Jeremiah may have been a bull frog, but Jeremiah the prophet, was a bullhorn.
He was loud.
He wants our attention.
And he wants us to know that history belongs to God and that God can be trusted.
It may look like God is not involved or that God has forsaken us, but God is present and active and bringing all things to a final fruition.
We have one of those trees in our backyard that grows really quickly, we’re not sure what it is, we call it a tree of paradise, the arborist calls it a trash tree.
It snapped off in a storm.
We had it cut down. It left an old gnarly stump.
And from that stump all these shoots started branching out. I trimmed them back, all except one. It is quickly growing into a tree again.
What was dead and cut off, something new and alive grows from the roots.
Jeremiah spoke of a righteous branch, a gift from God springing up from a dead land and a dead people that will bring about the justice and righteousness of God’s kingdom, the messiah.
Today is the Christian new year, Advent has begun, we mark the passing of time with attending to this vision of God bringing all things to their final fulfillment, we hear apocalyptic readings, we start lighting candles, another one each week, and we watch them burn down, marking time until the Advent of God’s Kingdom, the kingdom of righteousness and justice.
Righteousness and Justice, Sedekah and Mishpot.
Righteousness isn’t about morality or following rules, righteousness is about right relationships, relationships that bring out the best in people, families, communities, nations, economies and cultures. Have you ever met someone who brings out the best in everyone around them, as opposed to bringing out the worst? That is righteousness, a grace filled miraculous dynamic.
Imagine cultures, economies, nations, communities, families and people that bring out the best. That is what God is bringing about, the righteous branch is arriving soon that will bring out the best and end the worst. That is why Advent counts down the time.
The Justice of God isn’t about the posse riding into town and slaughtering the wicked. The Justice of God before anything else is restorative. God restores what was broken, wounded crippled or forsaken. God’s Justice is about to ride into town, and when that posse arrives the blind see, the crippled stand tall, the captives are set free. That is why Advent counts down the time.
Stewardship of this passing of time is many things. Stewardship is about more than our pledge cards, stewardship is about outreach, it is about living with the righteous branch that is coming into the world, it is about putting into practice the righteousness and justice of God.
Jeremiah cries out across history that God reaches out. Jesus is that reaching out, the branching out of God into this world. So we reach out as well. Outreach before anything else is about logistics, outreach is about being God’s quarter master.
Here is the plan. Three things are beginning where we as a parish can put God’s righteousness and God’s justice into practice.
Today we begin gathering school supplies for Haiti, the boxes are being given out today, they have a due date for return.
We have also adopted several families through AIM for Christmas. Each family has a shopping list. We can all sign up for one or more items and there is due date.
Also start gathering coats and blankets for AIM, the in gathering for this will be Epiphany, January 6th, these will be our gold, frankincense and myrrh, the gifts we bring for our King.
We even have the opportunity of a mission trip through our convocation to do clean up on Staten Island December 8th through 15th.
So join in. Be one of God’s quarter masters, a steward of this approaching encroaching time, the Advent of God’s Kingdom. Keep an eye out for the Bullfrog.