Christmas 2012

The end did not come after all.  Four days ago, the end of the world was part of at least four conversations I had with my children, thanks in part to the publicity numerous outlets gave the "event." And yet, we are still here.  I am grateful but in a different kind of way.  Christmas is an annual reminder that God has not given up on creation.  Though we will open presents in a few hours and the chaos of the day will whirl us around.  In the quiet of this moment, I am grateful that God has not given up hope.  Merry Christmas.

Mary's Prayer

This morning, as I sit in my comfortable house surrounded by my comfortable things, I am thinking about Mary's prayer found in Luke.  She has rushed away from her hometown because the pregnancy will cause a stir, if it hasn't already, and retreats to her cousin's home.  In our rush to meet Jesus, we often miss the scandal of his arrival.  Since his birth is miraculous, it appears that we wave a magic wand and say, God is his father.  The problem is that Luke recognized the scandal.  Not only would the Roman empire have been ready for the proclamation, Son of God, most of its citizens knew who wore the title and it would not be attached to a boy born of a woman of low status. In our backward glance with its twenty-twenty vision, everything is tidy and fully understood, But the scandal was that God would choose a young woman of no status to usher in his kingdom.  Her prayer emphasizes Luke's larger point that the good news is for everyone, period.  Hear the world turning up side down in her words:

And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord, 
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name. 
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation. 
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly; 
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty. 
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy, 
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

The proud are shut out, the high will no longer remain in power, and the poor will sing God's redemptive praises.

I am struck this year by my comfort.  What if I am the proud, the powerful, and the wealthy?  Since the focus of the prayer is often on its simplicity and beauty, the condemnation appears lost on us.  What if the prayer no longer includes us?  I think I have focused on this passage differently this week because of the events that surround this Advent season.  In the week since a present day murder of the innocents, we have continued to see men in high places speak for God to explain the tragedy.  Perhaps they would be wise to follow the ancient Hebrew tradition of sitting quietly with those who mourn, rather than talking.  

When asked to point to a Biblical text that supported the political position of gun rights, Richard Land, head of the public policy agency for the Southern Baptist Convention, used "due undo others."  And the head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, called for the armed guards to stand at school entrances to make sure the tragic episode never happened again.  Shouldn't Mary's prayer cause us some hesitation with our posturing?  Mary claims that fear will no longer dominate a world that feeds off it.  The mighty want the masses to live in fear because it means they can continue to control the terms of living.  

Mary's "magnificat" explodes that idea.  The masses, in Luke it would be everyone not in power, live in faith that God rectifies the world and governs with mercy.  My sense of this week is that Mary has wept over all of us.  Children die every day---the city of Oakland, CA averages twenty deaths per year around its schools and across the nation we hear very little of that loss of innocents---and yet we continue to hold on the status quo because we are comfortable.  The kingdom of God is near when a mother cries when she loses a child and a father stands against injustice.  The arc of God's justice bends toward them.  My hope this Advent season, and throughout the years, is that we remember that God chooses strange places "to be with us" so we need to be still and know that God is God, and we are not God.

Advent Saddness

The AP wire app on my phone sent the first signal that yesterday would be different.  A quick two line message that said "Reported shooting at school: Newtown, CT."  I cleared the message and went on with grading finals.  While doing some exercises later in the morning, I received more notices with more details, sometimes conflicting with details posted earlier that morning.  In the afternoon, the messages started including death tolls and then the horror of the day: children among the dead.  I paused, thought about my children at school, and said a short prayer for families that could not count on that sense of security.  The routine returned but the day was different.

And then Facebook blew up.  First, posts related to information about the shootings started appearing.  Second, concern for gun violence flared.  Third, posts clarifying misinformation. Fourth, posts that noted an absence of prayer/God in schools caused this profound evil.  By that evening, posts had counter-posts and the great gun debate returned.  I have two observations from the day.

The power of an open and transparent media helps us make sense of the world around us, but news that unfolds before our eyes, generally without filters, causes knee-jerk reactions.  The spread of social media allows us to receive information almost too fast.  I am as guilty of this need for information as anyone else, as my AP app shows.  The corrections for the AP wire are an example of this pressure to produce information at breakneck speed.  As the shootings' toll became clear, two  Facebook newsfeed posts appeared next to each other that stated the information wasn't coming fast enough and that the information needed to slow down with some filters.  My fear in all of this is that we'll spend an enormous amount of unproductive time arguing over gun laws and forget to ask serious questions about ourselves and our need for sensational news.  Children die too frequently from gunshot wounds around this nation and we barely raise our heads from the television/phone/computer.  But yesterday was different; the facade of control came off and we did not like it.  Whether guns kill people or people kill people cliche represents our bumper-sticker culture, minimizing a serious moral quandary to an either/or option.  Yesterday and today, I could care less.   Last night, parents who purchased their children's Christmas gifts will not have those children on Christmas day to open the gifts.  Last night, grandparents cried because they cannot take away their children's grief.  Each one of those numbers has a unique story, including the young man who caused the mayhem.  All of these families grieve the lost of someone precious, and they will likely never have sufficient answers to comfort them.  We shared in their worst moment and made judgements about our nation.  Their grief required so much more from us.

I am grateful that God's presence in this day is beyond our control.  Mike Huckabee, God bless him, became the Jerry Falwell of our time.  I am not in the business of understanding the presence of evil in our world.  I have some theological opinions, but generally keep those to myself to help me understand the chaos that sometimes enters my life.  But Rev. Huckabee decided yesterday was a good time to remind Americans that the removal of God from schools "caused" this tragedy.  Shut up, sir!  The presumption that all those children and adults did not bring God into the classroom with them is stupid.  May their last prayers, said in shear terror, cover the sins of those who make political judgements out of tragedy.  God was there yesterday, just like God is there every day, in the mundane roll taking and simple coloring/spelling exercises and in the heart-wrenching loss of life.  I am sorry that a minister of the gospel forgot yesterday that the God we worship is present in the suffering not the moral platitudes of punditry.  Yesterday, he failed to be a minister.  Forgive us, God, for invoking you in the midst of our own agendas.  So, I am grateful that God was there yesterday in ways that I will never fully understand.  Since I am inclined to fuss like Job, I may even feel the need to ask God tough questions, but that means God is listening, even as he judges.  Hopefully for Rev. Huckabee, God will be gracious to all of us.

As I return to my routine, all of those families who were affected yesterday do not get to go back to their routine.  Their new normal will play out in front of millions and will become the fodder for political rhetoric.  My hope this morning is that God's spirit will be present to them in the kindness of strangers who will become a part of their lives and that they may one day find Advent peace.

Advent thoughts: Ethan

Proud of my son, Ethan, who wrote this in his fifteenth year for our church's Advent devotional series.

Advent Meditation Friday, 7 December 2012 Christian Houses This passage makes me think that all Christians live in God’s house, so therefore, the houses of those who believe in him are the same, and all Christians should be able to enter and exit as they please. It makes me wonder about what happened to that idea in today’s era. Maybe it was the thieves. I think we should still be able to do that, and in a way, we do. Most of our friends are Christian, and we visit and hang out with our friends on a little under than half of the days of the year. What the passage means is more than that, I suppose. In today’s society, one does not simply allow a stranger in their house, Christian or not. It’s dangerous, and not many people these days are not as trustworthy as we’d like to believe. However, the passage may mean even more than that. It resurfaces many times throughout the Bible, and is probably known and ignored by many of us, including me. It’s giving what we have willingly for those who don’t have our resources. Many times, someone has come to me and asked for money, but I didn’t give it. It’s our place, I think, as Christians, to give what we have, and I believe Jesus was testing “The Big Twelve” by telling them to go to houses and live as long as they needed, and they were testing those who owned the houses to let the disciples in and house and feed and clothe them. It’s a challenge that has been issued to us as a society. Devotional by Ethan Thompson Luke 9:1-6 The Mission of the Twelve 1 Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money – not even an extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. 5 Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ 6 They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere. Merry Christmas! First Baptist Church of Christ 511 High Place, Macon, GA 31201 fbcxmacon.org