Advent 2011: Week One, Renewing Hope

This past Sunday was the beginning of Advent. Advent is the time in the church calendar that covers the four Sundays before Christmas. Typically a church will light four purple candles, one each Sunday until all four are lit. Then on Christmas a fifth white candle is lit. The four purple candles remind us of Christ’s majesty, the white candle speaks of his purity and holiness. In some traditions the third candle is pink for joy. While joy is the theme of week three, not all churches use a pink candle. This is an old tradition that goes back to the practice of the Pope giving out flowers on the third week in a very solemn Advent feast.

The purpose of Advent is prepare the church both for Christmas, and to renew our hope in the second coming of Messiah. Just as Israel waited patiently for Messiah which culminated in Jesus’ birth, so now the church awaits Christ second coming. While Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth, Advent is a reminder that God fulfilled his promise to send Messiah, and we can be assured that God keeps his word and that he will send his Son again, just as promised.

For this reason the Advent celebration begins with Hope. Proverbs 13.12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” The greatest difference between hope in pagan worldly sense, and hope in Biblical perspective is perspective. For most, hope has always meant a desire that stands almost in opposition to the prevailing expectation; it is a wish for something better in spite of circumstances. Whereas Biblical hope is the time of waiting for what was promised. It is not in spite of circumstances, but patient confidence in God who promised. Biblical hope is expectancy in the face of circumstances, worldly hope is longing for a different outcome because of circumstances.

In Isaiah 9.1-7 we read one of the most famous prophecies about the first coming of Messiah, which speaks of Messiah as not only a deliverer of Israel, but also as the light of hope to the nations, to those who are in darkness. That the Messiah will break the staff and yoke of every oppressor, bringing justice to those oppressed. It promises that he shall come as a child, but even from birth all authority will be his, and he will establish his kingdom, and his rule will be extended to every people, and the passion of God, the same zeal that would send Jesus to begin with would also establish his kingdom. It is that kingdom rule that we now benefit from, our salvation, and it is that kingdom in fullness that we await now, when every knee will bow, and every rule and ruler will be subdued by his righteous rule. That is our hope. Our hope is built on Jesus’ blood and righteousness, and the evidence that God keeps his word is Jesus Christ.

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (ESV)

The concept of salvation has been lost to most of the church in our day, traded for mental assent and religious sentiment; it has lost its power. For those early hearers the idea of salvation was being plucked from circumstances, delivered form an enemy, and certain peril. When Israel first heard of salvation it was under the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, as they awaited a deliverer. It meant that they would be rescued from a life of slavery, it meant escaping with their lives. For those first listening to Isaiah, those words, “No gloom for those in anguish,” was not just about escaping a prison of the mind, but the Israelites need to escape eminent danger. In this passage in Isaiah, Israel is in decline, and Assyria is breathing down their neck with threats, ready to devour them. They need saving. They are in anguish. They are in their darkest hour. And to them Isaiah speaks of a time when there will be no more gloom, a time when from Galilee by the sea, that those who are in darkness would see a great light.

The imagery of light in the darkness is generally one of hope, but what is interesting is that Galilee is the gateway to the nations. The invasion of Assyria would have come down from the north and through Galilee. To us, this side Messiah’s first coming, the picture of Galilee of the nations, has other significance, because of Jesus’ ministry in that countryside. For us Galilee is the place where people of other ethnic backgrounds would see the light in the darkness.

The promise for those in anguish that in the coming of Messiah they would be freed from impending gloom was a ray of hope in the darkness of their hour. For us, it is a reminder that God delivers.

The second promise was that the government would be on his shoulders. For those Israelites it was a commentary on the injustice of their own government, it was a commentary on their rejection of God as their king, and the threat of (Gentile) Assyrian rule. A Wonderful Counselor, one who fights for justice. That he is not just a god like the gods of the nations but Mighty God, one who is actually able to deliver from the oppressor. To a people surrounded by gods, and with an enemy like Assyria who spoke of Yahweh being unwilling to deliver them, Mighty God was the promise of being an able and willing deliverer. Everlasting Father one who does not leave or disappoint, who is present. And Prince of Peace, not just the conqueror who brings peace but he is the champion and sustainer of peace. Then he ends with the romantic ideal of every Israelite, God will establish the righteous rule of David, but this time it will not fade with a spoiled heir. This righteous ruler will sit upon his throne forever, doing what is right and just. And how would he accomplish all of this, by the zeal of Yahweh of Hosts. God put his name on the line, his character was the guarantee that he would deliver as promised.

In as much as God sent his Son, we too can have confidence. Our hope is not wishful thinking but trust that God will bring the ultimate fulfillment of this passage to pass. Already God established Jesus’ rule, his reign over those whose hope is in him, how likely then is it that our hope will not disappoint us?

As we participate in Advent, this first week, our goal is to renew our hope. Remember the words of 2 Peter 3.9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (ESV) I pray that as you meditate on the messianic promises of old that your hope in Christ return will be renewed this Advent season.

No More Blank-looks, Busyness, or Being Bullied

You may have noticed that it has been almost a month since I have written on my blog. Throughout the summer I had written something most every week but things began to drop off as we signed a lease for a new worship center and we put a bid on a house. Over the last month we closed on our house and moved in (relatively speaking) and now we have submitted our permits and entered the construction phase of our new church home. While that is very exciting it has reminded me how serious the problem of busyness is for the church.

We in the church have bought into the worldly ideology of being busy and we have made a value out of packing our planners full. As a child I remember being told that as technology increased we would have greater leisure time and be able to accomplish the same amount of work in less time. This ideal of increased leisure quickly gave way to increased productivity, which sounds lofty and high-minded, and makes the idea of increased leisure sound lazy and ignoble. We in America pride ourselves on being productive and we have convinced ourselves that a busy life is one full of purpose. We have convinced ourselves that children who are actually loved will have lots of activities to keep them busy and never bored: music lessons, playing sports, and tutoring, The education system has responded by adding lots of homework, they believe will make us more competitive in a world that has become increasingly small and where America is loosing its edge educationally. We believe if we drive harder and accomplish more, that we will outrun our competition and continue to hold first place globally . . . So why isn’t that actually happening?

The truth is that in our busyness, our constantly being at work or on our smart phones, and even our efforts at home to keep everybody in the family working, is leading to emotional and mental exhaustion, and it is killing our creativity. No wonder we want to just “veg” in front of the idiot box. A wise man once said to me, we need to rest, not because the work is done, but because the work is never done. There is always more to do, more to accomplish, and with our smart phones we can take it with us where ever we go, even into our bedrooms. A recent wireless phone maker made the point that we needed to be saved from our phones by showing a scantly clad wife trying to get the attention of her smartphone engaged husband. The scary thing is not that she was dressed so scantly on TV but that most wives could easily identify with that commercial. What is wrong with us?

Over the summer, when we first moved here to get the church started I had dedicated myself to more reading of my Bible, more time in prayer, and to time spend time listening to God, as well as other creative and reflective tasks. The result was that I created lots of new materials, taught better lessons, wrote more, and thought more clearly. However, as I have inevitably gotten busy I have stretched myself thinner, my lists of accomplishments are longer, and my planner is more full. I have more check marks on my smartphone ‘to-do’ list–the marks of success? The problem is that the more busy I am the less time I have for people so relationships suffer. Then my creative and reflective time dissipated making sermons preparation more difficult, and my writing less frequent. For that matter I have no material to write about because my own reading time has reduced to a minimum, my prayer time has become perfunctory, and all the creative energy has been sucked out of my life. To boot, I have become more tired, anxious, and emotionally spent, and at the end of the day, I find myself sitting down to “veg” in front of the TV, joining millions of others in brainless, emotionless, non-activity. I am not like that. So how do I fight back against this malaise? Do I just pile more stuff on? Do I quit sleeping so I can read and be creative? (I am talking like a madman of course.)

You see, while many in our society are complaining about us getting fat and lazy, and spending too much time in front of the TV, all these “experts” do is suggest we do more: go exercise, read books, and pile on activities to improve our lives and minds. As a pastor I have foolishly piled on these same suggestions, with a more spiritual note of course, that you make time to read in your Bible and for prayer. (Let’s add in some guilt to the already compounding problem.)

Is the problem really TV, video games, and fast food? Do our children really benefit from endless hours of scheduled activity and piles of homework? Our standardized educational test scores indicate that we are only mid-field globally in education while countries whose test scores are higher have a high value on leisure time, and do not tax their children with endless homework. My point is not what they are doing, but asking the question, are we lost in a sea of busyness that suggests purpose and meaning? In a sea of busyness are we dying of thirst for a life that really satisfies? Maybe the blank-look on our faces, as we sit in front of the TV, is really just a response to the overwhelming vastness of our sea? When you can’t see land, you don’t hold out much hope of being rescued.

Often as a pastor I get teased about only working one hour a week. I laugh and say, No I only get paid for one hour a week the other 49 hours are volunteer hours. The truth is that as an American pastor I am always concerned about being perceived as lazy. The jokes are too numerous to be funny but tell me that people really do think pastors are lazy. In response to that I feel the need to have a task list longer than anyone else. I have read books like the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Leaders and I taken Franklin-Covey courses, and read numerous business books on productivity, even stuff on six-sigma practices. While all of those things have helped me to prioritize my work for the better, I am convinced that my yielding to this cultural pressure is essentially being unfaithful to my calling, and unfaithful to the flock I lead. As a pastor I want to be culturally current without being culturally naïve, driven or deceived. When the culture is destructive I should be the voice of opposition, calling people to repent of destructive behavior, and pointing the way to solid ground, and even modeling it in my own life on some level. The truth is that we in professional ministry are all more culturally relevant than we know. In fact, sometimes we even hold cultural values up as a standard and spiritualize these values with titles like calling busyness the Protestant Work-ethic so as to disguise our own workaholic tendencies, our own brokenness, and our own performance-laden need for approval. Surely not I?

The truth is that when God gave us the Sabbath, it was not for us to have another law to keep. Jesus said it best in Mark 2.27; The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The point is that Sabbath was given to us because we need time for re-creation. We need to be renewed, and doing more in the hope that we can go fast enough to get it all done is futile. If you will not rest until your done, then you will not rest until your dead. Moreover, we need to ask, does cramming more into a day really make us more productive? Funny, is it not, that no one is saying that all this busyness is improving the quality of things? If the quality of our work and our lives is suffering, and at the end of the day we are so brain dead we would rather watch reruns of “Friends” rather than have a friends over, are we gaining anything? Maybe we need to call attention to the lie, that doing more makes us better? Maybe we need to get smart and turn off our smartphones? Maybe we need to say ‘no’ more often to activity. Maybe our kids will be all right if they can’t play three instruments and speak six languages before they take their ACT or SAT? Maybe they will be all right if they go to the same college you went to and don’t go to Oxford, Yale, The University of Texas, or Harvard? (What? Are you laughing because I put Harvard on that list?) My point is that I need to put my Franklin Covey priority system to work, and live what I say I believe. My ‘A’ list should include time (real time) to pray, to spend with people, and to reflect on God’s Word. While my ‘B’ list should include the stuff that only I can do. My ‘C’ list should be those tasks I simply feel I must do, and well, I should not make a ‘D’ list, and none of these lists should be more than three or four items long.

What then should I do about the next time I feel pressed by the worldly value of busyness? First, I should not cower, and cave. Second, I need to fight back, refuse to give into fools gold, and persevere in my efforts to do what is best, instead of letting myself be bullied by others who are just poor quality copies of some guru they are trying to imitate. Freedom, creativity, reflection, relationship building, all of these take time, and don’t build long lists. They do however build treasure in heaven.