Jesus - Christmas Day 2020

 We have come through a long journey in Advent to the joy of Christmas Day, when we at last celebrate the birth of Jesus.

In telling the story of Jesus’ birth, the angel in Matthew quotes the prophecy in Isaiah, which gives us the word, “Emmanuel” - God with us.

“She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” 

- Matthew 1:21-23

It has become a common theme to fast-forward from here to Calvary; no sooner is the baby laid gently in a manger, than the full-grown man is nailed to a cross. But in so doing, we miss “Emmanuel”; we miss “God with us”. This is not to subtract from Good Friday and Easter, but to dwell within the time in between.

So, on this Christmas Day, we invite you to sit for a while and ponder the incredible mystery of the Incarnation. Ponder the love of a God who would enter into our world - and not as a mighty conqueror, but as a helpless child. A God who would live all our most painful experiences - and some far too painful for most of us to imagine. A God who would submit to learning to walk, to learning to feed himself. A God,

who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.

- Philippians 2:6-7a

Lent is coming soon enough, and soon after that Good Friday, and then the glorious joy of Easter. But for now, let us not jump forward. Let us live, for now, in that in-between, and imagine what it might have been like to listen to and learn from Jesus in our world. The gospels take no shortcuts from Bethlehem to Golgotha; let us take our cues from them and take the time, this Christmas and beyond, to experience “God with us”.

Evan and Bonnie 

Love - The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2020

The fourth candle of Advent is known as the “love” candle. Jesus is about to arrive and he will show us how to truly live and love through his life and teachings. This love that is described many times throughout scripture finally comes to life. Christ tells us how important this is:

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12: 28-31

Jesus answers the scribe with scripture. (Deuteronomy 6:4&5 and Leviticus 19:18) This was not a new concept but he tied these two together in a new way. This has always been the most important key to understanding the way of God.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”. - John 3:16

More than just a commandment, the Messiah is the embodiment of love:

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. - 1 John 4:7-12

Some people are easy to love and some are difficult. We might feel that we can love those different from us as long as they stay away and are from our lives. Getting involved can be messy. Or maybe we have a hard time loving people that are too much like us but with a small yet significant difference. We were never called to make everyone like us, but rather love them as they are and pray that we all are transformed by God’s love working in us.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?
-Micah 6:8

As we near Christmas Day, let us all be full of the love and light of Christ!
 

Joy - Third Sunday of Advent 2020

The candle we light on the third Sunday of Advent is known both as “the candle of joy” and as “the shepherds’ candle”.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 

Luke 2:8-18

I have heard people define “joy” as simply personal happiness, but I have also heard dour, unhappy people twist their brains into pretzels attempting to define “joy” in a way that makes their clearly unpleasant demeanours somehow virtuous.

Both of these approaches are thinking too small. I think the story of the shepherds opens our minds to something bigger. The shepherds dropped everything to pursue the joyful message of the angel, and once they had seen it for themselves, told everyone around them.

In one of Jesus’ shortest parables, we find something similar:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Matthew 13:44

Joy is a motivator. It is neither simple personal happiness nor some abstract spiritual virtue. It is that which makes us drop everything for the sake of what Jesus is offering. Not out of guilt, not out of obligation, but because we cannot help but see how much better it is. Our own joy compels us to seek the same for everyone around us.

Fear is also a motivator. It makes us hold tight to what we have and to lash out at anyone or anything threatening that to which we are most attached. Fear sees itself in everything, and it is often those who are most afraid who accuse others of fearfulness.

The angel entreated the shepherds to choose joy over fear. Here, at the beginning of a new year, in the hopeful, flickering light of our Advent candles, which will we choose?

Peace - The Second Sunday of Advent 2020

 

 

One of my favourite verses has always been John 14:27:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (NRSV)

The Greek word for peace here is Εἰρήνη (Eirene) which is a translation of the Hebrew שָׁלוֹם (shalom). This peace isn’t just a lack of strife, but it is a state of all things being in rightness.

Jesus is called the “Prince of Peace” and in his kingdom, there will be never-ending peace. Advent is a good reminder that his kingdom is here now, but also not yet. It has begun but we are still working to bring its fullness about. Jesus is working to reconcile all things to himself, to make right the world. As his followers we are asked to join him in this work.

“For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
    and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
    He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time onward and forevermore.”
~Isaiah 9:6&7

As we near the end of this chaotic year, let us find peace in Christ.

Peace be with you.

Bonnie

Hope - First Sunday of Advent 2020

Happy New Year!

Wait, what?! It’s November 29!

Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent. In the liturgical calendar, “Advent” (or the corresponding “Nativity Fast” in Eastern Christianity) marks the beginning of the year, not the end.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never needed a new year as badly as I do here at the end of 2020. So, I invite you to celebrate a new year, a new beginning, today on the first Sunday of Advent, where we light the “Hope” candle.

Last month, Bonnie and I were introduced to the expression, “It’s the hope that kills you.” There are times in 2020 when that has felt true, where things seemed to be getting better, only to get worse again. But that’s not the kind of Hope to which Advent points us.

Advent recalls Jesus entering into our hopelessness to establish his Kingdom, and it foreshadows his promise to return to fulfill that Kingdom. In calling us to be part of that Kingdom, he does not just ask us merely to have hope, but to be hope.

On this Sunday of Hope, standing at the beginning of a new year, of course we hope for an end to the pandemic, for reconciliation between people torn apart by disagreements, for things to go right. But whatever the new year brings, we are messengers and servants of the true Hope, who entered into our darkness and brought light, and who has promised to return to banish darkness forever.

God’s people are called to walk with Hope in the most hopeless of times, and to open up a myriad of pinholes in the darkness for Hope to shine through, sharing the light just as it was shared with us. In a world that is tired and broken, the beginning of Advent is an invitation for us to share the good news of fresh beginnings and promises of a world made right.

So, happy New Year!

Evan

Why are we blogging Advent?

Every year the main fountain in the centre of Kandern gets turned into a giant advent wreath.
Each week a new “candle” is “lit”.

 
For most of the world, 2020 has been a pretty dark time. As this year comes to an end and we start looking forward to what comes next, let us pause to consider the light.

Advent is the time leading up to Christmas. This is when we celebrate Jesus, Emmanuel, coming into this world. He is our light in the darkness.

We don't proclaim ourselves, you see, but Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as your servants because of Jesus; because the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts, to produce the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus the Messiah.

2 Corinthians 4:5-6 (Kingdom New Testament)

Join us this season as we celebrate each Advent Sunday:

29 November - Hope
06 December - Peace
13 December - Joy
20 December - Love

~ Bonnie