One pleasant surprise while in Mexico last month was seeing a total lunar eclipse. It would have been nice to have had Rick’s telescope down there but most nights there was just too much light from the area to really see many stars. Yet, as the moon took on its orange glow from the shadow of the earth passing in front of it something began to happen. More and mores stars became visible. The encroaching darkness actually let us see something that was there all the time but hidden from sight.
Advent is all about Jesus’ coming, both his return and his birth. Yet the world around us treats this season of Christmas as if it were some kind of fanciful foolishness or sentimental sweetness. Even Christ-followers fall into this trap as we are distracted by the world around us. We too can forget what Christ’ return and birth really means. We can miss His Kingdom which has come and is still coming even today.
This first Sunday of Advent is seeing this reality of God. I’d like each of us to start to form in our celebration a tradition that chooses to see and celebrate God’s reality. For Jesus one must remain alert and awake to experience God’s Kingdom. A quick survey shows at least 20 times Jesus uses the idea of being ready, awake, alert, or keeping watch in talking about his return.
One of the stories Jesus tells about this topic is that of the wise and foolish virgins. They are waiting for a bridal parade and celebration to come along. While some were caught up in the excitement of waiting and used their oil up, those Jesus calls “wise” maintain themselves till the right time. They were praised because they were alert and awake and because they managed their resources well. A similar idea is used by Peter in his letter when he wrote “I stirred you up”. His teaching was meant to move the church to action, to get them off of dead center and to have them loose the complacency many had fallen into because of the false prophets. Because of listening to such people they ran a real risk of seeing God’s reality at all.
There are a lot of false prophets out there still today. Many teach “good” things. Jimmy Stewart showed us life is worth living in the movie. It’s a Wonderful Life. Santa is a positive influence on how each of us have a hand in seeing our economy expand and grow without an inflationary risk. We learn that those who are different contribute to our reality too as we see how Rudolph: the red-nosed reindeer is used to save Christmas. The Grinch and Scrooge teach no one is beyond redemption and change. And of course Charlie Brown is a tool that demonstrates that all this reality really needs are friends. There is nothing wrong with such lessons. Our world needs to hear them; but as good and needful as they are they are a poor substitute for the reality that God offers us.
How do we see God’s Realty? How do we look past the various “lights” in our world and develop a tradition of seeing God’s reality? Look in the right direction is a start. Halley’s Comet made its last approach while we were in Hawthorne. If you drove out of town and used binoculars you could see it. Otherwise you’d miss it. Our Christmas wise men are examples of those whose life was dedicated to looking in the right direction. Do you ever think about the fact that it was Gentile stargazers who saw God’s reality while those who should have been looking for God’s coming missed it?
Even if you’re looking in the right place you need to stay alert and awake so you are ready when the time comes. Part of this alertness is found in managing your resources. The virgins had oil that they had to make last till the bridegroom came. Could I suggest that the resources we have to use wisely isn’t just money but our time, energy, focus, skills and talents, and even the attitude with which we face Christ’s coming. We can use them on activities and interests that rooted in our reality or in God’s reality. In HGTV’s show Designer’s Final a homeowner shows a real sense of bravery by letting a student designer do their first “real world” work on their home. In one episode the homeowner was a personal trainer and he said something about the changes they were facing. He said, “Radical transformations take radical changes”.
If you’re at the point where you need to get in physical shape, he’s right. You can’t do things the same way. If you want a different approach to the way you do your job. You can’t do things the same way. Jobs, our bodies, our lives, our recreation, even our finances take radical, root level changes, if these parts of our life are going to be different. It’s no different with our spiritual life. Charlie Peacock, a songwriter has a great song called, In the Light.
Verse 1
I keep trying to find a life
On my own apart from You
I am the king of excuses
I’ve got one for every selfish thing I do
Verse 2
What’s going on inside of me
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I’m still a man in need of a Savior
Chorus
I wanna be in the light as You are in the light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Lord be my light and be my salvation
All I want is to be in the light of love
All I want is to be in the light
Verse 3
The disease of the self
Runs through my blood
It’s a cancer fatal to my soul
Every attempt on my behalf has failed
To bring the sickness under control
Chorus
I wanna be in the light as You are in the light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Lord be my light and be my salvation
All I want is to be in the light of love
All I want is to be in the light
I wanna be in the light as
You are in the light
Lead me into the presence of the Father
I will follow right behind
True love I will find
All I want is to be in the light of love
All I want is to be in the light
bridge
Is there such a thing as a man of peace
If there is then a man of peace I want to be
I will need Your help if I’m ever to be that
If I’m to lay down lay down lay down
Then I’ll lay my life
For my brothers and sisters
I will need Your help
Jesus I need Your light
Forever shining bright
Peacock knew the radical changes needed in the life he sings about. A man in need of a Savior; disease of self…a cancer fatal to my soul; sickness etc. It is only the presence of the Father than offers him hope and help. As we begin a new year for the Church and move toward the celebration of Jesus’ birth I need to offer each of you a chance to start a life focused on God and with faith in Jesus. You don’t have to have all the answers because none of us would ever be able to start if that were the case. Here are the salient points for us to keep in mind. God loves us. His desire, everything he does is geared toward calling everyone back into a relationship with Himself. I say call back because we once enjoyed that type of relationship but we blew it. By our ancestry as well as our own choices we’ve chosen to become rebels against God and His way.
This rebellion has cut us off from God’s blessings. Our mistakes, errors, sins are crimes against God and face punishment. But Jesus, came and took all, ALL the punishment that we deserved. Our sins were wiped away, forgiven and forgotten because Jesus willingly embraced God’s love for us and he died. This act of love applies to each of our individual lives when we seek it. It’s not automatic. It’s not something we borrow and later pay back with good works that make up for the bad things we’ve done.
It is a gift. It is free. And all we have to do is accept it. President Nixon seemed to think that accepting a pardon didn’t mean having to admit you did anything wrong. But that’s not how it works with God. We admit our need for his forgiveness and receive his love. Then and only then can we lay claim to the title of Christ-follower. Because it is then that he comes and lives within our lives and promises to redirect our lives.
Many of you have been Christ followers for years and years. For you I want to offer the opportunity to start forming this new tradition by taking yourself away from the reflected and distracting light and seeking the light of Christ. Carve out a time of silence for your soul. Maybe you get up 15 minutes earlier or go to bed 15 later; it may be in a car when you turn off the radio. Maybe it’s during lunch when you walk away from where you usually spend it and seek time alone.
Wherever or whenever it is do it and use it to read part of God’s word. If you’re not a great reader consider one of the many recorded bibles on tape or CD. You’ve got a list of bible passages in your newsletter for December as a starting place. You’ve got the Daily Bread of any number of other resources available to use. You can do this even if you’ve never done it before. Simply make the choice in your heart that this Holy Day of Christmas isn’t going to become just another holiday. And you’ll begin to see God’s reality in the way you treat others, in the way you invest your resources, in the way you enter into worship.
Because when we seek God with all our hearts he returns the favor and is found by us and we are blessed by His presence.
