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Written by Randy Cooper
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Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
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Several years ago the Palestinians protested against Israeli rule in a rather ingenious way. The simply changed their clock time. They changed their clocks to be one hour later than official time in Israel. Palestinians regarded this simple act of protest against the Israeli government as significant. It was their way of saying that they are not ruled by Israelis.
We Christians do something very similar. We have our time and our calendar. Going by a different time and calendar reminds us that we are different from the culture around us. Small acts such as observing the Lord’s Day and keeping the church’s seasons become rather significant over time. Advent is one of those seasons—a most strange one at that. Advent scriptures remind us that God is coming and that we are to watch and wait as we keep vigil for the appearing of God. Such biblical counsel goes against our deeply inbred desires. We so very much want to fix things ourselves, to make a better world, to create a more just and peaceful world. Yet these texts leading up to Jesus tell us that God is going to have to come and do what we cannot do for ourselves. All of us reading this newsletter are quite well educated, by worldly standards. We are progressive and have been taught to try to make the world better as we go about our daily lives. And here comes Advent to tell us that all of us make a mess of things. Look at how parents and politicians and pastors, to name a few, can make a mess of the world even when trying our hardest.Hear this. Advent is not about making the world better. It is about a new world called the Kingdom of Godthat is entering this one. Advent is not about our becoming better people. It is about our dying and being born again. Advent says, stop and let God be God. Then we might be able to hear the angels singing the news of God’s invading the world in the One born of Mary. Let us encourage one another. Randy |
