Lately, as I\u2019ve made my way home from work here at the church, I can see the stars in the sky. And it\u2019s not because I\u2019m here until 10pm.<\/p>\n

No, the days are growing shorter\u2026 the air colder\u2026
\nThis is the time of year when we are preparing ourselves for the longest night, the winter solstice, and while the daylight wanes, we are clinging to reminders that better days are ahead.<\/p>\n

Right here, in the midst of this season of darkness, we remember that it is in the darkness that new life comes.
\nThe bulb has to be planted within the cold, dark earth to bring forth its buds.
\nBabies grow and are formed in the dark warmth of the womb.
\nAnd in this \u201cbleak midwinter\u201d we set out our evergreens and yule logs to remember that resurrection and eternal life are ours.
\nWe are waiting, you see, during this time of Advent for the birth of the child spoken of by prophets\u2026 the Savior, Messiah, Prince of Peace, Light of the World.
\nAnd\u2026 as people born on this side of his birth, life, death, and resurrection\u2026 we are still waiting.
\nAdvent you see, is not only a season of remembrance. It is also a time to look forward. The fullness of that kin-dom that Christ came to bring has not yet fully been realized.
\nAll we have to do is open the newspaper to know that God\u2019s will has not been done on earth.
\nWe are still waiting.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, I heard news reports that the Island of Puerto Rico still only has power for 46% of its residents. The devastation of Hurricane Maria was so severe that months after the winds and rain poured down, rural areas still do not have any access to resources.
\nBut not only Maria\u2026 the impacts of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana are still being felt.
\nWhile it is not as present in the news, the continual onslaught of storms in Louisiana has had a doubled impact because of the simultaneous destruction of wetlands. The dead zone in the Gulf created by run-off farther up the Mississippi and the altering of the flow of the Mississippi for human habitation has devastated the area. The US Geological Survey now reports that nearly 1,900 square miles of land have disappeared in the last seventy years.
\nSometimes, the sin and destruction and pain of this world is almost too much to bear.
\nSometimes, it feels like we have been waiting too long.
\nSometimes, it is hard to have any hope when we look out at reality.<\/p>\n

Maybe that is why I find so much comfort in the words of The Archbishop of Denver, Charles J. Chaput. He defines hope as a choice, \u201ca self-imposed discipline to trust in God while judging ourselves and the world with unblinkered, unsentimental clarity.\u201d
\nThose words remind me that hope is not a na\u00efve sentiment or wishful thinking.
\nWe can look out unfiltered at the world that surrounds us\u2026 and we find hope at the intersection of what we see and our faithful trust in God
\nHope doesn\u2019t shirk away from problems or difficulties, but enters into them, confident that God will be there and will bring order, life, and joy out of the chaos.
\nThat hope is not only for you and me. It is for all of creation. This whole world is waiting with us.<\/p>\n

In Paul\u2019s letter to the Romans, we are reminded that \u201cthe whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God\u2019s sons and daughters. Creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice \u2013 it was the choice of the one who subjected it \u2013 but in the hope that the creation itself will be set free from slavery and brought into the glorious freedom of God\u2019s children. We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever was intended for creation, with the tree of life and fertile land and those first humans holding dominion over it all, is not what we experience today.\u00a0 When we read through those first chapters of Genesis, there is no mention of rainfall or storms, no death, no decay, only life, and life abundant.<\/p>\n

Our faith explains the brokenness of creation \u2013 the cycles of destruction, natural disasters, violence, and death by pointing to a single moment: When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden (Genesis 3:6-7).
\nAt that moment, everything changed.
\nThat first sin, that first rejection of God\u2019s intentions, had an impact on the entire world! God confronts Adam and Eve and there is not only punishment for the snake and the two humans, but as Genesis tells us, \u201ccursed is the fertile ground because of you; in pain you will eat from it every day of your life. Weeds and thistles will grow for you, even as you eat the field\u2019s plants; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread \u2013 until you return to the fertile land<\/em>.\u201d (Genesis 3:17-19)
\nWe acknowledge this pain of creation even in the songs we sing this time of year. We proclaim how \u201cfields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy\u201d\u2026. But we also sing about the groaning of the earth itself and its longing for redemption\u2026 \u201cno more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground.\u201d (Isaac Watts, Joy to the World, UMH #246)<\/p>\n

And as our Advent candle reading from Isaiah lifts up, it was not only the first sin of Adam and Eve that impacted creation, but as we continue to sin, the earth dries up and withers. (Isaiah 24:4-5)
\nTheologically, we are called to remember that our selfishness, our disobedience, our breaking of the covenant impacts the physical world around us. Because of our continued sin, the whole of creation is trapped in a cycle of death, enslaved by decay, and waiting to be set free.<\/p>\n

So where is the hope that Paul writes of in Romans? Where do we turn for hope as we look out at the groaning of creation today?<\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/p>\n

One afternoon I stumbled upon an image that took my breath away.<\/p>\n

It was drawn by Sister Grace Remington who is a member of the Cistercian Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey here in Iowa. It depicts Eve, clad only in the flowing locks of her hair and clutching that forbidden piece of fruit. Her leg is entwined in the grip of a snake; her head hung in shame. Evil, sin, and death are her legacy. It is our legacy.
\nBut with one arm, she reaches out and places her hand on Mary\u2019s womb.<\/p>\n

Mary stands there full of grace and mercy.
\nShe gently touches the face of Eve as if to tell her it is okay. She holds her other hand over Eve\u2019s and together they feel and experience the life of the one who was coming to redeem and restore all the creation.
\nThere is hope.
\nWhen Paul writes about the groaning of creation and all of God\u2019s children, he describes that pain as nothing compared with the \u201ccoming glory that is going to be revealed to us.\u201d (Romans 8:18)
\nAnd then in verse 22, he uses the Greek word syn\u014ddin\u014d<\/em> to portray this reality; a word used only once in scripture to describe the agony of childbirth.
\nCreation is suffering labor pains.
\nSomething new is about to be born.<\/p>\n

In this season of Advent, this image of Eve and Mary fills my heart with possibility and invites me to hear the words of Romans 8 in a different light.
\nSo often, I hear the frustration and groaning of the text, instead of diving in to see the good news.
\nYes, the world around us is groaning, but they are labor pains. Creation itself is about to be delivered, to be release, to be set free to become what God fully intends for it.
\nIn his letter to the Romans, Paul keeps pointing back towards Adam, because in those first human beings, we see God\u2019s ultimate intention for the human race.
\nPaul believes that in Christ, in that child that would be born of Mary, the human project finds it\u2019s completion (Jospeh Sittler).
\nIn the beginning, there was a part for humanity to play \u2013 tending the garden, carrying the image of God, helping all of creation to thrive.
\nAnd now, as Christ is born into our lives and we claim the Spirit of God that sets us free, it is our job to take up that role once again.
\nAs this image conveys, in Christ, we find release from our temptations\u2026 that snake of sin that would bind us is being stomped on by Mary.
\nIn Christ, we find forgiveness for past transgressions\u2026 the head hung in shame and guilt is gently touched, the hand is embraced.
\nThe way we have lived on this world \u2013 using and abusing God\u2019s gifts for our own intentions \u2013 doesn\u2019t have to be the way that we move forward.<\/p>\n

In fact, Paul tells the Romans that those who have been set free by the Spirit of Christ have an obligation to live as God\u2019s sons and daughters right here and now.
\nNot for our sake.
\nNot for selfish reasons.
\nBut because the whole earth is waiting for us to do so.
\nThe love and mercy of Christ reaches out to us as the descendents of Adam and Eve and yes, we are offered forgiveness, but more than than, we are empowered by God\u2019s Spirit to live differently.<\/p>\n

Paul believed that God linked the restoration of creation with you and me, and so I find hope in this season of Advent in the possibility that people of faith can help to change the tides of decay.<\/p>\n

All throughout this season, we will highlight some of those stories and ways we can make an impact, but these Christmas Trees here at the front of the church remind me of one\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the midst of that loss of habitat and wetlands in the Louisiana delta, people are working to restore the wetlands and help mitigate the impact of storms by collecting used Christmas trees.
\nAs they deposit them into threatened bayous, they become the basis for new marsh vegetation and they help to reverse erosion.<\/p>\n

We have a choice of how to live on this earth and whether or not we will obey the call of God to care for all of creation.
\nJust like this image of Eve, may we be transformed by the birth of Christ into our lives, so that we might be the hope for the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NOTE:\u00a0 This sermon is an adaptation from chapter one of my book, “All Earth Is Waiting<\/em>.”<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately, as I\u2019ve made my way home from work here at the church, I can see the stars in the sky. And it\u2019s not because I\u2019m here until 10pm. No, the days are growing shorter\u2026 the air colder\u2026 This is the time of year when we are preparing ourselves for the longest night, the winter…<\/span><\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[1341,76,1343,229,230,1342,484,499,553,623,728,855,916],"class_list":["post-3403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent","category-kenotic-words","tag-all-earth-is-waiting","tag-art","tag-charles-wesley","tag-creation","tag-creation-care","tag-eve","tag-hope","tag-hymn","tag-joy","tag-mary","tag-paul","tag-romans","tag-sin","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/16x9.jpg?fit=2408%2C1368&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7cYpi-ST","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3406,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3403\/revisions\/3406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}