Calling in the Context of Collapse
Advent Week 1 – HOPE – Sun, Dec 1st – The Light Shines Brighter in the Darkness
Scriptures – Hebrew Bible – Psalm 25:1-10 New Testament – Luke 21:25-36
Exegesis –
· As Christians we should lean into our four core seasons –
o Time for Creation – Sept/Oct - (w/ Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur /Sukkot)
o Advent – December - The Coming of Christ;
o Lent/Easter – Feb-Apr - The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ;
o Pentecost – May/ Jun - The Holy Spirit Commission us to do God’s work;
· God created; God came; God was crucified and resurrected; God commissioned
· As cultural capitalistic Christianity tries to hold up a warm and cuddly Advent narrative it is my responsibility and our practice to remember the hot mess situation
· We tell the true story lest we forget whose we are and who we are becoming.
· This season while we are in the midst of our own hot mess we need the reminder that God will answer our pleadings and does great work in dark situations with messy people
· These passages remind us that folks were not looking for a reindeer
1. Our God has seen tough times before.
a. The Bible is full of drama and heartbreak. Kidnappings, illness, war and family dysfunction Since there has been humans there has been tragedy
b. God has not only been present, but trying time and again to get things right and being patient in the midst of our mess. (Maybe we owe God a little patience)
c. How many times have people claimed to speak for God and then did horrific things to God’s children – the Temple elite, The Spanish Conquistadors , The Puritans, The Nazis – so many people doing evil in the name of God
2. Our people have seen tough times before.
a. Sept 22, 1862 A. Lincoln announced he’d issue Emancipation Proclamation
b. That Christmas was epic for many enslaved people
c. All their problems were not solved but it was a shift in power
d. Now remember how many Christmases passed before that shift (1
3. We have hope in knowing that what God has done before – God will do again.
a. So let’s lean into the real Christmas story – we need hope from realness
b. Advent reminds us that some things are worth waiting for
c. We may not all get to the Promised Land – but that is not God’s guarantee
d. We may be called to faithful in the meantime
e. But we have hope because God will not abandon us – and we are all called to faithfulness in accordance with God’s plan. We don’t have hope because it will be fixed in a couple of weeks, but because God will come!
PRACTICES THAT HELP US LEAN INTO REAL ADVENT HOPE
1. Zoom out and Zoom off to get excited about the bigger picture – God often shows up when things are dark – because light shines brightest, because folk are open to God’s radical transformation. Less likely to manifest in a tech driven mentality. Get offline, quiet down, walk outside, have a conversation with a stranger.
2. Adjust your timeline – I know we live microwave lives – but God doesn’t move on your quarterly cycle. God moves over decades, centuries and millennia so stop expecting a change tomorrow
3. Lean into your small role – Mary, Joseph, The Shepherds, The Wise Men, The farm animals they all had a role, a small part that they needed to play – God has one for you
Reflection Questions –
1. In this Advent season in the midst of all the bad news, how can you zoom out to pay attention to what God is doing at a bigger level? (Are you called to more Bible Study? A social media fast? Acts of service that help you build with people different from you?) What do you need to connect with where the Spirit is moving?
2. How can you cultivate the extremely counter-cultural practice of looking more long-term and stop demanding that God move tomorrow? (How can you connect with ancestors who understood what it was to wait on God?)
Where is God directing you to be faithful in your own small way? Maybe your call is to just show up for God or to pay attention to the stars or to offer your body up for God’s indwelling.) How can you be deeply available to serve in your role