advent

The Awakening: When Gratitude and Desire Meet

/ Sharon / 2 Comments

Advent1Somewhere between already and not yet, I’ve thought about what it looks like to be thankful in the midst of longing. So how does a holiday defined by gratitude end up so close to a season based on waiting for the fulfillment of Promise?  Is there is a reason why Advent arrives so soon after Thanksgiving? Can gratitude and desire co-exist?  I think so. In fact, I hope that they do more than co-exist. I want them to become friends.

By pointing out what is good in my life and in the world, gratitude can lead us to a place of rest as we recall the faithfulness of God in times past.    It nudges us when tempted to sleepwalk through life in perpetual daydreams of what could be.  Gratitude grounds us in the moment, encouraging us to be fully present in it.   Then, desire brings balance. It speaks of possibility, and doesn’t allow for complacency with what is, but invites us to answer Jesus (honestly) when he asks “What do you want?” Recognizing desire can alert us to needs and issues that are both within and around us, all the while stirring us to action.

I look forward to seeing how gratitude and desire will connect in my life over the next month.  In the meantime, it is my prayer that this Advent season awakens you to the presence of Christ and his purpose for your life in a world in much need of love, hope, and justice.

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Romans 13:11 (NIV)

Your Call: In what area(s) of your life do you need to be more fully awake?  If gratitude and desire had a conversation regarding your life at the moment, what would it sound like? 

Advent Reflections: Veni Emmanuel

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candle

Oh come, Oh come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.*

In lonely exile like:

panhandlers desperate for food and dignity;
immigrants isolated in culture and language;
the fearful and the awkward, simply trying to find their place;
those wrestling with voices that insist that this is all there is;
those discarded, oppressed or silenced.

May it be that we make room
for hope,
for the Son of God to appear
with us,
in us,
through us.

Veni Emmanuel.

Amen.

(*From the English translation of the Latin hymn “Veni, Veni Emmanuel.”)

Your Call:  Recall a time in your life when you have “mourned in lonely exile”; pray for those who find themselves there now. Consider how you can make more room for the Son of God to appear in your life.

A Thrill of Hope, The Weary World Rejoices

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In recent years, I haven’t been particularly drawn to Christmas music the way I used to be. I’ll go further and confess that, this year, Advent served as more of a countdown to vacation time than anything else.  But while I was in church for Christmas service, I listened to a song that I have heard a million times and something changed.  All it took was one line from O Holy Night:

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices…

A gracious God met me in my weariness with Hope in hand, just as on that “Night Divine.”  In response, I was drawn to the story of the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20).  In Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels, Kenneth E. Bailey points out that “the first people to hear the message of the birth of Jesus were a group of shepherds who were close to the bottom of the social scale in their society.” As I pondered this, I found myself wondering what it would be like to enter their world.

Hello. My name is Mary.  Not that Mary.  I am…another Mary. My father is a shepherd. He works very hard, so hard that I can hear the weariness in his sighs when he comes home every night. It’s amazing what can happen in just 24 hours.  Last night, my father came home. As usual, he had worked hard, but there was something different…

All of a sudden, he picks up my sister and whirls her around and around and around until their laughter fills the house from top to bottom.  Then he says,

“Everybody come here! Come here right now! I have something to tell you!” 

As we gather around him, I see a twinkle in his eye that he hasn’t had in a long time.  He pauses. Then he says:

“You won’t believe what happened to us today while we were tending our flocks. Out of nowhere, an angel appeared and said:

 ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

 And so we practically ran to Bethlehem and we found Him, just as the angel said. We saw Him. The Messiah.  We.   saw.   Him.”

My father’s voice begins to waver and he just looks up, lifts his hands and shakes his head. And the tears come.  I run to the corner of the room. And I sit. And I look up.  And I say:

Maybe I don’t have to be a son of a rabbi for You to see me. Maybe You are listening to me after all.  Me. The daughter of a shepherd.   If that Mary was from Nazareth, maybe You have a purpose for me too.   

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Hear my prayer, O Lord.  

Amen.

Your Call: Read Luke 2:8-20.  Read it again. Sit with it. Imagine how you would feel if you were a shepherd or a part of his family and had been given hope for your weariness. Perhaps you are weary. If so, receive the hope of Christ afresh.  Perhaps you know others who are weary.  Offer them this hope that you are privileged to possess.

 

The Shutdown

/ Sharon / 1 Comment

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But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”  Luke 1:13,18-20

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” Luke 1:24-25

This year, Advent has found me a bit drained, mostly because of my fall schedule. But I must also confess that there’s been a restlessness within as I approach the end of another year in waiting mode. Perhaps this is why I find myself identifying with Zechariah and Elizabeth these days.  A few months ago, I asked my students to come up with questions to ask this couple as we studied the Gospel of Luke together.  One particular inquiry to Zechariah really struck me: “Did your relationship with God grow while you were mute?”  This question challenged my assumption that Zechariah’s inability to speak for a season was merely punishment for his doubt.  Suppose his mute state was a means of preparation?  In the meantime, Elizabeth did eventually conceive and went into seclusion for five months.  Whatever was going through her mind, surely the time without a multitude of voices in her ear was beneficial.  I can’t help but think that God set her apart and had her come aside for a reason.

Silence and solitude can pave the way for us to be more intentional about listening to and receiving from God. Yesterday, I attended a gathering for women in ministry and one of the hosts led us in a period of meditation on selected Scripture verses revolving around call (Jeremiah 1:4-10; Isaiah 42:5-9, 43:1-4). While I have read those passages before, there was something about having them read to me and over me.  Slowly. As if being served a meal to be savored. There were moments of silence in the room for reflection, but I also got quieter within as the Word of God refreshed my soul and reminded me of God’s grace in my life.

As I think back on the class with the “interview” of Zechariah and Elizabeth, I recall that it ended with a student praying “Lord, thank You for the Shutdown!”  I recall saying to myself, “This prayer is for real…” Elizabeth and Zechariah were about to bring forth a prophet, and a wilderness prophet at that.  They had to be strengthened and prepared for raising John the Baptist and releasing him to God’s call on his life.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth and Zechariah showed up.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”  Luke 1:41-45

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “… And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.  Luke 1:67,76-80

If we would birth and be faithful to the call that God has placed in us, we must submit to the shutdown, a space where we can hear God’s whispers in the midnight hour, the dry season,  or the valley.  To be clear, the shutdown is not for the purpose of isolation or self-protection. In fact, its goal is just the opposite.  The shutdown prepares us for the Show Up in all its fullness.

Your Call:  Can you recall a time when God was calling you to a season of “shutdown” in your life? What did you hear and receive from God during the process?  How has it helped you to “show up” more fully?