The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee



Advent 4, Year A, December 18, 2011, St. David’s Church Nashville

“Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed… to bring about the obedience of faith: to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever!”. (Rom. 16:25-27).

They say that Americans are more divided today than they ever have been, at least in what they watch and hear and read. The multiplication of channels on radio and TV, not to mention “boutique” operations on the Internet, means that media can specialize and prosper while appealing to a fairly narrow constituency. All indications are that Americans have fled to ideological enclaves, if not physically at least mentally and emotionally. Of course, some have actually fled physically: that’s part of what the “Red State/Blue State” things is all about, not to mention the enduring phenomenon of divided neighborhoods and even the founding of communities that were planned that way.

Bill Bishop wrote a book about this called The Big Sort which chronicles this development and suggests why it’s so dangerous. Whether we’ve moved physically or just mentally, we are increasingly tuning into sources that simply reinforce what we already think. The media we listen too are part of a self-reinforcing loop that’s on endless “repeat.” So there’s the loss of a common shared story in situations like this, because everyone’s on different tracks; also easy to begin to think that there is no other side to the story, and that folks who think there is must be fundamentally flawed. If you doubt me, just try tuning in to the “other side” some time, and see what’s going on. Even if you’re an open-minded person, it won’t take long before your blood begins to boil.

Whatever we think about this development, our second reading today points toward a different path for Christians, who are called to what St Paul calls “the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26). The Apostle Paul uses this phrase in the Letter to the Romans a couple of times, at the beginning and then at the end of the letter, our reading today. Thomas Torrance has an engaging theological gloss on this verse: he calls it “listening obedience,” and this catches an idea that’s central to Paul’s meaning here. The word “obedience” means “hear under,” or listening while sitting at the feet of the master: ear cocked as it were to the words that fall from the lips. Americans may be getting used to only listening to themselves or those who agree with them, but Christians are supposed to be listening to God. And if God is always supporting our positions, then we may not be listening to God but to someone else.

This is a different way of being in the world, in which our own assumptions about the world and our own narrative of reality are challenged by God. This is the fundamental stance of faith; as Paul says elsewhere in the Letter, “faith comes from hearing” (Rom. 10:17). An essential part of living the Christian life, the life of faith, is by paying attention and listening and being open to change, to the coming of faith. To be obedient means to listen carefully and then to be willing to act in a way that will take you out of your comfort zone and into a new world where what is new can take place.

The great example of “listening obedience” or “the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26) is in our Gospel today, where the Virgin Mary is listening carefully and is willing to act in a way that creates a new reality, the reality of the Word made flesh. The divine and human are united in the Person of Jesus Christ. But listening, a certain sort of listening, is essential to what happens in Nazareth, to the union of God and humanity. If Mary had been like modern Americans, with our self-reinforcing media loop that confirms our own assumptions, she never would have heard the angel speak. Gabriel could have spoken and she wouldn’t have heard him because she wasn’t even tuned in. As it was, she had to ponder these things in her heart before she could even begin to understand.

But God gave her grace, his power and presence in her life, so that she could become the mother of the Savior, so that she could say “yes” to God. She had to be open to the new thing that God was doing; she had to be willing to let her life be transformed and be turned upside down. She had to enlarge her receptivity so that she could become the mother of the Savior. But she had to begin by listening, to listen so that she could hear. That’s the “obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26).

So what is the new thing that we are expecting God to do this Advent, as we prepare to welcome the Word made flesh? What is the new thing that we are expecting God to do this Christmas? I bet it will require “the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26): attention and then action on our part, careful listening and openness as well as decisive action. We have some outstanding examples in the persons of those who have been prepared for confirmation. They have sat at Jesus’ feet and listened carefully. God has worked through you at St. David’s Church to shape and form them in the faith. So now we will see what new thing God will do, here in their lives, as well as in the community of St. David’s and in the Diocese of Tennessee through them.

- The Rt Rev’d John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee

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