1st Sunday in Advent; Psalm 80
Back in the "day," as some of you may remember, if you wanted to talk to someone you might a) pick up the phone -- a black device owned by the Bell company or AT & T -- and place a call, b) write a letter and post it in the mail, c) record a message on a little spool of tape on a person's phone, or record a cassette and put it in the mail or d) actually go visit someone and chat face-to-face. There were even places in houses that were developed for the express purpose of face to face meetings. They were called "parlors."
Today, these limitations do not exist, and fewer and fewer people use just those options alone to make a human connection anymore. In fact the US post office is losing money trying to keep up thousands of post offices and door to door delivery six days a week when fewer and fewer people send mail at a snail's pace.
It is well known that people are talking or communicating with each other more frequently and at a less of cost than at any other time in human history. Not only can we call and snail mail. We can email. We can wiki. We can blog. We can IM. We can text. We can Skype. And yes, we can even visit in homes with friends
All of this communication is helping so many people. Many people around the world have had their lives improved from the jump from small villages with limited contact to personal cell phones with the option of sending and receiving money, for example. And just take a look at people on the street, or in a crowded room, or on the bus or even driving in a car. Chances are that many people have some kind of communication device in their hands, on the Bluetooth microphone in their ear and they are talking or texting, or showing someone photos, or reading e-mails or listening to music. Moreover, people can carry on several conversations simultaneously; multiple messages pop up, demanding instant responses and immediate attention. Abbreviated, cryptic replies are sent out at a feverish pace, with texting, sending instant messages, and e-mailing, numerous ways for people to communicate.
Even the concept of face time, has taken on a whole new meaning, particularly with the advent of Skype and other computer-enabled visual technologies. For example as I have shared with many of you before, I was a missionary to Japan twice, first in the late 1980's and the second time from 2006-2010. In the late 1980's phone calls to family and friends outside Japan were rare and expensive. Letters were still common and the cutting edge technology was faxes. Whereas this last time, not only could I email, text and fax, I could Skype nearly anywhere in the world for free or for pennies.
With all that communication we are better off in many ways, but the irony of all that modern, cyber-connected world is that in the same moment that we can communicate more cheaply and reliably and with more people, we are at the same moment becoming more physically insulated. Even though communication has become faster, we live in a part of the world where the word "friend" has become a verb and many people are feeling alone and isolated.
It turns out that seeing words or images on a screen is not as emotionally satisfying as exchanging ideas, tips in those important face-to-face connections with another person. When we are in a direct, physical conversation with one another, we can express a wide variety of meanings using the God-given gift of the human voice and body that cannot be translated.
The reason I bring all this up is that the liturgical season of Advent in the calendar is all about face time spent with God. Advent celebrates the "Word-becomes-flesh" God that is coming and will soon be with us. Advent announces that God was not willing to have a distant, arms-length relationship with us who are God's beloved creatures formed in God's image. Rather, advent is all about God's willingness --- even insistence --- to come forward and to become vulnerable, accessible, reachable, and attainable.
Why? To answer that question we will over the next few weeks discuss four psalms beginning with Psalm 80 today. Because interestingly enough, in the first three psalms in the season of Advent, the psalmist uses the word "restore." Each psalm answers the question of why God would come forward and restore a relationship with his creation.
Today's psalm (80) lays bare our hope for God's restoration into our lives. The psalmist repeats the heartfelt need of God's children throughout this prayerful song: "Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved" (v. 3). This writer isn't asking for a text message or a brief assurance via Skype. This writer does not want God to send a smiley face but a "shiny face."
You see, the people the Psalmist describes are struggling. The people fear being utterly consumed and lost. The people feel alienated and alone.
The people in the psalm need a word of hope and assurance. Without hope, they are not only not delivered and saved, the people are doomed to utter despair. So, the Psalmist lifts up a cry for a relationship, for personal interaction, for "face time" with God. Furthermore this Psalmist is not lifting up his request to an absent, hidden God rather it is to a God who wants to be seen, who yearns to be found.
I believe these words could be ours as well. "Restore us, O God, let your face shine that we may be saved," are words that could be lifted up by people like you and I who are surrounded by technology but are still lonely for meaningful communication. We need a restoration of hope because we want God's face to shine because we may receive hundreds of texts every day but still feel unheard.
If we look carefully at each verse of Psalm 80, we see that the Psalmist has hope that God will give ear to the cry of the people. The Psalmist has hope that God will come and save. That God will restore a relationship fractured by faithlessness and sin. The Psalmist has hope that that God will rescue the people from neighbors who wish to destroy and that God's hand will be upon the community. The Psalmist has hope that all will know the strength of the living God.
Let me just for a moment return to that difficult hymn we sang at the beginning of worship. Did you know that hymn was written by Philip Nicoli in the year 1598? For many of us that is meaningless trivia unless we realize that a lot happened during six months in 1597-1598 in many communities in Germany. Would you believe, for example, that in those six months, 1,300 in Philip Nicoli's village died? Yes, I said 1300 people or 170 funerals a month!
What if, for example, we would have had thirty funerals planned for this afternoon? You see, 1597-1598 was the time of the Bubonic plague across Europe. It was one of the worst times in European history. So, to help himself live with the awful suffering around him, Philip Nicoli wrote. He wrote, for example, "Wake, awake, for night is flying, the watchmen on the heights are crying, Awake Jerusalem at last." He writes: "Now the night is past and the bridegroom has come at last." Philip is not imagining the smiley face hymn for 1300 people, but hope of the restoration of the face of a Messiah to restore a relationship with his people.
Today we will be baptizing an infant, Xavier. Before we know it, guess what, he will be two years old. We will blink and he will be thirteen. We will blink again and ask, "Where did time go?" that boy is now a young adult. We blink again and he will be…That's the way life is.
Who is this Psalm for? Who needs to hear about hope? It was for Philip Nicoli. It will be for Xavier. It is for us. It is for all of us because life moves so quickly does it not ... and we need more than instant communication. We need face to face with God. Who knows the speed and the lines of communication that will be around by the time Xavier is an adult. But what I do know is that Xavier will need face time, just like you and I do. Advent is about the restoration of the hope of face time with God. Hope is coming. "Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved." Amen.
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