Time for a Change
December 5, 2021 + Second Sunday of Advent + Luke 3:1-6 + Pastor Craig Mueller
The unforgettable 2020 elections are behind us. The 2022 midterms are next year. So why am I going to talk about campaign slogans? Stay tuned.
I remember the first political convention I watched on TV. Being a young kid, I didn’t really understand the big deal about Vietnam or any of the other issues being debated that year. But I remember the balloons, the placards, the cheering. And of course, the campaign promises. I was for Nixon. I don’t remember why, but I was.
Even some younger folks present will remember Obama’s slogans: Yes, we can. And: Change we can believe in. Reagan had “morning in America.” FDR, “Happy days are here again.” Clinton, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
One of the most famous, was Dwight Eisenhower’s 1952 slogan: “I like Ike.” One campaign button said “time for a change.” And it showed a baby with “I like Ike” written on its diaper! That’s taking “change” to a whole new level!
Promising that things will get better is the necessary ingredient in all campaign slogans. Build a case for optimism and hope. Change is coming! Of course, when the president or another elected figure doesn’t deliver, as is often the case, there is disappointment, disillusionment, letdown, even anger. You wonder if we place too much trust in political figures. We expect them to be the Messiah, the one who will solve all our problems—from the coronavirus to climate change to gun violence.
Speaking of politicians, after two chapters with narratives about Jesus’ birth, the gospel writer Luke begins today’s gospel with an A-list of the most powerful rulers of the time: an emperor, a governor, three tetrarchs, and two priests. I usually want to skip over these hard-to-pronounce names and get to the weird but fascinating stuff about John the Baptist. But this year, I wondered why Luke listed the people in charge of the world at that time.
Imagine our list today. In the final months of 2021, when Joe Biden was a year into his reign, when Angela Merkel was in her final days. When Putin was in his fourth term as president of Russia. When congress was led by Pelosi and Schumer, and the Supreme Court had a six-three conservative majority. When Lori Lightfoot was major of Chicago. When Francis had been pope for nine years and Elizabeth Eaton was presiding bishop of the ELCA.
Luke says that the Word of God doesn’t come to the movers and shakers, the folks with names and reputations. Instead, it comes to a wild man in the wilderness.
The powerful elite of Rome can impose all the taxes and initiatives to avoid the government shutting down. Rome has a great infrastructure plan, to be sure. But its leaders are full of themselves. Caesar trying to get into history books. And the others trying to feed their ego and make empty promises about change and hope.
The Word of God, the message of salvation comes to John the Baptist. Not exactly a shrewd politician or a polished orator. Yet we can’t get to Christmas without him. He always makes an awkward appearance on the second Sunday of Advent, whether we like it or not. We can’t get to Mary and Joseph and the stories we love without John standing in our way. Think about it. Do you see John the Baptist ornaments on trees? Do you see him on Christmas cards? And where are the John the Baptist carols? No one plays him in Christmas pageants. And he’s not in manger displays. As one writer says, “John is too untidy, too dangerous for Christmas. Invite John to your holiday party and he’ll spill eggnog all over your Persian rug as he flails his arms around talking about the need to repent.”
Yet John is a pivotal figure in the gospels and in the Christian faith. And he is all about change. And all about promises. And all about hope.
You can imagine a street preacher downtown holding up a sign that says: “repent!” Not our brand of Christianity, we say to ourselves as we turn away in embarrassment. But wait! Do you know what “repent” means? It means to change. Change direction. Change your mind. Change your way of thinking.
When we get stuck in negative thinking, it’s time for change. When we wallow in guilt, or play up our victim status, it’s time for change. When we act as if we are the center of the universe, it’s time to repent, it’s time for change. When we think we have all the answers and can’t listen to another perspective, it’s time to change our mind. When we begin to dominate others, and fail to stand with the oppressed, it’s time for change. It’s time to repent. It’s time to confess our need for God.
After John gets out his “repent” sign, he makes some pretty profound promises. Things are going to get evened out. God is the great leveler. Luke’s gospel is all about that. The lowly raised up, the mighty brought down. The hungry fed and the rich sent away. Hear those Lukan themes in the leveling passage we know so well. Every valley shall be filled. Every mountain and hill be made low. The crooked will be made straight and the rough places smooth.
Oh, are we ready for change. Our patience is running thin.We don’t know what we will hear when we turn on the news. Another variant? Another scandal? Everyone blames everyone else. Civility is gone. We don’t trust our leaders, the government, and other institutions. We hear campaign speeches that get us energized and hopeful, only later to be disillusioned and let down. How long can we go on like this?
The promises John announces are sweeping. All flesh shall see the salvation of our God. In divine, tender compassion, the dawn will break upon us. To shine on those who dwell in the shadows. And to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Let’s get swept up in this good news. Let us cheer as if we were at a campaign rally. And then be bold in our trust, bold in our witness, bold in work for justice, bold in our hope, bold in our living. Change is on the way!
It will take all the resilience and enthusiasm we can muster. Yes, we will give our all and work through change in the political sphere. But our ultimate trust is not in political or military might. But in the One who comes in great love and humility. The one who comes to lift the needy from their valleys of despair. The one who comes to level the mountains of pride and domination. The one who comes to lead us down the highway of freedom to a world where all people know the shalom, the wholeness, the salvation, the peace that Christ comes to bring.
Change is on the way!