"Waiting in Hope"

Rev. Gusti Linnea Newquist

December 3, 2023
 

Based on 1 Corinthians 1:7

You are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

YOU [insert your name here],

And also Y’ALL, meaning you plural in the Greek, meaning the Church, meaning SPC, meaning the Corinthians in the first century, meaning all of the various branches and denominations and independent sects of communities who follow the Way of Jesus,

And also ALL Y’ALL, meaning Black Bear and Muskrat and Painted Turtle and Potomac and Pine and Elephant and Cougar and Sunflower and Ocean and Mountain and all the rest of Creation, especially here in the northern hemisphere, as we adapt to the dark and cold in ingenious ways, trusting the God who comes, even in the darkest season, to teach us the truth that we

ARE NOT LACKING, meaning we are enough! All of creation is enough, we, the church are enough, you [insert your name here] are enough, just as we are, nothing less than beautiful, nothing less than whole,

And also meaning we can trust we will have enough of everything we need, the church will have enough of everything we need, right here at SPC and throughout the world, and even, in fact, the world in all its fullness of creation will have enough of everything every part of creation needs, and in fact we already do have enough,

Even when it seems there is so much lacking - and there is - not because God has not provided enough, not because earth has not provided enough, but because too many of us who are human have hoarded the enough that by rights belongs to the whole human and more-than-human parts of creation,

And even still we are not lacking in the capacity to notice and to turn and to return to the generosity of Spirit and substance that flows from the very heart of God

IN EVERY GIFT, which is daily bread, which is shelter, which is communion with God and one another, which is solace and solitude when we need it, which is grandiose over-the-top galas when we need them, which is oxygen for animals (including humans) and not-too-much-climate-changing carbon dioxide for plants, which is rest and resilience and contemplation in Advent and unrestrained triumphant joy on Christmas Eve, which is companionship along the way, which is hope for a world where our collective enoughness is a lived reality through the absence of violence and the presence of justice

AS WE WAIT for that world, which is hard in a culture already celebrating Christmas while we are still waiting here in Advent, which is hard in a culture of instant gratification, which can be fearful if we spiral into panic or grief or loneliness in the darkness, which is why SPC will host a special service this year at SPC to support those for whom the season enhances feelings of loss and loneliness or who simply need a space to escape from socially enforced celebration, which is really all about

THE REVEALING, which is revelatory! Which is revolutionary! Which is revitalizing and restorative, which is renaissance, which is reconsecration, which is reconciling, redeeming and repairing, which is releasing, which is reorienting, which is reviving, which is which is resurrecting (yes, even here in Advent) and regenerating and reverberating and reverent, which is already here as we wait for the revelation in its fullness

OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, which is lifting up those without power and privilege, which is mercy and blessing for those who struggle, which is good news for those who are poor, which is release for those who are held captive in body or mind or spirit, which is recovery for those who are blinded by fear or rage or wrong-doing, which is freedom for those who suffer oppression, which is filling those who are hungry with good things, which is helping the people remember who they really are and to whom they really belong, which is hoping beyond hope that the promise of Paul to the Corinthians will turn out to be true, which is

YOU, Y’ALL, ALL Y’ALL ARE NOT LACKING IN ANY GIFT AS YOU WAIT FOR THE REVEALING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.