The Christmas season has officially started. It’s Black Friday and the rush is on. Oops. It’s not the Christmas season anymore. It’s the Holiday season. The change of moniker further indicates the erosion of the traditional Christian cues which gave us a sense we lived in a land friendly to our faith. As Christians, we don’t feel that way anymore, so I know what’s next. I’m going to start getting the inflammatory emails sent by well-meaning and usually loving people…emails that express outrage over the loss of our beloved cultural cues and advocate less than love for the people we hold responsible for our disorienting experience.
I get it that Jesus and the things of God have been shoved to the side of our culture. I tried to find an advent calendar for our grandchildren and discovered that most of the advent calendars available today are secular in nature. I did find the Lego Star Wars Advent calendar, but I’ve searched in vain for references in Matthew or Luke which indicate any Star War characters were involved in the first Christmas. So that one is a mystery to me.
I can rant and rave, point fingers and blame…or…I can do what the second half of the Serenity Prayer recommends:
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.
Advent is what I make of it, not what other people make of it for me. As the faith community at St. Andrew we can choose to accept the disciplines historically associated with Advent, and reap the blessings these disciplines bring as they shape our lives so that instead of tandem demons of worry and hurry give way to the joyful holy trio of peace, hope, and love.
The disciplines associated with Advent, which was historically a time of preparation for Jesus’ coming to us, are almost laughable today. Traditionally, Advent was a time to slow down and take time to be a bit more introspective. Daily readings were often associated with Advent, and time spent being still and making room for Jesus amid the clutter of our lives. I downloaded Bonhoeffer’s “God is in the Manger” to my Ipad Kindle App for my Advent. Max Lucado also has an excellent Advent devotional entitled “Celebrating Christmas With Jesus” I put on my phone. (See Books on my Preacher’s Post blog for more info.) Both of these are available from Amazon via a Kindle App, so you could have one of these on your phone within minutes if you so desire for a mere $1.79. There are clearly a number of excellent options, but none of the options are any good if we don’t follow through and take the time to recalibrate and reorient our lives.
That’s what worship does. The word is derived from the Old English “worthscipe,” meaning worthiness or worth-ship—to give, at its simplest, worth to something. This Sunday we’re reading the story of the Magi who traveled from afar to worship the newborn baby Jesus. The result of their adventure was finding Jesus, and we’re told the result was “great joy.” If I’m going to experience great joy this season, it isn’t going to be in the rush, but rather in the quiet moments when I give my attention to God in the worship of prayer. That isn’t something anybody else can do for me. It is something I want to do because that’s what my heart desires. Because no matter what we do during the next four weeks, our heart’s desire will be what drives us and in the end, it really doesn’t matter what the cultural values are, what I will have lived are my values. Is God at the top of that value list?
Matthew 2:1-12
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
If you haven't signed up yet to ring the bells at Lucky Market on behalf of F.I.S.H., there are still slots available. The shifts are 10 AM to 12 Noon, 12 Noon to 2 PM, 2 PM to 4 PM and 4 PM to 6 PM on Fridays and Saturdays, now through December 17th. It is a great way for you, your children, spouse and friends to share the Christmas Spirit! Grab a partner and sign-up when you are at church this Sunday.
Now for what’s on my desk…
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