Describing the Invisible Picture of Hope
Matthew 1.23
"Look,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him
Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."
Luke 21.34-38
34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with
dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not
catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come
upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be
alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these
things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 Every day he was teaching in the temple,
and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it
was called. 38 And all the people would get up early in
the morning to listen to him in the temple.
Introduction
There are a number
of occasions lumped in this sermon - the World HIV/AIDS Day, which was
yesterday [December 1] and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
(IDPD), which will be tomorrow [December 3].
This year the HIV/AIDS Day theme is “Ending the HIV/AIDS Pandemic:
Resilience and Impact”. And as promoted by the United Nations the theme for IDPD
2020 is “Building Back Better: Toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and
sustainable post COVID-19 World”. We have just stepped into the 1st
week of Advent and in a few weeks it’s Christmas again! But, unlike other
occasions, you and I know that Christmas cannot be postponed! J Party?
We will have it virtually as scheduled next week. By the way, let me greet you
good morning - members of the DS Koinonia, alumni and friends. It has been 8
months since I last saw most of you here in campus. Although we hold our
Wednesday worship regularly I rarely see your faces. It does still feel strange
to be preaching to a handful who are physically here while the rest of you are
somewhere outside of that screen. While we are now beginning to get used to
this “new normal” I’m sure you still sometimes ask “How long will this
situation last?” “Kailan kaya natin muling mararanasan yung ‘dating gawi’?” We
are in this intervening time till the situation turns back to the way it used
to be. But do you think it will it go back to how things were? What’s next
after Covid19 is finally contained and arrested? We are all waiting. Indeed the
world is expectant.
Adventide: Keeping Watch, Being Ready
We are in the season of Advent or
Adventide. So how do we wait? How do we keep watch? In the Christian calendar,
Advent is not regarded as a break but as a part of the chronological
arrangement of time around the life, work and ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. However we can also say that Advent is a kairos moment or a time
that is measured by its worth and impact. The significance of Advent is that it
places us in an interesting juncture when we are not only remembering the birth
of our Lord Jesus but that we are expected to prepare ourselves as we wait for his
Second Coming or the Parousia. Now how do we get ready? Our Gospel reading
today speaks of keeping watch, being on guard and being alert. Luke’s reminder is
to guard our “hearts [so as] not to be weighed down. . .” It sounds like/ the
Buddha was talking. In the Buddhist teaching, clearly it is the desire
that will pull one down. So we should keep watch of what our hearts long for.
In our text, Luke goes on saying that we must “be alert at all times”; to focus
and to make ready to face the Lord Jesus when the time arrives. Meantime, he
urges us to pray, particularly to “pray for strength to escape all [the] things
that will take place…”v.36
As I have mentioned earlier, we have just
stepped into a fresh season of Advent. Again it’s getting colder - a break from
a hot, humid weather. And again we are
looking forward to our Christmas break. Break or rest are, more often than not,
intentional. Do you notice?
Advent and the picture of hope for us, for the PWD and for those living with HIV/AIDS
In my view, it is
significantly appropriate that the observance of two of the world’s human and
health concerns are placed at the start of the celebration of Advent; that the
coincidental observance of these occasions that I mentioned earlier with the
Season of Advent was thoughtfully placed in the global calendar. By
incorporating those living with HIV/AIDS and those living with disabilities in the
Christian liturgical celebrations, the Church takes up and affirms her call as
a welcoming and compassionate body of Christ. By remembering them in our
worship services, especially this advent season, we are acknowledging the
reality that like them, we hold deep in our hearts that immeasurable sense of expectation for the coming of something wonderful. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(1906-45), a German theologian who was incarcerated and executed because of his
fight against the Nazis, has something to say about the observance of Advent. He
said that (and I quote) “The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves
to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to
come." Today, we
lit the 1st candle, that is, the Advent candle of hope. If I may ask,
what is the picture of your hope? What would it be? How would it look like?
In preparation for
this message, I talked with a friend who is HIV positive for some years
now. I asked about the struggles that came along with the
disease. As he pour his thoughts and emotions, I’d say I resonate with his experiences
of dejection and discrimination. He is in remission but daily he is battling
with the feeling of being “like a ticking time bomb”, he said. Like others who
live with HIV/AIDS, his suffering is doubled in that he has to bear the stigma
of having HIV and the pain of living with it for the rest of his life. He
recounted how he wanted to kill himself the moment the test result was out. But
then emerged a beautiful picture of hope when his partner gave a mature, loving
response when he disclosed the ugly and debilitating test result. Another
beautiful picture of hope came from the love and support of his parents. It is
the unconditional acceptance coming from his partner and his parents and in his
own words, it was like “a hand that pulled me from the hole.”
The struggle to be
accepted and included is very strong and real especially with many PWD and
HIV/AIDS victims. Many do not know how to overcome, many are desperate to have
a time with people who ‘listen with a heart’, and some long to be embraced or
even simply to be touched. In one paper on HIV/AIDS written by a Seminary Head from
overseas a decade and a half ago, she attests to the human need to be
physically touched that speaks of affirmation and acceptance. In the
conversation she had with her student who was HIV positive the student asked:
“Will you hold me?” And she answered: (I quote)
Surely, but I can
hold you for just a little while. But there is One who is full of compassion
and love, who can hold you forever anytime you feel lonely and abandoned. When
people look with eyes of scorn remember, Jesus stretched out his hand and he
touched the one in need. He will always hold you. (end of quote)
Indeed, this precious conversation with
her student did not only encourage her to pick up the pressing issue of
HIV/AIDS in her immediate circle but at the same time, brought about the
‘pastor’ in her. Surely, talking with her student was not routine work for her
as an educator and as Seminary Head. I see it as an opportunity that opened her
up to be that picture of hope and bring about a level of acceptance to one who
is sorely afflicted.
As future pastors, this area is very important
and difficult, and this is where a lot of church workers feel that they need
some extra training. But first, it requires one’s willingness to undergo the
process because it is not easy, and often painful but rewarding.
So if you will
again be asked: What is your picture of hope? I am 100% sure that you would
readily say it’s none other than Jesus - the embodiment of God the Father. And
you are correct! The season of Advent is connected to the anticipation of the Parousia
or second coming, Parousia is commonly used to mean ‘presence’. In
advent, while we look forward in expectation to the divine and healing presence
of Jesus Christ we are called to bear that ‘presence’ as well.
Challenge and conclusion
In conclusion, the season of Advent brings
afresh the challenge for us and for you our students who are training to be
pastors. The season of waiting is also the season of preparation, of cleansing,
and training our hearts to be welcoming, forgiving and compassionate. We who are
in the caring ministry needs to be ready to ascertain other person’s pain.
There are many ways of expressing one’s suffering and once we hear of it, we
who are giving care must be able to apply the appropriate skill that allows our
“presence” to heal others.
In our daily devotions we may ask ourself:
“Do I really know how to respond when I hear a statement of pain? In the many private conversations that I have
had over the years, how many times did I really make my presence a healing presence? And how often did I
block what the other person is saying with my own opinions or perhaps, my counter
stories? or my inattentiveness?” James
F. Miller wisely said in his book The Art
of Listening in a Healing Way (I quote): “When we listen in a healing way,
we carry no agenda…not to offer insight but to understand i.e. listening for
comprehension.” (end of quote) Many of us do not have any experience dealing
with a person who has HIV/AIDS but I suppose we have/ at least once/ related
with a person with disability or a someone who is weighed down by problems. Perhaps
you have also experienced being confronted by other people’s predicament at a
time when you are also feeling bad, and felt that you may get emotional and
unable to respond well. Your words may
at times get drowned by your tears but it is during those kairos moments
that you get to affirm that after all, we are all created equal and that the
reality of disease, pain and discomfort occur to all but in different
manifestations. Pain is a difficult subject to tackle; much difficult to
identify when unexpressed. But no matter the degree of the pain or affliction /it
should serve as “a megaphone to rouse a deaf world” – so says C.S. Lewis.
As we join the world in the observance of
the HIV/AIDS Day and the Day for Persons with Disabilities at this time of
Advent, “. . let us be attentive and gain insight . . .” (Prov. 4.1b)
Remember
that in every act of listening with a heart/ God’s advent, God’s presence in
Jesus, the Emmanuel is with us.
Before I end, let me read to you the 1st stanza of the
advent hymn written by Charles Wesley in 1744. It goes:
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.
[Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit raise us to Thy glorious throne.]
“Let us find our
rest in thee.” What does rest mean? It means peace. Silence.
Rest
means catching breath. It means getting ready for the next phase. It means
power. It means healing. So “come, Thou long-expected Jesus, . . ” Amen.
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