Archives For Advent

On December 20, 2012

Something Is Missing #3: The End of The World

End of the World pictureSo tomorrow is the day that the world is supposed to end. For over a thousand years, the Mayans have scheduled every day on their calendar.

And today is the last one.

I remember the first time I heard about this passive-aggressive prediction. It was eerie and freaky, and I totally believed it. I had all these images from the movies I’ve seen about the end of the world flash through my mind. There were volcanoes and lava or earthquakes and asteroids (there’s always an asteroid isn’t there?), and then finally at the last minute Will Smith comes in and saves the world.

Those are the images we’ve been handed for how to think about the end of the world.

And I think they’re wrong.

So it’s Christmas time. And for a lot of us that means shopping and parties and eggnog. But if you’re afraid of the end of the world tomorrow, than I think Christmas can really bless you today. Another word for the Christmas season is Advent. And Advent is just the Latin word for “Coming” It’s the idea that Jesus came into the world, and that he will one day soon come into the world again.

Advent is about the longing that is in every human heart, a desire, an ache that we all share for things to be different, for there to be no more cancer, or school shootings. It’s a hope for the world to be made new.

At the heart of Advent is the recognition that something is missing.

And Christmas reminds us that this something is really a someone.

I’m preaching this Sunday on a text from 1st Peter that has really captured my imagination the past few weeks. I rarely blog about what I’m about to preach on, but since enough people think that the end of the world just might happen tomorrow, I wanted to share a word of hope that might bless you this Christmas.

When Jesus first met Peter, he was a rough-around-the-edges fisherman. He was impulsive. He was a racist, he was a self-promoting, fearful bigot. In other words, he was a human. And Jesus found Peter, trained him and taught him for years. Peter betrayed, annoyed, and refused Jesus. And Jesus just kept pushing into Peter’s life. Jesus forgives again and again, he piles grace upon grace for Peter.

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On December 15, 2012

Christmas in Connecticut: Touching the Pain of the World

When the original Christmas story happened, three magi, or magicians came to help tell the story. Which is interesting, because the Israelites disdained magicians. They were evil and wrong, but God used them in ways that no one could have predicted.

And so in that spirit, I’d like you to watch the above video.

Whatever you think about Stephen Colbert, I think you should watch this clip. It was from this past Thursday night episode of the Colbert Report, Stephen is interviewing the Catholic Nun Simone Campbell…and it’s incredible.

For those of you who don’t know Stephen Colbert is actually a devout Catholic who teaches Sunday school every week at his local church. I know the character he plays can be incredibly offensive and off-putting, but he’s speaking the very specific language of satire, and satire is not for everyone.

But I don’t want to defend Mr. Colbert here, I just want to show you (in case you missed it) what aired on the cable network of Comedy Central this last week, the day before the tragic school shooting in Connecticut. This Sister is pushing against the modern conceptions of American Christmas and trying to reframe what the real Christmas story means.

And if you don’t watch the video, here is what I want you to hear her say, “Christmas is touching the pain of the world, experiencing it as real…and then choosing to have hope.”

That’s what Christmas was.

That’s what Christmas is.

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On December 13, 2012

Something is Missing #2: Black Friday

“It doesn’t feel like Christmas until someone gets pepper sprayed at Target.” -Jon Stewart

I’ll get back to this video.

For over a thousand years Christians have observed this time of year as a season called “Advent.” Now I grew up in a church that was suspect of all things Catholic (I wasn’t allowed to be friends with girls named Mary). But this is not just a Catholic idea, Christians from all the traditions have celebrated Advent, and even if it is new to you, I think that Advent might have a word to bless you.

Advent is just the Latin word for “Coming” It’s the idea that Jesus came into the world, and that he will one day soon come into the world again.

Advent is about the longing that is in every human heart, a desire, an ache that we all share for things to be different…to be better. The season of Advent is where we name the brokenness in our own hearts, and in the world.

At the heart of Advent is the recognition that something is missing.

And this is the difference between what Americans call Christmas and the Advent season. Every year for Christmas we wait and anticipate for Christmas morning and family gatherings and gifts.

And every December 26th we tend to feel a little let down, because we realize what we should have known all along.

Something is missing that can’t be wrapped up with a bow.

And Advent says that something isn’t a thing. It’s a Someone. Jesus is coming to the world.

I read an article the other day about how American’s new religion, despite what any survey says, really isn’t “none’s” or Mormonism or Evangelicalism. It’s shopping. The article points out that the dominant activity for this “Holiday season” really isn’t visiting a church or temple for worship or prayer. It’s standing in lines and camping out at stores for their doorbuster deals.

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On December 6, 2012

Something is Missing #1: The War Of Christmas

Today I want to start a series for the next few weeks leading up to Christmas. We are in a season that Christians have, for over a thousand year, called “Advent.” And I’d like to start this Advent series with a blog about war.

I’m obviously way too sentimental.

I don’t know what my favorite Christmas tradition is. Maybe it’s putting up the tree with the family, or maybe it’s reading the Christmas stories to the kids at bedtime. But I know what it’s not. Every year, around this time almost like clockwork, we start hearing the pundits on television talking about the war on Christmas. It’s normally about how some nativity scene in some city was forced to move away from a public park next door to some land owned by a church.

And we call that war.

I’m tired of culture wars in general, but I’m specifically tired of this piece of it. And not for the reasons you might think. Sometimes the ways that Jesus followers get involved in the public sphere hurt the reputation of Churches. I don’t think that’s true here. I just think it hurts the Churches.

I think it hurts Christmas.

Because if we think that moving our nativity scenes is the equivalent of war, then we should go back and read the Christmas story. Do you remember why Mary has the child in a stable? Remember why God has to send some coded message to some wise men with stars? It’s because Herod, the King of the day, heard the rumors of a this new baby king, and as the sitting ruler, he didn’t like Christmas either. So he tricks some wise men to go fetch Jesus for him so that he might “worship” the baby. And when the wise men see Jesus, when they realize that God is doing something through this little baby, they sneak off and never return to Herod. And when the sitting King realizes this, we finally understand what he meant by “worship.”

Herod commits infanticide on hundreds or thousands of baby boys.

That’s what a war on Christmas looks like.

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On December 22, 2011

The Glory of God

As we go into this season for one more year, as we dream about the gifts we will be able to give, and stress about the ones we won’t. As we hustle and stress on a treadmill that just seems to get faster, remember what this season is really trying to do. It’s calling us to see and treat the ones around us better, despite how they look or what resources they bring to the table. Because that’s the way Jesus did. Because that’s the glory of God.

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On December 17, 2011

The Tears of Christmas

It’s been one of those weeks. The kind that come along every now and then in life, where creation seems to be screaming more than groaning.

This week, a child with Leukemia who we’ve prayed and fasted for, has taken a turn for the worse. A friend and co-worker at Highland just had his mother pass away, and for reasons that I am not ready to go into today, Leslie and I spent a good part of this week in a hospital room, grieving our own personal stuff.

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On December 7, 2011

Treasuring in the Heart

I read last year that more people commit suicide in the holidays than any other time of year. USA Today said that as many as 21% of Americans are depressed at Christmas. All those memories of the Christmas past come flooding in, and the absences of loved ones, or broken relationships are accentuated by the expectation of great joy, or memories of joy gone by.

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On November 30, 2011

Here With Us

So if you are in Abilene, please share this post with your friends before this coming Sunday, December 4th. Highland is hosting a Christmas Celebration at the Paramount Theater at 7 PM for free. It will have instrumental and a cappella moments of worship, bluegrass, slam poetry, preaching and more.

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On January 4, 2011

A New World

There is something about this time of year that has always fascinated me. It’s a fresh start. So we make resolutions, and we break them. But here’s one that I hope Jesus followers can make and keep for this year…

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On December 23, 2010

Christmas Stories

So this is my last blog for the Year. I plan on unplugging from the world wide web and heading out for some much needed vacation with the family. We are headed to Arkansas to spend time with family, unless you are a robber, in which case, we are staying in Abilene for the entire break.

It’s strange reading the Gospels during the Christmas season. It’s as if every single story that we read demands to be interpreted in light of Bethlehem. And that got me thinking this morning about some of my favorite Jesus stories. What did Christmas originally mean to these people when it happened.

For example…

She was probably a teenager when the birth at Bethlehem happened, but she had no idea what was going on over there, babies are born everyday, and she just happened to live in Samaria. Maybe she was dating someone, or maybe she was already pledged to be married. After all, she was going to have to start early to go through four failed marriages and be working on her fifth serious relationship by the time she would meet Jesus. Life was really going to put her through the ringer. Maybe it was that she would make some bad choices, or maybe she was going to be the victim of bad men. But for whatever reason, by the time Jesus came along she had hit rock bottom. She was alone in every sense that mattered. But he saw her. Up until that point no one knew who Jesus was. He hadn’t told the Kings or dignitaries, but he told her. He gave her life dignity again. Continue Reading…

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