First Advent

November 29, 2020

This is the first Sunday of Advent a time usually celebrated with many church and family traditions; decorations, foods, activities, gatherings of family & friends, with parties & gifts.   

This Advent season is unlike any most of us have ever experienced.  Due to the pandemic traditions are being interrupted and changing which has led to questions, decisions, fear and isolation.  Leading us to wonder, “How can we rejoice in time that is so foreign?”  

In Latin Advent means 'Coming'. This is the coming of Jesus into the world. And as Christians we use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember that Jesus has come, is with us, and will come again.   

Each Sunday of advent usually has a theme culminating in Christmas.  Even in our congregation the themes have changed depending on the pastor’s preference. During my time as your pastor the focus for the First Sunday of Advent was Prophets (the foretelling of the coming of the messiah), the Second, Angels (Heavenly announcement to fear not because of great joy), the third Shepherds (the message coming to common everyday people), the fourth Magi (even gentiles are included) and Christmas Emmanuel, (God with us).  More recently we have celebrated it in with themes of love, hope, peace, joy, and light.

For today I will briefly return to the theme of prophets.

In my estimation there are common elements in our times with those of Israel as portrayed by the prophet Isaiah in the time following the Assyrian conquest and subsequent Babylonian captivity; a nation disrupted, divided, forced separation, travel and business restricted, traditional worship interrupted, but in the hope that the Lord would act and restore righteous Davidic rule.  When those longed-for days would come the people would at last be able to say to the Lord that: 

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:2-7 (NIV)

Thanks be to God for Advent reminds us that God has fulfilled this prophecy in our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Why then does the threat remain and we find ourselves surrounded by such despair?  It is not uncommon that even following a great victory one can often feel extremely anxious, vulnerable, and defeated.  An example of this is found in:

I Kings 19:1-8

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

3 Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to Elijah

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, 

So it was after the prophet Elijah confronted the hundreds of Baal priests on Mount Carmel when Jezebel patron of the Baal priests with the support of those who had just championed Elijah vowed to wreak vengeance on him he became greatly afraid for his life and in depression he fled into a cave in the wilderness.  He let the turn of events cause him to lose faith in himself, his mission, and feel abandoned.   His depression and vindictiveness led to bitterness and discouragement.  As an answer to his predicament God told him not once but twice to first of all to get up and do something to be nourished in body. He did and for a while was strengthened and continued his journey until he fell back into despair.  Then God told him again not once but twice to go out to be in the presence of the Lord. By watching the storm, the prophet’s eyes were opened to his own weakness and to the divine source of true strength.  It was the still small voice that reassured him of the divine presence.  Again, not once but twice God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here?”  When his body, mind, and spirit was revived God told him to go and return on continue on with his mission.

Two and a half thousand years after I Kings was written I commend to you God’s commands to Elijah.  Don’t sit around lamenting the threats that surround us.  Get up and take care to nourish your bodies.  For me it includes eating healthy limiting the excuse for indulging in junk food and having a little too much to drink.  Shower, shave, get dressed, limit time online and on TV, go outside even in the cold of the day, exercise, take prescribed medicines, and keep in touch with family, friends, and neighbors even if by phone or a card in the mail.  Go out of your own negative thinking and be in the presence of the Lord.  You can feel God’s presence more clearly in the still gentle whispers of the purr of a cat, the lick of a dog, the song of a bird, the scamper of a chipmunk, the majesty of a sunrise or sunset, the briskness of the temperature, the soaring of hawks, the falling of leaves, the movement of clouds, the warmth of a blanket, the smile of a child, eye contact above a mask, positive thoughts, gratitude, appreciation, prayer, and study.  

We still have a mission to do justice, seek mercy, walk humbly with our God loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves.  Look to Jesus, the pioneer and fulfiller of our faith who experienced the fullness of being human and whose “defeat” was actually victory.  

Like Elijah it may take a time or two for us to finally get the message and act upon it but act upon it we must.  As Paul commended to Timothy, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you….For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (II Tim. 6-7

Although the victory of Jesus is unchanging, we have to realize that while we live our lives on this side of the grave life involves both chosen and unchosen change. Let us not be discouraged as we find new ways of celebrating the reality that Jesus Christ is Lord   and despite all that changes around us his love and grace remains forever unchanging.  This Christmas season will not have the clamor and rush of activities that in the past were a part of our celebrations but let our joy be full in quiet reflection and thanksgiving of the bounteous blessings that God bestows upon us daily. Perhaps in the healing days ahead many of our changes will become the new cherished normal.