Advent 1C

Advent begins tomorrow.  We have four weeks to contemplate the coming of our Lord.  Most years I’ve felt pretty lonely with my Advent musings.  I come from a tradition that doesn’t really implement the readings and prayers that come from our brothers and sisters who have preceded us in the faith.  This year I’m learning to share Advent with others.

I’m beginning to realize that Advent is part of a great twisting interconnected system of time, prayer, scripture, words, tradition, music and longing. Each piece supports and is supported by the others. When I try to explain just one piece, I realize that I can’t really give anyone a complete answer without pulling the rest of it along with it.   

Look at the title of this post:  Advent 1C.  What does that mean? 

Those who follow the Christian calendar are taught by time itself. Year after year, we develop a rhythm that is distinct from the rest of the world.  Advent begins the Christian year by giving us a chance to remember that we and the world need Christ.  Advent is followed by Christmas, when our longings and desires for a world set right are answered by an infant.  Epiphany is next, the great realization that our Savior has arrived, offering every one of us a new life that will continue forever.  This cycle is echoed later in the year by the solemn observance of Lent, followed first by a joyous Easter, then a triumphal Ascension of our Lord and finally the fiery birth of the church at Pentecost.

What about the 1C?  That part refers to the lectionary, which is just a Bible reading plan.  We’ve all used those, right?  At least we started using them with good intentions.  There are various lectionaries, but most of them arrange the reading to reflect the current church season.  There are daily lectionaries, but the 1C comes from the Revised Common Lectionary which provides scripture for Sunday worship.  Each Sunday has four readings:  and Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a New Testament reading (non-gospel) and a Gospel reading.   If you attend a church that uses the lectionary, you will hear most of the Bible read at church in three years.  Not every word, but most of it.  So the lectionary has a 3 year cycle: Year A, Year B and Year C.  This year begins Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary.  The 1 refers to the first Sunday in Advent. So tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent Year C.  Advent 1C.  Next week will be Advent 2C. 

I know, I know. It seems like a lot and it is.  But if you’re a Christian, it’s a part of your heritage.  You’re certainly free to ignore it, but it’s like family traditions.  We may like them or not.  We may continue them as adults in our own homes or not.  But there they are and they exist for a reason, and the best reason is to bind us together, calling us to gather and remember who we are and pass that identity along to the next generation.  We don’t have to mummify or deify these traditions.  We can appreciate them and learn from them and use them to add meaning to the days, months and years of our lives.

Fred Reminder

We meet this Friday to discuss chapters 10 and 11 (pages 54 to 64) in the N. T. Wright book.

See you there!!

Hope

In the past week I’ve been reading in Hebrews 10 about persevering in the faith. Sometimes the circumstances of our lives cause us to wonder, “Is God really there?  If God is really there, is God really there for me?”  There are times that we aren’t sure what faith is or whether we have any.  How do we know?

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is assurance in what we hope for and conviction about what we do not see. Many of us have memorized that verse, but may wonder about “assurance’ and “conviction”.  Those words convey a confidence that we might not have.  But even if assurance and conviction aren’t in reserve, we can always hope. 

What do you hope for?  In what or  in whom do you have confidence?

May the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.    Heb 13:20-21

Fairy Tales

I’ve always loved fairy tales. Recently, I decided that one of my grandmotherly duties is to share good fairy tales with the little ones in my life.  In the last year, I’ve started collecting big picture books with great illustrations and only slightly adulterated stories.  I don’t want any updated or Disneyfied versions.  I like my fairy tales straight up.

The current favorites at my house are “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”” and “Little Red Riding Hood”.  I started reading the saga of the billy goat brothers to my grandson when he was just a year old. Every Saturday I’d open the book and he would look at me with big eyes, whispering, “Troll….”  After a few months, I added in “Little Red Riding Hood”.  He loved that one as well and seeing the cover always prompted him to say, “Wolf! Wolf!”, but when I tried “The Little Red Hen”, he wasn’t enthused at all. 

A week or so ago, we had company over for a BBQ. There were plenty of adults, but only a few children and they were young ones.  Later in the day, after the kids had very agreeably played with what we had and were getting a little bored and tired, I dragged out the tub of books. I had an audience of two, a younger brother age 2 and an older sister who is not quite 4 years old. 

I held up “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” and asked if they wanted to hear it.  Oh, yes they did.  When we got to the end with the troll floating down the river, they said, “Read it again!”  So I fetched my little toy goats and little toy troll and let them act out the story as I read it a few more times.  Little brother lost interest after the second or third time, but Big Sister couldn’t get enough. 

I held up “The Little Red Hen” and asked if she was interested in hearing that story.  She was.  It’s a beautifully illustrated and pleasantly rhymed book.  Her dad, in a chair nearby, commented on what a nice book it is.  But when we arrived at the last page Big Sister didn’t seem to care if she heard it again.  I could see her looking back at the goat ‘n’ troll story, so I pulled out “Little Red Riding Hood”.  I do like my fairy tales told straight and this version is one of the more gruesome ones with the wicked wolf swallowing both Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother whole before being sliced open by two hunters. It’s easy to forget those details, and as I got further into the story and remembered they were there I felt a little guilty.  Who am I to introduce someone else’s little sweetie to the Big Bad Wolf?

But Big Sister loved it.  And I was proud of her for being able to hear the story. Not because of the gory details, but because she could discern what was important. On the last page, after the wolf’s belly had been opened and Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerged unscathed, Grandmother declares that she feels better and Little Red vows to never leave the path again.  Big Sister turned to me and said, “She should have stayed on the path!”  I agreed with her and she asked to hear the story again.

But why would she want to hear about a wicked wolf and and unfortunate little girl?  And why didn’t she want to hear about the Little Red Hen slaving away all by herself to get some baking done?  I think our good stories have wolves and trolls in them. Our not-so-good stories have self-righteous hens who won’t share the bread.  We already know that we should help out.  Or be nice enough to share with others who don’t really deserve it.  But what about predators, like trolls and wolves?  What do we do when one comes to us as we stroll down the path?  If you have a troll preying on you, don’t worry. He’s not very smart. You can trick a troll or distract him pretty easily.  Keep it up until you have grown into a big goat with two long pointy horns and four sharp hooves that can smash bones to bits.  Then you just butt him off the bridge into the river below – kersplash!!

But what did Little Red Riding Hood do wrong?  Big Sister had noticed that at the end of the book, Little Red vowed to never leave the path again.  And when we began the second reading she heard how Little Red’s mother instructed her to stay on the path.  So she paid close attention to see where Little Red’s journey to Grandmother’s house took a wrong turn.  In the book, after befriending Little Red and learning that she was on her way to Grandmother’s house, the wicked wolf suggests she picks some flowers to give to her grandmother.  This is what causes Little Red to leave the path. 

 “Why is she picking flowers?” Big Sister asked.

“She wants to give them to her grandmother.”  I answered.

Big Sister knew this was a critical point in the story, but wasn’t exactly sure what about this scene made everything go wrong.

“What’s a bouquet?” she asked suspiciously. Perhaps a bouquet had the power to make wolves swallow little girls and their grandmothers.

I explained bouquets, secretly delighted that she could tell that Little Red had not handled her encounter with the wolf skillfully, even if she wasn’t yet able to pinpoint the problem.

What I hope Big Sister somehow heard in the rest of the story is this:  when we let the predator lure us off our path we can lose our sight.  Even if we find our way back on the path, our vision can become so cloudy that we can’t discern between the big bad wolf and our own sweet grandmother.  It is at this point that we are in danger of being consumed.  But even if we find ourselves swallowed whole, all is not lost.

There are rescuers, like the astute hunters in “Little Red Riding Hood”.  The hunters decide to check on the grandmother and find a bloated, sleepy wolf.  Putting down their rifles, they take out their knives, slice open the wolf and release Little Red and her grandmother. The little girl and the old woman emerge unharmed from the wolf’s belly.

So it is possible to return to the world whole.  Like Grandmother, we feel better.  Like Little Red, we vow to stay on the path next time.  Like Big Sister, we want to hear the story again because we know a good story has a predator that will end up sliced open or floating down the river while we become bigger, stronger and all the wiser for having met him.

Fridays are for Fred 2

We'll meet next on Friday, September 21.  Here's what we'll cover:

N. T. Wright - Chapter 10: Come To Worship.  Don't delay in starting this one.  Wright sees chapter 10 as a point where several different threads in the book of Hebrews are drawn together.  We will face the warnings in verses 26-31.  What do they mean?

N. T. Wright - Chapter 11:  What Faith Really Means.  Chapter 11 is often called the "Hall of Faith". In this chapter the writer of Hebrews presents remarkable men and women of the Old Testament to encourage and challenge us today.  Do you have a favorite hero on the list?

The Priestly Blessing

The Priestly Blessing, also known as the Aaronic Blessing, is probably my favorite. This comes from Numbers 6 and is the blessing God directs Moses to give to Aaron and his sons to bless the Israelite people.   I love the idea of God making his face shine upon me. 


The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace.


As you travel through this day, may your face reflect God's to all you encounter.

Fridays are for Fred

Since we will cover 2 chapters the next time we get together I thought I’d give a bit of a summary of what we’ll discuss.

The writer of Hebrews is presenting Christ as the better way.  He is better than the angels (chpts.1 & 2), he is better than Moses (chpt. 3), he is the promised and better rest (chpt. 4), although Jesus was not of the priestly line, he is a priest like Melchizedek, who was greater than Abraham (chpt. 7).  Jesus is our High Priest, whose ministry is greater than the old priesthood, mediating a better covenant (chpt 8).

In chapter 9 we learn that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.  The old system used the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer to cleanse the people’s bodies, but the once for all sacrifice of Christ will purify our consciences so that we can worship the living God.   

In chapter 10, the writer of Hebrews will continue to present Christ as the mediator of a new covenant superior to the old covenant.  God’s people are made holy by the one time sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, which gives us permission to enter heaven’s Most Holy Place.  The presence of our great High Priest ruling over God’s house gives us confidence to enter with a clean conscience.

The book of Hebrews encourages us to continue in the faith, preferring Christ and seeing Him as the superior way to reconciliation and true worship of God.  Have you been encouraged during this study?

Bless you

A few years ago, I taught in the elementary Sunday School.  We used a curriculum that included an individual blessing for each child at the end of the lesson.  Since I was the lead teacher, I was to bless any other adults in the room, then an adult would touch a child, look into their eyes and give them the blessing.  Hmmmm.  Seems a tad....uncomfortable.  I mean, who goes around pronouncing blessings on other people?  Just priests, right?  Not me, that's for sure. 

The truth is that I'll do all sorts of things in a room full of kids that I wouldn't do with adults.  So I tried the blessing at the end of class.  I was afraid that the kids would be a little creeped out by it, or resist being touched, or think it was silly.  I told them to line up, then I turned to the other teacher and blessed her.  So far, so good.  She started blessing at one end of the line and I started at the other. 

It was rather amazing.  All of the children stood quietly, watching us proceed down the line.  "________, child of God, may you carry the light of Christ within you this week."  Again and again I put my hands on a set of little shoulders and looked into an upturned face and repeated the blessing.  What faces!  Expectant and a little excited, each child beamed at the blessing that was their very own.  They stayed quiet.  They didn't poke each other. Instead, they smiled with big eyes and little shrugs. 

After a while, we didn't use the curriculum anymore and I stopped blessing the children.  We still had fun and learned things, but we never blessed anyone ever again.  I miss it.


May you be filled with the grace of the Living God who calls you .

Our Next Meeting!

Since I very thoroughly messed up the schedule, I'll just post what chapters we will be covering in our next meeting here on the blog.  Our next meeting will be September 7th.

 This was the one time we will do two chapters in two weeks.  Hebrews 9 and 10.

Week 1 (August 25th through 31st):  N. T. Wright. Lesson 9 - The Sacrifice of the Messiah on pages 48 - 53.

Week 2 (September 1st through 7th):  Listening to God - I Have Come To Do Your Will on pages 59 through 65.

Last Friday we covered Hebrews 8:  The Promise of a New Covenant/I Am His and He Is Mine.   Everyone pretty much agreed - the lesson in the Listening for God book was...hard to understand and respond to.   If you weren't there on Friday, is there anything you want to discuss?  

What did you think about the John Wesley quote on page 55? Could you pray that prayer?

"I am no longer my own, but Yours.  Put me to what You will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for You or laid aside for You, praised for You or humbled for You; let me be full, let me be empy; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and cheerfully yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal."