Waiting

It seems that as the world becomes supposedly less complicated through technological advances, we still find ourselves waiting. Waiting for that package to arrive that we ordered online in record speed. Waiting in line at the self-checkout station at the supermarket, designed to eliminate the evils of waiting. Waiting for the phone to ring on Saturday night. Waiting for that great job to come along. Or waiting for that elusive perfect relationship. It never ends. Researchers tell us that the average person will spend 5 years of his or her life waiting in line, 2 years playing telephone tag, and six months sitting at red lights. That is over 7 and a half years of waiting, at best doing nothing, or at worst experiencing great aggravation! The bottom line is that even in our fast-paced world, with postmodern conveniences, we are all waiting for something. However, as strange as it sounds, during the Advent season, we discover a purpose to our waiting. Let me explain.

You think we have it rough, how about waiting thousands of years, not for something minor like groceries, but for the king whose eternal reign would end the oppression of the world? What do we think about thousands of people hoping and praying fervently for something miraculous to happen, while successive generations are born and pass away, without a hint of fulfillment? I am speaking here of the ancient Hebrew patriarchs, kings, prophets, and priests, who waited expectantly for the coming of the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah expresses this hope:

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD (Isaiah 2:2-5, RSV).

Then, hundreds of years later, born in Bethlehem, a small town in the Roman Empire, their hope is finally realized, but with a twist, because Jesus is not the earthly warrior-king many expected. And even after waiting, the final realization of the Messiah's eternal reign is still yet to be seen, coming in the future, when the baby born in Bethlehem returns in power to judge the living and the dead. All of this makes our own waiting seem pretty insignificant. Somehow waiting five extra minutes for a dried out bun and a tiny piece of meat from a fast-food restaurant seems pretty trivial.

During the Advent season we symbolically participate in the waiting of the patriarchs, kings, prophets, and priests, as we await Christ's final and glorious return. Through prayer, liturgy, Eucharist, and the signs and symbols of Advent, we groan with Isaiah for a day when weapons will be turned into agricultural instruments. We cry out with Zechariah, rejoicing that the dawn from on high is breaking upon us. We pray with the likes of Adam, Job, Hannah, Solomon, Micah, and millions of others, named and unnamed, many whose expectations of the future kingdom may have been hazy, yet who still yearned for something more complete and more "real" than what they knew.

We legitimately cry out Maranatha, Come Lord!, with St. Paul. When God the Word became man in Christ, celebrated on Christmas day, the world was sanctified. Something in the fabric of the cosmos shifted as creation became a fitting vehicle for God's redemptive work. Human experiences have been sanctified as well, commemorated in our Church Year. Yes, as the season of Advent shows, even waiting has become sanctified.

As we wait in long lines this Advent season, or as we wait for anything really, I think it is important that we remember the waiting of those expecting the Messiah, and always wait with patience, humility, and expectant hope in a state of prayer. I know it is difficult, but especially during Advent, waiting prayerfully and patiently, in the manner of our Lord and his blessed Mother, is not only a good spiritual discipline, but could also lower our risk of holiday-induced blood pressure. It seems like we're all waiting for something, so why not use these experiences to enhance our Advent disciplines by prayerfully waiting, joining our prayers with Isaiah, Zechariah, and all the saints?

From http://www.ancient-future.net/waiting

Advent Hope - a sermon for Advent Sunday

Herewith a version of my sermon for Advent Sunday 2009...

This week the inquiry into the Iraq war began. According to Sir John Chilcott, the Chair of the inquiry, ‘...We need to establish what happened. We are piecing this together from the evidence we are collecting from documents or from those who have first hand experience. We will then need to evaluate what went well and what didn’t – and, crucially, why...’ I have to say that I remain cynical that the inquiry will achieve what it needs to, and if it did, would it make any real difference to the families of nearly 5000 dead since 2003? Will it rebuild Iraqi society and it’s infrastructure?

This week the newly created supreme court of the UK overturned a ruling by the High Court that banks should allow the Office of Fair Trading to investigate the fairness of charges for unauthorised overdrafts. Just when you thought that banking might have changed having been so thoroughly accused following the global recession, no, situation normal continues...

Next week, tens of thousands of us will gather in London for The Wave. We will march to march to Parliament to encourage 60 of the world’s political leaders meeting in summit in Copenhagen, including leaders from China and the USA, to agree to the firm foundation for a legally binding climate treaty as early as possible in 2010. I passionately believe that I have to do something to wake the world’s leaders up, it is my duty as a Christian, but I have to confess that I remain cynical if I am really honest that any binding agreement will be made then..
I am sure that speak for all of us when I say that throughout my life, I have had longing that things on the world stage as well as things local and personal would be better by now. God knows we pray that it would be. And yet, as we we edge ever nearer another season of goodwill, it feels like we no nearer that utopian goal. The things that I hope might have been resolved have been replaced by other seemingly unsolvable issues.

The people of Israel, at the time that God spoke through Jeremiah, understood hopelessness on a far grander scale. In 587 BC Assyria attacked the nation of Israel, burned Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and carried off its people into slavery. Their situation puts ours into stark contrast doesn’t it? In those years of exile the people of God quite rightly asked God again and again ‘why?, Why are we in this situation? Why did you allow it God?’

It is into this sense of devestating defeat and discouragement, this longing for God to right things, that these words from Jeremiah come. In that context, they feel like naive words indeed. Yet it is all to easy to ‘grin and bear it’, because it takes real courage to stand up, to make your voice heard, to swim against the flow, and to complain.

But Jeremiah goes one step further. In the midst of their sense of gut-wrenching hopelessness, Jeremiah along with the prophet Isaiah, proclaim a different vision based on a renewed trust in God. "Your God reigns!" All of those grand phrases that are so well celebrated in Handel’s Messiah "Comfort, ye, my people," "And he shall reign forever and ever" came out of exile. "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah... In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety" says Jeremiah. The time is coming! I will restore, re-gather Israel and Judah, do for you that which you cannot do for yourselves, namely, bring you home.

Pushy, risky theological claim that, all present evidence to the contrary, God still reigns and God's purposes shall not be finally defeated. It takes a lot of faith to express confident joy in the reign of God and at the same time honesty about the situation. Israel's prophets managed to pull it off.

But,,, The nation never returned to their homeland as a whole. The restoring vision that God shared through the prophets was true for only a handful, a remnant of the the people ever made it back... But look again at what God says through Jeremiah as that’s not what he promised - a future time is coming, when I shall not only restore things to the way they were, but also do a new thing - a righteous branch shall spring up for David. A new spring shoot will begin to grow from the long dead tree that is the historical line of King David. When that time comes says God - things will not only restored to the way they were but the lasting the peace and security that you long for will come.

Advent is a time when Christians are invited into exile. It is a time when the church calls us to live differently. To slow down. To refocus our priorities. To step away from the madness that is the innevetiable rush to Christmas and to stop and look at the world and our lives and the mess that they often really are. But instead of being stilled into inactivity through a crippling hopelessness and despair that thing have ever been thus and will not change. Instead we should live as exiles - refocussing our lives and hopes on God, knowing that it is only He who can bring the transformation we long for.

Advent calls us to hear the hope of God through Jeremiah - that things in our world and in our lives will not only be restored, but that God will do a new thing in us and amongst us personally and globally. Advent must be time to cry to God about the injustice of war, of debt, of a climate change, but also to expect, with sure hope, that God will bring a new spring shoot of faithfulness to grow in us, so that through us our world and our lives together can be transformed. Friends I still hope that the world would be a better place and that my life would be in better shape - in Advent God reminds me that it will be. That’s not wild hope. That’s certain hope. Amen

Online Advent calender

The CofE are really trying with their web resources again this Advent. The materials are gathered this year under the banner of 'Ready, Steady, SLOW.' The material clearly ties in with concern for the environment, our place in it and our impact on it.

As ++ Rowan said recently: "We hope for a world in which we have learned to live with the grain of things, to live patiently, to live respectfully, to live in a way that takes our environment seriously..."

There are some excellent resources over at their Advent website including an online Advent calendar and the opportunity to receive daily emails with thoughts, prayers and challenges.

So go on, take time out this Advent with a go-slow lifestyle and let us wait patiently this Advent for God...

Paperless Christmas

Well folks it's not even Advent yet, but despite that, from a contact on Twitter (thanks Phil) I bring you this...

It is utter genius...

Enjoy

Daily Advent Prayers

I value the power of a Google search and All Hallows Leeds for the following Advent prayers which I will, and I encourage you, to use each day... and can be downloaded here...

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Waiting and Longing
A daily prayer practice for Advent

Written and compiled by Annie Heppenstall-West, Jan Booth and Ray Gaston

Introduction

‘Everywhere, at any moment, Christ comes in.’
J A T Robinson

That’s what the Advent journey encourages us to expect. In Advent we practise the discipline of opening our hearts to the presence of Christ in our midst, we wait for a glimpse of the truth that he is with us, we long to experience the joy of his presence and the wonder of the love of our God who became flesh and dwelt amongst us and whose Spirit is with us now encouraging us to join in the living of God’s Kingdom now!

Preparation

• Arrange a simple Advent ring of four candles with a fifth, larger white one in the centre. Blue or purple candles are often used, but you may have your own reasons for picking different colours!

• Decide how you are going to light the candles.

• Familiarise yourself with the tune for Psalm 42 (see below).

• Choose seating that will be comfortable during meditation.

• You might like to choose appropriate music to begin and end.

Opening Responses

For the darkness of waiting,

of not knowing what is to come,

of staying ready and quiet and attentive,

we praise you, O God:

For the darkness and the light are both alike to you.

For the darkness of staying silent,

for the terror of having nothing to say,

and for the greater terror of needing to say nothing,

we praise you, O God.

For the darkness and the light are both alike to you.

For the darkness of loving,

in which it is safe to surrender, to let go of our self-protection,

and to stop holding back our desire,

we praise you, O God.

For the darkness and the light are both alike to you.

For the darkness of choosing,

when you give us the moment to speak, and act, and change,

and we cannot know what we have set in motion,

but we still have to take the risk,

we praise you, O God.

For the darkness and the light are both alike to you.

For the darkness of hoping

in a world which longs for you;

for the wrestling and the labouring of all creation

for wholeness and justice and freedom,

we praise you, O God.

For the darkness and the light are both alike to you.

From All Desires Known by Janet Morley

Sung Psalm

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

So my soul, so my soul,

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

So my soul longs for you, O God.

(from Psalm 42:1)

Click on the music to hear the tune:

Affirmation of faith in God’s presence

The Psalmists prayed:

Deep calls to deep

at the thunder of your waterfalls;

all your waves and your billows have washed over me.

By day you lead me in steadfast love;

at night your song is with me,

prayer from the Heart of my heart.

Psalm 42:7—8

You knit me together in my mother’s womb … My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Psalm 139:13, 15

St Paul said:

‘In God we live and move and have our being.’

Acts 17:28 [quoting the Greek poet Epimenides]

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38—39

Christ promised:

Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:20

Light the main candle, recognising the presence of Christ.

We declare:

Christ is here!

The Spirit is with us!

Pause

Meditating on Scripture

Week 1: Longing for the light of God’s presence

Let us know,

Let us press on to know the Lord;

His appearing is as sure as the dawn;

He will come to us like the showers,

Like the spring rains that water the earth.

Hosea 6:3

As the sun is constant, so too is the love of God; it is we who, like the earth, sometimes turn away and sometimes turn towards God. My waiting is for my own readiness to see the light.

Silent contemplation follows the scripture reading (see Suggestions for Contemplative Practice below).

Week 2: Longing for the lover of my soul

I sought him but found him not;

I called him, but he gave no answer.

I will rise now and go about the city,

In the streets and in the squares;

I will seek him whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but found him not.

The sentinels found me,

As they went about the city.

‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’

Scarcely had I passed them,

When I found him whom my soul loves.

Song of Solomon 3:1b—4

My soul searches restlessly for the love of Christ, to know him and be one with him.

Silent contemplation

Week 3: Longing for that which is promised

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord, that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to idols.

See, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

I tell you of them.

Isaiah 42:6b—9

It is the coming of the kingdom of Shalom, the reign of the Prince of Peace, for which I long, on earth as in heaven.

Silent contemplation

Week 4: Longing for the Christ Child

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of the Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

Luke 1:41—45

Fruit of the womb, the Human One*, brother, friend, child; with a mother’s longing to see her unborn, so I long to know you more deeply, my Christ.

Silent contemplation

Candle lighting of the Advent ring
(the four smaller candles)

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Mohandas Gandhi

The kingdom within:

Once, Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is within you.’

Luke 17:20—24

Bearing good fruit — through the reign of the Lamb in our hearts:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever.

Revelation 22:1—7

Living in the light

(based on Hosea 6:3 and Revelation 22:1—7)

Light through rain clouds stirs

memories of deeper love;

I long for your warmth.

Sunshine and rain wake

seeds deep within my earth-heart;

I hunger for light.

The light of the lamb,

living water of cleansing,

heal me, make me new.

Amen.

The first candle is lit.

Pause

Embracing the lover

(based on Song of Solomon 3:1b—4)

I seek longingly

in the city streets and squares,

you whom my soul loves.

As I search the streets,

let me see you in the eyes

of the people there.

Let me hold you and

bring you within my own house,

my love, my dear one.

Amen.

The second candle is lit.

Pause

Acting on the promise

(based on Isaiah 42:6b—9)

Hand in hand with God,

healing touch, words which set free

flow out from your heart.

Hand in hand with God,

you lead the way to Shalom,

wine-blood spilt for love.

Hand in hand with God,

hope-beacon to a dark world,

Christ, enlighten me.

Amen.

The third candle is lit.

Pause

Giving birth to the Christ within

(based on Luke 1:41—45)

Grow in me, love-child,

grow and fill me with your life,

make my soul your home.

Grow in me, Christ-child,

be born of tears and pain, in

unshakeable love.

Reach fullness in me,

open me and live through me,

my body is yours.

Amen.

The fourth candle is lit.

Pause

Closing prayer

I pray

Not only come, O Lord,

but move me to let you in,

for already you stand at my door, knocking,

your presence immediate, urgent, powerful;

Not simply be with me, my God,

but let me feel your presence always,

for you are always here;

Not so much hear my prayer,

but give me words which resonate

with the energy of your love,

for you are the eternal listener to our souls’ song;

Not always help me,

but let me learn to see your working in my life;

Not give me,

but humble me,

that in my lowliness

I may fall no further;

Not protect me

but immerse me in life,

and let me love and give and learn to follow

the driving, compelling power of your wild Spirit;

Not necessarily save me,

but let me understand that

like the ocean holds the swimming seal

so you hold me,

always and completely,

and in you alone can I safely lose myself

and so find you.

Amen.

Suggestions for contemplative practice

To spend some time meditating on the Bible reading, we offer the following suggestions:

Spend whatever time on this that feels comfortable for you.

Sit in such a way that you can be both comfortable and alert. It may help to have your back straight, with both feet on the ground. Let your shoulders drop.

Be aware of the chair under you, supporting you, the floor under your feet. Let the chair and the floor take your full weight. Watch as you let the tensions drain out of you.

Focus your attention on your breathing …

Don’t change it … just notice it … your lungs expanding and contracting, the feel of the air through your nostrils. When your attention wanders, just gently bring it back.

Now focus on the deepest place within you … the very centre … the core of your being. Go into that place … and be still … listening as if to something very subtle.

Ask God to take you through the Bible passage you have read. Or take a phrase or just a word from the passage and gently turn it over and reflect on it.

You could now ask God for what you most desire. Speak with God about it.

— or —

Sit in silence with the chosen phrase or word.

When ready, let your attention come gently back to the room. Take your time.

Notes on ‘the Human One’

The phrase used in the prayer for Week 4, ‘the Human One’ (in place of the more familiar ‘Son of Man’), comes from The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version (OUP 1995).

The title for Jesus, ‘the Son of Man’, is found frequently in the Gospels and almost nowhere else in the New Testament. With a single exception, only Jesus uses the term, and always, in Gospel contexts, to refer to himself. The title has a complex history, but it is not possible to show that the use of the term in Judaism has influenced its widespread use in early Christianity. The Greek term, whose literal translation is ‘the Son of the Man’, is clearly enigmatic, but in the Gospels it takes on its meanings from the contexts in which it is used. The term may easily be misunderstood, however, as referring to a male offspring, ‘the son’ of another male being, ‘the man’; hence this version uses ‘the Human One’ as a formal equivalent to ‘the Son of Man’. ‘The Human One’ is clearly a title of a non-androcentric form, and is also open to the many nuances of interpretation that are possible in the original Greek term. No gender is ascribed to that term.

See also: Walter Wink, The Human Being: Jesus and the Enigma of the Son of the Man (Fortress Press 2002), reviewed in depth here:

‘The son of the man’ is the expression Jesus almost exclusively used to describe himself. In Hebrew the phrase simply means ‘a human being’. The implication seems to be that Jesus intentionally avoided honorific titles, and preferred to be known simply as ‘the man’, or ‘the human being’. Apparently he saw his task as helping people become more truly human. (page xi)

On the cusp...

Advent is almost upon us again. It doesn't seem possible that a year has passed since I wrote this daily blog. I am blogging again each day again in this holy season and I hope that what I write hear might prove helpful, thought-provoking and maybe even inspirational.

This Advent we will be exploring traditional themes of hope, joy, peace and love and our worship will be filled with one of themes each week.

I love Advent, because during the season, God reminds me that the way things are can and will be better. This is not a wild utopian hope, but one rooted in human history in a person, in a time and in a place. For the longings and hopes set running in Advent do find fulfilment - not only in the birth of a baby - but in the empty tomb of Easter.

Advent is full of hope, wild hope. Hope that comes and lives amongst us and tears open the grave.

As we wait to begin this season of hope, take a few minutes and have a look at the excellent Church of England page about Advent available here and also their Advent website here.