The Longing of Advent...

The season of Advent begins in Hope. Advent begins the Christian year by reminding us that all of history is moving toward God’s fulfillment of creation. Throughout Advent we hear the prophets of the Old Testament pointing us toward a vision of the world where everyone will have enough, swords will be beaten into plowshares, people will not hurt or exploit other people, all of creation will live in harmony – the lion will lie down with the lamb, the wolf and the kid together, even death itself will be swallowed up. All the earth will be in communion with God.

Even the most casual observer will notice that the world is not yet that kind of place. Suffering, hunger, pain, greed, war and violence, fear, and a sense of scarcity are all too prevalent in our world. The world aches. Do we not ache right along with the world? Do we not worry ourselves about the future? Do the things that affect others simply roll off our backs?

We all long for the day when those things are replaced by God’s day of peace. The season of Advent gives the church the opportunity to express that longing in our worship. It helps us express our need for the coming of Christ, both in the past as a baby in a manger and in the future as the one who will complete the work begun in his life, death and resurrection. The cry of Advent is, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that morns in lowly exile here, until the Son of God appear…O come, Desire of nations, bind our spirits in one heart and mind; bid envy, strife and quarrels cease; fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.”

In addition, the cries of “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!” as well as “Prepare the way of the Lord!” ring out right alongside the cries of longing. We are getting ready for Christmas. We are getting ready for the arrival of Emmanuel, God with us; the one who will bring about God’s glorious vision. With Advent, the church celebrates Christmas, not as an end to a season of shopping and busy-ness, but as the beginning of a season of fulfillment for our longing, “…the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

Imagine with me that all of history, all of time is a pond that sits between two trees – the tree of life in the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9) and the tree of life described in the book of Revelation (Rev. 22:2). The Christ event – the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is a leaf that falls, from which tree we cannot tell because the branches of both trees have become intertwined over the pond; we cannot tell where one tree begins and the other ends. As far as we know it is a leaf that is shared by both trees. When the leaf hits the surface of the pond the ripples extend in all directions: forward, backward, from side to side impacting the whole surface of the pond; impacting all of time.

In the church this is our longing, this is our preparation, this is our fulfillment.

Shalom Y'all!

From Late November....

(To read this, you must transport your mind back to late-November or early-December)

During this time of the year I have a struggle, a battle really, going on inside myself. It is a battle that will probably never be completely resolved between the cynical side, the ‘wanting to participate in that about which I am cynical’ side, the nostalgic side, and the optimistic side of me.

The cynical side of me was best expressed by a friend of mine. After noticing the shift in all the stores, catalogs and emails the day after Halloween she was inspired to observe in her Facebook status, “We went from ‘gimme gimme gimme candy’ at Halloween to ‘gimme gimme gimme presents’ at Christmas without pausing to offer thanks in between.” It seems we are supposed to be excited about “Black Friday” rather than Thanksgiving. Worse, in my mind, is that we have replaced the longing of Advent (I will say more about this longing next time) with the longing for stuff…stuff that is momentarily satisfying but certainly not fulfilling. Even Thanksgiving seems to have become the appetizer for Christmas. People just don’t get it!!!

Then there is that side of me that wants to participate in all that. I like giving and receiving presents. I walk by the Nintendo Wii at Wal-Mart and glance at the ‘new low price’ and think to myself, “How can I not buy it at that price?” Thanksgiving dinner is always so good and there is always so much of it! And of course, those football games don’t watch themselves so somebody has to do it. I get sucked into it all. I just don’t get it!!!

Then there is the nostalgic side. I have so many wonderful memories of family Thanksgivings and Christmases past. There was one year that I counted down to Christmas beginning sometime in mid-January. I even cry at the coffee commercials…I mean something seems to get in my eye at the very same moment those coffee commercials (you know the ones) come on. I love the traditions, the families, the friends, the warmth in the middle of the cold weather, children’s programs, hot cocoa and Christmas cookies. And I get goosebumps every year when Linus recites the Christmas story (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA).

Finally, there is my optimistic side. This is the side for which I cheer. I really want this side to win, because without it the battle would simply sap all of my energy. The things I notice give me hope along the way as the other three sides go at each other. I notice that people are using their daily Facebook status updates to tell others why they are thankful. I notice that people are coming together to prepare the Community Thanksgiving Dinner. I notice a moment when somebody ‘gets it’. I notice the bells of the Salvation Army ringers calling us to remember the poor in all of our overabundance. I hear the call of the prophets in worship and remember that, while the world aches, it does not do so in vain. God is faithful! God desires all of creation to flourish. Even when we don’t get it, when I don’t get it God knows the deepest longings of creation and will meet us all in those aches.

My friends, I am so grateful for you. I look forward to sharing together with you the grand mix of hope and nostalgia, getting it right and getting it confused, thanking and anticipating! God be with you.

Shalom Y'all!

Asking Others for Prayer

John 13:8 – Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."

As my congregation was adding to the prayer walls in each service one Sunday, I couldn’t help but notice there are a lot of people for whom we are praying by name. This is wonderful! I hope that praying for someone in particular on a regular basis has begun to shape you a bit. I also hope those who are being prayed for feel the warmth and light of those prayers.

I also couldn’t help but notice that the other wall, the wall on which we were naming those who were praying for us seems a little barren. It would seem that the task of finding someone and asking them to pray for us has been difficult for most of us. I must admit some difficulty with this myself. I ended up copping out and asking my Pastoral Relations Committee. I hope that each of them was praying for me already. Otherwise, however, I have not done the very thing I have asked you all to do.

What makes it so difficult to ask people for prayers I wonder? It seems to be easy to ask for prayers when someone is sick or when someone we know is hurting. It may even be easier for us to ask for prayers for ourselves if we see a ‘legitimate reason’, i.e. an upcoming surgery, a death in the family, even when we are ill. But to just ask for prayer without any sort of obvious (from the outside) reason just seems to be more difficult than we anticipate.

Maybe we have trouble sharing our needs with others. It would certainly be understandable. In our culture self-sufficiency is a virtue and needing others regularly is frowned upon in many ways. We admire ‘self-made’ people (as if that were a possibility).

Maybe we don’t want to let anyone know that for which we really need prayer. Our secrets, our weaknesses, our temptations make us seem so fragile, naming them aloud would make them a little more real and closer to us. Besides, then someone else would know. They would know we are not the people we try to be.

Or maybe we are like Peter, simply unaware of our need, our need for intervention, our need to be served not only by someone else but also by the very person of Jesus. Do we think that there must be a ‘legitimate reason’ obvious to others for us to ask for prayers from them? Do we think there are things too small for God’s interest? Do we think there are times that we are not really in need of God’s attention?

In fact, we are always in need of God’s attention. God creates, sustains and redeems. God loves each of us and desires life, abundant life for all of creation. It is God who brings about in us the changes we need to have life abundantly. Moreover, God lives powerfully in the community of faith. When we open ourselves up to one another, become vulnerable with each other that we also make ourselves more open and vulnerable to God’s redeeming work. “The well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Mark 2:17)

So here’s the deal. I will commit myself to asking someone to pray for me before Sunday – in fact, I already have that person in mind. I hope if you have not done so already that you will consider joining me in this difficult task. I believe that not only will this help shape us as individuals and strengthen us to be disciples of Jesus Christ, but it will also be a shaping practice of our congregation.

Shalom Y'all!