Bring Advent back

What would it be like to have Advent for 4 weeks?  I would like to know.  

Over the years, I've become less excited about December. I love Christmas, but not the weeks leading up to it -- until I went to Germany for 2 weeks in December and felt Advent for the first time.

Advent was named and visible in the Advent wreath in the hotel lobby and the Advent family singing in the cathedral.  Windows in the city hall were turned into an Advent calendar - one lit each day during Advent.  It was the special Advent menu at the restaurant and the music played at the Christkindl Markets; the greens sold to make an Advent wreath at home and the Nativity scenes everywhere.  (Some cathedrals in Europe employ someone just for the purpose of creating the Nativity scene in the cathedral each year using sets that are hundreds of years old!)  In Munich there was one market dedicated exclusively to items to create your own nativity scene at home.

Everywhere we went, it was live greenery with white lights.  It wasn't about visits to Santa, reindeer, blow-up characters, blue and orange lights, black trees (2019's trend in North America apparently).  It wasn't about trend at all.  

So it got me to realizing that I want Advent.  I want a time to prepare for Christmas and then celebrate Christmas during the twelve days until Epiphany.  If we had a North American "do over", I'd put Santa Claus on Saint Nicholas day, December 5-6, and keep the fun that is Santa Claus but separate it from Christmas (which apparently was something that Martin Luther wanted: to put the Christ child as the focus of Christmas).  I'd move all our traditions (pageant, carols, dinners and parties) to the 12 days.  Advent would be the Advent wreath and advent music and stories of waiting and expectation and the 4 themes we follow with the candles:  hope, love, joy and peace.  And then we celebrate when the wait is over!

I appreciate this year people are decorating early and radio stations went all-Christmas after Hallowe'en because we all need some hope and Christmas spirit this year.  But I think we'd all be better off to do the work of Advent and get ready for Christmas.  Bring Advent back.

Here are some Advent pictures from my trip to Germany:

We Embody the Presence of Christ

It is possible that the biggest barrier to accepting this as our lifelong vocation is not a lack of faith but a lack of imagination.

On this final Sunday of the liturgical year [Christ the King Sunday], we receive a parable from Jesus challenging and inspiring our imaginations to grasp our whole vocation that is celebrated in baptism: to embody Christ in every moment and to engage every part of our world as Christ’s redeemed creation.

The parable of the sheep and the goats has sometimes been used to instill fear of God’s judgment. However, it is possible that Jesus’ point here is to urge his disciples to share God’s generous saving grace with all. Jesus’ parables consistently offer a simple setting and story, but behind them lie a world of rich meaning that takes a lifetime to unpack. For this reason, Jesus’ parables are important texts for the postmodern church, which is hungry for story, for connection, and for meaning for our faithful lifelong questions.

With shepherding texts from Ezekiel and the Psalms as well as Ephesians, an epistle written to build faith, we have a constellation of texts that make the shape of God’s intimate—even incarnational—love of creation. The parable even suggests that being merely intentional about ministry in the name of Jesus is not the point. After all, both “sheep” and “goats” groups are equally shocked at the news that Jesus was present in those relationships involving thirst, imprisonment, and so forth. Instead, Jesus seems to invite us to wonder what’s at the deepest foundation of our presence and purpose—and perhaps even walk away faithfully bewildered at the possibilities of God’s kingdom being practiced on earth as it is in heaven.

What if we really do embody the presence of Christ?

From Sundays and Seasons

Beauty...love...wisdom...knowledge

The BE-attitudes

In the Old Testament, Moses went up a mountain and God gave him the 10 Commandments, new laws to live by.  He and the Hebrew people wandered for 40 years in the wilderness looking for the Promised Land.  In the New Testament, after spending 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus went up the mountain to give the people a new way to live as God’s people looking for the Kingdom.  The first thing both the Commandments and the Beatitudes tell us to do is to put God first.

The Beatitudes turn worldly values upside-down.  Jesus promises good things and some spectacular rewards to people who are having a tough time or normally don't get rewarded.  Are his rewards and comforts 'due' in this world or the next? ...or both?  His Beatitudes make you think.  They are provocative.

As is true of Jesus’ teachings, the Beatitudes are something to read again and again and learn new lessons each time.  Jesus commends the meek, the merciful, those with pure hearts, and those who work for peace.  These are virtues we have come to know throughout our whole history with God.  Others in the list are more surprising.  Jesus blesses the poor, the hungry, and the weeping as well as the virtuous, recognizing the injustice of their situation and assuring them of God’s care.

The Beatitudes give us a framework for living – attitudes to acquire to be faithful disciples. Having these attitudes lead to blessings beyond measure.   They are “blessings” which mean true happiness.  These Be Attitudes are keys to the kingdom. The Beatitudes deal with the here and now and what will be in the future. 

The only challenge then is to “be”.

The price of reform

It is October 20^th as I write this.  Sunday will be Reformation Sunday, and this got me to thinking about a new appreciation I gained for the impact of the Reformation while on a trip to Germany: of the changes that came from Luther’s bold move to nail a document to a church door; how that would cause the lives of many to change forever;  and things I take for granted today.

It was on this night of October 20^th 502 years ago (1518) that Luther had to flee from Augsburg where he had been summoned to recant.  After failing to be heard and refusing to recant, it was clear he would be imprisoned: and so, he fled.  To keep him from leaving, all the city exits were guarded. But with the help of local citizens, he left through a secret gate in the city walls in the dark of night.  And the movement continued that we now call the Reformation.

I hadn’t appreciated the human impact of these theological differences.  One story that really caught my attention was one of exile that I read about at Lutherstiege, a museum in St. Anna Kirche in Augsburg.  Juxtaposed to current events, it really struck a chord.   I was travelling in Germany at a time that refugee crises were very real in our news.  In the U.S., refugee parents were being separated from their children and news images showed them all being caged.  There were decades of conflict following the October 1517 95 theses in Wittenberg.  The rulers in each jurisdiction  determined which side the area was to follow:  Roman Catholic or Protestant.  And then through conflict, at times there was a power shift and with it also came a shift in theology.  For the people of Salzburg, this meant exile when in 1731 it came under the rule of Catholics.  The adults were forced to leave with what they had on their backs and their children taken from them to be assigned to Catholic families.  Over 6000 walked to Augsburg where relief services were set up to provide aid. 

As I read and learned more about the conflicts and how people were governed at the time, I began to understand better why my ancestors left Germany.  The Reformation was not peaceful:  there was war, loss of livelihood, famine, and lives.  There were times and places that to be Lutheran was dangerous. My ancestors left Germany in the mid-1600’s during the conflict.  They left for a place where they were promised religious freedom and land to farm. 

As explained at the museum in Augsburg, many of the reforms that Luther brought to “church” were new to me.  (Maybe I missed them in Confirmation class?)  Here are a few:

• Through baptism, every person is equal and has access to God through Jesus Christ.  Everyday life is about praising and serving God.  Therefore, “the peasant who tills the soil by the sweat of his brow praises God through his work as much as a monk in an abbey through his prayers".  Oh to be able to realize this equality in our society!

• Martin Luther’s vision was focused on individuals.  Every individual is responsible for his/her own faith.  Because faith comes from the word of God, a person must be well-versed in the writings of the Bible and understand the main parts of this faith.  This was why Luther wrote the small catechism.  It was written for everyone:  children and their parents.  This fundamental aspect of the Reformation led to a focus on education for all, regardless of gender or social status.  This also eventually led to public libraries.

• The life of a Christian is shaped by freedom and responsibility.  In Christ, all are free from fear in the face of human authority.  We are also responsible for our neighbours and the hardships of others.  It is curious that this responsiblity for others was hard at first for many:  without the demand for service to attain life eternal, initially people withdrew their benevolence.  It seems it's hard for many of us to help others in the way that Luther and Christ challenge us.

• Luther reintroduced singing together into worship.  Now that we can’t sing together because of Covid-19, it points out how important that element of our worship is.  While we appreciate the choir and beautiful music, that we all can sing together is a powerful thing.  That through song, “God’s Word remains among the people”.  Luther composed 37 hymns.

It is powerful to me that many people paid a high price for the religious freedom I have and take for granted.  That to people of Luther's time it was an act of defiance to read the Bible or sing in church.  That it was a privilege to be educated and take personal responsibility.  That reform at church meant an individual's freedom and responsibility.  How can we reform the church to again value these ideas that people fought for and paid a price in the Middle Ages?