For the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn.

It has been a tough Advent.

The Newtown shootings, the Pope speaking out vociferously against homosexuals, and, just yesterday, a fire and shooting in Webster, NY where it seems the fire was a trap so that the gunman could attack the firemen, killing two and injuring two more before killing himself.

While these events are tragic no matter when they happen, there is an extra sting to them when they happen in this season.  In a time where the focus is supposed to be caring for our neighbors, tragedies like this are an extra affront.  And when we are subject to such horrors, singing about "peace on earth" and angels in the skies seems almost insensitive.  How do you talk about joy when there are so many who have had that ripped away from them?  How do you talk about love in a world that seems to wholeheartedly give itself to hate?  How do we look for God in a world that it seems He abandoned?

One of my favorite songs that particularly resonated with me at Montreat this summer is the "Canticle of the Turning". It is a version of the Magnificat--the song Mary sings after the Angel Gabriel tells her she is to bear the Son of God.  The Canticle of the Turning focuses on the social justice aspect of her song, of what this coming means for the oppressed of the world.

Here is a video of it being sung at Bon Air UMC on the 16th as part of their Advent offering of music.  (And yes, that is my mother directing.)  Lyrics below.

My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant's plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn! 

Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and to those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might, put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn! 

From the halls of power to the fortress tower,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
ev'ry tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, ev'ry mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn! 

Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God's mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror's crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound,
'Til the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn!

I love this because the focus is not on "salvation", it's not on how Right Religion Is--it is about breaking those forms, it is about justice that is not born of vengeance, it is singing for the day when we won't find ourselves mired in news that breaks our hearts.

Listen closely, friends: the coming of Christ was NOT because people were Godless heathens.  It was NOT because they weren't praying enough, or had lost sight of God's Grand Path, or had fallen into ways of sin.  It was not with the attitude of those who have been shouting that the gun violence in America is because we no "do not allow" prayer in schools and have abandoned God.  If it was, wouldn't God have come like the visions of the rapture, separating the sheep from the goats and championing the elite "saved"?

But instead, God chose to take human flesh, to become weak and small, to limit God-self to the confines of humanity.  And why?  To become God-WITH-us.  God saw the broken world, the injustices, and instead of ending it as we know it, or sweeping in as the ultimate Deus ex machine, fixing all our problems and eliminating our free will, He did perhaps the most loving thing imaginable--He joined us.  He became truly human.  He said, "You are hurting--I will hurt, too.  I will feel as you feel.  I will not stay removed, I will not just watch, I will walk with you and experience all you are experiencing--the joy and the hurt and the confusion and the awe."  And in doing so, He modeled for us how we might continue his work in the world through living with that same love that caused Him to be born to a poor young girl in the midst of turmoil.

Though, as I write that, it makes me think that maybe it WAS because people had become Godless heathens--because the religious leaders cared more about keeping up appearances than than being stewards of creation and each other.  Maybe it WAS because people weren't praying enough, because they were more focused on saying the right words than the thoughtful, centering prayer that focuses energy upwards and outwards towards God and each other.  Maybe it was because the path towards compassion had been lost and God saw people committing the ultimate sin - stripping others of their worth because of differences in class, race, sexuality, or religion.  And that God came to be with all those who were shut out by the ruling powers--including the Church.

Here's what I tell you on this Christmas Day: the only ones who are Godless are those who live without compassion for their neighbors.  The only ones who have abandoned God are those who have limited the love that they give.  The only ones who have fallen off of God's path are the ones who do not care for those that are abandoned and marginalized.  There are atheists who know God better than many Christians.

Because, friends, the only counter to the violence and tragedy that we've encountered over the past few weeks is love.  Love for each other, love for those we don't know, love for people we don't understand, trying to bridge the gap so that they don't have to lash out.  That's it.  And from the Christian perspective, the model for that is Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, who came to be with us in our brokenness, who came to share in the pain we feel, and show us how to love each other so that we might bring for the day of which Mary sings.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:16-21)