Love

Hope.

Peace.

Love.

Week three of the Advent season is all about love. What a fitting theme for such a time as this. There are so many issues and catastrophes around us today, but we can never have enough love. We can never be reminded of love enough. We need more love in this world and in our lives.

And yet I feel as if that word gets tossed around so flippantly. People us it as a means for control. People put stipulations on it. People make it conditional. They lose it's meaning.

But the Love of YHWH is unconditional and it never fails.

When we're caught in the web of the most often asked question: how do we love properly without condoning certain practices? My response is: if you have to ask then are you actually loving? 

Yes we can't condone every action out there. Yes there are dehumanizing things that individuals do. Is love condoning something? Or is love simply loving them regardless? Loving them as a human, as an individual, for who they are not who they could become.

When I think of love I think of the Old Testament reading for this week which comes from Isaiah 61:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me;
He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
To bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And release to the prisoners, 
To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, 
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn;
To provide for those who mourn in Zion--
To give them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
The planting of the Lord,
To display his glory.

They shall build up the ancient ruins,
They shall raise up the former devastations;
They shall repair the ruined cities, 
The devastations of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, 
Foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines;

But you shall be called priests of the Lord,
You shall be named ministers of our God;
You shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, 
And in their riches you shall glory.

Because their shame was double,
And dishonor was proclaimed as their lot,
Therefore they shall possess a double portion;
Everlasting Joy shall be theirs.
For I the Lord love justice,
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants shall be known among the nations,
And their offspring among the peoples;
All who see them shall acknowledge that 
They are a people whom the Lord has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My whole being shall exult in my God;
For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
To spring up before all nations.

(Isaiah 61:1-11, NRSV, Italicize and Bold added for emphasis).

Peace

Peace.

This week in the Advent season is the Peace Candle and so many things come to mind when I think of the word "peace."

What is peace?

I think of those who fight in the name of what they call "peace." I think of Jesus' words on the Sermon on the Mount about turning the other cheek, carrying a coat farther, and loving your enemies. I think of the phrase "a peace that passes understanding" which is often prayed for. I think of the hectic chaos of the holiday season and how many are desperately seeking peace. I think of refugees fleeing persecution looking for a place of peace. I think of how in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells His disciples to look for People of Peace. There are so many connotations that arise when I think of the word peace.

This morning, though, I reflect on a story I was told not too long ago. Just two weekends ago I had the privilege of visiting for the second time the Behalt Cyclorama in the Amish and Mennonite Heritage center in Berlin, OH. The purpose of this piece of artwork is to tell the history of the Amish, Mennonite, and the Hutterite peoples, also known as the Anabaptists. Both times that I visited this museum, I was struck with wonder at one of the stories they shared. That story is one that I think is so poignant for us to read during this week where we focus on the word "Peace" and that story is shown below:

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In 1569 Dirk Willems was captured and imprisoned for being an Anabaptist. He was able to escape, however, and as he was fleeing a palace guard saw him and began to pursue him. Dirk was able to safely run across a section of thin ice, but as his pursuer chased him the ice broke and the guard fell through. Dirk heard the cries of the guard and turned back to rescue him. Upon his rescue the guard seized Dirk Willems and brought him back to a more secure prison until he was burned to death. Despite the consequences Dirk Willems knew that Jesus had called him to love his enemies and he could not leave this guard there to die even if it meant risking his own life.

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How have we responded to the call for peace? The call to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? 

Grace & Peace.

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Resources:

https://www.goshen.edu/mqr/dirk-willems/

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/dirk-willem-burned-after-rescuing-pursuer-11630015.html 

Hope

For the past couple months I have been striving to blog once a week. I spend a good deal of time on the internet and I figured I could dedicate some of that time to something I thoroughly enjoy doing: writing. So often one can get consumed with scrolling through social media and retweeting/posting/sharing everything they seem to agree with. I have noticed a disconnect between how often people post online and how present they are in the lives of people they are with. This is often evident in a family get together during the holidays. After the festivities are over you can look around and see family members gathered around TVs, I Pads, and other devices. I am no exception. Social media is an addicting past-time. So starting on Sunday, December 3rd, 2017, the beginning of Advent, I will fast from social media. I have begun this process already--I have started fasting from social media when I am at home. My goal is to become more present with those around me and less dependent on the internet. I will chronicle my thoughts in a weekly post. Some posts may be about my social-media-free time or it may just be a reflection on the Advent season. My goal is to become more present in my community and to allow those actions to permeate into the rest of my life after this season.

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Hope.

The first candle of Advent is for Hope. It is so fitting that we would end "Ordinary Time" in the Christian Liturgical calendar with a reminder of Christ's call for us from Matthew 25. Now as we begin this new stage of the calendar we are reminded of the Hope that is to come. Of the hope for the coming kingdom. In today's day and age with all the trials, tribulations, and catastrophes, it's always nice to be reminded of the hope we can have in Christ.

This coming Sunday's Gospel reading comes from Mark 13:24-37 which can at first glance seem to be a heavy passage. One can read this and become fearful of what is to come. I, however, would like to point out that sometimes it's the big picture that we should look at not the minute details. The big picture in this passage is that we should be ready; awake and ready. We know that Christ will return to make everything right again and we are called to be ready. That is the hope we are given in the Advent season. There is a hope that it is true that Christ will renew all things and with that hope we can be ready.

So how can we be ready? How can we be awake? What is it that we must do?

Work to help renew the world. Yes, Christ will come to rebuild and renew the whole universe, but until then He has charged us to work towards the Kingdom. We were reminded of this charge just this past Sunday on Christ the King Sunday. We are moving towards this week of Hope with the knowledge of how we can be awake. How we can be ready. Renewing the world is more than just helping people, it also has to do with the actual world. YHWH commanded us to care for the world we are put in. The world is not going to be destroyed, but it is going to be renewed. We were made from the earth and so we must care for it. In the words of N.T. Wright, "Jesus is coming so plant a tree." But in all honestly, that's exactly what we must do. Care for ourselves, others, and the world and together we can help usher in the Kingdom as we hope for the day when all will be restored. 

Grace & Peace.

Resources:

https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/environment/jesus-is-coming-plant-a-tree 

biblegateway.com 

Sometimes we just need to do something Vulnerable.

Resurrection Sunday. Easter. The day celebrating that Christ rose from the dead! The day where a few women went down to the tomb, burial spices in hands, and ended the day as the first evangelists: telling others that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. The end of our waiting has begun. The Kingdom has begun and yet is still coming.

It was an excellent day for me today because not only was I excited to celebrate the risen Savior, but I was celebrating by breaking my 40 day fast of meat. It was a great 40 days of contemplation, solidarity with vegetarians, and reflection. I felt I had grown to rely on God more and even to appreciate what I ate more. It was also during these 40 days that I have applied and searched for many jobs. It was during these days that I have felt stress and worry about finding a place of employment for after graduation. It was during this time that I focused on relying more on God than on my own skills and abilities. Or so I told myself I was doing. There were times when it was difficult. There were times when I felt if I just did the right thing I would get myself the perfect job. Even though in theory I was trusting wholly in God, these 40 days have been a process of learning how to seek first His Kingdom.

As I participated in the festivities of Holy Week I also prayed and brainstormed with my lovely fiance on job options. There have been places that have contacted me and places that I have felt led more too, but had not yet heard much from them. Then tonight Brianna surprised me with a suggestion that was out of the ordinary for us.

She brought out our Easter "Advent" Wreath she had made and suggested we turn off the lights and light the candles, but as we lit each candle we would pray for something different. Our prayers were all on different topics, but all focused on the uncertainty of the future and allowing God to lead. When we got to the middle candle, we took turns praying back and forth as if we were having a three way conversation with God. Then we danced. We celebrated and rejoiced in the unknown. We were vulnerable, we opened ourselves up, and we said, "Hey God...here were are, trying something completely new, ready to see where you will lead." We tried something that seemed weird to us and completely trusted in God. Now neither of us are mystics or people who think following some ritual to the tea will get you answers or solve all of your problems; but we are both advocates for being vulnerable and relational. We both realized that if we truly wanted God to lead and guide our relationship we needed to be fully open with God. After this action of vulnerability and trust I received an email about a potential job I had been leaning towards and feeling very strongly about.

This act may or may not lead us to God's will. It's not magic or a formula. It was a reminder that we need to be open, vulnerable, and willing to do crazy things for God. We're ready to serve and work where God desires for us to be.

The Waiting Season

Waiting. Waiting is an element that is pervasive all throughout life. Every human being experiences some form of waiting. There is waiting for the weekend to end and finals to begin. Waiting for my wedding in August. Waiting to finish my current loom project. Waiting to find a job for after graduation. Waiting for the coming of Christ and the day the world will be renewed. There is so much waiting. As I have been sitting in my apartment since 2 A.M., listening to my "Folksy Christmas" Spotify playlist, and looming I cannot help, but think about the advent season that we are in. Advent is a beautiful time to reflect on this idea of waiting. Advent is a wonderful time during the Church calendar that can help us better anticipate the coming kingdom.

As I have been reflecting this evening I have been reminded that waiting does not mean being stagnant. Waiting is about anticipating and preparing for the outcome. I am preparing for finals through studying, planning my wedding by working out the necessary details, anticipating a future job by searching for one, and anticipating the coming of the Kingdom by working to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in the here and now. As I wait for the caffeine in my system to wear off so that I can sleep I have decided to read the lectionary readings for church tomorrow and reflect on them as I prepare for the second full week of Advent. The Gospel reading comes from Mark 1:1-8, which says,

 "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John the baptizer appearedin the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The other readings (Epistle, Old Testament, and Psalm) go along excellently with this passage which is all about preparing and anticipating for the coming King. In Mark's retelling of this story, we see this radical homeless guy going around and declaring that the Lord is coming and we need to prepare. John is not just sitting around in some Synagogue, but instead he is out in the wilderness baptizing people with water and preparing the way for the coming King. How often do we do nothing when we are waiting? I think the good news of the Gospel this week is that we can do something while we wait. We are called to prepare the way and anticipate. We all can find ways to help usher in the Kingdom as we wait for the Age to Come. This can be done through helping out at your local homeless shelter, helping your elderly neighbor with their groceries, asking for forgiveness, shopping ethically for the holiday seasons, babysitting for those parents that never get a day for themselves, treating the cashiers at your favorite convenient stores with respect and love (as well as those who work at your least favorite stores), getting to know people with developmental disabilities, loving the hard to love and getting to know their stories, and so many more things. There is so much brokenness in this world which means there is so much more we can be doing as we anticipate the day when all things will be made into how they were intended to be. 

May we continue into this Advent season with an attitude of anticipation that is coupled with action.