Advent of Restoration: Love

Today we light the gold candle of love as we remember how the Love of God came to live among us and took on our flesh.

We relight the green candle of faith to kindle within us the faith we are to have in God’s promises.

We relight the blue candle of hope to reignite our joy in the hope of Christ’s return.

Luke 1:26-38

Love is a four letter word. Our public discourse prides itself on declaring what is love, but quickly shows hatred with any who disagrees. Our songs sorrowfully, excitedly, and at times passionately describe love, but only for a moment and then the moment’s gone. Our expectations of love, shaped by movies, peer pressure, and the current social climate, leave us looking for the heavens, but crashes us down to earth when expectations do not meet reality. Love is a four letter word.

Now before I’m accused of writing another jeremiad against the modern world, consider the world of 1st century Corinth.

“Re-established” as a Roman city in 44 BC (i.e. Rome sent colonists to rebuild a city conquered a hundred years earlier), it became representative of life in the Mediterranean. This included both philosophical schools as well as religious and social practices. For example, evidence suggests some of the early mystery cults of Isis, Dionysus, etc. had taken root there. These religious groups devoted themselves almost exclusively to one god and granted initiates special privileges outsiders could not receive. Because of the intimate level of devotion present, members of these cults kept their practices a secret to avoid making them mundane or being defiled.

In this the early Church saw similarities to its own faith. Secret services not available to the public. Opportunities to undergo certain rites granted to members only. And of course, the emphasis of worship to one deity.

However, these similarities were superficial and led to some predicaments for the believers there. As St. Paul describes in chapters 8 and 10 of his first letter to them, these cults as well as the more public ones would often involve sacrificing animals which were later eaten or sold in the market places. Unfortunately, it was difficult to know which pieces were used in the sacrifice and which had not. To make matters more difficult, some of the believers would be invited to attend parties and other social get-togethers where such foods were offered as well. Could these Christians eat meat offered to false gods? More specifically, did it mean the Christian was communing with demons?

There was also the issue of the worship of Aphrodite who had a popular center of worship there before the Romans and afterwards when she was merged with the goddess Venus. While textbooks will discreetly describe the goddess as the patron of love and beauty to school children, it would be more accurate to depict her as the goddess of feminine wiles as well as sexual recreations. Her priests and priestesses would often make themselves available to worshippers as a means to praise the goddess and gain her favor. And if the historical accounts and Greco-Roman myths are any indication, love-making for Aphrodite was not just for monogamous, heterosexual relationships. Hence the long passages Paul dedicates in both of his epistles for people to flee such behaviors. (Apparently sexual deviance was so common place, that Paul had to condemn a practice the pagans found unnatural: sleeping with one’s step-mother.)

In each of these vices, Paul is met with abuse and rebellion whenever he attempts to correct the Corinthian church. Why? Well, to use the words of this age, “It isn’t loving. It isn’t kind. Paul is just spreading hate.” His authority and the validity of his message were called into question because he opposed what was deemed acceptable. The world of ancient Corinth was tragically unaligned with the truth and as a result rejected it passionately. With this in mind, consider the world I described above where love is a four letter word.

As much as I find the passage cliched and overused, I Cor. 13 wonderfully gives a glimpse of how we can align ourselves with reality and what love actually is. Despite what we hear, love is not showy and demanding the world to accept it. Doesn’t take what is evil and attempt to define it as good. Nor does it surrender or treat others ugly who do not act like us. Love, however, is humble. Love does not attempt to blur the line between good and evil. Love continually waits and blesses others until it has outlasted them.

In our reading today, Mary serves as the antithesis of Corinth & Aphrodite. She humbly accepts the blessing and challenge of being the human mother of God himself. She does not see the angel’s message as an excuse to give over into lust passions, but inquires how this miracle will be accomplished with her virginity. She does not seek to accuse the Lord of taking advantage of her or lord this news over her neighbors. Instead she submits her will to God and later blesses the least fortunate as an act of praise.

This Advent season, let us restore true, authentic love into our lives. While the world parades and prides itself on what it thinks love is, let us quietly and humbly show it to others. While the world seeks the latest high or loving feeling, let us patiently work towards a love that lasts. While the world paints a picture that is idyllic, let us take hold of what is real, both the beautiful and the ugly, and show kindness that we ourselves do not deserve.

Advent of Restoration: Hope

Today, we light the blue candle of hope as we rejoice in the hope at the second coming of Christ and the daily joy he brings into our lives.

We relight the green candle of faith to kindle within us the faith we are to have in God’s promises.

Luke 1:5-31

Growing up one of the films I loved to watch was Dreamwork’s Prince of Egypt. While part of this was due to being cartoon (and I’m still a fan of 2-D animation), the biggest reason was for my love of the Passover story in Exodus. Unsurprisingly, I was also a fan of The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston as Moses. But what the Prince of Egypt did better than its predecessor was conveying the sense of despair of the Hebrews from the very first scene.

The unseen choir perfectly matches the oppressive and monotonous life of the Hebrew slaves by chanting each step in making the mud bricks for the Egyptians. Then the music quickly switches over to their bitter complaints:

“With the sting of the whip on my shoulder
With the salt of my sweat on my brow
Elohim, God on high, can you hear your people cry?“

This cry of despair asking if God is even paying attention is a common theme in the Old & New Testaments. Sometimes the complaints are petty such as the Israelites complaining of the lack of food and water in the desert or a king to rule over them. Other times the situations are quite dire. Job lifts his lament and bewilderment up to heaven, wondering why his circumstances have changed so drastically. The Jewish captives led off to exile by the Assyrians and Babylonians rightfully wondered if they would ever see home again. And of course the disciples at times lost heart, even asking Christ if he cared that they drowned in a storm.

Similarly in our own lives, we often wonder if God is paying attention. Doesn’t he see the stress and anxiety the daily commute brings because that soccer mom cut me off? And how does he expect me to function when that one student or coworker makes my job a nightmare? What does he expect when my depression cripples me from doing anything? How do I succeed when I have all this student debt that I tirelessly try to work off? Does he see my scars from abuse? Does he notice my fear of condemnation for being pregnant as a high schooler? How much longer will I be a slave to my drug habits that have ruined my finances and relationships?

In these situations, our petitions could be described as requests for deliverance. While this is natural, we unfortunately end it there. We just want an escape which surprisingly isn’t satisfying. If he were to immediately end your addiction to narcotics or opioids, does this solve the reason for why you felt you needed them in the first place? If he were to remove that annoying or perhaps even dangerous driver from your daily commute, will your patience or temper actually improve? Do we really want an escape or something else?

In the movie Prince of Egypt, the opening number is not merely a musical lament and longing for escape. Rather, it is a prayer for God to restore them.

“Deliver us (deliver us)
Hear our prayer, deliver us
From despair, these years of slavery
Grown too cruel to stand
Deliver us
There’s a land You promised us
Deliver us from the bondage
And deliver us to the Promised Land“

Just being taken out of slavery or Egypt isn’t what they’re wanting. They want to be brought to the place God had set aside and promised to them. (Before anyone says, “That’s not how the Bible describes it” I would argue that God reveals this to be the true desire from the burning bush. Ergo, my point still stands.) Their time in Egypt has taken something from them, and they want it returned. This is why God brought judgments on the Israelites for their complaints in the desert and comforted Job by revealing himself. It wasn’t a matter of how significant the complaint was. It was what they desired that mattered. The Israelites who wandered in the desert desired to simply be free of their discomforts. Job did not want an escape, he wanted to know why his relationship with God had changed and how it might be restored.

In today’s reading, the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were without children due to the barrenness and their old age. These two things had deprived them of a joy they saw in others. It brought a sense of shame to them as children were, as they should be today, seen as a blessing from God. It is this moment of sorrow does Gabriel appear to declare God’s plan to restore these two godly individuals with a child. Not only will this child provide the joy they had so longed for, he will also declare the coming restoration of mankind through Christ. Thus we see there is hope of not only restoration for us but from being restored as well.

This season Advent, let us take time to pray that God not merely deliver us from trials but restores us as well. As Christians, we can expect difficulties of all kinds. Yet our hope is not in Christ taking these things from us. Rather our hope is in his return that we might be restored to him.

Advent of Restoration-Faith

Today, we light the green candle of faith to remind us of our faith in the promises of God and the coming of His Son.  Let us reflect on the great mercy bestowed upon the world by Christ’s first coming and remove those obstacles which prevent us from sharing the gospel with others and readying ourselves for his return.

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7, 40:3-5, 52:7

Imagine what it must have been like in the garden.

As the first human and only recently created, Adam must have experienced a sensory overload. The smell of truly clean air filled with the aromas of all types of flowers. The brilliance of the sun shining upon the earth. The feel of a gentle wind against his face and through his hair. Each and every fruit and vegetable he came across would be a new delight to his tongue. The sound of birds singing, water splashing, and animals calling would have seemed like an orchestra to him. When he recognizes that he is alone, God provides for him a companion to share in those experiences and to create new ones as well. And being placed in the Garden of Eden to tend it, Adam also enjoyed a profound relationship with God.

If this sounds idyllic and fanciful, that’s because this scene is what once was and will be again. For after this all too short time in paradise, the dynamics of creation changed to what we know it as today.

The air is rarely, and only in certain places, truly clean. The sun burns, scalds, and induces cancer. The wind tears apart homes, erodes fertile soil, and can be biting with cold. Crops must be carefully tended to avoid disease or an infestation of insects. Their flavors often needing salt or sugar to be found palatable. The creatures of the world still make music, but just as often in terror or wariness of humanity as it is in joy. Man is no longer alone, but is often in conflict with his neighbor. Manipulation, resentment, and malice now vie with love and kindness. And the profound relationship with God is as beyond our reach as the entry into the garden.

It is this world the prophet addresses. This is a world that should not have been but is. An element of chaos and death was brought into it. And now we are bound to a dark fate of separation from God and to be ruled by oppressive spirits and passions. To this world, the prophet speaks. To this world, the prophet pleads with us to have faith.

Now some would mock the prophet’s message. “The dead do not come back to life.” “Why must our hope be in a man and not woman?” “A king will not let us do as we will or listen to our voice.” “There is no God.”

But look at the objects of their faith! For one a crusade of identity and calling on all to “be brave” and “come out” is the highest means of salvation. Do as you will for there is no story or truth but your own. Another makes altar calls to the voting booths. The heretics sit in the high offices and must be removed by vote or force! Another turns to glory of science and all that can be observed and controlled. Do not dare question this deity for that would put you in opposition to reality.

Yet each, according to their time, will lapse in faith or switch faiths. Each is forced to acknowledge the folly of their faith or else double down on what they know cannot be true. And each must face death wondering, “What lies beyond this moment? How did my time as an activist, policy maker, or believer in the science prepare me for this?” Even while they live, their messages do not bring comfort except in delusions and vilifying those who will not follow them. Those who put their trust in them find they are still in bondage and darkness. The life of the garden has not been restored.

Thus the prophet proclaims, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined…For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given…The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together…’Your God reigns!'”

The object, the person of our faith has not been overcome by death but has overcome death. He has come as the most humble and vulnerable of persons, a child. He has not hid his glory or the freedom he brings to a select few but has freely given it to all and for all. Though tyrants and petty officials make edicts and execute orders, he continues to reign over us. Not to subject us to an arbitrary will, but to bring us back into the garden with him once more.

An Advent of Restoration

Every year it’s the same thing. As soon as the spooks, witches, and goblins have their night of fun, the wreaths, snowmen, and elves appear for a two month jamboree.

The malls and shopping centers blast some horrid collection of winter themed songs. Inboxes and mail boxes become inundated with well wishes from companies that wouldn’t care if you had a happy holiday season but only if you purchase an item that’s on sale. There’s the manic frenzy of fulfilling people’s wish lists. And then the anxiety of having to do the horrid liturgics of holiday parties. Thanksgiving starts those off with a bang where everyone is only thankful for the post-meal coma and the opportunity to call it over when they leave. Next come the school plays and the office parties. Minor interruptions but unpleasant all the same. And then the detestable duo: Christmas and New Years. The one is another opportunity to be irritated and completely miserable by family and friends. The other the hope of better things to come, but most have already sensibly dismissed it as a false one.

If you’re still reading this, you’d be forgiven for thinking I am a Scrooge of the worst kind. But that is not the case.

No doubt there are moments during this time of year where all is right with the world and peace on earth. No doubt there are family and friends who brighten the long dark nights of this season. And it is in fact quite credible to believe there are those who do not observe this time with petty resentments or shallow commercialism.

So why such a negative start to the Advent Season?

Because we should be challenged to truly see how the world celebrates this time of year. Notice all the energy and time spent. And to what end? Yes, having happy moments with family and seeing the joy on children’s faces as they rip open their carefully wrapped presents are good. But they don’t last. The wrapping paper has to be thrown away. Only a select couple of toys are played with while the rest are tucked away into a closet until an yard sale opportunity appears in the spring. And besides, are there not enough days and seasons in the year to gather with friends and family without feeling compelled to in the last few weeks of the year? Is there really any wonder why the conversations during these “holy-days” are stereotyped with heated political debates, awkward family reunions, and embarrassing questions of one’s educational future or relationship status?

To be honest, we’re encouraged to engage in activities that leave us hollow. Everything is presented as a quick fix or a magical solution to the problems experienced all year long. And if you recognize none of it works and declare the emperor naked, you just don’t get it. Your mental state is unhealthy. You’re just a Scrooge, a hater if you will.

Thankfully, this is not the only option. The Church has wisely provided for us a time to truly prepare for a real solution. We are not called to fill ourselves and our social calendars. Rather we are encouraged to empty ourselves with fasting. We are prompted to empty our social calendars to make room for more moments of prayer and worship. We are emboldened to give of ourselves without concern of what will be given in return.

In doing this we recognize and address the emptiness within us. We see the wrongs done by and to us with greater clarity. And we are therefore turned to focus with even greater discipline of him who came, and is still to come, to restore us. By his birth, Christ forgives the injuries we’ve made. By his birth, he heals our wounds that each may once again love his neighbor. By his birth, we are reconciled to God and our relationship to him is regained.

Let us this Advent Season seek out how we may better prepare ourselves for the blessed event of December 25th. For while the world anticipates it with great eagerness for nearly two months, it quickly forgets it a few days later. And the world resumes to what it was before, unchanged. But not for us. Let us instead discipline ourselves to eagerly await the true restoration that comes with arrival of Christ.