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"Punching Holes in the Darkness"
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. George D. Smith
The Third Sunday of Advent
December 16, 2007
Isaiah 35:1-10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11
The quote of the week comes from Mike Huckabee, who said on
Wednesday, "From now on, I'm going to very careful about
everything I say." Huckabee is a former governor of Arkansas,
who served in that capacity from 1996 to 2007. He officially
announced his candidacy for the 2008 United States presidential
election in January, 2007. It is noteworthy that Huckabee is
an ordained Southern Baptist minister, public speaker, and a
musician who plays bass guitar in his rock-and-roll band Capitol
Offense. Now that he is a front-runner in the republican primary
in South Carolina, he has discovered that the media and everyone
else is paying very careful attention to what he says…no
doubt a change from when he preached from the pulpit.
I have to wonder if John the Baptist felt the same way, wishing
that he had been more careful about what he had said out there
in the wilderness in front of all those people. Last week, John
was preaching a strident and bold message, rebuking everyone
right and left: Pharisees, Sadducees and the political establishment.
The response was swift and costly. We find him now in prison,
put there by King Herod. John knows as we do that his time is
short. The one who prepares the way is not appreciated, and
one can only imagine what will happen to the one for whom the
way is prepared. It is a grim situation, and out of jail goes
a question to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come,
or are we to wait for another?” He isn’t sure anymore
whether Jesus is the Messiah. Things have gone terribly wrong.
Advent is a time of darkness, deep darkness. Here in northern
Illinois at this time of year, a slim slice of daylight is sandwiched
between an evening that starts at 4 p.m. and a night that ends
at 7 a.m. To add salt to an icy wound, the sun is socked away
behind impenetrable cloudiness for days at a time. As we light
the three Advent candles today, I am reminded of a story from
the childhood of Robert Louis Stevenson, long before there was
electricity and the experience we have of a seamless transition
from natural light to artificial light. During the evening he
would sit in his family’s kitchen, looking down on the
town and watching the lamplighter light each of the town’s
street lamps. He would say, “Look, Mother, there is a
man who punches holes in the darkness.”
In the darkness comes the question from Jesus: “what
do you see, what do you hear?” Darkness is scary and depressing,
but it is conducive to engaging in this question. In the darkness,
things that are visible stand out. Stand in this sanctuary with
lights out during the day, and the stained glass windows pop
and glow with bright reds, blues, greens, purples and golds.
In darkness, our sense of hearing is heightened. Small noises
that are lost in bright light suddenly loom large. In Advent,
in Christ, and with the ever guiding presence of the Holy Spirit,
we have the gift of seeing and hearing in a world that is half-asleep,
that is blind and has blocked its ears. Don’t be fooled.
There is also much fake seeing and hearing. There is a powerful
illusion of seeing this time of year. Strings of chasing light
and blinking reindeer noses streak across cataract eyes, if
you know what I mean. There are sounds – a seemingly endless
loop of Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells and other Lite FM favorites.
It isn’t interesting that their slogan is, “Turn
on the Lite – 93.9 FM?” They get it – light
and sound go together, but in a way that dulls and lulls.
What do you see and hear these days? I see and hear many things
that disturb me deeply, yet I feel dulled, immobilized and complicit
with the world around me that seems half-asleep or drugged.
No area of life is unaffected – political, material or
spiritual. In particular, I have been listening to the controversy
around waterboarding for months. The jargon used when referring
to waterboarding is that it is an “enhanced interrogation
technique.” “Enhanced?” Like much of today’s
double-speak, it sounds improved, in a good way, but in fact,
hides a cruel and unusual truth. Not to be confused with surfing
or snowboarding, waterboarding is in fact a technique that simulates
drowning in a controlled environment. It involves strapping
a person to an inclined board, with his feet raised and his
head lowered. Water is poured over the person’s face,
which is covered in cellophane or a rag, forcing them to inhale
water into their lungs. In contrast to merely submerging the
head, waterboarding elicits a gag reflex, making the person
believe death is imminent. Waterboarding has been around for
centuries. It was a common interrogation technique during the
Italian Inquisition of the 1500s. In prisons in Cambodia in
the 1970s, waterboarding was used extensively to obtain information,
coerce confessions, punish, and intimidate. ABC News has reported
that current and former CIA officers stated that there is a
presidential finding, signed in 2002, by President Bush, Condoleezza
Rice and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft approving 'enhanced'
interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. Waterboarding
became a well-known issue in this country during the nomination
process of Michael B. Mukasey to be the next U.S. Attorney General.
In his Senate confirmation hearing, Mukasey refused to say if
he considered waterboarding a form of torture, claiming he did
not know the details of how waterboarding was conducted. While
listening to these reports and various commentaries by pundits
and newsmakers, I have found myself trying to cut through the
layers of darkness, dullness and quicksand that seem to muffle
a response. Why is no one outraged by an attorney general who
will not be clear about waterboarding, or a senate that confirms
him, or a government that permits it and has allegedly has used
the technique on prisoners and suspected terrorists? The underlying
argument, I am sure, is that it in the interest of our national
security to use such “enhanced techniques.” And
by logical extension, in the end American lives will be saved.
Is this the tradeoff we are now making, not only as Americans
but as Christians? Benjamin Franklin said that a nation that
trades freedom for security deserves neither. Christians through
the ages have been tortured for sure. But can we stand by quietly
while our nation does it to others with our full knowledge?
Do you hear and see what I hear and see? Can you help me punch
holes in the darkness? The House approved legislation on Thursday
that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh
interrogation tactics. The bill is now blocked in the Senate,
and the White House has said that it will veto it. Our political
representatives need to hear from us, and know that we care
about this issue, that we think it is wrong to use waterboarding
or any other techniques of torture for any goal. As Christians
and disciples of Jesus, can there be any justification for torture?
If you live in this area, Peter Roskam is the congressman for
the sixth district of Illinois; Dick Durbin and Barack Obama
are our U.S. senators. You can e-mail them or write to them.
You can write to them at the following addresses:
U.S. Senator Richard J. Durbin
WASHINGTON, D.C.
309 Hart Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
U.S. Senator Barack Obama
Washington D.C. Office
713 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Peter J. Roskam
507 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The extent of dullness and darkness is not limited to politics.
We know that our material world is hyped and exaggerated. How
many times can toothpaste be new and improved? I am amazed by
the marketing strategy that pronounces, “Exciting new
packaging, same great product.” Every time a package says
“new” sales increase. Using messages and hype is
nothing new, and perhaps harmless. But how about outright lies
and distortions about products that claim to be environmentally
friendly or “green?” America's store shelves are
filled with products claiming to be good for the environment.
Everything from shampoos and cleaning agents to granola bars
claim to be "natural" and "earth friendly."
On NPR’s Morning Edition, November 30, 2007, Scot Case,
from research firm, Terra Choice, said that the public is being
"greenwashed." His firm studied 1,018 products that
have made environmental claims, ranging from toothpaste to office
paper. To quote Scot, "When we dug a little deeper, we
were actually shocked to discover that all but one of the products
were committing what we're now calling one of the six sins of
“greenwashing.”" The one saintly product was
a brand of paper napkins, but in fairness to all product disclosures,
the name was not revealed. Case said that there were examples
of shampoos that claimed to be certified organic, yet when they
investigated and tried to find any sort of evidence of certification,
they found none. Some of the sins of greenwashing are no proof
or vagueness. Examples are things like a product that claims
to be "Chemical-free." Nothing is free of chemicals.
Water is a chemical. All plants, animals, and humans are made
of chemicals as are all of our products. "Non-toxic."
Everything is toxic in sufficient dosage. Water, oxygen and
salt are all potentially hazardous. "All Natural."
Arsenic is natural. So are uranium, mercury and formaldehyde.
All are poisonous. "Green," "environmentally
friendly," and "eco-conscious," are meaningless
without elaboration. There are claims that are irrelevant, another
sin of greenwashing. For example, many products claim to be
free of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — a principal contributor
to ozone depletion. But CFCs have been legally banned for almost
30 years. There are no products that are manufactured with it.
How much spin and deception is going on around us? What do you
see and hear in a culture of deep darkness?
Darkness permeates our political and material worlds. Compared
to them, Christianity and the church, are no better off. Called
to be a light to the world, the kingdom of God on earth, the
church wrestles in the dark, most times with its self, chasing
its own tail. One arm says to the foot, I have no need of you,
or I am walking away from you. Body parts seem to be flopping
around everywhere. Today, a light shines from the prophet Isaiah
who proclaims that the burning sands will be quenched with pools
of water. Lush reeds and rushes will thrive. In the midst of
this will be a highway to the Lord. It will be so wide, so straight
and so gentle in slope that not even fools shall go astray.
This is the promise of the Lord, who in Christ, has brought
us light, hope and a fail-proof sense of direction. We are on
that highway, and it is wide and gently sloped. It is our equivalent
of the new extension of I-355 with its fresh and smooth asphalt,
ample exit and entrance ramps and weeping vistas of subdivisions
and prairie grass. There are those who want to have you believe
that the way to God is a twisted obstacle course, with many
gatekeepers and rules. Life in Christ at some point became confused
with morality and right belief. Yes, you have heard from Jesus
that the door is narrow, but in the same breath, Jesus also
says that people stream from every nation to the banquet table.
There are highways from every nation and every corner of the
world. I want you to remember this: that in Christ, with Christ,
you are on a highway with guardrails and flood lights.
What do you see and hear? If you speak, you must be ready
for a response. But know that if you are careful to save your
life, you will lose it. Take note, Mike Huckabee before you
too are swallowed up in a double-speak quagmire. You may be
careful about everything you say, but you won’t end up
saying anything. Mike, you may have carried your Bible around
with you, but have you read it? In life in Christ, the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear and the dead are raised. The fools are not lost.
If you look, you will see it. But there is still much darkness,
and like the lamplighter, your face, your eyes and ears are
there to punch holes in the black.
Amen.
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