Advent Reflections: Dec. 11

"Do not be afraid Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, John."

Luke 1:13

I have to admit that while I love that the birth narratives have such great roles for women, I also particularly like the guys who are part of the story--Joseph and Zechariah are right up there. They signify for me what the experience we often have in the midst of what God is doing--"Huh? What? No way. Oh. Okay."

The verse today is a wonderful answer to prayer. But it is also part of a story of Zechariah totally doubting what God is up to. And who can blame him?! Sometimes God's will comes in powerful, mountain-top experiences that evoke images of glory from on high (cue shepherds and singing angels). Other times, however, God's will comes like a Mack truck heading straight for us. Or at least, it can feel that way!

What I love about Zechariah's story is that his doubt is not, of course, the end of the story. Indeed, he is struck mute because of it, but his speech is restored when he finally accepts and celebrates what God is doing. His stubbornness is not definitive for God's work in the world.

What good news for us when we stubbornly hold to our own ideas of what and how God ought to be at work, or even when we become overcome with the swirling winds around us.

Last night, about 11 pm, our power went out at home. I noticed it, as I was falling asleep, but figured it was a fluke and would be back on. About three hours later when my two-year-old woke up (and woke me up) because her noise machine was (still) off and she was getting chilly, I discovered it was no fluke. A couple hours (and lots of prayers) later, she was finally back to sleep, and I grabbed what few winks I could before a busy day of work would begin. My husband had, meanwhile, called the power company, who assured us power would be on in the early morning hours.

I was, needless to say, grumpy (at best) to wake to discover power still out. Really. I'm a pretty miserable person to be around when power is out. It reverts me, I think, to age 2.

It would be a better story to say power hadn't come on and I pulled myself together and headed out to take Anna to work and get myself to work while my husband did the same. Well, power came back on. JUST in time to get ready. There is no great feat here...I had just enough normalcy to get me going. I still grumbled, though.

It was, however, a reminder of the times God has led me down an awesome path while I whined part (yes, sometimes even most) of the way. And of how God has much more patience with me than I often have with my own daughter. God hangs in there, with the maturity of a parent who knows that once their child has gotten their whining over, they'll be able to pull themselves together and see the blessings all around them.

I think this is what was going on with Zechariah. God was being patient, knowing that like the rest of us, Zechariah just needed a moment. Or two. Or...

And once Zechariah was able to do that, he got to be FULLY a part of what God was doing. My prayer today for each of us, is that we are able, like Zechariah, to do the same.

Advent Devotion, December 6

I seem to go in fits and starts with blogging, and I have been hoping to get back to it, but have lacked, well, time and motivation. I decided yesterday that I would make a renewed effort to blog...and to use the Advent calendar we're giving all the kids here at Calvary. It has a Bible verse for each day. So, I'll try my best to post daily, at least a short reflection on that day's verse. So, we shall see...

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Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low.

Isaiah 40:4

As it often happens, our readings in this year's Disciple Bible Study timed well for the start of Advent--the readings in the prophets were our focus on the Tuesday before the first Sunday of Advent. There is something that adds great meaning to Advent (a season oft less-than-exciting) when you have truly been reading through the story of the people of Israel and you hit these readings at the same time they come up in the church year.

The people of Israel looked back on their history, while they were in exile, and saw a story much like a hamster on a wheel...a story punctuated by the people's unfaithfulness but defined by God's faithfulness. The scripture writers offered the accounts of the people and kings in such a way to explain how it was these chosen people ended up under foreign dominion--in fact, most of them in exile in a foreign land. How did this happen?!

The answer was no mystery. The people were never faithful for long. As Judges repeatedly explains, they would always return to doing what was right in their own eyes. I think we can identify with this today.

In the midst of this despair, the prophets offer words of hope. God is not done with the people yet. In fact, God will not only restore them, God will break the cycle they are caught in. God will fix it once and for all.

In today's reading, the prophet Isaiah shares God's promise that the incredible will be done. In the broader context of Isaiah 40, we are reminded of God's omnipotence, and of God's patience. We repeat this recognition in our Great Thanksgiving, when we affirm, "When out loved failed, your love remained steadfast..."

Advent is a time that is more often a preparation for Christmas than a preparation for Jesus' coming. As a pastor, I find myself often tied up in ticking things off to do lists, and plugging ahead to just get through Christmas. I know this is not a situation unique to pastors, though.

What does it look like to truly use this season to prepare for Christ's coming...to welcome Jesus into our lives? 

For me, this season has taken a new angle as our senior pastor announced to the congregation this past Sunday that he was retiring at the end of this appointment year. This doesn't immediately offer decision on my status, but it brings close to home the reality of the itineracy system in a way that I don't often experience until the spring: I am one who lives and serves under another's authority. 

It is easy to let this reality overtake me with anxiety and fear. Leaving Calvary would be the last thing I would want to do--and yet, like the people of Israel, I know God is not done with me yet. The story is not over. As Chris and I have discussed the possibilities--possibilities which are in the hands of the bishop and cabinet, and whose resolution we will not know for months--we recount together the stories of our own lives when God has made a way where there seemed like no way, where God leveled mountains and raised up plains, so to speak. God will do that again, though we don't know what it will mean or look like. Stay or leave, we are part of what God is doing.

This Advent, then, I am very much waiting to see what God has yet to do. My prayer is that we all take opportunities to see Advent as more than preparation for Christmas, and to see it, indeed, as preparation for Christ's coming and for what God has yet to do in our lives and our world. Like the people of Israel, our faith is based on our knowledge of what God has already done, and our confidence that God is not done with us yet. Thank God!