This was the fourth Sunday in Advent, which means ... wait ... nnnnoooo!.... Christmas is this coming Friday ... I am not ready yet ... aaahhh! So much to do, so much to get ready, still some shopping, parties to go to, presents to wrap, family to avoid or fight with, etc. etc. Did this sound familiar? Let me help a little. Let me sing a little song for you, it is an old Simon and Garfunkel song, if you know it sing along;
"Slow down you move too fast,
ya' got to make the morning last,
just trippin' down the cobblestones,
doodit an doodoo
feelin' groovy!"
There how is that? Did it help? No? Okay, let's do something else, the song had it partly right, slow down, and now let's add "pray"; and believe it or not I do not accept the lame excuse that you are too busy to pray, that is just a cop out for a lack of faith that prayer does any good. There how does that feel? Merry Christmas!!
This week's Scriptures, (Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 1:47-55, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45), (I combined the readings from Luke to provide some continuity), all point to the impending birth of Jesus, Of course they also, (the Gospel lesson and the prophetic), refer to the virgin birth. The Prophet Micah was not the first to prophesy about the virgin birth, neither was Isaiah, or any other of the prophets, minor or major.
In Genesis, when God is expounding on the consequences to mankind, from Adam and Eve's fall to sin, God pronounces that it would be "the seed of a woman that will crush the head of the serpent", (my paraphrase), seeing as how Women do not have the "seed", God was prophesying the virgin birth.
In Bible times the young girls were considered of age to be married when they were 13or 14. So let's say that, because Mary was betrothed to Joseph, she was about 14 years old. In walks the angel Gabriel and announces God's plan to save the world, through you a 14 year old girl. Phew, heavy duty! Mary could not have understood everything that Gabriel told her, I mean how does she get pregnant without being with a man? What will everybody say? Seriously how is this going to happen? These questions and probably a few more had to be bouncing around inside of her. Well, maybe later they were, because Mary responded with the most amazing words that a human being, has ever said to God. In Luke 1:38, she says "...may it be done to me according to your word." Absolutely amazing, her simple acceptance of the Lord's Word. Obedience, simple obedience. The open heart of obedience is all the Lord ever looks for. Because of Mary's simple obedience to the Lord's word she literally carried the presence of the Lord in her body. Except for the obvious physical difference we are just like Mary, in that, due to our obedience we also carry the presence of the Lord.
I need to paraphrase a statement from St. Francis, he said that "we give birth to Jesus when we do any act of kindness to another in obedience to what the Lord has commanded us." We are like Mary, we "carry" Jesus, the presence of the Lord through the Holy Spirit indwelling us. So when we turn our attention to Him and we rely on Him in our struggles we give birth to Him. When we pray for someone else, we give birth to Him. When we pass on an encouraging word we give birth to Him. I think you get the idea.
So as you rush around "to get everything done", remember who you are carrying, and the opportunity you have to give birth.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Advent Reflection #3
Sorry folks I thought I had posted this and I only had it saved, so here it is.
So the third Sunday of Advent has come and gone, that means that three candles were lit, and this week's was the pink one. In the more strict liturgical settings, the time of Advent is also a time of fasting, as well as the time of introspection, examination, confession and repentance. So on the third week, celebrated as the week for joy, the candle was/is pink to signify the end of the fast.
That's why it was joyful, it's time to eat.
In some churches this week is marked by a fellowship meal after the worship service.
The Scriptures this week,(Zephaniah 3:14-20, Isaiah 12:2-6, Philippians 4:4-7,
Luke 3:7-18) all had the thread of "joy" in them. What I focused on was the Philippians passage, and the other thread that shows up.
"The Lord is near."
There is actually a lot that can be said about this passage, but I want to try to restrict my comments to this phrase, "The Lord is near.". What a comforting thought to know that the Lord is near. Jesus Himself promised that He would be with us always, (Matthew 28:20). Scholars of course toss this around, trying to figure out what was meant here. whether it was about the second coming, or rather it was about the fact that the Lord is in and around us. Which truth be told, they are both correct, for my use I chose to focus on the Lord being in/with us now and a "very present help in trouble".
The prophetic passage in Zephaniah 3:14-20 brings this thought out too, twice in the passaage these words appear, "...(Lord/God) is in your midst..." "midst" here is from a Hebrew word meaning "your inward parts, your inner most being", it is interesting to note that the prophet was refering to something that we would experience now because of Christ, the Lord living in us.
Back to Philippians; this tells us to let our "gentle spirit be known to all men", to "rejoice in he Lord always", to "be anxious for nothing", this can only be accomplished by having the Lord in our midst. What joy to know that as Christians we are not looking forward to some unknown phenomenon. This is our life our experience, or it should be. To know that the very Creator of all life lives in us, here is a mystery that we live in every day, we are the mystery.
To add to this, in my Bible next to the Phillippians passage I have written, "I am the only Bible some people will read." What a sobering thought, how am I representing the Lord who lives in me?
So the third Sunday of Advent has come and gone, that means that three candles were lit, and this week's was the pink one. In the more strict liturgical settings, the time of Advent is also a time of fasting, as well as the time of introspection, examination, confession and repentance. So on the third week, celebrated as the week for joy, the candle was/is pink to signify the end of the fast.
That's why it was joyful, it's time to eat.
In some churches this week is marked by a fellowship meal after the worship service.
The Scriptures this week,(Zephaniah 3:14-20, Isaiah 12:2-6, Philippians 4:4-7,
Luke 3:7-18) all had the thread of "joy" in them. What I focused on was the Philippians passage, and the other thread that shows up.
"The Lord is near."
There is actually a lot that can be said about this passage, but I want to try to restrict my comments to this phrase, "The Lord is near.". What a comforting thought to know that the Lord is near. Jesus Himself promised that He would be with us always, (Matthew 28:20). Scholars of course toss this around, trying to figure out what was meant here. whether it was about the second coming, or rather it was about the fact that the Lord is in and around us. Which truth be told, they are both correct, for my use I chose to focus on the Lord being in/with us now and a "very present help in trouble".
The prophetic passage in Zephaniah 3:14-20 brings this thought out too, twice in the passaage these words appear, "...(Lord/God) is in your midst..." "midst" here is from a Hebrew word meaning "your inward parts, your inner most being", it is interesting to note that the prophet was refering to something that we would experience now because of Christ, the Lord living in us.
Back to Philippians; this tells us to let our "gentle spirit be known to all men", to "rejoice in he Lord always", to "be anxious for nothing", this can only be accomplished by having the Lord in our midst. What joy to know that as Christians we are not looking forward to some unknown phenomenon. This is our life our experience, or it should be. To know that the very Creator of all life lives in us, here is a mystery that we live in every day, we are the mystery.
To add to this, in my Bible next to the Phillippians passage I have written, "I am the only Bible some people will read." What a sobering thought, how am I representing the Lord who lives in me?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Advent Reflections #2
Well here we are just past the second Sunday of Advent, and I wanted again to share what I shared at church yesterday concerning Advent. I thought about giving this post the subtitle; "And the beat goes on". Here is why.
First a little background for the "atmosphere". Imagine yourself seated in the service and you look at the Advent wreath, which consists of an evergreen wreath and four candles three purple and one pink, and now the first and then the second Advent Candles,(both purple),have been lit. You now say to yourself; "you know, I used to know what all this stuff was about but now after all these years I can't quite remember what it all is." We have just read the scriptures for today according to the Revised Common Lectionary,(RCL): Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 1:68-79, Philippians 1:3-11 and the Gospel lesson Luke 3:1-6; (I encourage you to look these up),
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.
'EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;
AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.' "
Now I stand up and say; "to start out today I want to talk about the meaning of this symbol of the advent wreath specifically the candles." Advent has been called "Lent with sugar on top", because like the Season of Lent, which actually is a season of brooding almost oppressive in nature as we consider our sin before the Lord and our participation in the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior. The liturgical churches mark Lent with the 40 days of introspection, confession, repentance and of course fasting.
(Most other denominational churches and independents don't even notice the "bump in the road". Yet they are the one's who raise the most fuss about how commercialized the holiday is and want to sell us "Jesus is the Reason for the Season", buttons, bumperstickers, etc,etc. blah, blah, blah)
Well as a matter of fact Advent is to be also marked by introspection, reflection, confession, repentance and also fasting. However Advent is looking for the promise to be fulfilled so is not as "heavy". We mark this passing of time with the lighting of the candles. We light the two purple candles to mark the time of reflection, examination and fasting. The third candle is the pink one and is known as the "candle of Joy", because it marks the end of the fasting, not the examination, watching and preparing.
Much like the Life of John the Baptist,(who the Scripture trail is about by the way), whose life was given to pointing to the coming Savior, is what Advent is all about.
Watching, waiting anticipating.
John the Baptist from the time that he was an infant in his mother's womb until his unusual death spent his life leading and guiding those who would come to him to the Savior. Remember it was John who said; "He must increase and I must decrease", John3:30. Essentially John's message was one of encouraging the seekers of the day, to not stop looking, don't stop looking for Him, don't stop preparing. The Kingdom is near! The Lord is coming! Now we look back at the Advent wreath with it's two candles burning encouraging us in it's own way to not stop, keep going, keep looking for Him, keep watching don't stop. That is what Advent is all about.
First a little background for the "atmosphere". Imagine yourself seated in the service and you look at the Advent wreath, which consists of an evergreen wreath and four candles three purple and one pink, and now the first and then the second Advent Candles,(both purple),have been lit. You now say to yourself; "you know, I used to know what all this stuff was about but now after all these years I can't quite remember what it all is." We have just read the scriptures for today according to the Revised Common Lectionary,(RCL): Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 1:68-79, Philippians 1:3-11 and the Gospel lesson Luke 3:1-6; (I encourage you to look these up),
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.
'EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;
AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.' "
Now I stand up and say; "to start out today I want to talk about the meaning of this symbol of the advent wreath specifically the candles." Advent has been called "Lent with sugar on top", because like the Season of Lent, which actually is a season of brooding almost oppressive in nature as we consider our sin before the Lord and our participation in the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior. The liturgical churches mark Lent with the 40 days of introspection, confession, repentance and of course fasting.
(Most other denominational churches and independents don't even notice the "bump in the road". Yet they are the one's who raise the most fuss about how commercialized the holiday is and want to sell us "Jesus is the Reason for the Season", buttons, bumperstickers, etc,etc. blah, blah, blah)
Well as a matter of fact Advent is to be also marked by introspection, reflection, confession, repentance and also fasting. However Advent is looking for the promise to be fulfilled so is not as "heavy". We mark this passing of time with the lighting of the candles. We light the two purple candles to mark the time of reflection, examination and fasting. The third candle is the pink one and is known as the "candle of Joy", because it marks the end of the fasting, not the examination, watching and preparing.
Much like the Life of John the Baptist,(who the Scripture trail is about by the way), whose life was given to pointing to the coming Savior, is what Advent is all about.
Watching, waiting anticipating.
John the Baptist from the time that he was an infant in his mother's womb until his unusual death spent his life leading and guiding those who would come to him to the Savior. Remember it was John who said; "He must increase and I must decrease", John3:30. Essentially John's message was one of encouraging the seekers of the day, to not stop looking, don't stop looking for Him, don't stop preparing. The Kingdom is near! The Lord is coming! Now we look back at the Advent wreath with it's two candles burning encouraging us in it's own way to not stop, keep going, keep looking for Him, keep watching don't stop. That is what Advent is all about.
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