LOOK A BIT BEYOND THE TINSEL

It was October and the Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Chief in a modern society he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist at the weather service responded. So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared.

A week later he called the National Weather Service again. "Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?"
"Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter." The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later the Chief called the National Weather Service again.
"Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"
"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever."
"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.
The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy."

Happy New Year!

Advent Sunday marks the beginning of the Church’s year. It’s not without significance that the year starts with a period of preparation for the most incredible event and doctrine of the Christian faith: we prepare to celebrate God stepping into this world in person.

If this is true it changes everything.

Nothing can ever be the same if the God who created the universe and all that is in it, who loved us enough to leave the glory and splendour of heaven, was prepared to come and show and tell us how much he loves us... If that is true, nothing can remain the same, ever.

Christmas - the incarnation - has changed everything for ever. That’s how important it is!

Is it more important than Easter and the resurrection? Rather than looking at it as “more” or “less” important, maybe we should think of Easter and the Resurrection as a logical consequence of Christmas. If it is true that God stepped into our flesh and lived our life fully; perfectly - loving and challenging, healing and forgiving - it is logical that we wouldn’t be able to stand that, so we’d want to do away with him: hence the logicality of Calvary as we embarrassed and shamed human beings tried to extinguish the light - because we are, on the whole, those who prefer the darkness to the light. And equally logically, how could the Lord of all life stay dead? How could we human beings possibly kill God?

So in that sense Easter was consequent on Christmas. If there had been no Christmas there would have been no Easter - but the moment the Incarnation became a reality in Mary’s womb, the cross was assured - which is why when Mary brings her child she to be dedicated, Simeon tells her “a sword shall pierce your soul” (Lk 2.35)

So the Church acknowledges the incredibility of Incarnation and sees it as the start of our faith; hence the start of our Year. But note well that we are not just dropped into Christmas: we are challenged to prepare, to set our hearts in order, to make ready for the Christ child. We do not watch alone or in isolation - many before us watched and waited, in different ways: our ancestors in the faith; the prophets, John the Baptist and of course his mother Mary.

And note also that this preparation is for our benefit: it is to help us better appreciate the consequences of Incarnation, to “own the faith of Jesus”, with all the consequences and out workings in our lives as individuals and communities.

So today we’ve got two sub themes of Advent: we’re reminded of our ancestors in the faith who looked forward to the day of the Lord - to the day when God would step into his world. Our candle lighting prayer reminds us that Abraham and Sarah, King David and the foreign widow Ruth all looked forward to the Lord’s anointed One (the Christ), and our OT reading reminds us that so did the prophet Isaiah - a day of justice, when all nations would be drawn to Yahweh, when war would be at an end, when the light of the Lord would be the guiding light in which the nations would walk (Is 2.5).

And when that Day of the Lord finally dawned, a child was born in an outhouse - the one who was acclaimed to be the “dawn from above” (Zechariah Lk 1.78) and the “light to lighten the nations” (Simeon Lk 2.32), and who claimed to be the Light of the World (himself! Jn 8.12). This same Jesus warned his followers to be those who read the signs of the time, because he would return.

So let’s think again: if Easter was dependent upon and consequential from Christmas; then does that mean that the Second Coming of Jesus (the parousia) is consequent upon Easter?

In one sense if by the Second Coming we mean an occasion when Time will be wound up, and when Jesus will be involved then yes: this is logical from the start of Creation when Dame Wisdom (understood by Christians as the pre-Incarnate Christ: Prov 8.22-31) was there with God at the start of Creation and Time itself.

But if that encourages us to sit around and wait or worry about the Second Coming, then we’ve missed the point. You of course remember that after the Resurrection of Easter came Pentecost, as the Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers, regardless of accidents of birth, geography or heritage. As well as looking for the signs of the times for the end of the age, maybe a greater Advent challenge is to look for the signs of the times of the Christ walking amongst us this day... to be able to name the places where God is working - or the places where God is judging.

The example Jesus gives us in this gospel reading is of Noah and the flood - which is traditionally seen as God’s judgement on a fallen world. Where is God angry with his world? Where does God call Judgement?

That’s not a popular sentiment to entertain these days. But if we construct only a fluffy theology, we create a safe, matey God robbed of all majesty and otherness, not consistent with what we see in the Scriptures - we chose only to see that God smiles and forget that he frowns too: both elements are in the Scriptures and both are needed if we are to have a balanced understanding of holiness. Maybe Advent is a time for us to consider the angry and wild side of God. In CS Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles we are told that Aslan is not a tame lion...

Where is God angry with our world? A glance at the scriptures suggests that where people are exploited or abused and human life is not valued; where the rich get richer and where the poor are ground down... where resources are squandered and not shared and not replaced... where lies and selfishness rob human dignity... where apathy and collusion allow evil to go unchallenged... where truth is hidden or distorted... and from today’s readings: where there is war; where people ignore God; where God is not exalted...

So today as we stand at the start of a new liturgical year, when we balance the crazy world of present buying and card shopping in our preparation for Christmas; let’s also do our faith preparations to celebrate afresh the reality of incarnation, of the consequences of what it means that God has stepped into this world... that God moves amongst us each and every day. Are we ready to see where God is working, name that, celebrate it and work with God? And are we prepared to see where God is angry in this world? And are we prepared to name that and work to change things?

I suggest to you that Advent is not a comfortable time because the incarnation has life changing consequences for everybody on this planet... if we think that it’s just about a fluffy baby in a cute crib scene, we’ve missed the point. When God chose to step into this world in person he did so not amidst pageantry and splendour... but in a shocking story involving an unmarried mother, homelessness, poverty, people fleeing for their lives, refugee status, and mass murder.

So is it any wonder that Advent challenges us to see God at work? In the first Christmas story not everybody saw God at work... the inn keeper didn’t... Herod didn’t... the religious establishment didn’t. But foreigners from a different religion did, social outcast shepherds did, an old man and an old woman in the temple did...

The Advent challenge is to ask for grace to open our eyes to view this world from God’s perspective, and to seek the courage and perseverance to work alongside God in affirming and supporting what is good, and in confronting and changing what is bad.

Sorry, but ...I wish you an uncomfortable Advent!

Fr Andrew Perry

Rector, St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea