"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26)
These words of Jesus from the first Gospel reading of Advent 2009 establish a vivid context that describes our world today: crises in the realms of economy, climate, violence and war, division and confusion in the church, and the sense of powerlessness, uncertainty, fear, even despair. Even the cosmos itself (the sun, moon, and stars, the natural order of things) seems to offer a premonition of terrible things.
In this Advent season, we are invited to maintain a kind of “bifocal” vision; to see both the big picture of God’s purpose and action and the immediacy and locality of the path just ahead of us. Both the macro and micro contexts are filled with cosmic significance. We remember God embodied in the baby Jesus, and look forward to the power of the risen Christ who is setting the world right.
The four Sundays of Advent (November 29-December 20) anticipate, explore, and celebrate the unexpected ways God “bursts in” and “breaks out” in our experience and in the world. This is a huge agenda, with cosmic significance; yet it takes form in the most humble and local and intimate of events, the birth of a child in Bethlehem.
The first two Sundays of Christmas season (December 27 and January 3) on the sending of the church, as “the body of Christ,” to live its cosmic vocation in its local context.
During this Advent season of preparation, I encourage each one of us to take some quiet time each day to slow down and reflect on the Advent Scripture readings for each Sunday. In all the lights and tinsel, get-togethers and programs, food and gift buying, let God’s word of Jesus coming into our world sink deeply into our lives. May we all know Christ anew as we reflect and celebrate His coming together.
[The above introduction is taken from Leader magazine, published by Mennonite Publishing Network. Mennonite Churches across United States and Canada are following the same Advent worship resources provided by Mennonite Church USA]
November 18, 2009
It is really hard to believe that next week is Thanksgiving and the first Sunday of Advent is only 3 days later! The year has gone really fast. We are hosting the Thanksgiving meal at our house this year with my brother and wife and mother coming from Indiana and my daughter coming home for the first time after we left her in Virginia for collage in August. Our sons in California and Wisconsin will not come home until Christmas but maybe we will “skype” so we can at least all see each other.
Over the years, I have really begun to appreciate the Advent Season. I think it gives a very needed and healthy corrective to the busyness and commercialization of the so called Christmas season which seems to be in full swing in mid October. The season of Advent runs for the four weeks before Christmas day. The Real Christmas Season begins on Christmas day and continues for 12 days until Epiphany. Hence the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Advent makes us stop and reflect and prepare for Jesus coming into our world and into our lives. Advent reminds us to “watch and be ready” or we may miss Jesus’ coming entirely. Advent reminds us to prepare our hearts for receiving the Son of God. This has little to do with the mad preparations of gift buying, decorations, or all the “necessary” holiday foods.
I encourage all to take some time this Advent season to truly prepare for Christmas. Take some quiet time apart each day to read and reflect on the Scriptures for each Sunday of Advent. Take some time away for a prayer walk outside. Notice the winter beauty of barren trees and shuffle through the dry leaves with your feet. Take some time for a prayer walk inside a mall or large store or busy shopping. Notice the stress on people’s faces. Shoot prayer darts at each person you meet. Pray that they can be filled with joy and peace that only Jesus Christ can give.
May God bless each one of you during this Advent Season.
Over the years, I have really begun to appreciate the Advent Season. I think it gives a very needed and healthy corrective to the busyness and commercialization of the so called Christmas season which seems to be in full swing in mid October. The season of Advent runs for the four weeks before Christmas day. The Real Christmas Season begins on Christmas day and continues for 12 days until Epiphany. Hence the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Advent makes us stop and reflect and prepare for Jesus coming into our world and into our lives. Advent reminds us to “watch and be ready” or we may miss Jesus’ coming entirely. Advent reminds us to prepare our hearts for receiving the Son of God. This has little to do with the mad preparations of gift buying, decorations, or all the “necessary” holiday foods.
I encourage all to take some time this Advent season to truly prepare for Christmas. Take some quiet time apart each day to read and reflect on the Scriptures for each Sunday of Advent. Take some time away for a prayer walk outside. Notice the winter beauty of barren trees and shuffle through the dry leaves with your feet. Take some time for a prayer walk inside a mall or large store or busy shopping. Notice the stress on people’s faces. Shoot prayer darts at each person you meet. Pray that they can be filled with joy and peace that only Jesus Christ can give.
May God bless each one of you during this Advent Season.
“Am I really that wealthy?”
This Sunday, November 15, I am preaching on Zacchaeus, the wee little tax collector who scampered up a sycamore tree so that he could see Jesus. Zacchaeus got more than he bargained for. He not only saw Jesus, but Jesus stopped and talked to him up in that tree. Not only did Jesus stop and talk to Zacchaeus, Jesus said he was coming over to his house and stay with him. Well, this all follows the way we learned the story as children and Sunday School. It’s a nice story of a sinner who finally gives back to the poor much of the money that he as extorted from them and everyone is happy in the end.
However, when I began to study the story a little deeper, I found that I really did not want to preach on what I thought was a happy little story of a sinner who repents and happily follows Jesus. It is that and much more… and then the story of this wee little rich guy became downright convicting. It began to get a little too close to home. I began to see that Zacchaeus has given us an incredible example of giving. When Jesus came to the house of Zacchaeus, he responded by giving half of his possessions to the poor. He was so thrilled that Jesus would break all the social and religious norms and taboos and come to his house that his possessions took on new light. What he held on to so tightly, he now freely gave away. He was so thankful that Jesus freed him from his slavery to money and possessions that he gave a large portion of it away. Maybe this is really a thanksgiving story.
I don’t like to think of myself as rich. I can always see others as having bigger and better cars and houses than me and take exotic vacations. But one stat that I came across recently said that anyone making over $47,500 a year was in the highest 1% of the world’s wealthiest people. Another stat showed that around $47,500 is the median wage for Americans. So most Americans are wealthier than 99% of the world’s population! And I fit easily in that category! Most of us are very wealthy and we just as well as come to grips with the undeniable fact.
Now certainly we do not need any more rules as to how much we should give to the church and other charitable causes. The Zacchaeus story is not prescriptive on what we “should” do but rather “descriptive” of what one rich person did when experienced the love and acceptance of Jesus for the first time.
We have to ask ourselves several questions, and this is where it gets sticky. I don’t really want to ask these questions of myself and find it difficult to preach on because what I preach about, I had better be consistent on in my own life. The question comes to me, “How has Jesus really redefined my life and how thankful am I for the grace, love, and acceptance Jesus has shown to me?”I will preach the sermon and I will continue to struggle with what it means for me to be a very wealthy person. May God bless you all as you journey on the path of freely following Jesus.
However, when I began to study the story a little deeper, I found that I really did not want to preach on what I thought was a happy little story of a sinner who repents and happily follows Jesus. It is that and much more… and then the story of this wee little rich guy became downright convicting. It began to get a little too close to home. I began to see that Zacchaeus has given us an incredible example of giving. When Jesus came to the house of Zacchaeus, he responded by giving half of his possessions to the poor. He was so thrilled that Jesus would break all the social and religious norms and taboos and come to his house that his possessions took on new light. What he held on to so tightly, he now freely gave away. He was so thankful that Jesus freed him from his slavery to money and possessions that he gave a large portion of it away. Maybe this is really a thanksgiving story.
I don’t like to think of myself as rich. I can always see others as having bigger and better cars and houses than me and take exotic vacations. But one stat that I came across recently said that anyone making over $47,500 a year was in the highest 1% of the world’s wealthiest people. Another stat showed that around $47,500 is the median wage for Americans. So most Americans are wealthier than 99% of the world’s population! And I fit easily in that category! Most of us are very wealthy and we just as well as come to grips with the undeniable fact.
Now certainly we do not need any more rules as to how much we should give to the church and other charitable causes. The Zacchaeus story is not prescriptive on what we “should” do but rather “descriptive” of what one rich person did when experienced the love and acceptance of Jesus for the first time.
We have to ask ourselves several questions, and this is where it gets sticky. I don’t really want to ask these questions of myself and find it difficult to preach on because what I preach about, I had better be consistent on in my own life. The question comes to me, “How has Jesus really redefined my life and how thankful am I for the grace, love, and acceptance Jesus has shown to me?”I will preach the sermon and I will continue to struggle with what it means for me to be a very wealthy person. May God bless you all as you journey on the path of freely following Jesus.
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