Advent @ MindSay

Here we are down in Cahl-ee-for-nee-yah.  Been here for four days.  I managed to kindly grab onto someone’s cold as we were leaving Washington State, so a raging sore throat was underway shortly after deplaning.

 

            I’ll give you a moment here so you can all cluck your tongues in collective sympathy.

 

            At church yesterday, Ben, Molly, and the girls lit the Advent candles and the little ones said, “This is the shepherds’ candle,” “This is the pwophecy cando,” and “This is the Bethwahem cando.”  The girls were all dressed in red, with white, fluffy trim.

 

            There was a dramatic presentation in which four people, dressed in black, stood in front of music stands and read a script concerning the thoughts of Joseph, Mary, and two shepherds about the birth of Jesus.  It was thoughtful and well-done, and although the sketch wasn’t designed to be emotionally moving, I found myself wiping tears from my eyes as I considered what a wonderful thing Jesus, the Creator of the world and Lover of mankind, had done to come to this earth as a child and be born in what we would today call a barn.

 

            I looked over at Laurie, and she was wiping tears from her eyes, too.

 

            The pastor taught from the first chapter of John, and I was struck by John the Baptist’s response to those who came to question him about his identity: “I am the    voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the  prophet Isaiah said.”

 

            I wondered how extraordinary it must have been to have known, as John did, that he was the fulfillment of a prophecy given hundreds of years earlier.  Can you imagine how you would feel/think/respond if you knew that were specifically true of you?

 

           

           

We hear it in many places:  "Happy holidays!"  People say this, often times, in lieu of "Happy Chanukkah," or "Merry Christmas." Or even "Blessed Yule."  It's supposed to be a "generic" or "culturally acceptable" greeting.  What does it mean, really? It means "Happy holy days."  Or, "May your celebration of these holy days bring you happiness."

Wow. What if someone said that to you at the market, the department store, the skating rink or the restaurant?

Or even at your church?

Advent is a time we have grown away from in many respects.  It used to be a time like Lent in many faith traditions. A time to fast, meditate, and work with more dedication on our relationship with our Creator.  Too often, today, we tend to fill the weeks with parties, decorating, shopping, and digging out the "holiday colors" to wear. That tie with the holly berries. The pin with the phrase, "He's the Reason for the Season!"  There's nothing wrong with these activities, certainly, unless they get in the way of our expectation of celebration.  Of the holiness of the holy days.  Of enhanced worship of our Lord and Savior. 

He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and he will be returning one day.  It is so easy to focus upon Baby Jesus and not upon the Lord of Heaven and his angelic warriors, though those warriors do make a showing in the traditional Christmas Story as found in the Gospel of Luke.  They appeared first to shepherds, who were the first men on earth given the opportunity to share their personal testimonials of an encounter with Jesus.  Later, after Jesus' death, testimonies became numerous.  Lives were changed.  The word was spread and is still spreading.

2 Thessalonians 1:5 It is a clear evidence of God's righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God's kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6 since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels, 8 taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don't know God and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction, away from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength, 10 in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.
11 And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (HCSB)

We serve an almighty Ruler. The Ancient of Days. The holy King.  These days are to be holy.  We are to be seeking, today and every day, to share our testimony of our encounter with Jesus.  He is coming soon, to be admired, Paul says, by all who have believed.  Why? Because of the word of our testimony. Jesus would have us pray for one another, so that his name is glorified.  Glorified by our lives, lived in holiness.  Lived by grace.

It is that grace that we are to share with others, and the Happy Holy Days of these weeks is a lovely time in which to do so. May we all be counted worthy of God's kingdom.  May we all, this Advent season and always, live so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in us according to his grace.

May your celebration of these holy days bring you happiness.

Happy Holidays!

I've said it before and I'll say it again:


So when I am asked to participate in a group (such as with the preteen girls' lock-in a couple months back) and assigned a portion of scripture or a concept to teach, I am enthusiastic.

Just so long as I don't get, "Say this and then say this and then..."  I mean, if someone has to give me that much direction, why entrust me with teaching?

I have recently been asked to contribute to a daily Advent series in another blogging community.  The request was for me to choose a day from those listed (I chose December 9th), and to use one of a set of scriptures listed in a particular lectionary, though I may use whatever Biblical translation I wish to present it.  Oh, and one more thing:  I should keep it on the short side. ;-)

The scripture I have chosen from the list supplied is this: 

2 Thessalonians 1:5 It is a clear evidence of God's righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God's kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6 since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels, 8 taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don't know God and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction, away from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength, 10 in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.

11 And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I just need to pray and think short, devotional thoughts...

The key at Advent is that we are to be in an attitude of enhanced daily worship, as far as I can see. Much as it is with Lent before Easter in some faith traditions, Advent is a time to work on our relationship with our Creator, to worship him and give thanks for his coming.  For loving us enough to give up all...just for us.


In the lives of each of us, every day. 

I didn't mean to, but I probably did.  At least one of them actually told me I was scaring her.

No, Sandi doesn't do the "fire and brimstone" number for her Sunday School Advent Series.  Rather, I was teaching on the prophecies concerning the birth of Christ, and how God had a plan for reconciling Man to Himself.

Doesn't sound so bad, does it?  I mean, you know, in terms of scaring ten- and eleven-year-old children.

But then, I told them that there are people who are angered or frightened or in other ways put off by the idea of a personal God who has a plan and to whom they are accountable. 

Jesus said this, in the gospel of Matthew: 

How did we get from the prophets Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah and Hosea to that?

The key to my lesson today was that God has a plan. What made me kind of sad is that when this parable was brought up, one of the students instantly responded that he'd buried what he was given.

Yes, they're only in fifth grade, but God loves them and has and will entrust them with "talents."  I hope they don't bury them!

There are four Sundays that are used to mark the observation of Advent.  This is not a Biblical precedent, it is strictly a liturgical gig.  For some, Advent is a high and holy time, complete with family ceremonies and the lighting of candles and reading of certain scriptures. For others, it is a time to dig out a certain calendar and fill it with pieces of candy – one for each day of December, leading to the 25th. 

For me, Advent is a time when I review prophecy.  This year, Miss Mellow and I are teaching during these weeks, and we've got Sandi on prophecies, Miss M. on angelic visitations, and Sandi again on the birth of the baby, plus the sequels.

Thing is, Advent doesn't officially start until December 3rd.  3, 10, 17, 24. The four Sundays prior to Christmas.  However, our church will not be having Sunday School on the 24th. Five Christmas Eve services, but no Sunday School. (The logistics in a church the size of ours are considerable.)  So, in order to include all the aforementioned teaching and have a Christmas party (gotta! lol) we started our Advent season a wee bit early.

One thing that I love about doing this every year is that every year, I see something new. Something more clearly. Something more powerfully. Whatever.  I still teach out of Isaiah, Micah, Genesis, Psalms, Jeremiah, but sometimes, I just get a cool "oooh!" from something.

This year, for me, it was this verse: 


Now, I know all the discussions on "Matthew did not correctly interpret "almah" or "maiden" or "virgin."  I have heard them and studied them. I still believe in the miraculous conception of Jesus.  It is of necessity something I take on faith, of course, since I was not personally at any physical exam to determine the true virginity of a young lady named Mary a long, long time ago.

But it isn't that which made me go, "oooh!" today.  It was realizing how cool it is that Jesus was prophesied to be called Immanu'el.  It means, as you can see above, "God with us."

As I tried to tell the kids today, this is a biggie.  Up until the birth of Christ, God was only with us in terms of his holy presence in the Holiest of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem.  In order to approach the Almighty in person, there were cleansing rituals that had to be observed.  Lots were cast.  One was chosen to go and represent the people on their behalf in the very presence of God.  What an amazing concept.  You can read more about that, if you wish, in the first chapter of Luke's gospel. 

But the Messiah foretold and promised from God would be called Immanu'el.  He would be called God with us.  Because in him and through him, God would be with man.  He would walk with his creation. Talk with them. Understand them. Become one of them. Not as some terrifying presence behind a holy curtain, unapproachable save for a chosen few, but with US. Every single person. 

To me, that is completely awesome, in the most correct sense.  That God would become for a time a human being.  With itches, zits, hunger pangs, sore feet, heartbreak.  God with us.

So, yeah, we started off a little early in our time of Advent celebration. Our preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth (the timing of which I have probably blogged about before, I'll have to check.).  But for me and for those who love him as Lord and Savior, really, we celebrate the coming of the Messiah, of Y'shua HaMashiach, all year long. 

God with us. He is with me. He wants to be with you. Every day. Every moment. Every beat of your heart. And it's not because he's nosy. It's because he loves you enough so that his own life was not too much to ask of him.

For us, it's not too much to lengthen our time of celebration in honor of his birth.  It's way cool to celebrate Christmas, no matter what time of year.