Advent by Frederick Buechner

Advent

The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton.

In the silence of a midwinter dusk there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen.

You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff in the air of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you've never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart.

The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.

The Salvation Army Santa Claus clangs his bell. The sidewalks are so crowded you can hardly move. Exhaust fumes are the chief fragrance in the air, and everybody is as bundled up against any sense of what all the fuss is really about as they are bundled up against the windchill factor.

But if you concentrate just for an instant, far off in the deeps of yourself somewhere you can feel the beating of your heart. For all its madness and lostness, not to mention your own, you can hear the world itself holding its breath.

(From Frederick Buechner's Facebook page today.)

Advent Wreath Lighting for the First Week in Year B

Advent 1B (based on Isaiah 64:1-4 by Rev. Martha Spong)


Reader One: Isaiah the Prophet cried out to God, I wish you would open the heavens that separate us and come down, making the mountains quake because you are here. Make your name known to all who are against you. Make the nations tremble because of your presence.

Reader Two: You came before and did awesome deeds that we did not expect; you made our world shake at the sight of you. In all the history of the world, no ears have heard and no eyes have seen any God other than you.

Reader One: You work for those who wait for you.

Reader Two: We wait and hope, as we light this candle.

(Please pause as we light one candle, then respond.)

All: Loving God, come and shine your light in the world!

First Sunday of Advent: Hope

From the Baptist Women in Ministry blog this week, this devotion comes from Molly T. Marshall.

This devotion is based on Isaiah 64:1-9 and Mark 13:24-37, two of the lectionary texts for November 30, 2014–the first Sunday of Advent.

Pleadingly, the prophet writes, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down . . .” (Isaiah 64:1). If writing today, he might put it this way: “We desperately need you to show up, O God! Where are you in the midst of bloody Ferguson? Do you care about the countless drones launched by our government?”

This reading from the Hebrew Scriptures for the First Sunday of Advent begins with lament over the sin of the people and the seeming absence of God. Written during the time after the destruction of Jerusalem and prior to any rebuilding of the temple, this text offers frank acknowledgment that the covenant relationship between God and the returning exilic people is gravely threatened. If only God would perform mighty acts as in the past at Sinai, then the people would be able to believe anew and turn from iniquity.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a similar struggle as he reflected on God’s lack of intervention during the Holocaust. God had delivered Israel from Egypt; why would God not come to the aid of six million Jews? He concluded that God desires that Christians mature and offer themselves in God’s place, for in Christ God has been “pushed out of the world and onto the cross.” And yet, when he faced death himself, he did so with radical trust in the faithfulness of God. Like the prophet, he believed that God “works for those who wait” (Isaiah 64:4b).

Waiting in hope is an active spiritual practice. It requires a fundamental trust in God’s faithfulness and the humility to allow the mystery of God’s work to unfold over time. Trying to force the Holy One to function now, as in prior days, displays a desire to control God; it also demonstrates an unwillingness to perceive God in the surprising ways God may choose to reveal divine intention in the present. So we act in God’s stead, trusting the guidance of the Spirit.

The Gospel lesson offers a bracing warning: keep awake!  Be on the watch!  Mark’s apocalyptic text suggests that humans do not have unlimited time to do the work of God. Like in the earlier text, the destruction of Jerusalem figures prominently.  Over and over in Scripture, God’s people must reconsider the grounding of their identity; it cannot be in place or possession, rather it must be in God. And our diligent actions as mature Christians illustrate God’s faithfulness in contexts that might otherwise be deemed hopeless.

St. Augustine offers a perceptive insight to guide our action:
Hope has two beautiful daughters
            –anger to see things the way they are
            –courage to change them to the way they should be.

Attentiveness is the only faculty that gives us access to God, according to Simone Weil. During this Advent, let’s be on the watch to balance anger and courage as we wait in hope, for God will show up.

Molly T. Marshall is president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Shawnee, Kansas.

What is a Lectionary?

 A lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of Scripture readings appointed for Christian worship on a given day or occasion. Protestants who use the lectionary usually use what is called the Revised Common Lectionary. This lectionary has three years: A, B, and C. Each Sunday or special occasion day (like this week's Thanksgiving) there are passages to read: an Old Testament story, a Gospel story, an Epistle reading, and a Psalm.

The Church's new liturgical year begins a new cycle of the lectionary. As of today, we are in the last week of lectionary year A. On Sunday, as the Advent season begins, we will begin lectionary year B. Many (but not all) of the Gospel lessons will be from Mark's Gospel.

A good place to look up the lectionary text is a website called textweek.com.

This weblog will focus on the lectionary text for the week; but also it will include various articles, poems, liturgies, and other written and visual items to help keep you in the spirit of Advent. If there is something that you would like to include in this devotion (a personal reflection, poem, insight, or other item), please feel free to comment at the bottom of a post and may be published.

Looking towards Advent

And so it begins....

November is quickly rushing by. The leaves fall like rain from the trees. The night comes so quickly, and the dark hours are long.

The world is beginning her time of renewal; preparing for the season of barrenness.

The Church is also preparing. There must be a time of renewal to prepare the way for the coming of Messiah. In our Church, that time is called Advent.

Advent. The new church year is almost here. A time to prepare our hearts for that greatest of gifts. A time of reflection about the year that has past and the hopes for our future.

So as you begin your week of being thankful--this last week of the Church's year--begin to ask how God is going to change you this season.

This blog will be a place that you can escape to during your busy holiday weeks. We will reflect on the Scripture, on the coming Christ-child, on the wonder that can fill your heart this time of year. You are invited to experience Advent as we wait for Jesus' birth.

Let us begin with today's lectionary reading from Psalm 100:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.