In my tradition we call this pre-Christmas time, ‘Advent.’ It comes from the Latin word
for ‘arrival.’ That is to say for the
four weeks before Christmas we ready ourselves for the arrival of Jesus on Christmas morning. However, the word Advent is a double-entendre. You see, the baby Jesus has already come and
gone, but he did promise to return to us.
So… the season of Advent is the time we sit in the tension of
remembering the birth of our Lord and preparing for his second arrival.
The Advent wreath is a staple of the Advent season. It has three purple candles, a pink candle,
and a white one in the middle. Sort of
like Chanukah, each Sunday during Advent we say a prayer and light a candle
(and on Christmas Eve we light the middle one).
The Advent wreath not only acts like a calendar, counting down the weeks until Christmas, but it is a contemplative tool, reminding us what Jesus’ return
means for the world. Furthermore, in the
midst of this reminder, we as the church, the incarnation of Jesus, the hands
of feet of Jesus on earth, the gathering of people who show the world who God
is, what God is like and where God exists, are called, each week, to embody a
different element of what Jesus’ arrival means to the world. For the first week, we light a candle in the
name of hope, the second, peace.
And yesterday we lit a candle in the name of joy. Next Sunday we light
one in the name of love.
As I have grieved the massacre of last Friday’s tragedy in
Connecticut and listened to the sounds of the culture, arguing about gun
control, who to blame, and the rest, I believe that we mustn’t forget our
responsibility in this time of Advent.
 |
| This is not the end of the world... |
What I mean to say is, when tragedy strikes at this
magnitude, it’s easy to believe that the narrative has somehow changed;
that the times we live in are worse than ever.
That with the onslaught of stories coming out about mass murder, earthquakes, drought, war, famine, and the
Mayan calendar (more on that later), that somehow we have hit rock bottom. Because our narrative of safety and security
has been rocked and disillusioned we somehow have to take up arms, fear our
neighbors, bunker down and start thinking about ourselves. Or that, now more than ever, we need to get
rid of all the guns.
It’s easy to believe that somehow this tension we feel, this
realization that we have no control, means our idealisms about trust, expecting
goodness in everyone and being a good neighbor to all, are a fantasy and we
need to take immediate action to secure and protect ourselves.
What happened last Friday was a distraction. Yes, we
grieve. Yes, we stop and pray. Yes, we dialogue about it. But even in the midst of tragedy, the story
stays the same: God is in charge and is making all things new.
So I urge my fellow Christians, go back to your posture of
Advent. You may need to continue to
grieve and dialogue, I know I will. But remember that
your first responsibility to the world this time of year is to embody hope,
peace, joy and love. Even as the volume
of fear and anxiety get turned up to its loudest volume, we must endure with
our mission. We must continue to spread
our message to the world that there is something to hope for. We must demonstrate that things are in fact
getting better. We must be the people
that make peace in all of our circles and find that tiny speck of joy amidst so
much anguish. And above all love our neighbor, our enemies, and those who's opinions make our blood boil.
Do you believe that God is working to make the creation
whole again? Do you believe that it’s
getting better? Do you believe that God
is in charge? Do you believe that hope,
peace, joy and love are growing and growing like a mighty oak tree bursting its
way through the pavement?
Do you?
Then prove it.
Shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment