Occupy Wilderness
Mark 1:1-8
Belmont UMC—December 4, 2011
Ken Edwards, preaching

All over our country people have been flocking to the centers of power, to court houses, to parks and legislative plazas and to Wall Street in New York City. These persons represent the Occupy Movement and a myriad of viewpoints and causes. But at the heart of their message is the simple idea that 1% of Americans control the wealth of our country and have too great an influence on the decisions being made that affects everyone. They claim to represent the 99% of Americans who are at or near the bottom of the economic strata, and they hope to call our nation to new level of accountability and honesty.

Every week we read in the local newspaper about a new study that highlights the growing gap between the rich and the poor.  A recent study concluded that the ability of the poor to achieve the American dream of prosperity has declined. Another study highlighted the growing poverty among our nation’s children. The children, the elderly and the vulnerable are the most susceptible to these trends in economic disparity.

Whether you agree with the Occupy Movement or not, we must admit that they are telling us the truth about ourselves and about what we have become as a nation. When 10% of households in this country control 70% of its wealth, when the middle class begins to disappear, and when 46 million Americans are living in poverty, we must admit the truth about ourselves. We have spiritual and moral problem that must be addressed by the church and by people of conscience.

My colleague in Nashville ministry, Reverend Ken Locke, pastor of the Downtown Presbyterian Church, recently wrote that the Occupy Movement is doing the church’s job. (The Tennessean, October 29, 2011) The Occupiers have become unlikely prophets in the face of the church’s silence. They are spreading a message that the church should be spreading, a message of God’s concern for the poor that reverberates throughout the Bible. Consider the prophet, Amos, calling his nation to task for trampling on the heads of the poor while feeding their own greed for more and more.

Just two weeks from today we will hear again Mary’s prediction for her unborn child, “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:52-53) Contrast those words to the corporate greed of the last two decades. It seems way past time for the church to call the nation accountable for corporate greed and the oppression of the poor.

So here we are at the Second Sunday of Advent. I know people all around us have rushed to Christmas already, but in the church we are asked to take this time to wait and to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. I know that Christmas decorations have been up since Halloween and that some of you may have joined the thousands who stampeded Walmart at midnight on Black Friday. I’m not judging you and I know folks who really like doing that. I’m not one of those persons. I weigh my options: warm comfortable bed and sleeping against standing the cold with people who don’t really care about me and are willing to run over me or pepper spray me if I get in their way. Somehow, the warm, comfortable be wins every year.

But for Christians, the path to Bethlehem and Christmas leads us on a detour through the wilderness and we need to spend a little time there. And there in the wilderness we find a man who is wearing clothing that would scandalize the supporters of PETA, a man who eats bugs and honey and preaches messages that are not easy to hear. John the Baptist is out in the wilderness, far removed from the centers of power, looking a lot like Elijah returned from the dead, telling the truth and calling the nation to a time of honesty and repentance.

He doesn’t look at all attractive and his message is a bit off-putting. His message is the truth and there nothing appealing about the truth; is there? Flannery O’Connor said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd.” And yet “people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him,” they were being baptized and they were repenting of their sins.

All this truth telling can get you into trouble. You might get arrested or worse. We recently returned from Italy where we saw incredible paintings by the Renaissance artists. Yes, there were lots of Madonnas, but another favorite subject, and we saw dozens of paintings with this subject, was the head of John the Baptist being presented on a platter to the daughter of King Herod. Herod who was known for killing his enemies and those might one day challenge his power, could not bear the truth of John’s prophetic preaching.

I think the people of John’s day knew that the time was right for truth telling and confession and that’s why they were going out to the wilderness to spend a little time with the truth. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear a corporate giant, one of those responsible for the collapse of our economy over the last few years, give a press conference and say, “It was my fault. I was greedy. I wanted it all and I was wrong. Please forgive me.” And we might imagine watching as he wades into John’s baptismal bath to be honest and come clean about what he’d done and who he had become.

We have come here today from all over Nashville, and from as far away as Hendersonville, Brentwood, Mt. Juliet. We have members who live in Fairview and Portland. There is a pretty good number of us who will gather here today. Maybe we came hoping to hear a little Christmas music or a story to warm our hearts, like the warmth of hearth and home. But we are called to spend a little time in the wilderness, to spend a little time with the truth, a place for us to be honest about ourselves and who we have become. This is how we, as people of faith, prepare our hearts and lives for the coming of Christ.

This week for my Advent devotional time, I read the scripture and I read passages from Pam Hawkins’ book, Behold, but I also read a prayer several times. It’s a prayer that most of us know and it comes right out of our liturgy for Holy Communion. You’ll find a copy on page 12 of your Hymnal. Hear these words again as they prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ.

Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law,
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors and we have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.