St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Brunswick, Maine

Taming Wild Horses

The First Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 24:37-44, Psalm 122

Most of us, on an everyday level at least, think of Advent as an extended preparation for the Christmas Fair. I'm delighted we have our Fair here early in Advent. We offer our homemade gifts, in a festive atmosphere, early in the season. I stash the gifts I buy in a corner of a closet for re-offering on Christmas Day- and all the proceeds go to outreach for the needy. Such a deal! I've covered all my Christmas obligations. The Fair treasurer will give us a report on all we've made! But Advent is more about Who comes to us. It's as much about receiving in gratitude as giving.

Advent means to come. From the French venir, to come. Advent is preparing for an arrival- opening our homes and hearts. Think of the season as awaiting a distant relative whom you barely know, who is coming to move in. Such would bring fear and hope, expectation and anxiety common in the early church, and still abounding today. It is like the days of Noah, when the flood comes. The advice is "Keep awake. Watch. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Keep awake. Be attentive, alert. Watch. That's not always the most helpful advice. I am an oldest child who tends to be hyper alert. The surrounding culture- phones, faxes, computers and 24 hour news only feeds my hyperactivity. "Keep awake; be attentive, watch" is only goods news if it couples with, "Trust. Be still and know that I am God." God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and the waters toppled into the sea.

I can be attentive if I trust who is moving toward me. It is the people around me who give me trust, and the coming of Christ in the fullness of the Spirit.

~~~

Here is an account from nature that suggests the waiting of Advent, the overcoming of fear. A woman writes, "(On my visit to New Mexico), everyday I hiked up a path through the woods, to a clearing, where the valley spread out below, with the mountains beyond. I knew there was a wild horse nearby. I could hear its whinny, see the droppings it left behind. I never saw it. One day, after sitting and praying silently for several hours, I became aware the animal was standing not ten feet away. I rose to my feet. The horse seemed enormous. Chestnut brown. It stood in silence looking at me. I felt no fear, only peace. Slowly I sat down again, and after a while the horse approached. With its great muzzle, it prodded my face, my neck, my chest. I did not move, said not a word, just kept breathing. The horse walked all around, in one slow circle and began nuzzling my back. Then the horse stood behind me and rested its muzzle against my shoulder- for a long,, long time. For a time out of time.

Such is the wakefulness, and the arrival of Advent. Like the wild horse, we have many events outside our control. Needs are infinite. Anyone trying to fulfill every one's needs is out of control. Any person with an addiction, or struggling with cancer, knows the powers of this world are overwhelming. The flood rises. The war in Iraq shows that all the weaponry we can muster, alone, is not going to win the war. For changing hearts and minds, we need the help of a Higher Power. Our call is less to conquer than to make room for that power to work.

~~~

The woman from New Mexico, while alone in the clearing, was in the midst of a community of people to whom she returned everyday. They shared meals and shelter. They helped her translate an experience in nature with wild horses, to the wild drives and threats that surround us everyday. Such was in a church, cultivating response to God.

We say after the readings, "Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people." What is God's Spirit in Christ trying to say to His church? Listen to the gospel again with the kind of alertness engendered by trust. The flood creeps up. No great drum rolls, no bugles blasting. No breaking of the Hoover Dam. The flood creeps up in the midst of ordinary events- They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, a remark here, a remark there. One person begins to go one way, and another goes another way. Two women were preparing a meal together; one was taken; one was left. . Advent invades ordinary time, like a thief in the night. Christmas can be stolen away if we're not prepared.

Let us be the kind of people who create sacred space, sacred time, who wait, watch and respond in trust, who help others respond in trust. We have much to do for the Fair, in our homes, in our places of work, in our new building. Let us also be the church that tames wild horses, prepares a way in the wilderness for the coming of Christ, who welcome the lost into the warmth of the manger.

~~~

What can we learn from how our forebears first received this message? In the days when the gospel was written, the early church was overwhelmed by the power of the Roman Empire. Soldiers occupied town squares. High taxes went to distant cities. Early Christians were perplexed that the reign Isaiah foretold seemed far away: "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword angst nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O let us walk in the light of the Lord." The early church, unable to directly influence political events, believed Jesus would come at the end of time. They believed he was the true Lord and the One really worth following. Even though it looked like the Romans had the power, the church kept the faith that the God of Jacob and Jesus had the ultimate power.

~~~

Keep awake. Be attentive, alert. Watch. Does this all sound like ancient history? Is it really all that different today? We have more of the world's political power. We vote for our own candidates. But for all our wealth and weaponry, how much closer are we to winning hearts and minds for Christ? How often do we act out of fear or indifference more than hope? Rather than prepare for the coming of God's Spirit, how often do we go in pronouncing that we already have God's Spirit? It is some of that arrogance, even in Christian life, that makes us unliked overseas.

~~~

Closer to home, early church history, the faith that waits in Advent for the coming of Christ, has a parallel for anyone overcoming an addiction, or struggling with cancer, Despite our best efforts, the powers of this world are overwhelming, like a flood moving across the landscape.

How can we help each other follow Christ the Lord who opens a new life? How can we invite him to be our guest at Christmas?

The Reveren Daniel Warren
November 28, 2004

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, always be acceptable in thy sight, O God, our Strength and our Redeemer.