Oh Christmas Tree

A sermon for the congregation of St. Stephen Anglican Church, Summerland BC, on the Third Sunday of Advent, December 14^th 2025

She would not get out of my way. Maddening, and frustrating to me, there she was; and so she remained, right in front of me. Admittedly, I am not the most patient of persons; my sometimes generous heart is on occasion overruled by an addicttion to schedules. For me, twelve o’clock noon means 12:00 precisely. There she was, inching towards Main Street, slowly, inexorably, hunched over her walker, one slow step at a time.

My problem was not road rage — this was full blown sidewalk rage. My obstacle was neither a Tesla nor a Toyota. My unwarranted frustration was with what is sometimes called a SWOL (“sweet little old lady”) with all the time in the world, and some very wonky hips.” I thought about stepping out onto the road and passing her, but as cars raced by, that would have been unwise. I tried to squish in between her walker and the old IODE building. No room; not a good idea; the result would have been a football-type tackle.

I can imagine the press report. “Susan, aged 91, was attacked during a fit of sidewalk rage by a partially blind and hearing impaired retired man of the cloth, whose great width was matched only by a total absence of discretion and failure of patience. ‘He just hit me from the side,’ Susan declared in a Penticton courtroom. In her summation, Judge (Judy) ordered the elderly minister to walk around Summerland for an hour each day for an entire month, using a wobbly walker with a forty pound weight attached (around his neck).

A better punishment could have me recite verses from today’s psalm (146:4-9), a text that urges the Advent discipline of patience in all matters of life and love:

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!
whose hope is in the Lord their God;
Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;
who keeps his promise for ever;
Who gives justice to those who are oppressed,
and food to those who hunger.

Hope is a virtue which unfolds over time. Patience.

God’s promise remains as we all must wait for God’s fulfillment. Patience.

Justice comes to the oppressed and to those who hunger. Patience.

We all must wait; hence the season of Advent, a season where we learn to wait. Patience.

Looking around our beautifully decorated church this morning I am conflicted. Everything looks like Christmas, yet Advent is our theme. We have trouble waiting for Christmas don’t we. Advent, and the entire Christian life, is about waiting — waiting for God, waiting for someone, or something to happen, waiting for our next breath, and yes, waiting for that day when our breath is exhausted; waiting for the Day of the Lord, the consummation of all things. What James (5:7-10) says to his community, about patience, speaks to me:

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient.

Such words fit in the biblical category of “easier said than done.” Something in our biological and emotional makeup longs to move forward, in safety, with confidence and security. If you have lived on the prairies, you know well the challenges of farmers, or anyone who lives close to the land. When you live off the land, you depend on the land, and weather. The farmer’s way of life is learned, and practiced, from generation to generation. Such trusting patience is learned, over time, and through every circumstance. Again, James:

Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Oh . . . Speaking of prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, do you remember John? He helped the people of Judah wait. Waiting has many forms, many stances. For the Essenes, waiting was an early version of “living off the grid,” of living separate from the main stream of life —  think “Ded Sea Scrolls.”  John, however, “loved to play in the traffic,” as the late Archbishop David Crawley used to say. And it cost him, dearly. Was his way the only way to live? No. We are not all martyrs. For some, however, it is the only way to live. Most weeks I follow the Sabeel Community, a group of Christian Palestinians in the Middle East who write:

“For the first time in two years, the Christmas tree was lit up in Bethlehem. Many Palestinians gathered to watch the lighting. Bethlehem mayor Maher Canawati said the lighting of the Christmas tree in Bethlehem was a message of hope for Palestinians, to Gaza and to the world. The mayor also shared a message sent to Bethlehem by Pope Leo XIV, who said he ‘carries Bethlehem in his heart and prayers and is working for an end to Palestinian suffering’, urging people in Gaza “not to give in to despair.”

Palestinians, Christians, progressive Jews all wait, courageously and faithfully, as they face an uncertain socio-political future. Other groups throughout history have also waited, especially those seeking racial justice in the United States. At the centre of civil rights movements is the song “We shall overcome.” I conclude today with a fine online recording of the song shared by Vancouver’s Universal Gospel Choir.

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