A Different Reality
“In the last year of Joe Biden’s tenure as president, when Gavin Newsom is governor of the State of California, as Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff serve as U.S. Senators from California; and as Sheng Thao enters her last weeks as Oakland’s mayor and Rep. Barbara Lee prepares to retire as California’s representative to the U.S. Congress; during the bishoprics of the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton and the Rev. Jeff Johnson, the word of God comes…”
… the word of God comes through our Advent Scripture readings to re-introduce us to John the Baptist – a voice crying out in the wilderness for us to prepare for God’s coming; the forerunner of the Messiah calling us to repent… to change our ways… to straighten our paths to God… to align more directly with the ways of God.
… the word of God comes through our Christmas Scripture readings and dwells among us as the “Word Made Flesh” – first as an infant born in a manger, then as a man who preaches, teaches, and heals so that we may know the closeness of God (the “kin-dom” of heaven); and later as the Messiah… the Christ – a man willing to die for what we couldn’t or wouldn’t repent, so that we can still be ready for God’s coming.
No wonder we celebrate, as “Emmanuel” (God-with-Us) draws near during this colder time of year. No wonder we decorate trees and houses with light during this darker time of year. No wonder we wait with expectation and hope during this anxious time in our history.
Did you ever notice that throughout the Gospels the “word comes” to everyone, but it seems that the comfortable and the elite – the political and religious leaders – handily reject it? The word comes and dwells most easily among the “lowly,” the broken and open hearted. People haven’t changed much in 2,000 years. This is still true in our times.
Yet, what strikes me about the Christian story – God’s story – is that it is a different reality, existing right alongside the “worldly” reality. Even though the trying times don’t evaporate; even when anxiety fills the air and our beings, as we hold our breath to see what’s next from the political and social scenes of our lives; even as people still struggle – people are still hungry, unhoused, ill, suffering; and things still look bleak – we, Christians, get busy preparing for God’s coming among us. We, Christians, make the paths straighter and easier for those who have it rough. We, Christians, feel hopeful in a world that tells us of a different reality.
Why? Because we know that, in Christ Jesus, God comes near. In fact, God is nearest to us when things are the worst. In fact, God’s presence never leaves us… never deserts us. We only need to open our eyes and our hearts to see and feel God’s active presence all around us always. We need to trust in God and join the “party” ushering in the “kin-dom.”
May these seasons of Advent and Christmas
continue to open your eyes and your hearts to God in the world,
Pastor Ned