Come Lord Jesus

Here’s an Advent prayer from Fr. Henri Nouwen:

Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do
seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things
look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways
long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy
seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people,
walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”

Reading Guide for ADVENT 2015

Advent means coming or arrival; especially the coming of that which is eagerly awaited. For the Christian church, the Advent (which is the four weeks leading up to Christmas) is a season of worshipful expectation and anticipation. Traditionally, Advent is divided up into four reflections (Hope, Peace, Joy, Love) which culminate into the Christ reflection on Christmas Eve. (We celebrate and observe these reflections through the Advent Wreath each year.)

Let’s prepare our hearts and seek the Messiah in the Scriptures this Advent season. 

Here’s a reading plan during Advent.  Enjoy.

ADVENT 2015 - "Let Every Heart Prepare"

Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition; and the purpose of having church seasons, such as Advent and Lent, are to create meditative rhythms in our life together. These corporate and communal rhythms are all based upon the true and sure foundation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord and King of all!

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is always the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve, December 24th. It's a season marked by expectation + anticipation in preparing to celebrate the coming of Jesus.  Traditionally, Christmas begins with Christmas Day, December 25, and lasts for 12 days (The Twelve Days of Christmas) until The Day of Epiphany, January 6, which looks ahead to the mission of the church to the world in light of the Nativity and/or Jesus’ Baptism (depending on your Christian denominational traditions).

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation will one day be put to rights. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate.

ADVENT 2015 at Grace Church:

This Advent, 2015, we are meditating on this simple, yet intricate idea: LET EVERY HEART PREPARE as we spend the four weeks of Advent looking at how each of the four Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, + John) introduced the birth/coming of the Messiah.

Some Advent Reflections:

This Advent season, spend some time reflecting on the following questions:

• What are you waiting for?  What’s the next “big thing” you want to see happen in your life? 
• What is it that you think will complete you and make you happy? In other words, what are you hoping, longing, and preparing for? 
• Does the way you answer these questions match the way you live? If not, what needs to change?

Advent Reflections

Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition; and the purpose of having church seasons, such as Advent and Lent, are to create meditative rhythms in our life together. These corporate and communal rhythms are all based upon the true and sure foundation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord and King of all!

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is always the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve, December 24th. It's a season marked by expectation and anticipation in preparing to celebrate the coming of Jesus.  Christmas begins with Christmas Day December 25 and lasts for 12 days (The Twelve Days of Christmas) until The Day of Epiphany, January 6, which looks ahead to the mission of the church to the world in light of the Nativity and/or Jesus’ Baptism (depending on your Christian denominational traditions.

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation will one day be put to rights. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate.

Some Advent Reflections:

This Advent, 2014, we are meditating on the ancient and simple Advent prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). This week, on your own and/or with your Community Group, spend some time reflecting on the following questions:

• What are you waiting for?  What’s the next “big thing” you want to see happen in your life? 
• What is it that you think will complete you and make you happy? In other words, what are you hoping and longing for? 
• Does the way you answer these questions match the way you live? If not, what needs to change?

Christmas Shalom

The True Meaning of Christmas Peace

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! ~ Luke 2:14

There's a lot of talk this time of the year about peace. We sing songs about peace, hear Scripture passages about peace, see signs and Christmas decorations with the word "peace" in them...it seems like peace is being referenced everywhere!

But what's the deal with peace? What did the angel refer to when he said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" to the shepherds Luke 2:14? When you begin to look into the meaning ,and implications, of biblical peace, namby-pamby Christmas decorations and greeting cards do very little in capturing the true essence of peace.

The Old Testament word for peace is shalom - שָׁלֹום (in Hebrew) and εἰρήνη (in Greek). Shalom is much more than a simple greeting, kind audible jester or even the opposite of conflict; it’s an all-encompassing biblical concept. Shalom refers to harmony, syncretism, wholeness, and every kind of good. It refers to an experience of well-being, wholeness, harmony, reconciliation, and security through a proper relationship with God and each other. So the basic meaning of shalom is not absence from war or trouble, but one of well-being and every kind of good.

For the Hebrew people, Shalom, was/is one of the underlying principle of the Torah - "Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are shalom (peace)” (Proverbs 3:17. The Talmud explains, "The whole of the law (i.e.,Torah) is to promote shalom” (Talmud, Gittin 59b). The biblical concept of shalom takes us to the heart of the Gospel and unfolds the mysteries of God's redemptive plan for the entire cosmos expressed in passages such as Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1-9; 65:17-19; Amos 9:11-15; and Acts 3:18-21. In fact, one of God’s covenant names is Jehovah-shalom, “The Lord is peace” or “The Lord is our peace” (Judges 6:24). The Apostle Paul links this Old Testament reference of God to the cosmic redemptive agenda of utterly crushing evil in Romans 16:20 – The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Many authors and scholars have commented on how we should understand shalom; but I have found none better than Cornelius Plantinga in his book, Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin.   Here's a great quote taken from his book:

"[The prophets] dreamed of a new age in which human crookedness would be straightened out, rough places made plain. The foolish would be made wise and the wise, humble. They dreamed of a time when the deserts would flower, the mountains would run with wine, weeping would cease and people could go to sleep without weapons on their laps. People would work in peace and work to fruitful effect. Lambs could lie down with lions. All nature would be fruitful, benign, and filled with wonder upon wonder; all humans would be knit together in brotherhood and sisterhood; and all nature and all humans would look to God, walk with God, lean toward God and delight in God. Shouts of joy and recognition would well up from valleys and seas, from women in streets and from men on ships."

"The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be."

May peace of God be within you, upon you, and flow through you this Christmas season. Shalom.

Treasuring the Gospel through the Advent Wreath

Each December, Christians of all kinds celebrate the ADVENT (coming/appearing) of the Messiah. 

One of the ways many churches mark the time of this season is with an Advent wreath. The evergreens help to symbolize the new and everlasting life brought through Jesus Christ. The wreath consists of five candles: four candles around the wreath and one white "Christ" candle in the center. One candle is lit each week with a corresponding Scripture reading until all are lit. The growing light and development of the story progressively reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world that comes into the darkness of our lives to bring newness, life, and hope. Each candle is typically assigned a specific theme. 

Here's how we, Grace Church, observe the Advent wreath: 

1st CANDLE - THE CANDLE OF HOPE: We can have hope because God is faithful and will keep the promises made to us. This candle reminds us that our hope comes from God. "And again, Isaiah says, 'The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.' May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:12-13)  

2nd CANDLE - THE CANDLE OF PEACE:God kept his promise of a Savior who would be born in Bethlehem and bring peace and well-being to the world.  This candle, as well as Zachariah's song in Luke chapter 1, reminds of us this: "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." 

3rd CANDLE - THE CANDLE OF JOY: This candle, the only pink one, points to the joy given in the GOSPEL. The angels sang a message of JOY! "...and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.' Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.' When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." (Luke 2:7-15)  

4th CANDLE - THE CANDLE OF LOVE: The angles announced the good news of a Savior.  God sent his only Son to earth to save us, because he loves us! This candle reminds us of this life-altering truth - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17)  

5th CANDLE - CHRIST CANDLE:The white candle, the last candle, lit on Christmas Eve, reminds us that Jesus is the spotless lamb of God, sent to wash away our sins! His birth was for his death, his death was for our birth! "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29)

The Advent Wreath is a wonderful way to ponder the true meaning of Christmas. During the hustle and bustle of the season, may we treasure the coming of Christ and his Gospel for the world. 

Advent - Messianic Anticipations

Advent is part of the liturgical church calendar.  The purpose of having church seasons, such as Advent and Lent, are to create meditative rhythms in our life together.  These corporate and communal rhythms are all based upon the one true and sure foundation - Jesus the Messiah!

The word "Advent" comes from the Latin, adventus and it's the translation of the Greek word parousia, which means "appearing" or "coming".

This is the season we remember that our King has come!  And, as surely as he came the first time, he is coming again, this time to renew all things by consumated his kingdom (Revelation 22:20)!

That's Gospel, good news, to our soul!

May this Advent season be a special time of reflection + envisioning as we consider together, at our Sunday morning Gatherings throughout December, the teaching of the Old Testament Prophets, like Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea, and what they foretold the coming Messiah would do.

All are welcome.

Two Gospels

"This is the man, this is him, whom you so often hear promised you, Augustus Caesar, son of the Deified, who will make a Golden Age again in the fields where Saturn once reigned, and extend the empire beyond the Libyans and the Indians" - Aeneid book VI , Virgil

This month is always a busy and hectic one: Gift giving, family visiting, party throwing, overtime working (especially for the hospitality industry), the holiday season is for many the craziest time of the year. This is a big reason we wish to remind the community that though we are bombarded by everything our culture has made this time into, it is also a great time to reflect on what this time really is, the season of Advent. And the Advent means the gospel has come in the kingdom movement of Jesus.

Pastor Heath has done a masterful job with the current sermon series, "Thy Kingdom Come" and after relistening to and reflecting on the many things and challenges made the past few Sundays I wanted to drop a brief encouragement to all, the Gospel of Jesus is truly really authentically genuinely good news.

The above quote would have the Roman readers of the time believing that the Emperor was the son of god and that his reign was one that would usher in a golden age. The reality however is that one fifth of the worlds population was under the rule of Rome and most of those held in an oppressive grip of domination, there was no golden age for them, no good news to be found in the rule of the supposed "son of the Deified".

Many today would have the world believe that the Gospel (good news) is to be found in the right education or political solution, in having enough money or in societal standing. Like the fallen Roman empire of old those who hear this version of gospel find no true hope in this message either, no real good news.

 The gospel of Jesus is that he has come and he is victorious. Jesus is Lord which means that Caesar  as any of the persons, leaders or "solutions" of our day, is not.

This season take time to remember what really matters and why we are really here, to build a kingdom that cannot fail, a kingdom of Shalom, the Kingdom of God. In Jesus true justice finds a standing in our world, beauty again flourishes, evil is bade to slither away once and for all. The hope, peace, joy and victory of the Kingdom of God inaugurated in the movement of Jesus is good news.

Let us rejoice and be glad!

Christmas Misconceptions: Are We Getting the Story Right?

Christmas. It’s all about the good times right? Friends, family, candlelight church services, stockings, eggnog, shopping, mistletoe, Christmas lights…and widespread misinformation.

Huh?

Yeah, Christmas definitely takes the lead in “the holiday with the most folktales and urban legends” category. In fact much of our Christmas nativity story is filled with outright unbiblical ideas!

The typical story we hear repeated is:

“On the evening of December 25th, about 2000 years ago, Mary, who is urgently needing to deliver her baby, rides into Bethlehem on a donkey. Although it’s an emergency, all the innkeepers turn them away. So she delivers baby Jesus in an outside stable. Then angels sing to the shepherds. Afterwards, the shepherds join up with three kings on camels, find the baby Jesus and worship the quiet newborn.”

What’s the problem? Well, this story might be almost entirely wrong. The events surrounding the birth have been retold so many times and in songs, in plays, books, and movies that most people have a distorted view of the true Nativity events. The only accurate record is found in the Bible, so we’ll be comparing the rampant Christmas misconceptions with the Scriptures.

Christmas Misconception #1 Jesus was Born in a Stable
Was Jesus born in a stable or in a barn? The Bible does not mention either of these places in connection with Christ’s birth, only a manger. Scripture simply reports that they laid Jesus in a manger because there was no room for him in the guest room (Luke 2:7). The Greek word used in Scripture is kataluma, and can mean guest chamber, lodging place or inn. The only other time this word was used in the New Testament, it means a furnished, large, upper story room within a private house. It’s translated guest chamber, not inn (Mark 14:14-15). There was a word for an inn (i.e. hotel) used in that day – pandocheion. Luke uses that word in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34, so he definitely didn’t mean that there was no room in the local Holiday Inn!

According to Bible archaeology experts, Jesus was probably born in the house of relatives on the bottom floor, underneath the normal living and guest quarters. This is because all of Joseph's family, perhaps with their wives and children, would have been in the same house due the census Caesar had issued (Luke 2:1-3). Your typical home during the time of Jesus’ birth was two-stories. The first level was kind of like a garage, and yes, it would be normal to have a few of your prized animals kept in there. The second floor would have been the living quarters - “the inn.” In order to give Joseph and his very pregnant wife some privacy, everyone probably decided to let Joseph and Mary stay in the first level. It was definitely a bit rough - not your ideal place give birth; but not a stable.

Does this mean we have to throw out our cheesy little Nativity scenes? Maybe; maybe not. But I do make an effort to explain to my children how it really went down. 

Other Christmas Misconceptions:
#1 Jesus was born in a Stable#2 The Innkeeper Turned Mary + Joseph Away#3 No Crying He Makes
#4 Mary, Urgently Needing to Deliver a Baby, Rides into Bethlehem on a Donkey#5 Three Kings, Riding on Donkeys, Come to See the Baby Jesus#6 Jesus was Born on December 25^th

Oh come on now, don’t get your undies in a bundle! Just because we may have taken some of our Christmas traditions from pagans and get our facts wrong about the nativity doesn't mean Christmas is ruined. Just know your Christmas facts!

Merry Christmas!

Ray Vander Laan on “The True Christmas Story”

I’ve always been blessed by the ministry of teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan.  Here’s an old clip (not so good quality, but great content!) about the land of Israel and politics at the time of Jesus’ birth.

Ray Vander Laan weaves the archaeological evidence with biblical teachings and the historical record to contrast two kings: Herod and Jesus.

The True Christmas Story by LuMeL1962

Advent and the Liturgical Calendar

Advent is a special time of the liturgical church calendar.  The purpose of having church seasons, such as Advent and Lent, is to create meditative rhythms in our life together.  These corporate and communal rhythms are all based upon that one true and sure foundation - Jesus the Christ!

The word "Advent" comes from the Latin, adventus and it's the translation of the Greek word parousia, which means "appearing" or "coming".

This season we remember that our King has come!  And he is indeed coming again (Revelation 22:20)!

May this Advent season be a special time of reflection + envisioning as you consider what it means to live life with Jesus as your king.

Rob Bell shares on the purpose of the church calendar and prepares us, particularly for Advent.  “Advent,” Bell says, “confronts this corrosion of the heart with the insistence that God has not abandoned the world, hope is real and something is coming.”  Here’s the full article…


Christmas is coming. It may seem like it’s way too soon to be talking about trees and lights and presents and eggnog and all that. But Christmas is the culmination of Advent, and Advent is about the church calendar and the church calendar is something we never stop talking about.

So that’s what I’m writing on here: Advent. But to talk about Advent, we need to talk about sound, and then time and then Spirit.

First, then, a bit about sound.

If you are quiet enough in your kitchen, you will hear a noise. It is a continuous sound, a long, droning noise with no particular beginning or ending. It has very little, if any, dynamic range. It may go up and down in volume, but those changes are rarely perceptible. It is the same flat noise, and it goes on and on and on, hour after hour, day after day. If it’s loud enough, it can grate on the nerves, but otherwise it’s simply there.
Making that sound, mostly unnoticed, there in the corner of your kitchen.

It is the buzzing of your refrigerator.

Now for another noise. I’m currently listening to the new Jónsi album, which I’ve had on repeat for a number of weeks now. From the first bleeps, squawks and chirps of the first song, the album is full of noises. Drums, voices, piano—the noises stop and start, come and go, they’re loud and quiet. Some notes sustain for a measure or two, others come and go within the second. The kick drum rumbles, the cymbals clang, the strings flutter. All those sounds work together to make something compelling, inspiring, beautiful, evocative, confrontative, urgent, hopeful, honest or peaceful—something that sounds stunning.

And so it is noise, it is the sound—but it is a particular, intentional arrangement of those noises and sounds that make it what we commonly refer to as music.

Two kinds of noise, two variations on sound—one we call music and the other we call refrigerator buzz.
Next, then, a bit about time, because time is a lot like sound. A song works because the noises and sounds and voices and drums are arranged with a precise awareness of time. Music divides time up into beats, giving time a shape, a flow, a pattern, a rhythm.

We’ve all experienced the low-grade despair that comes when our days blend into each other—wake up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, go to school or work or the office, change another diaper, do another load of laundry, write a check, fill a tank, cook a meal and then repeat it all over again the next day.
One day looks like the next, everything starts to feel the same, life starts to feel like the existential equivalent of refrigerator buzz.

And that, of course, takes us back to the Exodus. (Didn’t see that coming, did you?) The story of those Hebrew slaves being rescued from Pharaoh isn’t just a story about the God who rescues people from having to make bricks every day—it’s about the God who rescues people from other kinds of slavery as well. Namely, the one involving time.

Life in Egypt was comprised of making bricks for the Pharaoh every day, all day.

Bricks, bricks, bricks, eat, sleep, more bricks, bricks, bricks. Tomorrow will be just like today: bricks, bricks, bricks.

When the Israelites are rescued, however, God gives them commands, one of the most urgent being to take a Sabbath day a week, a day unlike the others. A day without bricks.
Six days you shall work, but on the seventh, don’t. Why is this so monumental? God gives them rhythm. But not the rhythm of sound, the rhythm of time. Life before was an interminable succession of sevens. Seven, seven, seven.

But now, their time is broken up, measured, arranged with a beat: six and one, six and one, six and one.

God is the God of the groove.

We need rhythm in our time—it’s what makes one moment different from another. It gives shape and color and form to all of life.

The first Christians understood this—that time, like sound, is best when broken up, divided and arranged into patterns and rhythms. And so they created the church calendar. A way to organize the year, a way to bring variance to our days, a way to find a song in the passing of time.

For example, Lent. For the seven weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday, we practice sober awareness of our frailty, sins and smallness. It starts on Ash Wednesday when those ashes are traced on our foreheads in the shape of the cross, a tactile reminder of our origins in the dust. From there we come, and to there we will go.

You want to really live, the kind of living that drains the marrow from every day? Then start by facing your death, your weakness, your smallness. We spend seven weeks facing our death and despair and doubt, entering into it with the fullness of our being—heart, mind, emotions—we leave nothing behind.

We do this for a number of reasons, chief among them the simple truth that Sunday comes after Friday. Only when you’ve gotten through, not around “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are you ready to throw the only kind of Resurrection party worthy of the occasion—that Sunday when we run huffing and puffing from the open tomb, beating our pots and pans in that clanging raucous outburst that begins with those three resounding words: “He is risen.”

That day when all the amps are turned up to “11.”

But that’s not the end—don’t let your pastor start a preaching series on tithing or marriage that next week—because Resurrection is just the beginning. On we go to the season of Pentecost—the celebration of the Spirit, the One who moves in mysterious ways. Jesus is not with us in body, He’s with us in Spirit. He’s risen, but He’s also here, in ways that transcend language, and so reflect on this for a season, tuning your radar to the divine presence in every moment of every day.

And so we’re headed somewhere, we’re coming from somewhere else, and we’re doing it together, as a community of disciples, as a church.

Finally, then, a bit about Spirit. Because Spirit, it turns out, is a lot like sound and time.

The first thing Spirit does in creation is move. That tells us the deepest matters of the Spirit are constantly moving, shifting and morphing. The life of the spirit is a dynamic reality, taking us through a myriad of emotions, experiences and states of being.

Sometimes we’re exhausted, other times we’re overwhelmed with doubt. Sometimes we’re on top of the world and everything is going smoothly, other times we find ourselves standing in the midst of the wreckage, surrounded by smoldering flames, wondering how it all went so wrong.

What the church calendar does is create space for Jesus to meet us in the full range of human experience, for God to speak to us across the spectrum, in the good and the bad, in the joy and in the tears.

This is the crime of only singing happy victory songs in church (we often ask sad people to sing happy songs)—half of the Psalms are laments.

The math should move us on that. The Bible is not a collection of war chants from victors—it’s an incredibly varied collection of writings reflecting an intensely diverse amount of postures, moods and perspectives.
A lot like how life is, actually. Sometimes you’re furious with God, other times you’re madly in love.

The issue then, as it is now, isn’t just getting us out of Egypt—it’s getting the Egypt out of us.

Rescuing us from sameness, dullness, flatlined routine, reminding us that however we’re feeling, whatever we’re experiencing, wherever we are in our heart—the Spirit waits to meet us there.

And that takes us to Advent. Advent, then, is a season. Lots of people know about holidays—one day a year set apart. The church calendar is about seasons, whole periods of time we enter into with a specific cry, a particular intention, for a reason.

Advent is about anticipating the birth of Christ. It’s about longing, desire, that which is yet to come. That which isn’t here yet. And so we wait, expectantly. Together. With an ache. Because all is not right.

Something is missing.

Why does Advent mean so much to me?

Because cynicism is the new religion of our world. Whatever it is, this religion teaches that it isn’t as good as it seems. It will let you down. It will betray you.

That institution? That church? That politician? That authority figure? They’ll all let you down.

Whatever you do, don’t get your hopes up. Whatever you think it is, whatever it appears to be, it will burn you, just give it time.

Advent confronts this corrosion of the heart with the insistence that God has not abandoned the world, hope is real and something is coming.

Advent charges into the temple of cynicism with a whip of hope, overturning the tables of despair, driving out the priests of that jaded cult, announcing there’s a new day and it’s not like the one that came before it.

“The not yet will be worth it,” Advent whispers in the dark.

Old man Simeon stands in the temple, holding the Christ child, rejoicing that now he can die because what he’d been waiting for actually arrived.

And so each December, we enter into a season of waiting, expecting, longing. Spirit meets us in the ache.
We ask God to enter into the deepest places of cynicism, bitterness and hardness where we have stopped believing that tomorrow can be better than today.

We open up. We soften up. We turn our hearts in the direction of that day. That day when the baby cries His first cry and we, surrounded by shepherds and angels and everybody in between, celebrate that sound in time that brings our Spirits what we’ve been longing for.

From a Relevant Magazine article – November 29, 2010

The Mighty Caesar Augustus + His Finite Empire Vs. The Humble King of Kings + His Eternal Kingdom

Grace Church is about to begin a new sermon series entitled, Thy Kingdom Come.  We’ll be spending 5 weeks reflecting on the advent (coming) of our Messiah.  The word Messiah comes from a Hebrew term which means "anointed one." Its Greek counterpart is Christos, from which we get the word Christ.  Christ was not Jesus' last name! It was his title and his calling. The Messiah/Christ was a promised future king who would rule on David's throne, forgive sinners, restore justice and establish a forever kingdom of love, joy, peace, and love (e.g., Isaiah 9:6-7).  Jesus came teaching us to live in light of the coming kingdom (Matthew 4:17).  He taught us to long for and pray this coming kingdom.  And he was born so that he could die in order to bring forth this great kingdom.  This is what Christmas is all about!

I’m getting ready to preach tomorrow about two kingdoms – The Roman Empire vs. The Kingdom of God.  Many present day Christians do not comprehend the political, economical, and sociological context of Jesus’ day.  And for that reason, it’s hard to grasp the full message of the N.T. writers.  The message of Christ and the Gospel of God’s Kingdom (Matthew 4:23) was an incredibly volatile political message.  When you look at it through a historical lens, It is no wonder why the early was so persecuted and it is equally clear why the revolution of Christianity spread like wildfire through an oppressed people under Roman tyranny.

I found the following article by Doug Wilson, very helpful and I wanted to pass it along…

Who was this Caesar Augustus? Why does Luke bring him into the story? Much more is involved that a simple time indicator. Octavius as a young man was the adopted son of Julius, and the heir apparent. By the birth of Jesus he had assumed the throne, and was the emperor. In 40 B.C. a blasphemous coin was struck in Gaul which showed the two-headed god Janus, with Julius on one side and Octavius on the other. The inscription said, "The divine Caesar-and the Son of God." There was an Egyptian inscription which said that Octavius was a marvelous star, "shining with the brilliance of the great heavenly Saviour. Then, in 17 B.C. when a strange star appeared in the heavens, and Augustus commanded a twelve day Advent celebration, a ceremonial embrace of Virgil’s statement: "The turning point of the ages has come!" During the reign of Augustus, the cult of explicit emperor worship took firm root, especially in Asia Minor. This region was to become the center of persecution of Christians-and for this precise reason. Even his taken name indicates the problem. The ruling title Augustus was taken by him, which means "worthy of reverence and worship." He was, in short, homo imperisosus. Caesar Augustus was simply the last in a long line of ancient men who believed in humanistic empire. But God was sending another kind of emperor, and another kind of empire entirely. 

This is what gives force to Luke's juxtaposition. Given what Luke understood about Caesar Augustus, and the identity of the Christ, this story from his gospel has to be seen as a rivalry of kings. The fact that Christ was born in Bethlehem-thus fulfilling the prophecy of God-as the result of a command from Caesar (to tax!) has to be seen as a supreme irony. If the rulers of that age had known what they were doing, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8). And of course, the problem was evident even earlier. Had they known what they were doing, Augustus would not have lifted his finger to tax the world. But he only did this because God lifted His finger-to save the world. 

God sent Christ to bind the strong man. "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth" (Luke 11:21-23). Luke knows what he doing here. Matthew records that Herod knew of the threat. But Augustus knew nothing of it, and Christ came to conquer the world-his throne is David’s and His kingdom will never end (Luke 1:32-33) This is the accusation against Him later (Luke 23:2). Luke also records the defiance of Peter and John-"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). They are quoting from a coin which ascribed this same saving authority to Augustus. The early Christians preached another kind of saving king, contrary to counterfeit salvation offered by Caesar (Acts 17:7). And we should note in passing that it is no offense against the magistrate to acknowledge that Christ rules over him (Acts 25:8). 

Christmas therefore reminds us of the fundamental antithesis. And in response, we have three basic options-we can affirm the antithesis (by faith alone), or we can blur or deny the antithesis, or we can misplace the antithesis. When it comes to the celebration of festivals like Christmas, our role is not to blend in with an unbelieving crowd. What does the holiday mean? It means the kingdom of God, not man. 

Where do we start? What are we to do? Begin at the beginning-do not run before you walk. Remember God’s Son, God’s word, God’s day.Remember the contrast of kings-remember the rival saviors. But we have a Savior, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). And here is true potency-the power we have is in the name of our king. There is no other name which brings salvation.