Joyful

We are now into the third week of Advent, which began last Sunday. As we come closer to the special time of celebrating of the birth of Jesus Christ, Lord of all people, we are able to experience the Joy of his coming! That is the traditional emphasis of this, the third week of Advent: Joy! There is great joy expressed by many people in the Biblical narrative of Jesus’ birth. As we have seen as a part of Gilbert’s sermons, Mary is joyful with the expectation of God’s great work within herself. Elizabeth tells Mary that John “leaped for joy” at the sound of Mary’s greeting. We will see that Angels, foreign kings, and elderly prophetesses all rejoice at the sight of Jesus, at the sight of God come near.

This is our joy as well. We too are joyful to experience God come near to us. We have the great blessing of being able to “put on Christ”, as Paul would say, through the work of the cross- God’s ultimate sacrifice, and goal to extend his salvation to all people through Jesus.

I know a man who, every year around this time, takes a day off of work to do things that for him allow him to celebrate and experience the joy of the season. Taking a day off may not be an option for you, but I encourage each of us to intentionally take time this week to remember and experience the joy of God come near.

The Second Week of Advent

By the time you get this, we should be around half way through the second week of Advent- a season of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth.

When parents are expecting an addition to their family, they do a great deal of planning and preparation. Books are read, diapers are put on dolls, paint colors are examined, safety, feeding, and playtime and pacification items are selected and purchased. And that only scratches the surface!

An ancient Advent symbol, is that of the Advent Wreath. The wreath has four or five candles, and they each symbolize something else. The second candle- lit on the second Sunday of advent is the candle of preparation.

Certainly Mary and Joseph prepared as any parents would (though without modern conveniences, or intricacies!) as they expectantly awaited the arrival of Christ in the world. Just as any parents, I’m sure they got together supplies, advice from those they respected, and prepared a home for their fledgling family.

We too must prepare for the coming of Christ! I think we prepare for two different aspects of his coming. Firstly, His people are about preparing the world for His second coming. We do this by showing God to others and by inviting them to participate in the New Kingdom with us. Secondly, we prepare ourselves to welcome him in our own lives. We must continually prepare ourselves to hear, accept, and follow God’s calling in our lives.

This week, make strong efforts to prepare for the coming of Christ!

Happy New Year!

This past Sunday marked the beginning of the liturgical year. It has traditionally been known as a time of repentance, prayer, fasting and confession. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and is intended to be a season of anticipation. Advent ends on at the end of December 24^th.

During the entire season of Advent we have an opportunity to remember the Israelites’ anticipation of the Messiah. The Israelites anxiously awaited a savior and king for many years. Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of the promise of a Messiah and the coming of the King.

Yet we do not only remember that anticipation, we also experience our own anticipation. Just as the Israelites were anxiously awaiting their King and Savior to come and free them from the situation they were in, so too we await the second coming of Christ, to bring about ultimate salvation that he started (and we have all continued) on the cross.

So what does it mean to be in the Advent season? Well, firstly, I recommend getting excited! As we anticipate, we have the joy of knowing that God will fulfill God’s promises, that Jesus truly IS coming back, and while it may, or may not be this year, we are ever closer to that day! Enter joyful expectation and anticipation as we remind ourselves that just as Christ came once, He is coming again!

Traditionally the first week of Advent also focuses on the need for repentance. If this isn’t a part of your normal life, take time this week to examine your life and repent of sins which you have been indulging in.

Unworthy Servants

‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’ Luke 17:7-10

These are not fun words to listen to! I don’t think I am alone in enjoying the praise of others, and we often feel slighted when we accomplish a task and no one tells us “thank you” or mentions the supremely high quality of our work. We are hooked on positive reinforcement.

And yet, Jesus speaks of an entirely different mindset that we should have as we serve him. He tells us when we have done what we are commanded that we should say “we are unworthy servants; we have only done what is our duty.” This of course begs the question “What is our duty?” Obviously there are many answers to this question. As each is called to do different works, so our duty is to perform those different works. We may not always receive praise for the things we do, but it is our duty nonetheless and we should not be hampered in our doing by anything!

Present

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"God is like a person who clears her throat while hiding and so gives herself away." –Meister Eckhart

Eckhart con Hochheim (Meister Eckhart) was a German theologian who lived from 1260-1327. The picture he paints in my mind with these words is the story of a person playing hide and seek with a small child. Just when the child is about to get distracted the mother will make her presence known with a small noise in order to experience the joy of being found by her child. What a beautiful picture of God! And while it may be more accurate to say that more often we are those in hiding (or perhaps, at times, we are running away) and it is God who is searching, Eckhart reminds us that the whole world hums with the presence of God, if only we attend, to come awake to his presence.

When we fail to attend, when, like a small child we are distracted by the things that surround us, we are often drawn back by a small cough: a song, a scripture, a dinner with a friend, the beauty of the world which God has created, and our attention is drawn back to that undeniable presence of God in this world.

The world is pregnant with the presence of God. God's creation teems with God's presence, are you ignoring God's presence, or attending to it? In what ways is God trying to get your attention? What are the things that are distracting your from God?

Conrad Cornelius O’Donald O’Dell

On Beyond Zebra by Dr. Seuss is a story of Conrad O’Dell who, after declaring that he knows “everything anyone knows” (because he knows all the letters of the alphabet), finds out that there is much more to the alphabet than just the 26 letters A-Z.

His friend, the narrator of the story, introduces Conrad to a whole new world, one which cannot be described by only using the “first” 26 letters of the alphabet. He says: "In the places I go there are things that I see/ That I never could spell if I stopped with the Z./ I'm telling you this 'cause you're one of my friends./ My alphabet starts where your alphabet ends!"

Conrad has learned all that he can from people that use only 26 letters, but his friend is able to show him that there is more in their world than 26 letters can categorize.

I think as Christians we find ourselves in a similar place. Being a part of the modern era, there are many people who restrict Truth to that which can be defined by the “26 letters” of Science. While Christians do not say that the first 26 letters of Science are bad, we also know that there are more letters! For example, God himself is outside the bounds of direct scientific discovery. This means that we don’t have to play by societies rules, simply within the bounds of Science. We can tell our friends about the extra letters that we know about - just like the narrator of the story, and we need not be ashamed to!

On a side note: I know that I haven't updated in awhile, but I will post all my articles up soon with the dates of their authorship (they will appear before this one)

The Word

It is very interesting to me to see the different ways that people read the text of the Bible. There are many different approaches taken, and though it has taken me longer to realize than it should have, each of the approaches are valuable and have an important place in the church body. Some people read the Bible academically; they enjoy studying the socio-political intricacies that surround the author and his text. Often the academic’s goal is to understand what the author was saying to his original audience, so that one may discover how that text should apply to us today.

Approaching the Bible academically is not the only way to approach the Bible, it is also accessible through devotional reading. Instead of attempting to enter into deep study into the particulars surrounding the text, the devotional reader opens their heart and mind to God while they read through the text. While academic reading benefits from structure, devotional reading benefits from the lack thereof, allowing God to move through the very reading of the text.

These are just two simple examples of different ways that we as Christians approach the word of God. We also read by ourselves, and in community, in silence, and in proclamation. I think it’s a testament to the power and love of God for his people that the text can be approached in so many different ways by so many different people, and yet all can come away from the text having heard the Word of the Lord!