soil, the sower -- and notice that the parable describes a generative process for a generative season.  God empowers us to create something new together by sowing seeds generously and generatively. Grace abounds!