Sunday, the Second Week of Advent

Peace

The second candle on the Advent wreath is PEACE, but the biblical concept is far deeper, broader and richer than the English word implies. We generally think of peace as a state of tranquillity, an absence of turmoil, war, and these meanings are also incorporated in the Hebrew word, but “shalom” is less about tranquillity, and more about well-being, wholeness and harmony. The English word “peace” might be well represented by an engine at rest, but “shalom” is essentially dynamic, an engine alive and running, idling or at full throttle, with the various components working together to the same end.

Genesis 1:2-5 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.

In the beginning God moved to bring form into formlessness, content into emptiness, light into darkness. And so we see that the cosmos is God’s “shalom” project: day and night, sea and land, sky, sun, moon and stars moving and working together.

"Let the land produce vegetation... Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky... Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds...” Genesis 1:11, 20, 24

So life is introduced to the cosmos. But what is life if not the very spirit of shalom? It is the sorting principle at work, the material of the cosmos taken up continually, chosen, sifted and directed in novel ways to new ends. And so we see God’s love giving rise, not so much to the tranquil passivity of “peace”, as to the dynamic activity of “shalom”.

Then God said "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26

God created human beings, you and me, to be instruments of his peace, his SHALOM, in all the earth.

Reflection: Am I an instrument of God’s peace in my little spec of cosmos? Do I bring that life-fostering harmony, that spirit of shalom, to the people and the places of my world?

It's a Mystery

Well, here we have it, God is love. He created the universe, the world, and you and me for love. Love is all about laying down our lives for others. And we are made in the image of God to be lovers.

At Christmas time we know all this. And we wait for this revelation of God in Christ, and in one another. We wait expectantly for love, as at no other time of the year. And when love fails to show up we miss it, as at no other time of the year, and we know that something is seriously wrong.

We see Ebenezer Scrooge for example, not as we might see him in May or September, a shrewd, if somewhat over zealous businessman, but as Dickens saw him, “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” And we wonder, in the glow of the Christmas candles, what was wrong with the Grinch. Were his shoes, indeed, just a little too tight? Is it true that his head wasn’t screwed on just right? Or was it, perhaps, as the doctor suggests, a two sizes too small sort of heart in his chest?

Someone once told me that they were really enjoying the Harry Potter books till they realized the story came down to “that cheesy old thing about love”. And I’m afraid it is true. It’s love that saves Harry and makes him special. And, in the end, it’s love that defeats Lord Voldemort and saves the world. Voldemort doesn’t get it, of course, and neither did King Herod, Scrooge or the Grinch – though, admittedly, the latter two did get it in the end. And much of the time we don’t get it either.

But, there you have it. It all starts with love, runs on love, cranks out love as its most enduring and valuable product, and eventually ends in a humongous festival of love: love for our ancestors and our descendants, love for our parents and children, love for our brothers and sisters, our neighbours and friends, love even for our competitors, opponents and enemies. And yes, even for that idiot at work who laughs too loud and breaths through his mouth.

And, when I put it like that, it does sound pretty ridiculous. But this is what theologians call “a mystery”; something that’s just so ridiculous it can’t possibly be right, but so obvious it can’t possibly be wrong.

And what do we do when we come upon such a fundamental mystery? Well, we do what Herod and Voldemort should have done, and what Scrooge and the Grinch finally did. We just throw up our hands and start over.

Matthew 18:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

And, when we do, everything becomes possible, and we can move on to PEACE, week two.

This Is Love

John begins his gospel with a prologue in which he sets out the context for what he is intending to say about Jesus. And what he says is about as outrageous as anything anyone has ever said about anything, or anyone, anywhere.

John 1:1,3-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men....

The first three words, In the beginning, take us back immediately to the initial words of the Bible itself, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. So we know, right off the top, that John is intending to say something that has implications for everything the Bible has been about so far. And if we’ve read the beginning verses of the Bible we know that God created by speaking. – “And God said” is repeated nine times in the first chapter. – But John is saying something new, and very surprising; that this Word is not just an utterance, but God himself, and that this Word of God, that is God, was not just the creator of everything in the beginning, but is the source of life and enlightenment for every individual, everywhere, always.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Now this is both startling and perfectly obvious to anyone who’s been paying attention. The one who created the universe, and who gives life and light to everyone, is not really recognized by anyone. Some don’t believe in God, but, even for those of us who do, such a being is far beyond our comprehension. We may acknowledge that this infinite being must exist, but how do we really receive or relate to one who is so utterly other? So John begins his story by telling us that this God is coming into his world in a new way.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

As outrageous as it may seem, this is who Jesus is, as far as John is concerned. He is the Word that is God, coming forth from God, creating and sustaining everything, giving life and light to everyone who has life and light, and now stepping into creation in the ultimate act of intimacy. He is God taking on flesh and, as Shakespeare said, “the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to”. John’s gospel is the story of God taking on flesh (THE INCARNATION) and how it all works out.

“Daddy”, cried a little voice from the nursery down the hall, “I can’t sleep and I’m scared of the dark.”

“Just say your prayers and God will take care of you”, his daddy called back.

“I said my prayers, and it didn’t help”, the little fellow explained.

“But God loves you", his father responded, "and always takes care of you.”

A few moments passed, and then the little voice cried out again, “I know, but I need someone with skin on.”

We know he’s there and yet we wait for him. He gives us life and light, and still we long for him. He is everywhere and, even so, we look for him; in everything and, nonetheless, we search for him. We strain to hear his footfall in the garden, and peer into the darkness to catch a glimpse of him.

What are we waiting for, longing for, looking, listening, watching for? It is THE INCARNATION; God in Jesus and in one another, with skin on. This is love.

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers [and sisters of course].