"The Whole Earth is a Living Icon of the Face of God"

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 7, 2014

Year B: The Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

“The Whole Earth is a Living Icon of the Face of God.”

            Those of you who are my Facebook friends know that each weekday I try to post a Scripture passage or a prayer or a quote from a saint or religious teacher as a little online inspiration at the start of the day.

            This past Thursday was the Feast of John of Damascus – I know, not exactly a household name like some other saints. John was a monk, a priest and hymn-writer who lived back in the 600s.

            So, on Thursday I poked around the Internet reading up on John of Damascus until I found this quote by him:

            “The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God.”

            That’s very beautiful, isn’t it?

            The word “icon” may throw us a little but it really just means  “image.”

            The whole earth is a living image of the face of God.

            That quote seemed a good way to honor John of Damascus and it also seemed especially appropriate considering the decision of a Staten Island grand jury not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner.

            “The whole earth is a living icon – a living image - of the face of God.”

            Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. We are now two Sundays into this season of preparation – the time when we are called to prepare for the birth of Christ and to look ahead to the Last Day when we will need to give an account for how we have lived our lives – how we did or did not love God and love our neighbors.

            And in our lesson from the Gospel of Mark on this Second Sunday of Advent, we once again encounter John the Baptist, one of the central characters of the Advent drama.

            The Gospel of Mark is considered the earliest of the four gospels to be written, probably around the year 70, a generation or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

            Mark’s gospel is certainly the shortest, the most barebones of the gospels.

            Today we heard the opening verses of Mark’s gospel.

            Notice there’s no big introduction. There are no stories of Jesus’ birth. It’s like Mark just can’t wait to get started telling the story.

            And so we begin with, as Mark calls him, John the Baptizer.

            John proclaims the coming of the messiah.

            He says, “I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

            But, John has his own message, one that Jesus will echo once he begins his own ministry.

            Mark tells us that “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

            A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

            We’re told that lots and lots of people – all kinds of people - came to the River Jordan to receive the baptism of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

            Mark doesn’t give us any details about those sins – about why people needed to repent, why they needed to change their ways.

            But, it’s not too hard to figure out.

            I’m sure that their sins weren’t so different from ours: the little lies and betrayals, the common meanness and selfishness of which we’re all guilty.

            And, just like today, I’m sure that for some people maybe these individual and personal sins were not so little and not so common.

            But, there are other sins – really big sins – community sins – of which we’re all guilty and demand our repentance.

            The first is idolatry – our tendency to put other things in place of God.

            For some of us the idols are money or power. For others the idols are our personal security, our work, our identity. For some of us our idols might even be the people in our lives – those we love most.

            The second great sin – and the one I really want to talk about today – is our failure to see God in each other.

            From the very start, Scripture insists that we – all of us – are made in the image and likeness of God.

            Which is a great truth that we forget all the time.

            We are made in the image and likeness of God but we resist that truth.

             We resist it because it’s hard – it’s really, really hard to believe and to accept.

            It’s hard to believe that we – we with all of our weaknesses and mistakes and failures are made in the image and likeness of God.

              It’s hard to accept that the people we can’t stand and maybe even hate – it’s hard to accept that both Daniel Pantaleo and Eric Garner - are made in the image and likeness of God.

            It’s hard to believe and accept that we – all of us - are living icons of the face of God.

            So, instead, we think of ourselves and treat each other as much, much, much less than that.

            We judge each other on our most superficial characteristics – the color of our skin, our economic status, our looks, our weight, what we do to earn a living.

            We dismiss people because of the worst things they’ve done – their moral and ethical failures.

            We treat people as things – as a thing scanning our groceries in the supermarket, as a thing driving a bus, as a thing teaching our kids, as a thing pushing paper in an office, as a thing panhandling on Bergen Avenue, as a thing cleaning up after us, as a thing wearing a uniform and a badge and carrying a gun, as a thing standing on the street selling illegal cigarettes.

            But…

            We are not our superficial characteristics!

            We are not the worst things we have ever done!

            We are not things!

            No, we are made in the image and likeness of God.

            We are living icons of the face of God.

            And, it is time – it is long, long past time that we begin seeing each other for who we really are, otherwise the kingdom of God will always be beyond our reach.

            It is time – it is long, long past time that we begin seeing each other for who we really are, otherwise we’ll never make it to Zion, where, in the words of Psalm 85, mercy and truth meet each other, where righteousness and peace kiss each other.

            We come here week after week to practice seeing each other for who we really are – and what a practice session it is – to be here with this beautiful, diverse, peaceful and loving group – which feels like the kingdom of God to me.

            But, my brothers and sisters, just gathering here and practicing being the kingdom is not enough.

            It’s time – it’s long, long past time – that we repent - that we go out into the world and help God build the kingdom – to build a world right here and now in Jersey City where we treat everyone for who they – for who we – really are.

            It’s time – it’s long, long past time – that we change our ways – that we finally see, finally accept, that the whole earth – that every single one of us - is a living icon of the face of God.

            May it be so.