LISTEN ON

DECEMBER 5, 2021

For the second week of Advent, I spoke at Kaleo Phx on Sunday, December 5, 2021. We also had our friends from Neighborhood Ministries with us to help register people to vote. This is a recording from that gathering and below is a transcript of my message notes.

ADVENT #2

“Vote & Make Cooked Places Straight”

Luke 3:1-6 | Erin Dooley

Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas...and the return of Christ at the Second Coming.

Writer and Podcast Host Brandi Miller states, “Leading up to the celebration of the twelve days of Christmas, the Advent season is an opportunity to look forward to better things to come. It is a chance to lean into the discipline of hope — hope for ourselves, hope for others, and hope for the world. [1]

Our passage tonight is…

LUKE 3:1-6 (NLT)

It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!

5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level.

The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.

6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’”

In the first three chapters, Luke’s Gospel closely contrasted the ministry of John the Baptist with that of Jesus. Chapter 1 begins with the birth of John the Baptist and concludes with his residing in the wilderness. Chapter 2 switches to the birth of Jesus and ends with his teaching in the temple at age twelve. Luke makes another literary change in chapter 3 by going back to an adult John the Baptist as the voice crying in the wilderness. [2]

THE HISTORY OF CAESAR AUGUSTUS (TIBERIUS)

I find it interesting that before Luke tells us WHO John the Baptist was, WHAT John the Baptist was saying, and WHO he was saying it TO; Luke clearly spends time telling us who was in charge of the land during this time.  This communicates that the coming of Jesus and who was reigning as political authority figures at the time was deeply connected together with purpose and intention. 

The coming of the birth of Jesus was indeed a threat..to political power...authority and rule. But to those experiencing the oppression, the coming of Jesus was a gift of hope and liberation. 

Pastor, author, and writer Kurt Willems wrote an article on the Roman Empire during the Time of Jesus giving background to the gospel of Luke.

I did my best to take overarching ideas from the article and simplify them for our time together. 

Before the birth of Jesus, it had already been established that Caesar Augustus (Tiberius) was called the “son of god” who was the great “savior” of the whole earth through bringing “peace” to Rome.  The announcement of this was seen as “good news.” 

What’s FASCINATING to me is that he did this by raising taxes on the poor...establishing systems that kept the rich, rich...built new buildings that made the people feel like gentrification was a good thing. Caesar Augustus threw games in large stadiums in his own honor to distract the people from what was really going on. 

WHAT IS ALSO FASCINATING TO ME is that the themes of "son of god" "savior" "peace" and "good news" were used as the language to describe the “president” Caesar Augustus...that language was spoken by those who pledged their allegiance to his political party...a religion to speak...which kept Caesar Augustus “in office” at that time. 

Let that sink in.

So these themes, these words, these phrases were already being used to describe a political figure BEFORE the birth of Jesus.

Can you imagine how Mary felt when the Angel Gabriel showed up and said, “You will give birth to Jesus, the son of God.” (Luke 1:31-33)

I’ve heard Indigenous people say that women are honored as carriers of LIFE...carriers of CULTURE.

So Mary, a woman, was chosen and honored by God to be the carrier of a culture that was subversive to the oppression and political powers of her time.

Women in the room, I hope you feel honored in this moment. That even if you never give birth to a child, your body has been historically honored by God to be a carrier of culture and life that is subversive to any oppression you experience.

Your presence is powerful. Your body is powerful. Your words are powerful.

Let that sink in.

Now, let’s get back to the passage…

After clearly establishing the political unrest happening at that time. We pick it up in Luke 3: 2

...At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!

5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level.

The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.

6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’”

Seventy-five percent of people in Jesus’ day died before they saw the age of thirty. Male life expectancy at birth was twenty-five years. Based on scripture we know that John the Baptist was about 6-months older than Jesus, so both Jesus and John would have been “considerably old men” for their age at that time.

At any rate, John is described as some sort of prophet who exudes great discipline by living in the wilderness. Because to the ancients, the wilderness was a place beyond human habitation, dangerous, and inhabited by evil spirits. John’s preaching of repentance appears to be advocating a transformation of society as a whole under the rule of God [3]....while in the midst of oppressive politicians.

Both John and Baptist and Jesus had the same goal of bringing salvation to God’s people. John the Baptist did this through preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus, on the other hand, preached good news to the poor and the year of the Lord’s favor. 

Together, both messages create a complete and holistic society of peace and shalom. 

The message of John the Baptist pushes further against the division caused by differences in social status. Those who HAVE must share clothing and food with those who have not; those who have must cease cheating and extorting. For Luke the gospel of repentance is not merely a spiritual changing of mind or a turning from one’s former ways; it has at its core the obligation and duty to empower all to complete living. [4]

In the Shalom — true peace — restorative justice.

THE SECOND ISAIAH

So to recap once again:

• Political Unrest & Oppression

• John the Baptist is Advocating, pleading that those participating in the system of oppression would repent, change their ways and be baptized into the way of God. A way of love, deliverance, liberation, and freedom.

• In the same way that God rescued the Children of Israel from the oppression of the Egyptians by parting the red sea. John invites all those who will hear into a “purification ceremony to be released from their bad hearts and broken ways.”

John does this by quoting Isaiah 40:3-5. 

There were two writers of Isaiah. We don’t know who the second writer was but we know they picked up the pen to continue the story and bring HOPE to Israel. In a time when the people didn’t believe God would hear them, deliver them, see them...the second writer of Isaiah pens these words:

Prepare your lives for Jesus... the soon coming King.

John the Baptist is inviting us to lean in and help make things right. He invites us to participate in the mission of Jesus.

Before my grandmother passed, I somehow miraculously got a copy of her Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible. After looking up many of the root words in context, I wrote out my own translation of this passage. It reads: 

Do right by people in dark places. 

Exalt those who go unseen in low spaces.

Make those who are on mountain tops and hills, brought low. 

Set straight the crooked and unjust who oppress.

Make those rough places and spaces smooth and plain again.

Don’t stand by and watch...join in and participate. 

Repent and turn from your wicked ways.

Renew your hope in a God who liberates and delivers. 

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. 

Come and be baptized in this way...for this is the way of Jesus. 

Pastor Stanley Hawuerwas says this, "Christians are called to non-violence not because we believe non-violence is a strategy to rid the world of war, but in a world of war, as faithful followers of Christ, we cannot imagine anything other than being non-violent. And that will make the world possibly more violent. Because the world does not want the order it calls "peace" exposed as the violence it so often times is. Now learning how to wait as a people of non-violence in a world of war…(is what) Advent is.” [5]

The tempation of our time is to throw our hands in the air and say, “It is all bad anyway. We cannot stop oppression! We cannot stop injustice! We cannot stop the school shootings! We cannot stop police brutality! We cannot abolish the death penalty! There is nothing we can do! Que Sera Sera! Whatever will be, will be! All we should focus on is getting to heaven and bringing others with us. But the life of Jesus (and even his very birth) suggests that HEAVEN is the Kingdom of God here on earth and THAT is the mission that Jesus invites us into. 

Luke’s gospel reminds us that the Advent (coming of Jesus) is and has always been a community affair. Jesus invites us to participate and prepare the way of His coming...

Which brings us to…

THE HERE AND NOW

In this womb-time season, I believe Jesus is inviting us to enter into the sacred movement of God that we each embody and are invited to carry forward. [6] I like the way Wilda C. Gafney describes it. She says, “Luke demonstrates for us that the Advent of Jesus is a community affair: Elizabeth, Zechariah, John (the Baptist) a divine messenger, and God -- all (working together) before we get to Mary, Joseph, and the Holy Spirit -- (and together) facilitating a conversation about our work toward the next appearance of the incarnate God in our world.” [7]

We Advent...together.

BENEDICTION

A few of our friends from Neighborhood Ministries are here tonight and are going to help us put this into practice. Voting is one way we can practice the ways of Jesus together. By voting you can change systems and structures in your neighborhood and truly love your neighbors well as you learn what they need. 

Kaleo partners with and supports Neighborhood Ministries. My husband Kendall works there as a youth Pastor. A few of us in this room serve there with the youth on Wednesday nights. 

For over 30 years, kids in urban Phoenix have been coming to Neighborhood Ministries every summer for Kids Club. The kids that came thirty years ago, now volunteer to help and bring their own children to attend (Fonzy is one of those people). It's a place of a belonging, and a place where the love of God is evident. The vision of Neighborhood Ministries is not just to serve the community, but to be part of the neighborhood…"to BE the presence of Jesus."

If you have not registered to vote and would like to, stop by the table in the back. 

Our Christmas Eve Gathering at 5:00 pm on December 24th.

NO in-person gathering on December 26th. We will Sabbath together and share a prayer guide for the day.

Until we see you again… may the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

ENDNOTES

1.  Quote from Advent Devotional by Brandi Miller (2021)

2.  Blount Brian True to our Native Land (Minneapolis: Fortress Press 2007) Page 163. 

3.  Blount Brian True to our Native Land (Minneapolis: Fortress Press 2007) pg. 89-90.

4.  Blount Brian True to our Native Land (Minneapolis: Fortress Press 2007) Page 163. 

5. A quote from the Aventus video created by The Work of the People: https://www.theworkofthepeople.com/adventus

6.  Taken from the Work of the People email sent describing their video series “Advent Us”

7. Gafney, Wilda C. A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A (New York: Church Publishing 2021) pg. 7.