Fourth Sunday in Advent - 2019

Love - such an easy word to say, such a difficult way to live.

I had a discussion with a friend yesterday and a few things came up. Among them included the unpacking of the following thoughts:

(1) How atheists really do have this time of the year down perfect; they know it and do it the best. They know Christmas trees and decorations, they know Hallmark movies and packed shopping malls (or online ordering), they know how to do a family feast and they know giving, creating their mountains of gifts into credit cards of debt.

(2) The Christmases of George Bailey are gone, the people like George Bailey are no more ... we honour liars and manipulators, we fill our media with 'fakery' and disingenuous behaviour and we set that on a pedestal of high respect and esteem. We select people to run our country, not by the quality of the person but by how popular they are, how good they look, how pretty they talk. The strength of the male is being erased and condemned to be replaced with the cry to remove the Holocaust from learning and around us because it "affects my mental health and it offends me!" The searing hatred that is present today towards those that are different, that believe differently, is frightening ... the absence of true leadership and compassion for all is even more disconcerting. I am sure there are Democrats that would speed up if a certain president appeared in front of their vehicle, and certain Canadians would do the same with certain leaders in this country as well. We have become entitled to say and believe whatever we want, and raise our children the same because that is our right. And the breakdown that is becoming evident we are oblivious to, and as of yet, do not see how we are the ones who have created it.

(3) What did George Bailey have that is gone from today? What was there that helped fuse his society and hold various people accountable? Things that we no longer have - church and family. A belief and a community. If you remove a common belief and a supportive community, what do you have? For George Bailey, he thought he was on his own, but he discovered just how connected he was ... today, we think we are connected, but we're not. We're on our own. And whatever connection we think we have, it's conditional - with a swipe of a finger or one word of anger, we can be removed and there is no one to remind us that we are part of something bigger. Because that 'something bigger' is gone.

So, here I write - about an ancient practice, a ceremony from centuries ago, practiced to remind, to prepare. The first two Sundays in Advent are about reminding us of the coming of Christ, into the world at that point in time, in that culture and tradition; the last two Sundays in Advent are about his coming into our lives, in our individual point and place and culture. We have Advent today, but it is the Advent calendar, replaced with gifts or chocolate - Lindt makes a lovely Advent Calendar with 24 lovely chocolates! ... and has nothing to do with the real story. In 2001, I heard a discussion on how, at that time, gatherings were showing signs of removing Christ from this time. Now, almost 20 years later, it is evident that this is definitely embedded into our time and culture. I intend to go to Christmas Eve services, and I wonder what I will find and what I will hear.

So, how do we, today, enter into the fullness of this season? What does that mean for us? Because, unless we become intentional about this celebration, it is not long until that 'reason' for the season will be gone and it will truly become a Winter Festival and we will be left with this empty space with lots of chocolate.

So how are you, how am I, how are we going to be intentional about our spirituality and faith at this time, if that is what we believe?

Let me suggest a good place to begin is with this fourth candle - the Love Candle. I believe that this Sunday we are reminded of something beyond the immediate circumstances of our lives, of our time, that it is not so much about the gift as it is what that gift is supposed to be about, what is beyond it, what is bigger than it. And this Sunday speaks to that. If we speak beautiful words but have not love, we are nothing. If we do incredible things but have not love, then we are nothing. If we 'love' only those who agree with us and 'love' us in return, then it is not love. I believe gifts are to be bigger than the gift, I believe this season is bigger than the events and decoration. I believe the Bible is bigger than the words. Ultimately, it is all about love. A love-story about Almighty-Creator with fallen, broken man. And from that love comes true and pure union, our redemption. And because of that love, we are sent forth in love to love - no strings attached. We should reflect on others through that lens, we should reflect on ourselves in that mirror - how much do they love? how much do I love? Because without that - there is nothing.

So, I encourage you to revisit that scene - creatively created.  I don't think the wise guys and the shepherds were there at the same time, but I do believe they both showed up. I believe the intention of the message is true: love. From the highest of high (wealth from foreign countries) to the lowest of the low (pauper shepherds making sure their sheep are safe), they came to recognize something beyond their immediate understanding. They didn't know what, but they understood it was something. A helpless child - born on the run, the ultimate refugee, who would grow into a young homeless man that talked about a world we could experience now, in the middle of our lostness and anguish and suffering and pain. A young man who began a revolution, not of swords of anger and war but of words of love and compassion, something so subversive that he was killed for it.

Today, I look in that manger, and what do I see? a child ... but beyond that child, what is there for me? The Old Testament canon, a history account, was about the preparation for this coming ... the New Testament documents point in history to when he came. Two testaments of this Christ ... in a world where three was the perfect number? Could there be a third testament? I'd like to suggest that there is a Third Testament ... and the time-honoured tradition of this Sunday speaks to it. The Third Testament is me ... you ... those who claim to believe. We are the Third Testament ... and our commission is love. Love because we were first loved. The lens we use to look at the world is love ... the mirror we use to examine ourselves is love. We love because we were first loved. It is from that great love that our redemption was given, freely given ... and because there were no conditions on that love, we, too, must love without condition. We, too, must give from that place. And, if we live individually by that 'law', then we collectively join his followers, his apostles and we become part of the whole.

Today, I look in that manger and what do I see? Today, I encourage you to look in that manger, too ... and what do you see?

Maranatha – Amen