Keeping the fire alive

A sermon on the Third Sunday of Advent,
Sunday, December 15th, 2024
for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland BC
The Very Rev. Ken Gray

I wonder if you have a personal hero? Your hero could be in the realm of sports, or music, someone in the church, or even a politician.

For Blue Jays fans, it’s Canadian-Dominican baseball player Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Vladdy). We are all hoping that the Jays can hang on to him, but his value will likely exceed even the resources of Rogers Communications who own the Blue Jays.

For many Americans, it’s Donald Trump. He will deliver them from all that assail them, so they think. Time will tell.

For many Canadian teens and young adults it’s Taylor Swift. Did you know that for every live show she produces, local economies temporarily and locally grow by twenty-two million dollars. Now, take the cost of policing and other associated infrastructure costs, this amount drops. Still, if money is the goal, she’s a money-maker. She is also a talented performer and it seems, a really nice human being. Good on her.

For Catholics and many Protestants, it’s Pope Francis, especially since publication of Laudato si’ (though comments and statements in recent months show him in sharp intellectual decline.)

I am not sure we need heroes; in fact, hero worship can distract us from the quiet spiritual influencers of our day – Richard Rohr; Barbara Brown-Taylor; Brian MacLaren; Nadia Bolz-Weber. Each of these lead us where we need to go—to the edges of tradition; to the margins of our world and to those who call that margin, home; to the centre of economic and environmental sin.

The Rev. Dr. Jesse Zink of Montreal Diocesan Theological College has just published an excellent book: Faithful, Hopeful, Creative: Fifteen Theses for Christians in a Crisis-Shaped World. Once we have mastered our new media equipment I plan a short online series based on his excellent book. In the ideas contained therein I suspect our future witness as Okanagan Anglicans lies. Watch this space.

You see, leadership however does matter, and sometimes public figures can lead well, given their own influence and reputation. Consider for instance the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

I loved my few trips to South Africa, where one way or another I bumped into the community (and in one case, the person) of the late Archbishop of Cape Town. If I have a church hero, he’s my guy. If there ever was a true successor to John the Baptizer, each with the strength of personality and a passion for justice, it was “The Arch.” John the Baptizer is also my guy. Listen to how Luke the Gospeller, describes him:

^“Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with  water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.^”

Yes, John’s my hero, and a key part of the Advent story (he gets two Sundays out of four after all). John is the hinge between the Old Testament prophets, and is also the one who alone fully understands if not the detail, but the significance of Jesus emerging presence. In terms of personality, John is my guy:

• He has no interest whatsoever in dressing up;
• He gets himself in all sorts of trouble; his ministry has a sort of “send in the  marines” or “let’s rock and roll” feel;
• He really cares about people, people just like you and I, and that includes Jesus, who he recognizes. They were related to each other though John knows Jesus is no ordinary relative;
• He won’t stand for any corporate or bureaucratic guff (insert your own word here) like Francis of Assisi centuries later;
• He keeps the fire of the Gospel alive

Speaking of fire, a friend and colleague recently introduced me to the writings of a Cork, Ireland author, Conal Creedon. I’ve never read him, but I sure will now. In an interview with Nallah Ayed on CBC RADIO ONE Ideas, he described himself as a story-teller, as “the keeper of the flame,” the one who keeps the fire of life, alive, through story-telling. That’s what John does; he keeps the flame of life alive, prior to and similar to the announcement of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

With thanks to John, prophet, story keeper, wisdom lover, martyr, I pray: Come Lord Jesus, and enliven us today; light a flame amongst us as we move through the present age, together, this Advent, and at all times.

God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist
to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Common Worship: Additional Collects (2004)