Voices, Narcissism and the Church

     One of my favorite classes in seminary was Black Church Studies.  As a seminary student, I was pretty much unafraid of being stretched and challenged.   I relished the opportunity to dive head first into traditions and points of view that differed from my own.  And I loved that class.  I loved reading about African Religion and Philosophy.  I was challenged by the study of the history of African-Americans in this country, especially in the part of the world where I grew up.  My horizons were being expanded on a daily basis and this, I feel, is one of the most important aspects of a seminary education.

     I must make a point here about my upbringing.  I have never heard my parents utter one word that could be construed as racist or prejudiced.  Granted, each person has their own prejudices so my parents are certainly not exempt.  But they were very intentional about how they treated people and how they spoke around my sister and I.  We were taught from an early age to show respect and that God loved ALL people.  While this might seem too optimistic and something of a "let's all hold hands and defeat racism" mentality, this was a vitally important and Christ-like thing to teach a 5-year-old kid.  My parents teaching me that all people are worthy of respect and bear God's image set a trajectory for me that allowed me to be challenged and inspired by my experience in seminary (and beyond).  What I heard outside of my home was a different story, both at school and, sadly, from some in my home church.  That's perhaps another conversation to be had in the future.

     One struggle that I had in those classes was where my voice fit in.  What could I say?  What could I contribute?  Did I have a voice?  My professor urged me on several occasions to speak up more, but I often felt that I could contribute nothing constructive to the conversation in that class.  I thought long and hard about my voice - what do I have to share?  Of course, as a preacher, my voice is front and center on a regular basis.  We preachers often pray that God would speak in our voices, but many times we speak in our own, personal, limited voice - reflected our limited understanding, our narrow world view, our own particular biases.  We are human, after all, and while we seek to be vessels, conduits for the voice of the Lord, many times it is our own puny voices that we are projecting. 

    There are times when silence is a blessing.  When saying nothing is far more appropriate than saying anything at all.  Our society, of course, does not adhere to this in the least.  We have turned into a society of narcissists, a society where we are taught that we must share our opinions, we must let people know what we are thinking, we have to stake out a position, we have to let people know what we are doing all the time (hence Twitter and Facebook - alas, I am the chief of sinners in this regard).  I understand the irony of my having a blog and writing that we're too enamored of our own voices.  I pray that God would help me to not be a narcissist.  I need help in this endeavor.  Thankfully, God gives help.

    The culture in the US is in dire need of an antidote for our rampant narcissism.  The Church offers a cure.  The Church, as it is intended, might actually be the cure for this.  We do indeed have a voice, something to say.  It is the message that has been handed down to us: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."  (Mark 1:15)  The teachings of Scripture call us beyond ourselves and call us to join our voices to those who are already proclaiming reconciliation and redemption.  I learned in seminary that I do indeed have a voice and I am called to speak - the Church calls that out of me and all others.  What we learn is that our voice, while important, is not the only voice, indeed not the most important voice.  We learn to join our voices together - sometimes in beautiful harmony and other times in chaotic cacophony.  We might learn that there are many of our brothers and sisters who have been silenced and need to have their voices heard.  The Spirit at work in the Church can make room for the silenced voices to be heard.

     Just as important, the Church might teach us about the value of holy silence - which is the greatest antidote to our blathering narcissism that I can think of.  There are times when our voices must be stilled, when we must listen to the Spirit and to one another.  And when we speak, when our voice is called forth, we speak not of ourselves but of what God has done, is doing, and will do for the sake of the redemption and reconciliation of a broken, fallen world.  May God grant us the words to speak when our voice needs to be heard and the wisdom to keep silent when our voices need to be stilled.

Grace and Peace to all of you in the Name of Jesus.

Was Feeling Nostalgic a While Back...

This has little to do with theology, or with anything for that matter, I just feel like writing and sharing it:

I loved the woods in my old neighborhood  - walking, running, climbing gullies, jumping over creeks.  And to this day, in my memory, they feel as much like home as the house I grew up in.  A few months ago, I was down in Enochville without my wife or the kids and I parked beside the woods in my old neighborhood.  I walked down into the woods and looked around for a bit.  It hadn't changed too much.  Things came rushing back and it made it seem in that moment that no time had passed.  The remnants of an old tree house were amazingly still present and I instantly recognized the bends in the little stream as well as some of the gullies.  I thought about walking to see if the old VW Bug that had been left in a gully some years ago was down there, but I thought about how much effort that would take for an out of shape adult (as an 11-year-old, it was quite easy).  

The thing is, it felt like home, as much as my home church or (I imagine) my room in the house I grew up in.  But I had a disconcerting thought as I was standing in the woods remembering: as a kid, I was simply romping through the woods.  As an adult, I was trespassing.  As a kid, it's expected.  As an adult, it may seem a little creepy to some people.  With that thought going through my head, I trudged back up to the truck.  I felt, at once, happy to be in that place and sad that I could never be in that place again, so to speak. 

The thing about it, the "woods" were nothing more than a few acres of undeveloped land with a little creek running through it.  I am dumbfounded to think now that we routinely drank the water from that little stream.  I am sure that several stomach bugs I had as a kid were a direct result of drinking that water.  We used to go down to the woods, dam up the stream, climb the gullies, play a variation on tag which involved diving over fallen trees or trudging under them in the stream, and just run riot for a few hours.  I remember one time in the middle of winter Scott, Troy, Michael, and myself went down to the woods and the little pools of water had frozen over.  We were walking over them and one of them cracked under Michael.  He fell into water that was probably no more than a foot deep.  He freaked out and so did Troy, who acted like Michael was dying (Troy is Michael's older brother).  I stepped onto the ice, grabbed Michael and pulled him out.  They both thanked me for saving his life.  It was fun to be a kid.

As we got older, we began riding our bikes more and a friendly older couple in the neighborhood let us ride through their yard into the woods.  We made a good number of trails and for a while had a lot of fun.  Then, suddenly it seems in retrospect, we grew up - drivers' licenses, jobs, other stuff.  We stopped hanging out together.  And the woods no longer hold any mystery for me, at least the little bit of wooded land in my old neighborhood doesn't.  Memories yes, but no mystery.  Now I imagine that the deep forests in the mountains or in the Northwest would probably hold some mystery, but the "woods" in Tanglewood I see now with adult eyes.  Littered with trash, empty liquor and beer bottles, and full of briars, spiders, and other stuff that I don't want to mess with.

Maybe part of heaven is being in those places that are home, those places that are so familiar that when we are in them, it feels like time stops.  I have found that those places are rare and precious.  There are new places that evoke that feeling, and thank God for that, because the life of a United Methodist minister is all about new places.  But, I will say that a dirt road on a warm evening, the sound of birds and crickets, and the smell of honeysuckle does it every time, no matter what the geographical location.  Of course, the cliche holds true: there's no place like home.  I just hope that heaven has a nice patch of woods up there.  

Watching the Lightning

(This is also the February newsletter article for my church...two birds, one stone, that kind of thing...)

     Growing up, I loved to look out of the window or sit in the carport during thunderstorms at night, watching the lightning.  I enjoyed watching the lightning light up the sky for that one fraction of a second of brilliance.  It was as if there was a flash of daylight, in an instant.  I still enjoy watching thunderstorms - though with the proliferation of trees around our parsonage, there's a bit more trepidation in my watching nowadays.  But that moment, the all-too-brief flash of daylight, that is fascinating, thrilling to watch.

     As we continue the season of Epiphany, we are reminded that we have those moments spiritually as well.  We have moments when the presence of God and the peace of the Holy Spirit lights up the skies of our lives with complete light and brilliance.  The word "epiphany" basically means a "sudden appearance of knowledge."  It's an "aha!" moment - that moment when the pieces fall into place, when insight from the Spirit lights up our lives.  Those are wonderful moments to be treasured.  God teaches us about His nature and His will in those moments.  God might also teach us about ourselves.  We must be ready and watchful for these epiphanies. 

     During Epiphany, we celebrate that God has fully revealed Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus.  If you desire to know who God cares about, look to Jesus.  If you want to know how God moves and works in the world, look to Jesus.  God has been revealed to us in the Epiphany of Jesus Christ.  And so, in Jesus, we can see the brilliance of God, the bright light of His love and grace.  And much like the lightning that I enjoy watching, sometimes God appears most dramatically and most splendidly in our fiercest storms and our darkest nights.  The darkness of our worst storms might serve to reveal the brightness of God's glory and grace.  Are you in the midst of a storm?  Keep your eyes open for those bright flashes of God's presence, love, and grace, which might illumine your struggles. 

     This side of eternity, it's just a glimpse, however.  I believe that when we see God face-to-face, when the eternal life given to us through the grace of Jesus Christ becomes our complete reality, we will be fully alive in that brilliance.  Until then, we wait and watch, even in the midst of our own storms, for those flashes of daylight, for the brilliance and splendor of God's grace.

Grace and Peace to you through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Wes

The "No Voice" and "Is Not" of Idolatry

I am currently teaching two Bible Studies at the moment, one on Revelation and the other on the 12 "minor prophets".  Both of these studies have been fruitful in several ways for me.  Each time I teach a book of the Bible, I learn something new or discover something that I had not seen previously, even if I've read or taught that book several times.  The same is true of Revelation this go around and, considering that I've never taught the minor prophets before, I'm learning a lot about them (and the history of Israel).  What I really love, however, are the relatively few moments of synchronicity that occur when studying, teaching, or reading two different books of Scripture.  One of these happened a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to blog about it, but am only now finding the time.  Here are the Scriptures that got the ball rolling:

Zephaniah 3:1-2 - "Ah, soiled, defiled, oppressing city!  It has listened to no voice; it has accepted no correction.  It has not trusted in the Lord; it has not drawn near to its God."

Revelation 17:8 (in reference to the scarlet beast upon which the Whore of Babylon was riding) - "The beast you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.  And the inhabitants of the earth…will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come."

Both of these Scriptures bring to mind Paul's teaching in I Corinthians 8:4-6 - "Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that 'no idol in the world really exists,' and that 'there is no God but one.'  Indeed, even there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth - as in fact there are many gods and many lords - yet for us there is on God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom  are all things and through whom we exist."

The thread that runs through both of these passages is the idea that idolatry is ultimately a negation of existence.  Throughout the whole of Scripture, the sin that seems to occur with the most regularity is idolatry.  This is also the subject of the first of the Ten Commandments, is the sin most pointed to by the prophets, and figures prominently in the New Testament.  I have found that the Christians that I have known pretty much excuse themselves from Biblical commands against idolatry.  I think that we associate idolatry with ancient idols and, since we don't worship little wooden statues or have any Asherah poles lying around, we pretty much assume that injunctions against idolatry, especially those found in the Old Testament, don't apply to us. 

The passage in Zephaniah puts it well: the idol has "no voice".  The voice of the idol is our own voice which we attempt to amplify through a false god.  When we seek our well-being, our self-worth, our freedom, our peace, and our salvation through anything other than God, we are listening to the "no voice" of the idol.  Basically, we are listening to ourselves talk.  The construction in Revelation is also instructive: "the beast…was and is not and is to come."  The "is not" indicates the negation of being in the present.  The idol does not exist.  Idolatry has existed and will exist - but the idol does not exist.  It is not. 

And as Paul states in the above passage: "no idol in the world exists" - so why should we worry?  Well, it's pretty easy to see that humans can make idols out of just about anything.  The threat of idolatry is that idols promise something that they cannot deliver.  In the Old Testament, the culprits were Baal and Asherah, in Jesus' day it was a mixture of Egyptian deities, Greco-Roman gods, and the Emperor cult.  Today - well, it's less about a personified deity and more about those things/ideas we look to for meaning and fulfillment.  There are, of course, the obvious ones: drugs, sex, money.  Most American Christians can easily attack these things (and with good reason, if we're looking to drugs, sex, or money to fill the hole in our hearts.)  However, some of our other idols are more insidious, more tempting, less recognizable: consumption (establishing your identity in the things you own or purchase), self-worth, relationships, your job.  Even things that are overwhelmingly positive can become idolatrous if they are what we rely on exclusively to give our lives meaning: our marriage, our children, our own good behavior.

Twice in the closing chapters of Revelation (19:10 and 22:9), John bows to worship an angel.  Both times the angel commands John to get up and "Worship God!"  There is only One Who is worthy of worship.  Some things are worthy of attention, all people and some things are worthy of love, only One is worthy of worship.  My questions for myself as we move through the season of Epiphany: what am I making an idol, what am I worshiping besides God?  What do I depend on for my peace, my freedom, my salvation?  Where might I cast down the idols in my life?  Good questions to ponder leading into Lent…

Grace and Peace to all of you!

Some Thoughts About Jesus as We Approach the Celebration of His Birth

Over the past few days, several things related to Jesus and/or faith have caught my attention.  One of my oft-repeated prayers is that the Spirit would open my eyes, mind, and heart to God's presence throughout the day.  Sometimes that happens without me having to look at all - it's just there.  Here those things that have caught my eye, engaged my mind, and warmed or challenged my heart over the past week:

- Stephen Colbert's excellent segment titled "Jesus is a Liberal Democrat".  The last sentence is a sermon in itself.  I was going to list O'Reilly's op-ed, but Colbert eviscerates it enough without me giving it a shot.  O'Reilly ought to sit with Philippians 2:5-11 for a while.  Here's O'Reilly's op-ed: "Keep Christ in Unemployment"

- There's an article by Judson Phillips (a Tea Party figure) making the rounds among my Methodist Facebook friends.  Here's the blog post: "My Dream: No More Methodist Church"  There is plenty of stuff in that blog post to unpack, dismantle, and obliterate.  Perhaps at another time.

- Today, I was out and about looking for a cd of instrumental Christmas music for our drop-in communion on Christmas Eve.  As I was walking out of the Lifeway Store, I saw a license tag that read: "Favor Ain't Fair".  Like the aforementioned blog post by Mr. Phillips, that statement raises a few issues for me.
But here's what I was thinking today as I was driving around.  Faith in Jesus is deeply contested territory.  And this is not a novel idea to me, I just don't think about it that often.  People envision and present Jesus in innumerable ways, some I find to be Biblically appropriate, some are completely powerless and incapable of offering heart/mind/life transformation, and some are downright wrong or offensive.  As a preacher, one of my tasks is to present or express an understanding or vision of Jesus that is effective and that might offer the congregation an invitation to salvation.  This is one of the most important reasons that I believe firmly in theological training.  When I preach on Sunday mornings, I am not playing games.  When we speak of God and claim authority in doing so (an authority that belongs to all who are called to witness - meaning, every Christian - see 2 Corinthians 5:20), it is serious business.  I think some things are necessary when speaking about Jesus or faith in Jesus in a very public way (with a glance at Messrs. O'Reilly and Phillips):

1. As a fallible person, prone to mistakes and sin, my posture is one of humility.  As evangelist D.T. Niles put it, "Evangelism is a beggar showing another beggar where to find food."  There is a sickness at the heart of American Christianity that is a potent mix of entitlement ("Favor Ain't Fair"), nationalistic hubris and exceptionalism, and a take-no-prisoners approach that brooks no compromise or disagreement.  Contrast this not-even-close-to-exhaustive list (and the above articles) with the actual ministry and teaching of Jesus.  Prayerful humility keeps us focused on Jesus and continually takes the focus off of ourselves and our own theological, philosophical, political, or ideological axes to grind.

2. Faith in Jesus requires a ever-deepening prayer life.  This only leads to greater humility.  And not simply praying for God's favor for your own life, but learning what it means to have a life of prayer.  Learning the art of prayer.  This takes much time and practice.  As for me, I'm only beginning and I am often pretty terrible at it.  But God's working with me.  Seeking a serious prayer life means that you believe that Jesus is alive, that the Spirit of God is at work, and that God hears and speaks in prayer.  It also indicates a willingness to be changed in any area of your life.

3. Reading, knowing, and living God's Word.  One thing I noticed while reading Mr. O'Reilly's op-ed and Mr. Phillips' blog post is that neither quoted Scripture.  It's awfully hard to make definitive statements about the Christian faith and a major Christian denomination without referencing Scripture, at least once.  A good starting place for both gentlemen would be John 3:16, followed by Romans 12 (all of it), I Corinthians 12 (all of it), Mark 8:34-38, Acts 2:43-47, I could go on...and I didn't even mention the Sermon on the Mount, the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery....

4. For too long, we Americans have battled over a representation of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) that is more defined by our own political or social agendas than by the witness of Scripture or the Church.  If the Church in America is to not only survive but thrive, we must move beyond a left/right or liberal/conservative divide and understand that God is the God of all people, not just people I agree with.  That might sound overly-idealistic or simplistic, but so often people assume that if they have a deeply held conviction, then Jesus obviously sides with them.  See point 1...

5. I am encouraged by the explosive growth of Christianity in Africa, South America, and Asia.  Perhaps this will help us to see God's activity, the movement of the Spirit, and the person of Jesus Christ in new and challenging ways, ways not warped by conspicuous consumption, hubristic nationalism, empty cultural relevance, or any number of ways that we limit and cheapen the Gospel of our Savior.  Not that these other cultural perspectives are in some way inherently superior to our own, but simply being exposed to differing points of view allows us to challenge our lazy assumptions and self-righteous tendencies.  See point 1 (again).

Closing thought, related to the "Favor Ain't Fair" license plate (I've said this at least 5 or 6 times from the pulpit): Jesus was not born, did not teach and minister, did not die and rise again so that you could be happy.  He did this so you could be made holy.

Peace and Grace to all of you...have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Some Thoughts Early in the Advent Season

Yesterday was the first Sunday in Advent. This season is becoming more important to me for several reasons. In years past, I have been more attuned to Lent and the focus on repentance and the spiritual disciplines. However, the longer that I am in pastoral ministry, the more I come to see the importance and necessity of what Advent has to offer. Both Advent and Lent have difficult words for those of us who identify as "American Christians". And both of these messages are typically missed, by many in the church and by the world at large. In the case of Advent, the "Christmas" noise drowns out the voice of prophets and the miracle of God's presence with us in Jesus Christ. In the case of Lent, many folks aren't even aware that's going on, even within the church - Easter is not nearly as culturally celebrated as Christmas. Anyway, I'm beginning to learn more about Advent as it relates to my own faith simply because, as the preacher, I have to have something to say about it on Sunday morning.


1) Advent goes against the flow of the culture. The season of Advent is about waiting on the promise of God to be fulfilled. As a Christian, I believe that God's promise has been ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. However, the Kingdom that Jesus has inaugurated has not yet been fulfilled. We are living in that extended moment of expectation, between the already and the not yet, still waiting for God to complete the work of reconciliation. Paul lists patience as a fruit of the Spirit and we are told by Isaiah that "those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength". Surely that is a word of challenge for us in a world when "instant" is the expectation. Many of us have simply forgotten how to wait on anything. I especially see this in how children are no longer allowed to simply be bored and wait for something. I remember riding to the beach (4 hours from where I grew up - and 4 hours is FOREVER for a kid) and having three options: (1) listening to and trying to enjoy whatever my dad wanted to listen to on the radio (Elton John or Loggins & Messina, not very exciting to a 10-year-old, or maybe a NASCAR race which was excruciating); (2) sleeping; or (3) looking out the window and daydreaming, which is what I usually did. In short, I was bored. Now it seems that every other van or SUV that I pass has a DVD player. We don't have one in our van, but for any trip over three hours, we plug in the laptop and let the kids watch movies - so I'm not carping on this too much. Sitting, waiting, being bored - these are increasingly becoming intolerable in our culture, especially for kids. And Advent asks us to sit and wait. Expect. Be on the lookout. Be watchful. Wait. Yes, even slow down. Or maybe stop. And how realistic is it for us to stop in this season? Again, it's going against the flow of the culture.

2) Advent asks us to take the Incarnation seriously. Thankfully, the hue and cry about the so-called "War on Christmas" has died down somewhat over the past couple of years, but you still see people getting hyper-focused on the assumed erosion of the "real meaning" of Christmas. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about - the "real" meaning of Christmas has never figured prominently in our culture. I'm guessing that most in our culture would say that the meaning of Christmas is about: spending time with our family, peace on earth, giving and receiving presents, or something along those lines. Those things are wonderful, but that's not the meaning of Christmas. The meaning of Christmas is best expressed in John 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." That's Christmas - God put on human flesh and became one of us. And the Christmas story itself is full of danger, discomfort, fear, and, yes, glory, praise, and wonder. Christmas is about how the world received God in the person of Jesus - as an outsider, a threat, unwelcome. This is how the "world" still receives God (using the term "world" is a bit tricky - maybe I'll write about that later). Advent is a time when the church should do some soul-searching about how we receive God ourselves and how we offer our God to the world. Perhaps especially that last bit - how is the Church "putting on Jesus Christ" (to paraphrase Paul)? How does the world experience or understand God through the witness and work of the church?

3) Advent is about a God Who is active in the world. The God we find in Scripture, the God we find in the manger, is a God at work in the world and in our lives. No watchmaker God for us Christians. For me, the most exciting thing about being a Christian is the joy of awakening to what God is doing in the world around me and joining in that work. Advent calls us to that awakening and that work. As Paul says in yesterday's Scripture from Romans 13: "you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep." In Advent, if we allow ourselves to wait and to watch, pull back even a little from maddening rush of what this time of year has become for so many of us, we will be amazed at how God is at work in our world.

4) Finally, another thing I love about Advent is the willingness of so many of us, Christian or not, to embrace joy. I think in many ways, God's peace and joy shine through even the often meager efforts we undertake. And as Christians, we should be at the vanguard of God's peace and joy movement. For too long, the church has been perceived as joyless, heartless, judgmental, and harsh. What better time than Advent to make that negative perception obsolete!

I'm thankful for this time of the year and am looking forward to what God might teach us as we wait and watch. I'm thankful for the opportunities throughout this season of Advent and Christmas to fellowship with my church family, reach out to the needy in our community, spend time with family, and focus on how God is at work in my own life. I'm mostly thankful for God's gift of Jesus Christ to this broken world and to me, a sinner. God be praised!

It's Not Time Yet...Be Patient!

I posted the following as my facebook status update the other day: "why don't we just go ahead and listen to Christmas music in September...geez, people, it's not even Thanksgiving yet!" I got a number of responses. Some agreed, some playfully disagreed, and some folks seemed downright offended. As I was thinking about how many people responded and how quickly, I began to ponder the way American culture marks the Christmas holiday and how that shapes how Christians mark this holiday.

Disclaimer: I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year. I love the decorations, time with family, giving and receiving gifts, the food, the movies (especially It's a Wonderful Life), the music, the peacefulness of Christmas Eve - all of it!

1) We should know the roots of our Christmas celebration. The holiday of Christmas was not celebrated until late in the 4th century (the year 336 is the earliest mention of the date of Dec. 25th that we have. The early Church Father Clement of Alexandria suggested May 20th as the date for Christ's birth). The Christian celebration of Christ's birth replaced the earlier Roman celebration of Saturnalia, which was marked by feasts, gatherings, and goofy parties. The typical greeting on Saturnalia was "Lo, Saturnalia!" which was pronounced "e-o", a Latin interjection (kind of like "hey!") and was related to "Ho!" And it's a small step to "Ho Ho Ho!" (Just an interesting little bit of info). Early Christians were very skilled at co-opting Roman and Greek traditions, slogans, and titles for the sake of the Christian faith. Christmas is no exception.

2) My thoughts about this, as it relates to American culture, are not about individuals - it's about culture. Some folks who responded seemed personally offended and seemed to think I was trying to take away their Christmas joy. If people want to sing Christmas carols all year long, put up their decorations before Halloween, wear a Santa hat during the week of the 4th - go ahead, have a blast! My concern is with the culture of consumerism and consumption that has grown up around Christmas. For our culture, Christmas is not about Jesus, or even family. It's about money, commerce, profit. And Christmas makes tons of money. So, is it any accident that, in the midst of a bad economy, the Christmas push is getting cranked up a good bit earlier this year? From a business standpoint, this makes perfect sense. People in this country love Christmas, so if they see Christmas stuff on the shelves, they'll buy it. Why wouldn't stores stock it, if it sells?

3) As a Christian, my responsibility is to serve Jesus Christ year-round. Since I've been a pastor, I've become more aware of the movement of the Christian year and the importance of marking the seasons. The season of Advent is about waiting, preparation, quiet. If you only paid attention to Advent and not to the Christmas blitz, Advent feels a little bit like holding your breath. And when Christmas does come, you've prepared, you've prayed, you've studied Isaiah, heard about John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zechariah. And the Christmas celebration is powerful when approached this way. However, if you go all in for the blitz starting on November 1st (which is when I first saw Christmas stuff on the shelves at CVS), by the time Christmas gets here, you haven't waited and likely you're exhausted and you just want it to be over with. Historically, Christmas began on the 25th and continued for 12 days until Epiphany (hence the "Twelve Days of Christmas"). Advent was about making preparations, spiritually and otherwise, for the celebration of the Christmas season.

4) Additionally, Christmas is not even the most important Christian holiday. That would be Easter. Of course, historically, Christmas is considered the second most important "high holy day", but Easter is the major, big deal, huge Christian celebration. Why? The resurrection. Why, then, is our cultural celebration of Christmas more prominent and wide-spread than Easter? Well (at least the way I see it), Christmas is a more easily accepted message in our culture. Christmas has transcended the original meaning of the holiday (which is the incarnation, God coming to us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth) and in our culture is more associated with spending time with family, exchanging presents, decorating the house/yard, and getting into the "Christmas spirit".

5) And what do we mean by the "Christmas spirit"? Here's my take - close to Christmas time, many people make the effort to be a little nicer, to smile a little more, to try and think about others a little more, especially those who are going without. That last one has been more noticeable in recent years and I consider it a wonderful development. However, if you're a Christian, shouldn't you be this way all the time (or at least try)? There's a name for this "spirit"…joy! And that shouldn't just be the "Christmas spirit" - it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we need to take some of that joy and kindness and attention to the less fortunate into January and February and beyond. Maybe one goal of observing Advent and the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love is to teach us to incorporate them into our lives year-round. What a concept!

May the peace of Jesus Christ be upon and within all of you!