So, I was inspired by Christmas Eve and decided to try my hand at writing haikus on the concept of incarnation.  Here goes…

How low would he go?

To flesh, weakness, poverty?  

By choice?  Amazing!

Status given up,

robe of glory set aside,

picking up a towel.

Voluntarily

stoops to share our brokenness.

The way up is down.

The posture of love…

As Christ came into the world,

we are called to go.

Merry Christmas!

Reflections on this Sunday’s message, “Christmas Cold Turkey” by Ellen

Today (Sunday, December 9, 2012) was epiphany-like for me.  Pastor Ray discussed the idea that we need a purification to purge the Christmas Virus from our systems and make room for that which is Holy about this time of year. At some point, he said, we need “Less Christmas and More Advent.”

When he first said this, I was profoundly convicted and totally lost. This is the time of year I feel most lost in both my Christ-like witness and my practice of spiritual disciplines. Pastor’s statement made clear to me that I have no idea what actually constitutes the difference between Christmas and Advent. These things have been for me, and I suspect others, totally conflated. Advent and Christmas have been intertwined my whole life – we celebrated Advent as part of the liturgical calendar in the church, but we practiced Christmas and Advent together in the home and in the society as though they were the same thing (Today my husband mentioned he saw a McDonald’s commercial that said the McRib was back “for advent.” WTF?!). However, given that Christmas has become totally co-opted and in many ways empty for me, I feel an urgency now to define Advent and by defining it, to reclaim it. As I started thinking about this and talking about it with my husband (an indefinable) and a friend (a Catholic), I started to really think this question through: How is advent different from Christmas? This is what I discerned from that conversation:

Christmas is a social norm. It is defined by a variety of practices that have no spiritual meaning, but have a social and cultural meaning. Its perpetuation is bound up in nostalgia – how we remember a special time (often as children), which we seek to recreate.  Christmas is a season that builds to a single day that commemorates the birth of an important man. It is marked by ritual – songs, movies, practices, decorations, orientations and most recently consumption.  It requires nothing of you after Christmas Day.

Advent is a spiritual practice. It is defined by a variety of acts that have significant spiritual meaning, but would mean little socially and culturally.  It is living – it is not rooted in an experience of the past, but is dynamic, meaning something new each year, bringing new revelation. Advent builds for 345 days of the year of mission, not moment.  It is marked by a sense of anticipation of God with us – that these days are for recognition and preparation of that “being with” – which requires a set of activities (prayer, meditation, fast, study). It requires much of you after Christmas Day, because Advent celebrates that God entered through a man who worked to transform it and prepares us for the hard work required of those of us who follow Christ. That preparation is about sustenance – connecting with God and understanding the work for which we must prepare.

So, what does that mean?

It means that Advent is ALL ABOUT the wilderness (where God meets people throughout the scripture). It is about hearing God in those 20 some days. It’s about the spiritual practices like prayer, study, meditation and fasting that prepare us for the work that must be undertaken actively and outside the church for the other 345 odd days. It is Sabbath!

So, if it’s all about the wilderness, how does that look?

I would argue that Advent is the time that those who follow Christ withdraw from the world and worldly practice to be in some version of the wilderness – we don’t shop, we don’t participate in distracting rituals, we don’t feed cultural norms. We prepare – intentionally, deliberately, silently, and in some version of isolation.

Prepare for what?

I would argue for the Kingdom work we are called to do the other 345 days a year. Those days, we are people of the fruits of the spirit, people of engagement, people of gift and generosity, and people of justice. We engage all other days of the year in the work that Jesus model for us: The work that earned him his cross.

Advent, like Lent, is active and actively anticipates something! I would argue it prepares us to be joyful (because of the hope we have because of the gift God gave us) and impactful (because of what it means to be followers of Christ).

So, I am done with Christmas. it’s going to be hard. But in order to do Advent, I have to let it go, I think. It’s a distraction. It requires action and effort from me that takes away from the discipline of Advent. And I think that is how Christians can witness when “the most wonderful time of the year” starts November 1^st, elicits both anxiety, anger, emptiness, includes the running of the bulls at “big box” stores each year and leads to no sustained good will, good news or good intentions among (wo)men after December 26^th. For Christians, we strive that all times of the year should be the “most wonderful time of the year” and Advent is the time we take to focus, learn, grow and prepare for our part in making it that way (the Kingdom way).

Commentary by Pastor Bruce Ray

With stores opening on Thanksgiving Day for door-buster shopping for the first time, I asked myself (and others), “Is nothing sacred?”   Maybe Thanksgiving never was sacred since one could always find an open grocery store for last minute items, but there was something disturbing this year about Black Friday oozing insidiously into Thursday. Loosening our purse strings is more urgent than loosening our belts around the table with family.  Feeding the meters takes priority over feeding the homeless.  This shift made me realize all over again that Black Friday and Christmas consumption is its own form of worship in our culture.

Think about it.  We are told that through participation in the rituals of shopping, our life will improve.  In fact, everyone’s lives will improve.  The economy will stabilize, our families will be healed, peace and harmony will increase and the world will be saved.  So we head off to the temples of commerce to the strains of holiday songs.  We encourage our children to stand in line to reveal their secret desires to a mysterious father figure, who promises that their prayers will be answered.  The high priests of Walmart and Target promise special rewards to the faithful who hold vigil outside their doors.  We walk the labyrinth of aisles until we deposit our sacrificial offerings into the holy cash registers.  And we believe the hype and we trust in the hope.

Maybe I’m just a crotchety old man, but I’m going the way of Scrooge.  Bah!  Humbug!  I’m tired of the hype, and I’ve lived long enough to know the hope is false.  I refuse to worship at the Church of the Open Door Busters this year.  I want to sit in the quietness of candlelight and reflect on the Love that stooped to share flesh.  I want to be immersed in the glorious drama of light overcoming darkness and be awed by the Gift.  I want to give myself to the One of all-surpassing value and lift up what is eternal.  Amazon.com doesn’t–and never will–have what I want in stock.

Commentary by Bruce Ray, Pastor

On October 11, 93-year-old Rev. Billy Graham and his son, Franklin Graham, met with candidate Mitt Romney at Graham’s North Carolina mountain home.  Following the meeting, Rev. Graham issued the following statement, posted on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association web site.

“It was an honor to meet and host Gov. Romney in my home today, especially since I knew his late father former Michigan Gov. George Romney, whom I considered a friend. I have followed Mitt Romney’s career in business, the Olympic Games, as governor of Massachusetts and, of course, as a candidate for president of the United States.

“What impresses me even more than Gov. Romney’s successful career are his values and strong moral convictions. I appreciate his faithful commitment to his impressive family, particularly his wife Ann of 43 years and his five married sons.

“It was a privilege to pray with Gov. Romney—for his family and our country. I will turn 94 the day after the upcoming election, and I believe America is at a crossroads. I hope millions of Americans will join me in praying for our nation and to vote for candidates who will support the biblical definition of marriage, protect the sanctity of life and defend our religious freedoms.”

A week later, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association took out full page ads in national newspapers and papers in battleground states which read, “I realize this election could be my last. I believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel. I urge you to vote for those who protect the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman,”

While I respect Rev. Graham’s right to express his opinion and respect his storied career, I am deeply distressed by his (and his organization’s) limited definition of Biblical principals and implicit endorsement of Governor Romney.  Not once did Rev. Graham express concern for the poor.  Though he used the language of “sanctity of human life”, he did not raise the issue that 1 in 4 children in America live in poverty.  Once again, Rev. Graham as a representative of evangelical America has reduced Biblical principals to opposition to abortion and gay marriage.  Adding unconditional support for the modern nation/state of Israel as a “Biblical principle” is (in my opinion) a mishandling of Scripture.

I believe we need to re-hear the parable of Jesus regarding the separation of nations in Matthew 25.  The care of the hungry, the homeless, the immigrant, the thirsty, the oppressed are of utmost concern to our leader, Jesus Christ.  Those are the “Biblical principles” that need to guide us when we enter the polling place on November 6.  And I believe it is time for “evangelicals” to begin following the example of Jesus and truly preach good news to the poor.