Prepare The way

In week two of Advent the scene shifts and someone else is introduced into the story.  We are still weeks away from the nativity so the new character isn’t one of the wise men (which wouldn’t make sense because they are plural), and it isn’t Mary or Joseph either.  Jesus is still an adult though he doesn’t appear in the present within the narrative for the week – rather he is spoken of by others.  The focus this week is still on the Advent of Christ, but it comes through the lens of John the Baptist.

One of the first thoughts that popped into my head as I was reading over the scriptures for this week was, “how often does anyone ever think of John the Baptist at Christmas?”  I mean seriously, I’ve never seen him depicted on any Christmas decoration or in any pageant that I can remember, and no songs are sung about him on the radio.  Yet this week he figures prominently in the narrative of the calendar.

This week the focus also begins to shift away from the second coming and moves us more into the present.  Don’t get me wrong, what we see in these passages occurred in the past (for us) and looks forward to the birth of Christ, and there is still an emphasis on what will come at the end of days, but it seems that the passages are calling us to look at our lives now as well.

Here are the passages:  Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6.  This week I’m going to hit each one individually on a different day, but in order to see the connections between them take a few minutes to read them all now.  Here is a link to the texts if you don’t have a Bible handy: Advent Week 2 Texts


Malachi

Castings by ben-the-geek: Creative Commons License

In the Malachi passage we hear the echoes of Isaiah which many recognize best from the gospel announcements of John the Baptist.  Here two things stand out to me at first glance. The first is that the Lord is coming, but before that event happens a messenger will be sent to make way for him.  The second is that when the Lord comes he will refine and purify the people.  There is a message of hope and redemption in this passage, but also a message of warning.  It will come suddenly and the question remains, “who can endure…who can stand when he appears?” 

Take a moment to read Malachi 2:17 as well.  It isn’t part of the OT lectionary passage this week but it helps locate us within the text and locates the text within our lives.  This verse speaks of those who had grown weary, or complacent even with waiting on God to arrive.  They speak openly of God approving of evil in the world and question “where is God?”  How often have we done the same?  How often have we wondered why the wicked seem blessed, and why God seems so far off?  Our OT reading speaks to those questions and doubts.

While we see John the Baptist hinted at in this passage and we recognize the prophecy of the coming of the Lord, I want us to turn our gaze inward a little as we linger over this text.  Ask yourself, do you relate to those spoken of in 2:17?  Have you been refined and purified?  If not, how might that process play out?  Will you endure?  Will you be able to stand at the Lord’s coming?  And what about this question:

Are you the messenger?

Linger over that last question before we turn to Luke.

 

 

The End Is The Beginning

Today marks the beginning of a new year in the Christian calendar.  We enter the season of Advent, a season focused on the “coming,” or the “arrival” of Christ.  As I mentioned in my previous post most people, if they think about this season of the year at all they think about it in terms of the nativity, of baby Jesus in the manger, of his birth, of joy and celebration – in short they think of it as Christmas.  But Christmas is still weeks away.  Right now the focus shouldn’t be on rushing ahead to Christ’s birth, it should be on contemplating his arrival…past, present, and future.  For the season of Advent is not just about remembering his birth 2,000 years ago and celebrating that birth for a month – such a focus denies us a formational opportunity to enter a season of reflection and repentance; it denies us the opportunity to contemplate what it was Jesus was born to do and to let that realization shape who we are and what we will become; it denies us the opportunity to experience waiting as a blessing amidst the mad rush of the world.

The scripture passages of this first week of Advent are our guide and I have listed them below.  Take a moment to read them.  If you don’t have a Bible handy check out this link courtesy of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library - Advent Week 1.  This web page is a great resource where they list all of the lectionary passages for each week of the year in the three year cycle and provide full Scripture texts as well.  The passages are:

Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; and Luke 21:25-36

As you read the passages for this week ponder what they are telling us.  Below are some of my questions as I chew them over today.  These are not meant to offer a deep exegetical study of the passages, but rather a way to begin engaging them, to allow you to chew on them and wrestle with them and then perhaps move on to questions of your own.

Is the passage from Jeremiah about the first or second coming of Christ?  Is it either/or, or both/and?  Has everything Jeremiah mentioned in the passage come to be?  If not, when?

How might we read Psalm 25:1-10 as a prayer?  Not just a prayer of the psalmist over 2000 years ago, but our prayer today.  What does it say about our world today and our place in it?  What does it say about waiting?  What does it ask of God on our behalf?  What does it call us to?

Likewise, what does Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians mean for us?  Was it just a prayer for them or can it be read on our behalf as well?  What does this prayer ask of God?  What is our role and place within this prayer as we wait the coming of the Lord?

Why do we begin Advent – a time typically thought of as a season devoted to remembering Christ’s birth – with Christ’s warning about what will happen when he returns?  Why do we begin this season thinking about the end of history?  What are we to do in the meantime?  What is Christ calling us to remember and do? 

Finally, how might all of these passages together speak into our lives this Advent season?  What are they saying to us about our individual and communal life situations?  What do they have to tell us about how we go about our day and how we move through the holiday season?  Are they calling us to something different?  In light of these passages what should we continue doing, and what should we be doing differently?   Are we waiting on the coming of the Lord?  What will be our reaction and our place when Jesus finally answers the call “come Lord Jesus, come!”?