Preparing for Advent [8]

Memories. We all have them.

There are some memories in which we relish, and we regularly enjoy reliving them. There are some memories that frighten us, and we would just as soon forget them. Yes, we all have memories.

Memories. They are interesting.

The good ones can make changing something that helped create those memories difficult, or perhaps even unthinkable. The affects of the bad ones may have altered the course of our lives in ways that make living difficult, and perhaps unbearable.

What do memories have to do with a reflective post on Advent? Quite a lot. Your current environment (life situation) is a factory for making memories (i.e., you live and have experiences = memories). Your current environment has been influenced by culture. Our culture does not celebrate Advent. Rather, it forces on people a Christmas shaped by, dare I say, capitalism.

Did you know there is the very real possibility several "black Friday" deals are frauds? Did you know people have been trampled and killed on "black Friday"? Now, I am not advocating for outlawing "black Friday" because without it Jdimytai Damour (the man in story #1 from the "trampled and killed" hyperlink) would still be alive today any more than I am advocating for outlawing "black Friday" in order to keep manufacturers from, well, doing what manufacturers will do. Yet the truth is, Mr. Damour died in a black Friday related event, and people may have bought a lot of "look alike" items this past black Friday, because of a condition of the human heart. The human heart has been corrupted by, well, a variety of things, but let us just call it sin.

Yes I realize the concept of sin is an unpopular one in our culture today. Yet we cannot disagree that there is something gravely wrong with "us".

I plan to return to the aspect of memories and what they have to do with Advent. Yet between now and that time, after you finish reading this post of course, I encourage you to ponder that concept along with the above comments on memories. For now, I will return to this aspect of sin.

I return to it, in part, because prior to finishing this post I learned of a school shooting that has left 26 people dead, 18 of whom are children. Oh yeah, it is possible the gunman (or one of them) was the son of a teacher at the school. Undoubtedly the questions have been going for quite some time now, and will continue for quite some time into the future. How? Why? What could have been done differently? Are my children no longer safe at school? Etc.

Please understand, I am troubled by the tragedy...my heart hurts for the lives lost and the ripple effects this will have on many, many people. Yet please also understand, in relation to question number four above (i.e., Are my children no longer safe as school?), the answer is NO!

I want to be clear. This is not an alarmist call to home school your children or anything else that may purport to stop a tragedy like this from happening in the future (or at least keep your children safe). What this is, is a plea for us to wake up. There is something wrong with "us".

You can deny the something wrong is sin. That is your choice. But if it is not sin, then what is it? Advent, as a part of God's Story, reminds us this world is not right.

God's Story does not shy away from tragedies like today. This is so important because the cultural expectations of "Christmas" have been dashed for 100's of people today (not counting the 1,000's impacted in other ways today, or the millions around the world who are not able to "celebrate" Christmas in our culturally shaped way). Yet while "Christmas" may have been ruined for many...Advent can bring comfort because events like today will not have the last word!

Advent conditions us to long for the return of Jesus...and at His return there will be no more death (cf. Rev21). Advent reminds us Jesus gave up the "riches" of heaven and entered the "slums" of earth in order to show God's love to people - all people. Advent reminds us that sin, which has impacted every human heart, will only have a temporary reign. In light of that we say maranatha - Come Lord Jesus!

Preparing For Advent [4]

Nearly a year later I still agree with the post. Yet after reading it again, and again, and yet again, I see it is a weightier post than I realized at the time. Indeed, it is too weighty for me to deal with adequately in a single post. Truth be told, I am likely inept to deal with it no matter the number of posts I would write.

If last year's post is read quickly, there is the possibility of seeing some sort of Universalism present; e.g., the entire last paragraph (not just the last sentence). Yet prior to that paragraph I mentioned "the deceased in Christ" as well as a "battle over the eternal destiny of humanity". Those are heavy words.

So what am I to do with that? For now I will answer in two ways; one towards The Church and another towards the majority of the people in this world, who are not a part of The Church.


First, The Church. Dealing with death is never easy. Yet I am convinced, and grow more convinced with every funeral I either attend or officiate (conduct), that allowing ourselves to fully experience everything associated with death (including anger, grief, and pain) is a good thing. How you may wonder? Well...

We usually experience anger when we believe something, particularly something that impacts us directly, is not right. The reality is, death shows us something is not right. When God removed Adam and Eve out of Eden, He also barred them from the Tree of Life (cf. Gen3:22-24). Yet one day (because of Jesus' second coming), those "in Christ" will have access to that Tree (cf. Rev2:7; 22:2,14,19), and death will be no more (Rev21:4).

As far as grief is concerned, those "in Christ" are now with the Lord (cf. Phil1:21-24; Rev6:9; 7:9; 20:4). This is not defeat; it is victory! What they had faith in and could only hope for has been confirmed in tangible ways - what a blessing. Indeed, a blessing that should comfort those of us left behind. Those who are with Jesus now are at no disadvantage (cf. 1Thess4:13-18), and for this we can be thankful.

With all of that said, we can and will still miss them (pain), but we can also be thankful for the time we had with them. It can be healing to ponder and be thankful for lessons the individual(s) taught us, how they encouraged us, etc. In fact, if we want comfort and peace in the midst of our pain, thankfulness is the path to receive it (cf. Phil4:4-7).

The reminder of death for us Christians is also good because it reminds us this earth is not our home (cf. Ps119:19; Phil3:20). It is quite easy for many of us to be comfortable in our culture. However death is a wake-up call from our comfort that impacts everyone. A growing awareness of Advent challenges that comfort - especially if (and when) it leads to complacency.


Now for the majority of those in the world, that are not in The Church. While this will be overly simplified, it is also true. Jesus did not leave the full presence of God to come to earth in order to help us become better people. Jesus did not come to clean up our morals. Jesus did not come to get us to tithe money to The Church. Jesus did not come so the Ten Commandments can be prominently displayed on a secular government's ground. Jesus did not come so that retailers will say Merry Christmas. Jesus did not come so that...well, I think you get my point.

Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, period.

What is the Kingdom of God? Think of there being no needy people. Think of sexual abuse never happening again. Think of isolation giving way to true, loving community. Think of people realizing they are loved by a God because of who they are, not because of what they do or what they could be one day in the future. Think of just about anything in this world that makes it difficult, hard, depressing, or whatever - Jesus came to establish a Kingdom to solve all of that.

While I will defend The Church because She is the bride of Christ...if somehow the church has hurt you I am sorry. Please forgive us. Will you at least be open to hearing the words of Jesus? Will you at least consider the fuller picture of what God desires?

I am convinced that many things for which people, maybe even you (who range from apathy to even hostility towards God), are passionate about fall under the umbrella of God's Kingdom desires. If only somehow The Church could help them, or you, realize this. Are you concerned about poverty? So is God. Are you concerned about the AIDS epidemic? So is God. Are you concerned about just about anything that could be put in the blank? So is God. Perhaps you could help the The Church become more well-rounded so those areas of justice are handled by the body Jesus left behind on the earth to do the Father's will (The Church).

With that said, this is a reason why Advent is so important. The first coming of Jesus (His first "advent") guarantees His second coming. While the Kingdom of God is present on earth now (thanks to the implications of His first coming), it will not be fully present until His second coming. What a glorious day that will be. Yet how glorious it also is to be working towards that day as we realize and take to heart the fact that The Church is the answer to the Lord's Prayer (cf. Mt610 - bringing heaven (God's presence) to earth in tangible ways).

Until next time, Holy Advent to you.

Preparing For Advent [3]

Like Preparing For Advent [1], most of what follows is a post from last year, "Advent or Christmas [2]".  Once again, the intent of posting this again is so we can work together, learn together, and fight together against being shaped by our culture. I plan to do a follow-up post early next week.  Where has my thinking changed?  What needs to be more clear?  By the way, you can help me with those thoughts.    

OK, now here is the post from last year 
With a very basic groundwork of Advent and Christmas in place, let us begin to look at some implications.

Quite often the holiday season (if I dare type that) is a difficult one for people.  Although our culture seeks to trump up a festive and even family focused time – topped off with social gatherings, songs, drinks and oh yes…presents – a variety of things make this season a difficult one.  A major difficulty for many during the holiday season is the unfortunate reality of death.  Have you ever lost a loved one?  Did you miss them the first time the holidays (or any special day) rolled around?  Sure you did.  In fact, you likely still miss the person even if it has been 20 years, or longer. 

So how can a focus on Advent help?  It can help because Advent reminds us this world is not our home.  This world will pass away and our sojourn here will be revealed as extremely short.  There ought to be no denying this world is a mess.  Horrific things happen here; people are oppressed and abused, forgotten and ridiculed, even murdered and worse.  Yet Advent reminds us none of those occurrences will have the last word.   

Let us move back to the reality that the death of loved ones often makes this time of year difficult.  Advent reminds us one day there will be no more death (Rev21:4).  Advent reminds us our King, Jesus, will one day return and everything will be made new (Rev21:5)!  We, along with our deceased loved ones in Christ, will receive resurrection bodies!  Indeed, the faithful in Christ on earth will meet the deceased in Christ who are currently with Him, and we all will come back to this refined earth together (cf. 1Thess4:13ff; 2Pet3:8-13).  At that point we will then, and forever more be, in the presence of God!! 

The truth and focus of Advent helps to take some of the sting out of missing a loved one.  Granted, grief is still real and memories will bring a mixture of happiness and sorrow.  Yet the neglected Christmas story of Revelation chapter 12 reminds us there is a cosmic battle raging all around us.  This battle is over the eternal destiny of humanity.  We will not get this message from the commercialization of Christmas in our culture.  Quite the contrary, our culture wants to lull us into complacency and put forth comfort after comfort, luxury after luxury, until we are so inundated with them that if we miss one we feel less fortunate and deprived. 

While we may still miss loved ones, a focus on Advent – longing for the return of Jesus – tempers this grief.  In fact, it gives us hope because one day things will be made right.  One day loved ones will be reunited (and the oppressed and abused will be healthy and whole, the forgotten and ridiculed will have God wipe away tears from their eyes as they realize – for the first time perhaps – they have worth and value) – what a glorious day it will be!!  The worth of Advent is immeasurable for the Christian community.  Indeed, Advent’s worth is immeasurable for all humanity.  As we long for the return of Jesus it ought to reorient everything in our lives; one of these areas is the realm of finances. 

May you continue to experience a Holy Advent.