CRCM-UWO

Advent Letter 2008

Mark 13.24-37 (ESV)

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

This Sunday marks the beginning of the church season of Advent – the time set aside to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord – both in Bethlehem in humility (Joy to the world!) and again in glory (Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus)!

The biblical text that is chosen for this first Sunday of Advent is Mark 13 – a sobering text that reveals our tendencies to forget, get lazy, and mis-prioritize things in life. It’s a text that functions like a wake-up call in the life of faith, calling us back to a right-ordered set of priorities and allegiances.

When I was a kid, I wasn’t very athletic. I remember playing Little League baseball. It didn’t matter whether the ball was on the T or the coach pitched it to me, I struck out almost all the time. My problem? I hadn’t learned to keep my eye on the ball. Thankfully, I’ve gotten better after the passage of many years. Even earlier this week, Jen threw something to me across the kitchen, and…miracles of miracles…I caught it! Sometimes it’s the small successes that are the most meaningful. I kept my eye on the ball.

But how often in our faith do we do the same thing – we loose focus, we get distracted, we stumble and fall because we weren’t keeping our eyes open to both the glories and the diversions around us? Not many of us live in homes or apartment buildings with full time doorkeepers. It may have been one of the things of the past or something that’s still held over in some chic high-rises in large cities today, but in the ancient world, doorkeepers were common. Their job was to guard – to watch the door: welcoming guests and chasing away thugs. The doorkeeper was to keep watch 24/7/365. The doorkeeper was to stay awake – no dozing off on the job! And Jesus uses this image and applies it to discipleship – to following him.

If I were to sit and chat with each of you over this Advent season, I’d want to dialogue about how this semester has gone for you. In your school and work lives, yes. But more importantly in your faith. I’d want to ask you how Western has desensitized you to the lure of evil, brokenness, and sin. I’d want to explore with you the reasons behind why you’ve grown a bit colder in your faith and stopped worshipping on Sundays with others. And, equally, I’d want to hear the stories of how that “still, small voice” has lead you away from going down the enticing – but wrong – path. I’d want to hear how experiences on campus – the good ones and the hard ones – have solidified your faith. I’d want to hear how you’re “staying awake” to use Jesus’ image.

So maybe this Christmas break will be an opportunity for you to take a self-assessment. The school year is half done. Maybe these weeks between exams and starting back up again in January can be a time to do a little mid-course correction. If I can say anything to you in this regard it would be this: you can’t imagine how easy it is to fall asleep faith-wise. The entire foundation of your university education is trying to conform you to a secular outlook on life. Many of your friends would love you to join with them in relativistic, narcissistic hedonism. Western culture guilts and shames you into its materialistic consumerism. There are few ways in which you are encouraged to stay awake toward this Jesus who comes to us like a sneaky thief, getting past all our early-warning devices and security alarms. But he will because he wants to steal our hearts away and lavish his grace on us.

This Advent Letter marks the end of our programming until we’re back the first week of January. But I also want to encourage you to reflect deeply this Advent season. The texts for each week of Advent are below if you’d like to continue to reflect on Scripture over these weeks – as a way of training yourself to stay awake. I know exams and other assignments will scramble for your time and attention. I know you’ll pull all-nighters, cut corners where you can, and try to squeak by fairly. I know – I’ve been there. And in and through it all, I pray that God’s grace would surround you, uphold you, and give you the courage to stay awake to the reality of this Jesus who will keep searching for a chink in our armor-plated defenses until he can surround us with his love.

You know, Mark 13 reminds me of a friend who commented once that the Christmas card industry could use some revision. Because not all of the Advent and Christmas biblical texts are the warm, fuzzy type. Some, like Mark 13 here, are downright accosting. They get right up in your grill. So, maybe we need to think of some new greetings cards for this season. How about these:

“You brood of vipers…Merry Christmas!”

“Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…Happy Holidays!”

“The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven…Wishing you good cheer this Christmas!”

“Stay awake! Love, Peace, and Joy to you and yours!”

This Christmas, I wish you many holiday blessings. I wish you Love and Peace and Joy. I wish you Merriment, Happiness, and every other good thing. But I also wish you Courage and Strength and Stamina to remain faithful, devoted, and wide awake to Jesus – the one who has come and the one who will come again.

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Advent and Christmas Texts

For the first week of Advent: Mark 13.24-37 (Sunday, Nov 30)

For the second week of Advent: Mark 1.1-8 (Sunday, Dec 7)

For the third week of Advent: John 1.6-28 (Sunday, Dec 14)

For the fourth week of Advent: Luke 1.26-38 (Sunday, Dec 21)

For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: Luke 2.1-20

For the first week after Christmas: Luke 2.22-40

For the second week after Christmas: John 1.1-18

“Punches” by Collin Herring

Activities this Week

• Sunday @ 7pm: Through the Roof in the Wave, UCC 2nd floor.
• Wednesday @ 9am: Graduate Christian Fellowship. We’ll be discussing chapter 6 of Hope in Troubled Times.
• Thursday ALL DAY: Embrace AIDS Campaign. We’ll have a table set up in the UCC atrium where you can get some info on HIV/AIDS around the world and also talk with a relief worker from the field – someone who is following Christ by serving those affected by HIV/AIDS. Stop by and say “Hi.” You’ll also have the opportunity to take part in a photoshoot in my office. A photographer will be set up all day in UCC 256, taking long-exposure photos of students for a website aimed at raising awareness of HIV/AIDS. Check it out!
• Thursday at 5:30pm: The Connection. Join us for our last Connection of the year. We’re going to be having a pot-luck meal to celebrate the end of term and welcoming a guest who will speak with us personally about HIV/AIDS and how Jesus calls us to respond. 

Word of the Week

Ezekiel 34.11-24 (ESV)

“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

“Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.”

The entire chapter of Ezekiel 34 tells a dramatic story of renewal. In verses 1 through 10, God reveals to his Prophet that the leaders of his people are unjust, corrupt, and destined for reckoning. Then, verses 11 through 24 outline God’s imminent intervention to bring about justice for the sake of his oppressed people. And verses 25 to 31 close out the chapter with the worldwide consequences of renewal that God envisions so that humanity and all the rest of Creation might once again dance with joy and liberation in the presence of God.

I don’t know about you, but at the end of a semester like this one, reading about God’s promise of health, wholeness, peace, and blessing for the entire Creation brings comfort to those areas of life that are racked with anxiety, despair, confusion, frustration, and seeming hopelessness. It’s been a hard semester for many of us and we might only feel like there’s only enough time for a quick breath before plunging back into the intensity of studying, work, and exams again. It can all seem very exhausting – physically and spiritually both.

The thing to be thankful for (this week is US Thanksgiving after all) is that this isn’t the way God works with his people. God’s not a taskmaster, constantly threatening punishment unless we work harder and longer until we collapse. Instead, this is a God who wants to be present with his people in the midst of their burdens, revealing his justice that upends the structures that exclude us from thriving and leads us to places of refreshment, healing, and shalom.

The semester is almost over. As a community, we’re going to gather next Thursday evening in order to pause and celebrate the Advent season that will begin next weekend – a season of hopeful anticipation for God to lead us from the darkness into the light of his Son’s Kingdom that has come. And with this God working for our entire redemption, nothing will stand in the way. Every valley of tears…every mountain of work…they don’t stand a chance of keeping us from the deep goodness and pleasure of this God to bring his Kingdom to us. Rest and work and pray and hope in this promise this week.

“Goodnight Girl” by The Nadas

A very sad song by one of the most popular university bands in the US right now.