STAY WOKE

November 27, 2016

Advent One Year C
First Congregational Evanston UCC
Texts: Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 24:36-44

Community in crisis. Violence and injustice. Struggle with the powers

that be in the world.

Ancient Israel had been split into two kingdoms: Northern Kingdom of
Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Northern Kingdom had
been conquered by the Assyrian Empire but Judah had not been conquered.

The prophet Isaiah emerges in this time frame as Gods still speaking voice.
He sees the realities: violence, bribery, unfaithfulness, desolation, trampling
on the poor. But in the midst of these realities, the prophet proclaims Gods
vision: a day is coming when Gods reign will be the reality and nations will
stream to Gods mountain to be taught Gods ways of peace.

God will serve as judge and arbiter. Gods judgment will bring justice
because without justice there is no peace. Gods judgment will bring
transformation when weapons of war will become tools that cultivate the
ground. His vision ends with an invitation: O house of Jacob, come, let us
walk in the light of the Lord!

Advent visions seem unreal, preposterous, improbable, and impossible. But

they are visions grounded in the reality of Gods realm of justice and love.

Community in crisis. Violence and persecution. Struggle with the powers

that be in the world.

The community of Matthews gospel is between worlds. They are

surrounded by the Roman Empire. They are part of a religious tradition with
strong Jewish roots, adhering to Jewish law, a tradition springing from the
ministry of Jesus, who was steeped in his Jewish tradition. They are called
to be a new community but they are struggling and fearful of the future.

Jesus speaks to this community in crisis through a series of sayings and

parables about a day of judgment, calming their anxieties and preparing
them for what is to come. You cannot know the day or hour but you can
stay awake and you can be ready.

In the invitation to stay awake and be ready, the community hears more
than an invitation to be ready for ones personal judgment. Jesus confronts
the community with Gods radical claims on their lives in the present. They
are encouraged to live in the way of Christ each and every day in
anticipation of Gods realm which is already at hand, on earth as it is in
heaven, as we pray.

Advent visions seem unreal, preposterous, improbable, and impossible. But

this Advent vision of the judgment time is grounded in the reality of Gods
realm of justice and love.

Communities in crisis. Violence, injustice, persecution. Struggle with the

powers that be in the world.

The phrase Stay Woke denotes increased awareness of social structures

especially around racial issues. It gained new traction in the rise of the
Black Lives Matter movement following events in Ferguson, Missouri. One
definition of stay woke means to keep informed of the storm going on
around in times of turmoil and conflict, specifically on occasions when the
media is being heavily filtered. In another usage, staying woke
indicates healthy paranoia, especially about issues of racial and political
justice. The effectiveness of this definition was seen in Chicago when
staying woke meant uncovering cover-ups around the death of Laquan
McDonald. Stay woke conveys the urgency and the life-and-death nature
of these struggles.

In this congregations mission programs, in our Sacred Conversations on

Race and Privilege, in our Open and Affirming programs, in our work with
the Community Renewal Society, and in our conversations about Black
Lives Matter this community stays woke to the urgent, life and death
issues of our day. Weve done this through dialogue and action, not just
working with immediate needs of hunger, homelessness, and violence, but
also analyzing and working for change in the structures and systems that
perpetuate violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, transgender
violence, poverty and hunger. In these changing political times more
attention to structures and systems will be essential as we move forward into
Gods realm of love and justice, an ongoing realm not limited to one season.
Communities in crisis. Violence and injustice. Struggle with the powers
that be in the world.

Advent visions are Gods way of acting in the world. They may seem and
they may be preposterous, unreal, impossible, improbable, more dream than
reality. But these visions, these ways of living and being in the world, are
no more preposterous, unreal, and improbable than what we see, feel and
experience in the world around us. These Advent visions are Gods way of
still speaking. The only question for those of us who believe in a still
speaking God is, Are we still listening?

God still instructs us to stay awake, stay woke, and be ready. Jesus
call us to what theologian Mark Yurs calls a life of work in a spirit of
wakefulness. This life of wakefulness, he says, is not concerned with other
worldly matters but focuses our attention on the present day and our daily
life and living. Events in these past years and in our present reality will help
focus our attention.

God still calls us to ascend the holy mountain and learn Gods ways of peace
and justice. Isaiahs vision - mountain climbing, walking in Gods paths,
God judging and arbitrating towards justice, swords transformed into
plowshares, and not learning war any more - was espoused by more than one
prophet. It is a vision that still claims us as we move toward Gods future.

We began following our Advent vision by lighting the first Advent candle at
the beginning of worship. Lighting the candle says no to the powers of
darkness that overwhelm and cause us to stumble. Lighting the candle gives
us hope in the midst of all that overwhelms and frightens. Lighting the
candle invites us to be Gods light in the world. Lighting the candle reminds
us that Jesus, the light of the world, has already come into our world,
transforming our lives. Stay awake. Stay woke. Be ready. If you can, turn
a sword into the cutting blade of a plow. Hear Isaiahs invitation: People
of God, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! Amen.