Second Sunday in Advent - 2018

The Bethlehem Candle: Love

I was pondering on the birth of Christ this last week. Somewhere, I came across a blog article on what the world was like at that time. Things were very volatile. The leader was absolute and you did not question him. He was known to be 'the Son of God'. There are more similarities between the Absolute and Christ, and when you peel back the layers of the story, what you find is something quite subversive and attacks the establishment of the time. What I find fascinating is that this message, this radical missive that Christ brought that turned everything upside down, and ... eventually got him killed for it ... is quite unbelievable.

I mean, think about it ... I don't think Jesus came to create another religion. He came ... in the humblest, lowly of ways ... a baby. A dependent, crying, vulnerable infant. And who is the first to learn of this birth? Shepherds - the dregs of society. And then a year or so later ... astrologers. Mystics. Oh, there's a story there, I'm sure!

This infant-turned-young man was such a threat to the Roman empire that they had him killed. They tried many times earlier (the decree to kill all children 2 years and younger and other attacks) until they pulled out their big guns. The thing is ... what was this message that was so threatening? What were these subversive communications that were so dangerous that they warranted death? 

Love. 

Yup, a message of love. A love that turns everything upside down and stretches far beyond human comprehension.

- The reign of God reverses the direction of purity: instead of withdrawing for fear of defilement, its agents are to spread holiness and wholeness through the holy spirit. Instead of fear of external contact with food and people and places considered to be unclean, followers are now to guard against internal uncleanness in their hearts resulting in actions harmful to others.

- The reign of God breaks the patronage cycle: Jesus does not seek followers who are beholden to him; so, instead of seeking honor for healing, Jesus tells suppliants to be quiet and go home.

- The rule of God subverts the core value of wealth: instead of wealth seen as a blessing, people are to relinquish their wealth to the poor.

- Kinship is reordered: instead of families ordered by patriarchy, the metaphorical kinship relations of the realm of God are structured so that no one serves as father and all are to function as servants to each other.

- The core value of honor is redefined: instead of seeking honor in the eyes of others as a mark of status, people are to choose to be the least as a means to avoid the destructiveness of competition and to raise others up.

- The core definition of power is reconfigured: instead of using authority to dominate for one’s advantage, people are to limit their power and use it to be servants to others.

- Even the visceral human drive for survival is challenged: instead of securing life at the expense of others, people are to risk their lives to bring the life-giving words and actions of God’s reign to others.

If the radical, unexpected, incredibly difficult, subversive message of Jesus can bring down all of these barriers that separate people based on race, status, power, wealth, and honor, how much more can it bring down bigotry, nationalism, xenophobia, economic exploitation, and the evils of mass incarceration? (the source has disappeared)

This is not a love that is human; but a love that surrounds the existence of all things created. And, this love leads to redemption.

Today, the Love candle is lit - the Second Sunday in Advent. I would like to remember that this faith I believe is born out of a radical love. The kind of love that changes lives ... and can get people killed. It does not dismiss the law that is present but lives through it to another level of relationship with all who share this planet with me ... those who look like me and those who don't, those who believe like me and those who don't.

Christ didn't come to create another religion, he came to show us the way to live, to teach us how to love (because the greatest thing is love), and to redeem us into right-living because we are incapable of doing it ourselves. Let us, today, remember this part of the story. And, if we claim to believe it, too, let us also embrace the radical, wild, incredibly difficult world based on the power of this Love. We can do no less. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Second Sunday in Advent 2024 - Peace

Image
Peace.  I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. (John 14:27) This week I got into a few discussions where words are used in ways that are a derivative of the person, defined or manipulated by the person using the word, and not from the definition of the word itself. In the process of an exchange, I realized that if we all have different meanings to words, then when we use them, the intended communication has a very great likelihood of going off the rails. What he was trying to tell me was not getting through; and vice versa. This week, the meaning of words has become very crucial to imparting one thought to another. Truly, without a common definition or understanding of the meaning of the word, there simply can be no communication. This...
Read more

First Sunday In Advent 2024 - Hope

Image
For many years, throughout the past, I have come to this space to remember the Advent Season. To reminisce and to remind myself of what this all means. Over the past year, I have worked on a series I called "Wrestling with God", and - I admit - many things fell through. Even though I hope to continue it, at this time, I put a pause on it. The year has been full of ups and downs, and over the journey, I've had to set many things aside. More often, things for me have taken a backseat and things for others have taken priority. It's my intention that, for the next four weeks, I can make this  a priority. To come to this space, and spend some time connecting with my Christian ancestors. To breathe and listen to Christmas music, to just be for a little bit.  I'm not sure how long it's been, but I know many Advent entries in the past have been because of messages I've heard on that day. And, in a similar way, today is no different. I took the time to listen to P...
Read more

Wrestling With God

Image
I know there’s a thought out there that *we* shouldn’t do anything to get God angry. We shouldn’t sin or get to the point where we deliberately go against what we believe is God’s nature or intention for us. We shouldn't swear or lie or have sex out of marriage or kill ... But here’s the thing: since *we* are not God, how can we be sure that we truly know what God’s nature or intention for us really is? The best we can do is akin to a form of psychological ‘transference’ or the shifting of emotions or beliefs from us to someone else, and concluding that the ‘us’ is the same as the other. Or, whatever we end up ‘transferring’ from us to God is as we say it is. But the thing is, this is not about God then … this becomes about what we transfer to and on God. This is about us. So, when it comes to what makes God angry, it’s about what we think makes God angry (or maybe what we feel guilty about?), not what actually makes God "angry", if God does indeed feel a human emotion...
Read more