Emmanuel

I love the word "Emmanuel"; the concept of "God with us" (Mt 1:23) is such a profound mystery.  

The radical idea of Christmas is that God came back to Earth.  Of our own volition Humanity has only rejected God, spat in His face, and broken His heart.  And yet He sent His Son.  God came back to the world that had forsaken Him for our own destruction.

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." (Jn 1:10-11).

As far as we have run away God is relentless for us.  God has already proven that He will do whatever He can to get us back not because of our merit but His great love for us.  I would have given up on myself a long time ago, but God continues to reach out to me.  He believes in my redemption even when I struggle to.  May we seek to be as relentless in our pursuit of God as He is in His pursuit of us

Let us not jump ahead to the Cross just yet, but for now simply marvel in the great mystery of the Incarnation.  Christ has come into the World, and nothing will ever be the same.  May we ponder the implications of this and consider how to embody this faith.

Advent and Love

As Christmas Day draws near and this season of Advent builds toward it's climax, we come to the topic of love.

This poor worn English word has the burden of carrying such a variety and depth of emotions.  The word 'love' is so frequently and often carelessly tossed around.  With this usage the term easily becomes distorted and devalued.  Truth such as "God is love" (1 Jn 4:16 ) is changed to "Love is god", and we are left just as empty as before.

In contrast to this we have the ever-lasting and ever-faithful/unchanging love of God.  It is in the midst of the darkness that the light shines (Jn 1:5).  Into the brokenness God sent His Son.  To the fallen world God came as the Son (Rom 5:8).

We may misuse and misunderstand words like love, and so Jesus came to show us love.  He demonstrated what love looks like in ways not as easily altered as frail human words.  We can warp the concept of God's love to mean whatever we want, but in His incarnation we see love depicted.  He has shown us love by portraying and giving it to us.  To understand love we simply need to look to the manger and to the cross.

There is much more that can be said of love, many things that I am yet to learn, but let us contemplate this mystery of God's love coming down to show us how to love and how to live.

Advent and Joy

Joy is a funny thing.  It can be hard to put into words, and yet we all have a sense of it.

In the Gospels joy is seen as a response to the good news of Jesus and the coming of His Kingdom:  Mt 13:20, Lk 6:23, Mt 28:8, Jn 3:29, Lk 1:44.

Joy is often presented in contrast to happiness.  Happiness is described as conditional and temporal.  Joy in comparison is not derived from situation but person, specifically God.  In that sense joy is interwoven with delight.  This is not at all to say that happiness is bad, merely that happiness is fleeting while Jesus is our solid rock.  

Joy and delight stem from deep within the human soul, the purpose of humanity is to delight and be delighted in by God our Creator and Lord.  We have been created for delight, and the memory of this still aches within our souls.  Our joy is found in remembering who God is and who we have been created to be. Joy is never a solitary thing, it comes from relationship.

Are we settling for a happiness that is convenient when our truest desire is for a deeper joy?  Are we attempting to distract ourselves instead of addressing the more difficult and fulfilling pursuit?

May we remember and discover anew the good news of Jesus and His Kingdom, and may we appropriately be filled with joy.

Advent and peace

It has been observed that the Christmas season is one of the least peaceful times of the year.  We all know that is not how things should be, and we all know that the celebration of our Lord's birth should be a season on peace and not business.

My family's tradition is that the second candle of Advent is the candle of peace.  I like that the season begins with hope and then moves to peace; peace flows from our hope.

I have found that my most broken moments are often my most peaceful moments, because from brokenness come dependency on God, dependency flows into intimacy, and from intimacy comes Christ's peace "which surpasses all understanding" (Phil 4:7)

I like that we are not commanded to muster up peace.  We do not have to obtain peace to turn to God, but rather peace flows from turning to God, from obedience, from being present in His presence. Our peace is not dependent upon us, our actions, or our circumstances, but upon God who is independent.  We receive peace like we receive grace.

So may we have peace even in the middle of the chaos of the season.  May we "be still and know" (Ps 46:10), may we rest in His presence and peace, because it is there that we are home.

Advent and hope

Here we are once again in the season of Advent; this time of year is a whirlwind of emotions, traditions, and memories.  Once again we contemplate the profound mystery and miracle of Emmanuel, "God with us" (Mt 1:23).

We remember the first Advent when "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Isa 9:2).  All of creation lay in exile.  And then came God's promise of the messiah, He who would come back for us.

Before we get to the joyous day of Christmas we have Advent, a time of waiting in darkness.  We remember the state of the world, as expressed by the lyrics "O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear."

We do not remember Advent simply because of what happened two thousand years ago.  We remember the first Advent because we are currently waiting for the second Advent.  We too are a people walking in darkness.  Yes, Jesus has come into the world, but the fullness of Jesus' victory and God's redemption of all of creation is still in progress.  The world is still a dark place.  And so we reflect upon the first Advent as a means to illuminate our current state of waiting.

But we are not to wait idly.  We have the incredible honor of participating in God's work of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-19).  We are called to be like John the Baptist, who came before Jesus.  John was the one who came "to prepare the way of the Lord" (Isa 40:3-5).  And now it is we who are called by God to prepare the way of Jesus' second coming.  Until that great day we sacrifice to prepare the way, and we wait in darkness, but we have hope.

May we seek to be present this Advent as we contemplate both Advents past and future.