Through Stained Glass: Advent Word[s] of the Day-Whirlwind & Wonderfully

Day 14:  whirlwind

God answered Job out of the whirlwind…[Job 38.1]

 To say these last 48 hours have been a whirlwind would be a major understatement.

My Sunday morning began at 4:30am when I woke up wide-awake. I tossed and turned until 5:00am but then finally overcame my bodies desire to get up and did just that.

I made coffee. Sat down at my writing desk. Finished my sermon. Updated the baptism liturgy. And had a moment with the 2 golden dogs.

That was the last bit of peace I experienced that day.

Now, this isn’t to say Sunday was bad. Actually, it was opposite of that. Sunday,

December 14^th was one of the most beautiful days I’ve experienced lately. As mentioned above, our church baptized one of our own, little 3-year-old girl who has the most beautiful smile and an energy to her that is contagious.

I’ll chalk-up my inability to sleep to my excitement about this most joyful occasion in the life of the church!

There is nothing I love more than being able to declare God’s promise to someone in the waters of baptism. There is nothing more life affirming than to look the child in those sweet big eyes and say “You are a beloved child of God. You are beautiful. You are good. God loves you more than you will ever know. We have been here, we are here, and we will always be here. We are making this promise to you, little one. We love you!”

In the name of the Triune God of love, the waters swirled and ran down her head, neck, and shoulders, she was baptized and reminded that God is as close to her as her own breath.

My heart was delighted. The eyes of the congregation were swollen from the tears of joy elicited by the beautiful hymn I was There to Hear Your Borning Cry. There was such good, positive energy pulsating through the pews.

The whirlwind continued as I went from church to Sunday school, from Sunday school to lunch, from lunch to a birthday party. Surrounded by a half dozen Elsa’s and a giant Olaf balloon, I found myself smack dabbed between 12 or so 3,4,5,6, & 7 year olds helping my little niece celebrate her 5^th birthday. I loved hearing their high shrilled screams as they played hide and seek; my nieces smile at each of her Frozen gift brought a smile to my face; and hearing the little boys laugh as they played dodge ball warmed my heart.

But then, that is when the whirlwind of a good day ended with a sad tone.

The birthday party was at a church. Not in town. Not anywhere around here.

As the kids were running and hiding, screaming and playing, I ventured into the sanctuary to gain some ideas. I love visiting other churches to see how they set up sacred space.

Like most churches who are not from the mainline tradition and want to be sensitive to seekers, this space had screens and no crosses, a iMac and no pews, drums, guitars and no organ.

Knowing the Mac computer is where the pastor’s sermon was probably controlled, the slide show and what not, I went to see if I could find a bulletin. Instead of the bulletin I found the pastor’s sermon.

I was hesitant to read it. If for no other reason than I don’t like when others read mine.

I wish I didn’t read it.

In fact, I wish I didn’t snoop at all.

What I found was a sermon using scripture to declare our differences as sin and not to celebrate our diversity as something beautiful.

Instead of some of God’s children being “fearfully and wonderfully” made [day 15’s word] they were portrayed as less than, seen not as a human being but by the prejudices ascribed to them.

My heart was broken.

I wanted to cry.

How could a place be so hurtful, so unwelcoming, so mean—especially a week after a 12-year-old boy took his life because of bullying he endured for being on the cheerleading team?

How quickly we forget the Hebrew teaching about caring for the stranger.

How quickly we forget the Hebrew concept of sanctuary is rooted in the tradition of the cities of refuge.

How quickly we have forgotten Jesus’ greatest commandment because of our number driven obsession and mis-interpretation of the great commission.

How quickly we forget God is not the god of hatred and bigotry, but of radical love.

Advent is a time reminding us we are all in need of healing. But it is also a time when we contemplate and celebrate God taking on flesh.

God in the person Jesus speaks to how every human being is a dwelling of God—man or woman or child, Christian or Jewish or Buddhist or Muslim, addict or honor roll student. As Elie Wiesel reminds us, in his article The Refuge, “Any person, by virtue of being a son or daughter is a living sanctuary whom nobody has the right to invade.”

For the real “real reason for the season” to take hold of our communities, we must become a community that practices God’s Welcome and hospitality by boldly proclaiming and celebrating the inherent goodness, that divine spark, all peoples posses.

As people come to our churches on the 24^th, let us remember that God’s hospitality in a world of difference and danger is the source of our life, and it’s not an optional action for us or our churches. After all, as Letty M. Russel notes, “the table[s] we gather around is a symbol of God’s hospitality in welcoming the strangers, persons who are on the margins of our churches and cultures.”

I was reminded over the last 48 hours that in the whirlwind waters of baptism, we are claimed and named by God, and am God’s beloved who is fearfully and wonderfully made…

Day 15:  wonderfully

I am fearfully and wonderfully made… [Psalm 139.14]

Not only was Olaf at the birthday party, but he was front
and center at the baptism as well!

Through Stained Glass: Advent Word of the Day-Keeper

Day 3:  keeper

“Am I my sister’s/brother’s keeper?” [Genesis 4.9]

To answer it directly,

yes.

This text comes right after creation, the moment when out of selfless love, God created. That is the truth I continue to come back to:  however the ball of creation got rolling, when there was nothing—there became something.

I find comfort in that something, despite the mystery surrounding it, being God.

We are meant for each other. Together, as a collective community of creatures, we make up the beautiful quilt of God’s imaginative love—humanity.

How are we to keep each other?

At the risk of sounding too simplistic, I can’t help but say—turn to Scripture.

The Bible in its entirety speaks about God and God’s concern for the creation and all creatures, including human creatures; it speaks of God’s involvement with the creation for the benefit and the healing of it. The premise of all Scripture is that without this involvement on God’s part, creation would perish in an abyss of violence.

God asks Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” in the same way God asked the humans in Genesis 3.9. God is asking more than about location. Cain’s flippant answer offends against the Torah’s ethic of responsibility for one’s kinsman and neighbor.

Advent is the season where God extends the promise of healing in the person of Jesus Christ. As Christians we enter into Advent as a people of God, studying the stories of Torah because we have come to believe in the same God who called ancient Israel, who still calls our Jewish neighbors, who also calls gentiles into relationship with this God for the healing of creation. We trust and believe, hope and know, that in life and in death we are kept by God.

So friends, during this season of hope and expectation, what is God asking you? We wait and we listen…but with God, it is never a passive activity.

I leave you with a paraphrase from one of my favorite scholars, Thomas Merton. I think it speaks perfectly to today’s word:

“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.” 

God keeps you close to God’s heart. May we do so with those we share life with. After all, there is but one Love. And yes, that is what keeps us as brothers and sisters.