Monthly Archives: December 2017

Wait, wait, wait…and remember

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Readings: Psalm 79; Micah 4:6-13; Colossians 1:11-20; Revelation 18:1-10

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:11-20

We wait. And wait. And wait some more. Wondering when deliverance will come—when we will be delivered from the hatred that oozes through society, the racism that abounds, the abuse that so many ignore or remain silent about or even seek to justify, the violence that kills and maims both body and spirit. We wait. And it just seems to get worse. The darkness grows greater. We can’t help but wonder if we can endure, if deliverance is possible.

And then we remember. We remember another time and another people caught up in oppression and injustice, feeling as if their world was unraveling, wondering if God could do anything and if it would make any difference, even sometimes believing that the harsh realities of this world were just too much to overcome.

And God came to them. God was with them in the midst of the suffering and the pain. God was with them, sharing in all they experienced and in that sharing leading them to a different way of seeing, a different way of being.

Even so, God is with us, sharing our suffering and our pain, leading us to a new way of seeing and being. We celebrate the birth of a child at Christmas, but it is far more than that. It is the assurance that God is with us, God is at work in the world and that the ways of God, the peace of God, the love of God are what life, our lives, are really all about. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace. That is the great hope that counters the harsh reality. A hope so strong that it is expressed in the past tense, as if it had already been fulfilled. That is the hope we hold this Advent season.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered by Jeff Jones, writer, pastor, seeker of the Christ Child.

First Do No Harm

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Readings: Psalm 79; Micah 4:1-5; Revelation 15:1-8

Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;

Let your compassion come speedily to meet us,

For we are brought very low.

Help us, O God of our salvation

For the glory of your name…

Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors

The taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!

Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,

Will give thanks to you forever;

From generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalm 79:8-9, 12-13

There’s no false piety in the psalms. Jealousy, rage, praise, fear, awe, love, compassion – the whole spectrum of human emotions is on display. A startling number of requests for smiting turns up, and quite a few peevish wishes for God to inflict humiliation and suffering on those who have crossed the people of God. Pleas for mercy and help are barely uttered before the “let them get theirs” words appear. It’s uncomfortable to read these vengeance requests sprinkled among the more acceptable praises of God and cries for mercy. Should I be asking God to harm anyone, even someone who has harmed me? It doesn’t feel right, and these bloodier and baser requests are often dropped when the psalm is read in church.

If these words make me feel uncomfortable, it’s probably because I’m expecting the psalms to be moral lessons in poetic meter. That’s not what the psalms are, and I misuse them if I justify wishing another harm because they are part of my sacred scripture. I also misuse them if I remove all the offensive parts, cutting verses out to leave only the happy and uplifting parts.

The psalms are cries to God; in times of joy, in the darkest of circumstances, in strength and weakness, the psalms give voice to my deepest feelings. Am I angry at the world for being unfair and God for not fixing it? There’s a psalm for that. Am I alone and in doubt? There’s one for that, too. Am I acutely aware of the Great Love that holds me? The psalms express my joy. Whatever is happening, there’s a psalm for that. It doesn’t mean that all my feelings and wishes are pure or acceptable – some of them aren’t. But God already knows what’s in my heart: I’m the one who needs the psalms to be honest with myself.

A very kind, wise professor once told me something I’ve never forgotten. While ancient Israel’s cries for God’s revenge and brutality against enemies may seem beneath any person or community of faith, they were also statements of great faith. The singers of the psalms didn’t take revenge. Instead, they handed over their worst and most hateful thoughts to God. Isn’t it better to hand vengeful and destructive impulses to God rather than act upon them?

God, take the worst of me into your embrace. It’s too awful for me to keep. Amen.

Beginning in Hope

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The First Sunday in Advent
 
Readings: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37
“I wish you would open up your heavens and come down to us.” Isaiah 64:1
Have you ever been warned to be careful what you wish for—it might come true?
On this first Sunday in Advent we light the candle of “Hope”.  Could there be any message more hopeful than Isaiah’s, or the Psalmist in today’s reading imploring God again and again to “restore us” and to “let your face shine, that we may be saved” (Ps 80) or Micah’s reading for today where he prophesies that the Lord is coming down to tread on the earth. Then there is the message from today’s gospel to keep awake because the “Son of Man” is “coming in clouds with great power and glory.”(Mk. 13:26)
I remember, when I was an adolescent, asking my pastor why he didn’t preach about the “Second Coming”. Dr. Triplett smiled the smile of a wise elder and said that not nearly enough people are aware of the first coming and what that means to them to be spending time talking about the second coming. First things first.
It seems we are a hopeful but unappreciative lot. The times I have been blessed to get what I had hoped for, I’m very grateful, of course—for a few weeks, maybe. Then I’m all about “what’s next?”
This Advent, may we all for once just be grateful for the greatest gift ever given to humankind in the coming of our God to tread on the earth, to restore us and lift us in arms of love to everlasting salvation. If we can “get” this, there seems little need to wonder about what’s next. That’s my hope.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Bill Albritton

“There is a truth that lives within us that will be with us forever.” (2 John 2)
Bill Albritton is a church leader, prayer minister, and child of God.