Advent Week 4: His Presence Among Us

Over 400 years before Jesus, Zechariah foretold how God would one day come and live with men.  “‘Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion.  For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the Lord.  ‘Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people.  I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you’” (Zechariah 2:10-11).

The key to overcoming anxious thoughts and fears is the promise of the presence of God.  In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes, “The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything”.

As we reflect on this last week of Advent, we find ourselves living in a post-Christian, postmodern world which has seemingly lost its bearings.  We live in ever more fearful circumstances and are fed a constant stream of fear-based rhetoric.  Our sense of direction seems to be lost, most likely because, as a society, we have abandoned God.  Is it any wonder we are surrounded by fear and so often respond with anxiety and control?

This is the context of God’s advent.  He comes to us in the midst of our fear and says “Do not be anxious about anything”.  Why?  Because the Lord is here.  Faith that looks like this, faith that speaks of peace in a fearful world is the key to his presence among us and, even more, how he plans to express his presence to the world through us.   Who can doubt that we live in a world where fear is a much greater reality than joy or peace?  It is, therefore, our greatest privilege to live out the Gospel of true peace-shalom (literally wholeness and well being)-in every sense of the word all the while pointing others to its source; Jesus Christ.

We can do it because the Lord is truly near to us.  He first came as a tiny baby to a virgin in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago.  And Christ, by His Spirit, continues to come to us, walking with us in the midst of our struggles.  When we let him, he turns our difficult circumstances into joy and peace.  Not by taking them away, but by being Lord over them and our lives.  He is the source of our prayers and thanksgiving not our present circumstances.

Let us celebrate our Christ’s coming on this last day of Advent.  And may we be so aware of His presence as we celebrate His birth tomorrow.

Advent Week 4: Peace on earth to ALL men, not just the ones I like

One of the fundamental truths about our relationship to God is that first we must submit.  We are not equal to him.  Two years ago, Pastor Matthew reflected on this by describing the entrance to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.  He described it as “a small rectangular entrance to the church, created in Ottoman times to… force even the most important visitor to dismount from his horse as he entered the holy place.”  This is how it should be.  Recognition of the created order whereby relationship begins with submission of the creature to the Creator is appropriate.  Before he is our buddy, Jesus is our Lord.

But then we have this scene in John 13 where the Creator took his place beneath his creation; with his creation’s foot in his hand he began washing it.  The whole created order is destabilized reminding us that God is paradoxical; two things can be and are true at the same time.  God cannot be placed into a box because his nature and character exceeds and confounds human categories.  The God who is above all creation took on human form (John 1:3, 14), broke bread with people considered to be the lowest in the social hierarchy of the time (shepherds, tax collectors, gentiles and prostitutes), and complicated the complacent religion of the educated and wealthy by identifying with the most vulnerable of the poor.

Sometimes I find it easier to respond to the image of the Creator-above-me more than the Creator-holding-my-foot.  The omnipotent God, creator of the universe who placed Adam and Eve as the general managers over creation fits the narriative I have in my mind much better than the Emmanuel who took creative license with the status quo and allowed himself to be born into a scandalous barn-scene with an unwed teenager and a dude who just wanted to do the right thing.

But he is not the God of the created order.  He created the created order.  He is the God of the divine order and he makes the rules.  He established a rule of the divine order that if we want to find God we must not only look up, we must also look down at who we consider “beneath” us and see his reflection in the eyes of the marginalized, the weak and the vulnerable.  And with their feet in our hands, we must respond.

Advent Week 3: Peace on Earth

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  And the zeal of the Lord almighty will accomplish (emphasis mine).

This passage in Isaiah is part of a longer passage contrasting the king Ahaz in particular and human kings in general with the future King, Jesus.  This future ideal king will establish the kingdom in the way it was meant to be from the beginning of time.  He will establish it with justice and righteousness and it will be a task not realized through human means but will require an act of God.

Man has tried over and over to create utopian societies and systems of government but they have all utterly failed.  In contrast, Christ’s kingdom will be one described as having  peace to no end.  Imagine world peace that is not imposed with military might or brought about by sanctions.  A peace that is not caused by treaties that can be broken or sidestepped.  A peace that never stops.

E. B. White said,  “Most people think of peace as a state of nothing bad happening, or nothing much happening.”  Yet if peace is to overtake us and make us the gift of God’s shalom or well-being, it will have to be the state of Something Good Happening.

There is a personality type called “The Peacekeeper”.  It is described as having the tendency to ignore the disturbing aspects of life and to seek out some degree of peace and comfort.  When in an unhealthy state, this personality type responds to pain and suffering by attempting to live in a state of gross denial, spending energy on avoiding or deadening inner and outer conflicts and suppressing strong feelings.

When Christ comes (Advent) through his Holy Spirit, he gives us the capacity to be a “Peacemaker“.  This is his kingdom come here and now, on earth as it is in heaven.  On our own strength many of us are more like the peacekeeper instead of the peacemaker.  In moments of conflict, The peacekeeper stays out of the way and preserves “harmony”.  They tend to be overly accommodating out of a fear that they will loose the connection they have with people if they don’t.  As a peacekeeper  one can say “yes” to things they don’t really want to do or have the time or capacity to do to avoid disagreements and conflict.  Most of all, the peacekeeper is a master at avoidance and passivity.

Jesus did not come to be a keeper of the peace.  And his Holy Spirit who comes to indwell us does not give us the power to be peacekeepers.  Isaiah 58 describes the kind of life that the Holy Spirit leads us into:  “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them,and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  

This is not a passive response to the problems of the world.  It is impossible to respond to the needs and suffering of the world around us by avoiding them or turning away from them.  The Spirit of the Christ who comes to us today is one who engages the world through us in order to draw all unto Himself.  And peace comes to the world today–in the actions of you and me as we have the faith to respond in obedience to the leading of the Spirit.

In calling on the Christ of Advent to come, we cannot expect him to help us simply be nice and not make waves.  He will not empower us to avoid conflict.  This is not what His peace looks like.  In some cases he will bring us face to face with it.  The Lord’s peace in our present world would look like an end of conflict and discrimination; a world where justice prevails and people understood one another.  This kind of reality cannot come about in part or in full by avoiding conflict and remaining passive.  It must be active and intentional to address wrongs.

But lets not be fooled, it is not us who bring peace.  God may choose to use us as his hands and feet, but it is He who authors and initiates our actions.

Many are too busy keeping the peace to be open to God to be his peacemakers in a world that is desperate for it.  Lord, come today and make me an instrument–your instrument–of your peace, not mine.

Advent Week 3: Joy in Times of Sorrow

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in the God of my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength: He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He enables me to go on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Habakkuk wrote this passage shortly after Israel had been devastated by the Babylonian invasion.  All of the typical indicators of comfort and security in a Hebrew society-crops, livestock, food-had been eliminated.  Despite the devastation, he proclaims the greater reality of God’s sovereignty.  His source of hope and strength was in the presence of God.  His determination anchors his joy in God and it gives him the strength to follow Him to new places.

As we enter this third week of Advent, we cannot escape the thoughts of the devastating events that took place this weekend in Connecticut. Our hearts go out to the parents and siblings of the slain children.  Those of us with children of our own cannot help but think with compassion and sorrow of the parents who sent their little first graders off to school for the last time this past Friday morning.

One of the purposes of Christ’s advent was joy.  The angels proclaimed it to the shepherds.  But how can we have joy at a time like this?   The answer is simple.  Jesus didn’t come to remove us from the world.  He came into it.  The world has changed very little since the time of Habakkuk.  Even in times of our own suffering, God is still sovereign.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Horatio Spafford’s life.  His only son died  at the age of four.  Shortly after, he was financially ruined by the great Chicago Fire.  Then he lost his four daughters in a shipwreck when he had sent them and his wife ahead of him to Europe.  His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone . . .”  Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

Lord God, give us eyes to see your reality.  When we are devastated, teach us how to persevere in following You.  Help us to focus on Your sovereignty and Your love.  Thank you for the joy of your advent.  Amen.

Advent Week 2: The Spirit Of Advent

In my previous post on the Meaning of Advent, I mentioned how important it had been for me to discover the depth and meaning of church traditions that my own faith community had lost.  Part of its importance for me is that it provides an opportunity to prepare myself mentally, emotionally and spiritually to reflect on the Coming (Advent) of Christ.  Advent is a season of hope.  reflecting on what I hope for in a present and coming King is an important part of preparing for the season.

Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression.  It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the cries of oppressed slaves and brought deliverance.

It is that hope, however faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings an anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice and righteousness over His people and in His creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world.

Part of the expectation also anticipates a judgment on sin and a calling of the world to accountability before God. We long for God to come and set the world right.  Yet, as the prophet Amos warned, the expectation of a coming judgment at the “Day of the Lord” may not be the day of light that we might want, because the penetrating light of God’s judgment on sin will shine just as brightly on God’s people.

Because of this important truth, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Season of Advent has been a time of fasting and penitence for sins similar to the Season of Lent.  However, a different emphasis for the season of Advent has gradually unfolded in much of the rest of the church.  The season of Advent has come to be celebrated more in terms of expectation or anticipation.  Yet, the anticipation of the Coming of the Messiah throughout the Old Testament and Judaism was not in connection with remembrance of sins.  Rather, it was in the context of oppression and injustice, the longing for redemption, not from personal guilt and sin but from the systemic evil of the world expressed in evil empires and ruthless tyrants.  It is in that sense that all creation groans for its redemption as we witness the evil that so dominates our world (Rom 8:18-25).

Of course, there is the problem of longing for vindication from an evil world when we are contributors to that evil.  This is the power of the images of Amos when he warns about longing for the “Day of the Lord” that will really be a day of darkness (Amos 5:18-20).  Still, even with Amos’ warning the time of Advent is one of expectation and anticipation, a longing for God’s actions to restore all things and vindicate the righteous.  This is why during Advent we as Christians also anticipate the Second Coming as a twin theme of the season.  So, while some church traditions focus on penitence during Advent, and there remains a place for that, the spirit of that expectation from the Old Testament is better captured with a joyous sense of expectancy. Rather than a time of mourning and fasting, Advent is celebrated as a time of joy and happiness as we await the coming of the King.  Just look at the lyrics of many of our Christmas Carols.

So, we celebrate with gladness the great promise in the Advent, yet knowing that there is also a somber underlaying tone.  This is reflected in some of the Scripture readings for Advent, in which there is a strong prophetic tone of accountability and judgment on sin.  But this is also faithful to the role of the Coming King who comes to rule, save, and judge the world.

Because of the dual themes of threat and promise, Advent is a time of preparation that is marked by prayer.  While Lent is characterized by fasting and a spirit of penitence, Advent’s prayers are prayers of humble devotion and commitment, prayers of submission, prayers for deliverance, prayers from those walking in darkness who are awaiting and anticipating a great light (Isa 9).

The spirit of Advent is expressed well in the parable of the bridesmaids who are anxiously awaiting the coming of the Bridegroom (Matt 25:1-13).  There is profound joy at the Bridegroom’s expected coming.  And yet a warning of the need for preparation echoes through the parable.  But even then, the prayer of Advent is still:

Come, O Come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel!

Advent Week 1: Yearning

This is the final day of the first week of Advent where our focus is on the HOPE we have in the coming of Christ.  If our relationship to Christ is only because of what He has done for us our hope in his coming is purely a reflection and remembrance of his coming 2,000 years ago.  With that kind of hope, there is no yearning for more.

It is precisely what A. W. Tozer described as the “yearning” and the “fainting” for the return of Christ that has distinguished the personal hope from the theological one.  Mere acquaintance with correct doctrine is a poor substitute for Christ, and familiarity with New Testament eschatology will never take the place of a passionate desire to look on his face.

Why would the yearning be gone from the advent hope today for so many people? There must be a reason for it.  One is simply that mainline theology has emphasized the utility of the cross rather than passion for the one who died on it.  The saved person’s relation to Christ has been made contractual instead of personal.  The work of Christ has been stressed until it has eclipsed the person of Christ. Substitution has been allowed to supersede identification.  What he did for me seems to be more important than what He is to me.  Redemption is seen as an across-the-counter transaction which we “accept”, and the whole thing lacks any emotional content.  We must love someone very much to stay awake and long for his coming, and that may explain the absence of power in the advent hope even among those who still believe in it.

Another reason for the absence of real yearning for Christ’s return is that Christians are so comfortable in this world that they have little desire to leave it.  For many prominent Christian leaders who set the pace of religion and determine its content and quality, Christianity has become remarkably lucrative.  Streets paved with gold has less appeal when there is a healthy bank account and numerous comforts and, dare-say, luxuries.  If this is what it means to carry on the service of the Lord here in earth, what is the draw for heaven?  The hope of heaven is more of a kind of insurance option for the eventuality of death.  But as long as we are healthy and comfortable, why change a familiar good for something about which we know very little?  So reasons many of our minds though so subtly that we aren’t even aware of it.

The Christ of Advent in whom we hope is yearning for us to respond with a newfound yearning for him.  But he warns us, once we look upon his face we will be ruined.  We will be ruined for the things of this world.  We will be no longer satisfied with the comforts and luxuries that satiate us now.  We will no longer be focused in the security of our eternal outcome because we will become so focused on the quality of our relationship with him in the here and now–no matter where that takes us.

So get ready for the Advent of Christ!  Open yourself up to the HOPE of his coming right here, right now!

Advent Week 1: Prepare the Way for the Coming of the Lord

Isaiah 40: 1-11, Mark: 1:1-8:

Prepare the way for the Lord; clear a straight path for him.

At the time of Jesus, the expectation of the Messiah was at its highest. Everyone in Israel was waiting eagerly for the Messiah. The different sects in Israel – the Pharisees, the Zealots, the Essenes – were all waiting for the Messiah. When baby Jesus was taken to the Temple, there was Simon, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel. There was Anna, the aging prophetess. She remained at the Temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. She gave thanks to God for Jesus and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Jordan, the whole of Judea and Jerusalem went after him, thinking he would be the Messiah. The people of Israel was a community in waiting, waiting with great expectation for the coming of the Messiah.

The prophet Isaiah had reminded the people to be prepared to receive the Messiah:

Prepare a road for the Lord through the wilderness,

clear a highway across the desert for our God

Every valley shall be lifted up,

every mountain and hill brought down;

the rugged place shall be made smooth

and mountain ranges become a plain. (Isaiah 40:3-4)

This was also the message of John the Baptist. He was the voice in the wilderness exhorting the people to be ready, to prepare themselves morally and spiritually to receive the Messiah. When the people asked him, ‘What shall we do?’, he told them: ‘He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and who has food, let him do likewise’. To the tax collectors he said, ‘Collect no more than is appointed you’. He told the soldiers, ‘Rob no one by violence or by false accusations, and be content with your wages’. Unfortunately, Israel failed to recognize the Messiah when, in the end, he came.

The Church has always believed that Jesus who came at the time of Augustus Caesar will come again. The Church always looks forward to the second coming of Christ. The Church always prays, ‘Lord come’.

But we often forget that we not only recognize a Lord who came two thousand years ago or await a Lord who will come at the end of history. We anticipate a Lord who comes continuously into his world, among his people. Advent is the season when we especially await the coming of who E. Stanley Jones calls the here-and-now-Lord. Every Christmas is a celebration of the real coming of Christ.

Both Israel and the early Church not only waited for the Lord to come, they also believed that when the Messiah came, something new would happen to them, to their Church and to their nation right then.

We celebrate Christmas year after year, but what changes for us or for our communities?  Do we celebrate with expectation?  Do we believe God desires to come and change us? Do we want to be changed?

Let the season of Advent be a time when we look forward with great expectation to the coming of the Lord, trusting that he will do a new thing in our lives, in our families, in our church and in our world.  It is a time when we prepare ourselves to receive him when he comes.  Behold your God, he is coming.

Advent Week 1: The Meaning of Advent

Many of us who have grown up in Protestant churches have little or no understanding of the church calendar.  For many of us, Advent, Epiphany and Lent come go without us even knowing they even happened.  We may notice our Roman Catholic co-worker come into the office with some ashes on their forehead and have some vague recollection of someone somewhere saying something about that to us or enjoy a fish dinner that for some reason comes up every Friday the month before Easter.  But many of us know little about these important markers in the Christian calendar.

I am grateful to my wife for introducing me to the beauty of liturgy and the church calendar.  Growing up in the United Methodist Church her faith traditions had included many of the things that mine forgot, ignored or was simply afraid of because it didn’t understand them.  One of these traditions was the celebration of Advent.  I wanted to share some of what I have learned about Advent because in our modern age where consumerism and materialism seem to be more what Christmas is about than anything, it allows us to keep a focus on Christ.

The word Advent simply means “coming” or “arrival.”  The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.  Therefore, Advent is far more than marking a 2,000 year old event in history.  It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in the Incarnation whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God.

In celebrating Advent, we participate in the process of recognizing the coming of Jesus to us now, in our everyday lives, to help us live our lives with meaning and purpose.  But we also recognize the consummation of which we anticipate–His return.  Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.

In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power.  That acknowledgment provides a basis for Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live “between the times” (listen to Matthew Anderson‘s message on the Easter Effect) and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people.  So, as the church celebrates God’s in-breaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which “all creation is groaning and awaiting its redemption,” it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

Advent Week 1: The hope of His coming

Tonight we lit our first Advent candle.  We have a silver candle holder that reminds us what each week is about.  Week one is the week of HOPE- It is the prophet’s candle, symbolizing the hope we have in Jesus’ coming.  As we begin Advent, in the midst of all the darkness in our lives and in the world, we light a single candle.  It symbolizes our longing, our desire, our hope.

 

There are three “advents” or “comings” that shape our desire.  First, we hope to be renewed in a sense that Jesus came to save us from our sin and death.  But our eternal “security” is not enough.  We long for more.  So secondly, we hope to experience his coming to us now, in our everyday lives, to help us live our lives with meaning and purpose.  And thirdly, we hope to prepare for his coming as He promised us He will return as King and restore things on earth as it is in Heaven.

Advent Week 1: Trust that God will arrive in the least likely places in our lives.

Trust that God arrives in the least likely places in our lives…

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
Isaiah 9:2-3a

In my office I have two little yellow rubber ducks. One is clean and looks like new. The other is scuffed and worn and has been marked up by one of my children. Their contrast is obvious. I use them as a visual aid when asking children to describe to me their consolations and their desolations. These two little ducks are my “par-a-ducks,” reminders to me that two seemingly contradictory realities can be true at the same time—the definition of “paradox.”

Sometimes it’s the very things that cause us the most pain and discomfort—the things we fight so hard against—that are the greatest gifts. In the book Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, authors Yancy and Brand write of how the disease of leprosy kill the nerves that cause pain which contributes to the further destruction of the body. The pain of a blister causes us to shift our weight and avoid further damage to a sensitive area of our foot when walking. A victim of leprosy would walk on that sensitive point without any pain until it becomes an open wound vulnerable to infection and, eventually, at risk for amputation. Pain, something we so desperately avoid and medicate against, is the greatest gift to the victim struggling with leprosy.

In Song of Songs chapter 5 we read of the beloved rushing to the door, hands dripping with myrrh, anticipating her lover on the other side, only to discover that he had gone. She went out into the night to find him and in her quest, she underwent the great pains—beatings, rejection and loneliness. In her despair, she had the courage to praise her lover’s virtues instead of mask her pain with anger or bitterness. In the next chapter, though she was suffering, she spoke of the joy and affection she felt at the thought of her lover. It was there, in her moment of adoration against all hope, that he returned to her.

We see here someone who was willing to not hide from her pain but to embrace it. She longed for her lover and experienced tremendous disappointment when he did not live up to her expectations. But two realities do exist at the same time—consolation and desolation, joy and pain. She chose to live in the tension between the two and was rewarded for it by not only being reunited with her lover but by being praised by him for her faithfulness.

In the midst of our darkness, can we trust that God arrives in the least likely place in our lives? In this season of advent, can I trust in the paradox that my pain could be my greatest gift? I live in that paradox where my deepest yearnings hope for Him while my pain doubts. We have that promise in the Incarnation. The Light of God entered into the darkness of our world and established His kingdom. John 1:5, 14b reads, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… and has made His dwelling among us.”

Praise be to God who arrives in the least likely places of our lives, who makes His home and establishes His kingdom within us and gives us the grace to live in the tension of consolation and desolation, joy and pain, hope for a future kingdom and the reality of a present kingdom.