Sermon preached at The Church of the Holy Trinity Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia Sunday December 8th 20 !

The Re"erend #lan $eale %#d"ent #&rasiacs' (saiah hear')! %He shall not *ud+e by ,hat his eyes see, nor decide by ,hat his ears

.ith the frustratin+ phraseolo+y of an /n+lishman 0 here the erudite, ele+ant and e1pressi"e (saiah ma&es a tremendously positi"e statement but in the ne+ati"e mode2 as if, it ,ere possible, a +rand ma*or theme is bein+ played in some somber minor &eyThe blessin+ of 3od upon his chosen, a blessin+ to ,hich all of us are called, a blessin+ in ,hich each of us are in"ited 0 the blessin+ is to see and hear reality but then be +ranted the a,areness of a ne, and po,erful dimension ,ithout ,hich life tends to be monochrome, flat, and pedestrianThis is part of the +reat #d"ent truth that ,e celebrate in these ,ee&s leadin+ to,ards Christmas 0 this is the truth that all that ,e see and hear is pre+nant ,ith, char+ed ,ith this profound and unalterable truth 0 Christ is comin+ as 4in+, as Child but far more often as stran+er easily o"erloo&ed, as some une1pected e"ent easily unheededThat5s ,hy the #d"ent call to slo, do,n, to obser"e, to be patient is so crucial, so "ery crucial indeedThe brilliant no"elist and noted ,ordsmith (an 6c/,an ,rote in 20 2 a no"el %S,eet Tooth'- #s in all his other boo&s ( learned a ne, ,ord 7a&rasia5 0 thin&in+, decidin+, actin+ counter8intuiti"ely9ou see ,e5re to be #d"ent #&rasiacs 0 actin+ counter8intuiti"ely e"en at a time ,hen the ,orld and his:her nei+hbor seems set on Christmas buyin+, decoratin+, stress and busyness- (n #d"ent this is not simply a church but a refu+e, a sanctuary for the commercially diarrheatic, the bonhomie e1hausted, the tinsel throttled and the carol o"er8sated(saiah ma&es us stare lon+ and hard at the stump and name it for ,hat it is but loo& more closely 0 from it shoots and branches emer+e and de"elop to the most substantial(saiah ma&es us loo& at peculiarly stran+e bed fello,s and doubtless hear ,hisperin+s of dismay and terror 0 ,olf and lamb, leopard and &id, calf and lion, nursin+ child and adder- #nd yet, a&rasiacs that ,e are, see percei"e no hurt nor destruction in all these couplin+s(n Romans ; Paul, as it ,ere, holds our heads and points us to,ards the fi+ure of the 3entile 0 so lon+ despised, ridiculed as the alien- 9et no, the ob*ect of 3od5s mercy and the recipient of abundant +race-

#nd then dear 6atthe, confronts us ,ith the outr<, radical, rather unner"in+ fi+ure of =ohn >aptist- =ohn >aptist no poster boy for >roo&s >rothers, nor diner of the month for 3rubhub and definitely unli&ely to teach homiletics as he opens his sermon ,ith %9ou brood of "ipers' and yet? ,hat you see and hear is not all you +et? assuredly, definiti"ely, undoubtedly not all you +et(saiah hear')! %He shall not *ud+e by ,hat his eyes see, nor decide by ,hat his ears

Ho, has your, ho, has my, attitude been recently to stumps, aliens and oddities@ Has there been some room for some #d"ent #&rasia@ #t the be+innin+ of his no"el Serena Arome %Brhymes ,ith plumeC' ,rites of her father, a Church of /n+land >ishop- %Dur father5s belief in 3od ,as muted and reasonable, did not much intrude on our li"es and ,as *ust sufficient to raise him smoothly throu+h the church hierarchy and install us Bboth in CathedralC and in a comfortable Eueen #nne house'Such muted and reasonable faith is assuredly not the mar& of an #d"ent #&rasiac 0 ,e loo& on reality ,ith as much coura+e as possible but then loo& deeper and Bto quote the /n+lish comedian #rthur #s&eyC %ri+ht before our "ery eyes' the presence and the po,er of 3od, our 3od, appears and be+ins to rei+n and rule(n Paul5s Fetter to the Romans ,e read that ma+nificent "erse, %.elcome one another as 3od in Christ ,elcomes you'- Thou+h sometimes, maybe often, the Ford loo&s at us and sees our ,ilful sin, the dama+e ,e inflict on others and oursel"es, our pathetic ,retchedness yet? Bthe festal shout of the #d"ent #&rasiacC yet He sees beyond that and percei"es a soul that is lo"eable and fully capable of lo"in+Ho, dare ,e be patient ,ith our ,elcome to stran+eness and stran+er that is less than 3od5s ,elcome of us@ #nd ho, dare ,e be patient ,ith a ,elcomin+ acceptance of oursel"es that is less than 3od5s ,elcome of us@ Ho, dare ,e@ #nd yet the peril of our human condition is that ,e often dare and dare a lotG Please do not o"erloo& the stump or hurl upon it disdain? stop and? see and hear the di"ineCome Ford =esus- #men