I
have a t-shirt that says, “Jesus is coming. Look busy!” The humor behind this
is that we have a sense that there are a set of expectations and we know we
can’t meet the. Maybe if we keep our heads down, no one will notice. Is this
what we really believe? We know that God has exacting standards. We know all
the ways we fail. Do we really believe that we can hide or evade? Or do we
believe that God will choose to not notice? It seems to be a pretty thin hope.
What
is God’s promise? Jeremiah declares that someday an offspring of David will
come and we will call that one “the Lord is our righteousness.” How can this
save us?
Since
the exodus and the covenant on Sinai, righteousness has come from God. We
acknowledge that God alone is just, or righteous, or correct in all things. We
know we are invited to live according to God’s ways. We know we fail. We don’t
like to think how that turns out – but what happens over and over? God
continues to uphold the covenant even if we fail to do so. God does not forget
us even when we forget God.
Does
this mean that God is foolish, or naïve, or easily manipulated? God’s
righteousness is woven with God’s loving kindness and faithfulness. God is
always seeking a loving relationship with us. God pursues us. God woos us. God
finds us and seeks to convince us. God is always seeking to restore us to whom
we were always meant to be.
This
is the promise of the coming of Jesus. He will judge the world. He will judge
us. Nothing will be hidden – no matter how busy we look. Jesus will also find
us as we are. We are beloved children of God. We are seeking to follow in the
path of Jesus. We have died (to sin and death) and we are being made alive as
we participate in Jesus’ resurrection.
God
does not require simple obedience to rules. There were lots of rules on Sinai.
These were given to show a new way of life, not a strict measure of behavior.
God only gives the rules to get what God really wants. God wants our love. God
wants us to seek a true and just relationship with God.
“Righteousness”
is about more than rule-keeping. Righteousness is about being in right
relationship. It is about being in right relationship with God, about being
rightly ordered within, and about being in right relationships with everyone
around us. Of course this is difficult. Perhaps the hardest thing is to live a
life freely given. God desires that we freely give ourselves back to God, and
that we freely give our whole selves (and hold nothing back.)
We
hear a lot of nonsense about the war on Christmas – as if there were a right
way to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It seems to me that our culture is already
at war with Christmas. Our culture seeks to make money off of God’s gift. If
you want a rule, what about celebrating Christmas at Christmas – and not for three
months before and never the twelve days after!
When
I was a child, we never decorated until Christmas Eve – and later perhaps the
Sunday before. With all our decorating, baking, buying, and feasting – how are
we preparing? By the time Jesus comes, we’re worn out and stressed.
I
won’t give us more to do this advent. I think we need less. I won’t stop you
from listening to carols or buying a few presents. I will urge you to create
some space in your busy day. For five minutes, light a candle. Be silent and
wait to hear what God is promising. Listen for God’s hope and God’s yearning,
for our commitment to God and to one another. Give yourself time to savor God’s
love. Give yourself the gift of knowing God’s deep and constant love.
We
can’t change the business of the season. We can control our response. We can
seek different gifts. We can listen. We can respond to the deep needs of those
around us. We can allow ourselves to be changed. We can discover new ways to
grow in love.
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