Week 4: The Love of Advent

"We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God´s compassionate love for others."
-St. Clare of Assisi

One candle for hope… another for peace… a third for joy… and then, as is so often the case, a fourth candle shines brightly, bringing this advent season full circle… back to the beginning, back to the foundation of all things… love.

God has always had so much hope for humanity—so much faith that we might join in the work of redemption.  In a letter, Paul describes the gospel of God as:

“The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures…” (Romans 1:2, NIV).

There is great risk involved, because God enters into covenant with a people who may not uphold their end of the deal.  God asks impossible things of God’s people.  We don’t need to look much further than, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son” (Isaiah 7:14, NIV), to know this is true. 

Impossible… and yet it happens…

Love, on the whole, is so impossible, beginning with the very way we define it.  We don’t have enough words.

I love my kids… and pizza… and Walt Disney World… and my husband… and books… and a good bubble bath… 

I love coffee… and my friends… and drinking coffee with my friends…

I love God.  God is love.  So, I love love.

Do you remember that part when you were in middle school and love was confusing, but you knew it would get easier when you grew up?  Yeah… it doesn’t actually work that way.

I have a great appreciation for the Greek language, which at least gives us something more to work with.

I agape and storge my kids.  As they get older, I philia them, as well.  I eros my husband.  I philia my friends.  The more I consider the definitions available for all of these kinds of love, the more I wonder if we can truly love things, at all.

I think I may need to alter my thinking, because the truth is I probably only like chocolate and the ocean and glitter.  Wow.  Mind blown.

But which love is God?

The temptation is to raise our hands, shouting, “Pick me!  Pick me!  God is agape!”

God is unconditional love.  God is a love of well wishing and benevolence and even a love that remains constant when unrequited.  Yes.  Certainly.  But perhaps we do not give God enough credit for being love in all its various forms.

In the advent story, Jesus, coming as the Messiah in the form of a vulnerable baby, might best embody what it is to love—what it is to be love.  God, as Jesus, is the ultimate example of what it means to love without control, from the first breath.  Newborn babies can’t do anything for themselves!  They are completely dependent on the mercy, grace, and love of others.  Completely.  If Mary says no…  If Joseph says no… If the innkeeper or, later, the magi say no…  we have a completely different outcome, friends.      

Love is risky.

Because it’s just like God to do things this way.  God calls to God’s people, “Who will participate in the redemption of the world?  Who will join me in bringing the fulfillment of the covenant?”

Matthew 1:22-24, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ^‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him…” (NIV).

Sigh of relief…

May we also wake up.

Do this.  Say yes.  Join the circle of lights shining brightly, bringing close to the world the promised redemption that is so near we might reach out and touch it, if only we will commit to being a part of the salvation narrative. 

John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (NIV).

Jesus was vulnerable.

Be vulnerable.

Jesus is love.

Be love.

As God’s people, this is the greatest thing to which we are called.  It’s not hard to find people who need love.  They are all around us.  By completing the advent cycle, bringing to fruition the love that is so desperately sought by all, we may envelop the hurting world with the light and life that comes as we await the arrival of Christ just a little longer.   

L.

How to React when it’s Really not Cancer

It’s Advent, y’all… that time of year when I have come to realize I love waiting for everything except test results.  After two years of anxiety and panic attacks, sprinkled with CT scan radiation and a little bit of insanity; what I would like is a definitive note that reads, “This is definitely not cancer, it never has been, it never will be, thanks for playing along, as a parting gift you will never, ever die.” 

Here’s what I got instead: “Left lower lobe nodule has demonstrated stability for 24 months and is likely a benign abnormality.” 

Close enough.  I can live with that.  Literally.  Hopefully for a very long time.

If you’re just tuning in to my life, you might want to start with the post I made here: Perpetual Crisis Averted, about 16 months ago.  I should have read this post earlier in the week, because the mounting stress of having to go through the final follow-up scan left me unable to remember that there were some high points during this journey.  I’m glad I read it today, though.  I also want to direct you to another post I reference, found here: If I Die First, because you should know that I still think it’s an excellent idea to give your spouse very detailed instructions about what to do if you die first.  I might, however, make some tweaks, given the opportunity (In fact, I would have to, because my first choice for my children’s stepmother is no longer available…  I’m not taking applications…  Don’t send applications!).

In all seriousness, I do want to say something meaningful about these two years of suffering (and that’s exactly what they’ve been, no hyperbole).  I don’t think they were necessary.  What I mean by this is that I don’t think God wanted this to happen, nor do I think God needed this to happen in order to bring about some greater good.  What I do think is that God can use everything… even crap like this… and God has done so, as I have listened to God’s persuasive voice in my life, even when I couldn’t listen to much of anything at all.

I am not glad that I went through this!  I am glad that I am a different person than I was at the onset.  I think there might have been better ways to get there, but whatever…  I’m there.  This is not to be confused with, “I’ve arrived.” 

No, friends, it’s more like, “I am where I am,” and where I am is good… for today…

I am more brave.  (I know it’s really “braver,” but it’s one of those days when I feel like I can write what I want…)

I am willing to take more risks.  (Disclaimer: greater risk usually equals greater reward, although it can also equal greater disaster.) 

I am less concerned about what other people think of me and more concerned about other people, in general.

I fully recognize that if I have a goal or a dream, I had better start chasing it right now, because even if I have inherited the genetic make-up of the women on my dad’s side of the family—a hundred years will never be enough.

I started using the hashtag #LessFearIn2016 in an attempt to do scary stuff, but I also started using it, because I thought I might not have too many more days to practice less fear.  I think I’ll modify it now to #LessFearForever, because none of us have enough time to be afraid.

And with all of that said, if you think I was a hypocrite, this week… you’re 100% right!  Because this week, I was terrified!  Will I forget I’m OK and have a panic attack now and then?  Probably.  Will I struggle to remember that I can let go of this now, because all is well?  Almost assuredly.  But another thing this experience gave me was a community of people who kept listening and kept praying and kept being present to me when I couldn’t live into everything I wanted to be in any given moment.  Gosh, I’m thankful for that, but next time let’s decide to be friends over ice cream and Disney and good books.  No more of this death and disaster drama, OK?

For me, this is a great note on which to end, as we transition from a week steeped in hope to one filled with peace.  Sorry that it’s kind of personal for this blog, but I know many of the readers here have been wondering if there would ever be an end to this chapter.  I don’t usually love endings, but this one is good.

Oh, the daily office…  How about a doxology from Jude 24-25:

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

L.

Sunday Sermon, November 26, 2017

The link below is for the sermon I preached at Asbury United Methodist Church in Portland, IN on Sunday, November 26th.  Just as a side note, I began this sermon by waiting in silence for about 30-40 seconds...  That context helps to make sense of the first few lines...  I'm also planning to wear contact lenses in the future when I preach, because apparently I feel the need to push my glasses up every 3-4 seconds...  whatever...

L.