Swiftie Sunday Sermon

There were lots of requests for Rev. Jonathan's Taylor Swift inspired sermon this week, that he clearly had too much fun with!

All her songs referenced are in brackets with (22) references! and then another 17 in the 'alternate ending'.

The season of Advent is a time where we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ.

Just like the season of Lent, Advent is what is known as a penitential season in the calendar of the Church. A penitential era if you will. We are preparing our bodies and our souls to greet Christ. This week with the theme of (peace). Penitence is about taking care of ourselves, reflecting on our outlook in life, to our behaviour. And we contemplate ways that we can strive to be more selfless and more Christlike in our lives, so that we enter a (state of grace) before our God.

I mentioned last week that I would be referencing Bishop John’s Advent Study on Science and Celtic Mysticism each week through the four weeks of Advent. And today I want to reflect on our Bishop’s observation on the response to prophecy that we hear each year at the beginning of Advent: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.

The Celtic Mystic that was the focus this week was St. Aiden who established a monastic community on a small island called Lindisfarne on the east coast of northern England. Now known as Holy Island.

Hearing the (folklore) stories of Aiden’s spiritual practices of fasting and every day standing out to sea with the seals being his teacher of God’s love.  (call it what you want), but not in my (wildest dreams) would I be doing that each morning. When I visited Lindisfarne I remember it was so cold. And you’re cut off by the tide. Just imagining going out there when there’s (snow on the beach) let’s just say I don’t think I quite fit with Aiden’s (style) of prayer.

It wasn’t just that Aiden was a (lover) of the creation around him, but he was deeply in touch with the forces of nature, and that’s how he spoke to God, and how God spoke to him.

Turning back to the Gospel. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.

Words of (the prophecy) from Isaiah are referenced by each of Matthew, Mark and this year in our reading from Luke, in the telling of the story of John the Baptist. John, (the man) who prepares the way for Christ coming out of the wilderness, and who baptizes Jesus in the river Jordan. In his reflection this week, Bishop John spoke of the “creation centered” dramatic image in this metaphor. He said however poetic the words: every valley being filled in and every mountain taken down is a distressing notion. The beauty of creation is in its evolved irregularity and character.

And there is something distressing about thinking about a perfectly flat, landscape with a single straight path. He continued to speak of how human actions have been in participation with this message. By trying to control our environment, we are leveling out our landscape, We know (all too well) that we are mining beyond our need, harvesting food that gets wasted, overfishing, killing and destroying more than we need.

To paraphrase his words, we are metaphorically and physically in our world, widening our deserts and increasing our sense of wilderness as we become more disconnected from each other and the world around us. The conversation on climate change where our world is not changing its collective course through action quickly enough, is about failing in willingness to adapt ourselves to the world with each other and within our (delicate) habitat.

These are Bishop John’s words:

Put a different way, we're not willing to see the kind of changes that John the Baptizer was Speaking of, where every valley is filled, mountains and hills made low and crooked, places made straight, in order that we might be paying more attention to what is most important, most vital, and the very ground of who we are.

In a season of penitence like Advent, we reflect on what we aspire to.

What is our hope?

What does peace mean to us?

But we do so by contemplating what is causing distance between ourselves and God in this world?

And today we ask (question?): what is our wilderness?

That metaphor, that Isaiah first prophesied and John live out, was about us recognizing God in our midst. Building on that message last week to pay attention, it leads us to the question we think of together at this time of year:

How might we be preparing for the coming of Christ? With Christmas now just over a (fortnight) away.

How do we prepare for the season of (Epiphany).

We all have our own wilderness.

But penitence isn’t about saying:

(I did something bad) so I should come to Church It isn’t thinking that we are (Guilty as sin), and it doesn’t (mean) finding (closure) Penitence is about ritual. We have to think of our wildness less as (exile), and more of that place where we can easily return from having self-awareness in both the consequences of our actions and our intentions. Penitence is liberating ourselves from the burden of guilt and shame, It’s being able to say (this is me trying) to live a life of holiness.

God came to earth through the birth of a child (innocent) and blameless.

Penitence is seeking peace, Not just in the way that we treat the world, but in every aspect of our lives. Where we embrace kindness and we are (fearless) in our pursuit of justice. Let us approach Christmas with penitence in peace. Amen.

Alternate Ending:

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(Long story short), (this love), (hits different), because it is one that we can connect to.

(Back to December) as we approach Christmas, You’ve gotta just (shake it off) at (midnights) mass. And (dress) in your favourite (cardigan).

God didn’t say (you’re on your own, kid). We find (happiness) in this (timeless) event. (Bigger than the whole sky) And because of this we walk on (holy ground), where our creator walked, (clean), being able to (breathe).

Where the (blank space)s in our lives are filled.

We are preparing to hear the greatest (love story) ever told, where our God came to us to be and live among us, who lives with us now through the Holy Spirit, (evermore). Amen.