Advent 3a – Hang on, God's Comin'

Christmas happened (and happens) because God loves – loves all of us so much that God will do simply anything to reach us. The desired response is that we pass that same love onto the rest of “the world”. Some people don’t get this. They believe that only those who accept Christ (or Muhammad, or whoever) are “in”. But, speaking to Christians, I challenge you to find anything in John 3:16, that much-referenced-by-conservatives verse, which even hints at exclusivity.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.

Look at the second half of the verse, you say? Yes, it does say those who believe are graced. What it doesn’t say, doesn’t even suggest, is that the ones who don’t believe won’t receive similar grace. Not at all! They’re not being mentioned shouldn’t be read as something that’s not there. This is about God loving, people believing, and it working out for all of them. Period.

There are lots of places in scripture where we could totally get off track and go in a wrong direction. Case in point? centuries of people having an image of a punitive God meting out punishment.

Say to those who are panicking:
    “Be strong! Don’t fear!
    Here’s your God,
        coming with vengeance;
         with divine retribution
God will come to save you.” Isaiah 35:4

It’d easy to do, especially when we take verses like this one and pull them apart from what surrounds them. Keeping two things in mind helps:

1. Much of the Bible, especially the Older Testament, was written by individuals trying to make sense of who or what God was, who they were as a people, and what God wanted from them.
   This wasn’t about God steering pencils as people took heavenly dictation, but about faithful people trying to discern God’s way. And, second,
2. Context is everything. 

Take the example above. It sounds like God’s taking my side against all comers. But let’s remember that the writers are products of their times. (I say writers because Isaiah was written over a period of 200 years.) By the time they were writing, people'd had some time to grow into the idea of having one God – a crazy-modern concept – but like their contemporaries, they still believed their god was vengeful. All gods were vengeful. And of course, theirs was on their side  when they’re taken into exile. That’s just how gods worked!

Picture God banging their head against a wall. Okay, maybe that’s too weird, but God knows, even if ancient biblical writers didn’t, that this isn’t God's way. So in good time, God has us meet Jesus who works to teach people about God's justice. It was there all along; just look at the verses that follow.

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.
Then the lame will leap like the deer,
    and the tongue of the speechless will sing...
The Lord’s ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing,
    with everlasting joy upon their heads.
Happiness and joy will overwhelm them;
    grief and groaning will flee away. 35:5-6a, 10 

This chapter of Isaiah is part of the rotation of texts read during Advent. The writer talks about being exiled and taken far from home. He doesn't mince words. "We've messed up and there are consequence. It'll be hard, but be strong. Hold tight. It will happen. God will take care of us. In the end, it'll all work out.” Only he says it in very old poetic Hebrew. When we read it this way, it makes sense that it's an Advent text.

Where in your life do you need to be strong and hold tight?
Are you questioning how it can possibly work out?

Maybe this week we could each practice resting in confidence that God's seen it all. Maybe we can't imagine being on the other side of our bad situations, but God's on it, and in the end, we will be able to look back and say, "Hallelujah! We made it."

Advent 2a – Why Not All Year?

His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Isaiah 11:3b-4a

A couple of times this past week, someone mentioned that people are kinder as we approach Christmas. One of those times, another person added that it’s like we’re allowed, and expected, to be more caring. I think she’s right. Each December, we get messages from within and from the world around us to share goodwill.

I’m speculating that “celebrating” Christmas grew concurrently with colonization. Europeans took over much of the rest of the world, purportedly to save native peoples from themselves. As they/we imposed our religion on these nations, colonizeds’ customs were, at least in some instances, incorporated into the European practices. Making a long story very short, “the holiday season” roots were planted. And, my, how they’ve flourished. Now besides making a big holiday deal out of Christmas – as opposed to Holy Day – we’ve added Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and likely other December celebrations I’m unaware of.

Celebration is a good thing. We need moments/days/months when we cease our business-as-usual, lift our heads, and glorify our maker. Doing this, we become part of something bigger than ourselves. And by stopping, we face the truths that 1) we can stop and 2) a lot of what we do in our lives is not as important as we believe it is.

Celebrating is good for us, and those around us. We’re more generous in times of celebration. (Think of the prodigal dad roasting a fatted calf when his wayward son came home.) Anticipation and social expectation lead us to share our resources more freely than at any other time of year. Not only that but nonprofits know that many of us still have planning giving to do before year’s end, so our mailboxes overflow with pleas for support.

My question is, why only now? Why not all year?

At our church conference on Monday, we were preparing to vote on whether or not to begin a needed capital campaign. Part of the proposal stated that a certain amount of the money raised would be given to a particular local nonprofit. People asked questions and offered their viewpoints, but Bob’s* question struck me. “If this [giving] is so important, why don’t we have a line in our budget for regular support?” Why, indeed?

Advent, these four weeks before Christmas, is historically a time of repentance (we’ve largely gotten away from that) and preparation. For most people these days, preparation includes decorating, shopping, and music. Only for some is it about self-examination, but that’s the original hope. And that’s what we need more of.

It’s not too late to join a group for some conversation about what you should be noticing this Advent or to do some quiet introspection. Notice, make a plan, then act on it.

Advent blessing.
Jayneann
______
*Not his real name

Advent 1a – Prophets, New Beginnings

From,Cassi Alexandra 

Be vigilant. You have no idea when the Human One is going to show up. Matthew 24:44

Happy New Year!

What? You didn’t know this was the new year? Well, it isn’t on the calendar, of course, but as far as the Church is concerned, today is the first day of the year.

I’ve long been one to celebrate new beginnings – the New Year, the beginning of the school year in September, and this, the first Sunday of Advent, the start of the Christian calendar.

This is a day of new beginnings,

time to remember, and move on,

time to believe what love is bringing,

laying to rest the pain that's gone. [1]

Yes, I like new beginnings. (I regularly make enough mistakes that the idea of fresh starts – each day, even – appeals to me.) I also really like Advent. I not really drawn to the Second Coming of Christ focus that the Church has traditionally used in early Advent. For me, reading and talking about the words of the Hebrew prophets is always a plus, something we need and don’t get enough of today.

Now just to clarify, Hebrew prophets weren’t seers or oracles. Their job wasn’t to foretell anything, although we Christians have worked hard to co-opt as much as we could from their prophecies. I don’t mean these prophetic words have no place in our Christian understanding. It's just that when we spend so much effort pointing them at Jesus, we can miss the point of what the prophet was initially conveying. And we need to hear that, today as much as at anytime in history.

Hebrew prophets spoke God’s hard word to a people who weren’t interested in hearing it. I say “hard word” because so much of what they conveyed was, "You people need to shape up – or else!" Who wants to hear that, especially if the current system works for you? (This is why the prophet's life was/is so tough.)

And while

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

seems like it was written for an event 700 years later, we might wonder what the original meaning was.

If we had an old-time prophet here in Appleton, or in the place where you live, what would they have to say about the ways people are living today? (And yes, I’m using “they” on purpose. I’ve long had issue with the overuse of male pronouns. Now that some people are identifying as “they” we finally have a non-gendered way to speak of unknown individuals, or – dare I say it? – God.) But, back to my question, what “hard word” might an early-21st century prophet have to say to us?

Wait, we do! Some of them are individuals, maybe Bono, maybe Jean Vanier. Some of them are groups, maybe Futures Without Violence, maybe the folks at Standing Rock.

Are we listening?

[1] Brian Wren, “This Is a Day of New Beginnings”

rock or sand?

Built on the Drina River, Serbia in 1968. 

The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house.
It fell and was completely destroyed.” Matthew 7:27 CEB

This fall, I had my gutters cleaned and gutter guards installed. With all the rain this summer, I've had plenty of opportunity to notice that they were clogged. I'm hoping the basement will be drier after this. It's an old house, and this's only a hope, but it'd be nice.

I've known that verse (above) most of my life. And I've worked to "build my life" on God and God's precepts. But today I was struck, maybe for the first time, by an earlier phrase: "Everybody who hears my words and puts them into practice..."

This parable about builders –  one who built their house on solid rock, the other on sand – concludes what we commonly call The Sermon on the Mount, a whole string of Jesus' teachings that begin with "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." then go on to include:

• Being salt & light
• "You've heard it said" sayings
• You've heard "Don't murder," but I say, "Don't even think, 'You, fool!'"
• You've heard "An eye for an eye," but I say, "Give to whoever begs"
• You've heard "Hate your enemy," but I say, ""Love everyone"
• Don't be a hypocrite
• No one can serve two masters
• Don't worry ... Don't judge ... Don't give what's precious to those who can't appreciate it
• Trees are known by their fruit
• Build on solid foundations
• and more...

Gee, talk about a winding sermon! In truth, this's probably a compilation of wise saying and teachings that the person we call Matthew put together from what he'd learned about Jesus. After all, he was writing decades after Jesus' execution and there were no recording devices back then. (So much for our Red-Letter bibles.) Not that I mean to devalue the ideas. It's all good stuff; it's just that it didn't happen while everyone was sitting on a hill having a picnic. And that part about building on a solid foundation ... maybe Jesus didn't say it at the end of a long speech, but whenever he said it, we can trust it was because we need to hear it. 

I've noticed though that sometimes when people sing or preach this story, seldom is attention given to the "act on them" phrase. Granted, some of us – many, actually – do practice living out parts of scripture, but we often do so without considering the meta-story.

What was the overarching message Jesus worked to communicate? Maybe you respond, Love, without even having to think about it. And, while that's a good answer, I suggest that maybe it's more than that. 

I'm still working on this, but I'm pretty sure that in addition to communicating God's love for all of creation and God's eagerness to connect with us, Jesus was trying to get through to us that God intends for us to turn the world (or maybe the "world" as we understand it) upside-down. This is something very few of us are really interested in. (In fact, it's what got Jesus killed.) And, yet, so much of what Jesus conveys is presented over-against what the folks back then understood as religion, as community, as leadership, as, faith, as life. Or what we understand to be those things.

That's the message I find. That's the message we're supposed to be practicing ... in our conversations, in our politics, in our jobs... well, you get the idea. 

May God bless you as you ponder the ways you live out your faith.

“Everybody who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise builder who built a house on bedrock..." Matthew 7:24 CEB