A Reflection for IV Advent All Saints’ Church, Southern
Shores, NC December 20, 2015 Thomas
E. Wilson, Rector
Searching for Advent Love
We are in the final week of Advent and have lit the
last of the outer candles of the Advent Wreath for Hope, Peace, Joy, and this
week, Love. On Thursday night, Christmas Eve, we will light the Christ Candle
in the middle of the wreath to symbolically remind us that the hope of all the
years, the peace that passes understanding, the joy at the center of the
universe, and the love which binds us all together is found in the person of
Christ Jesus, whose birth we celebrate.
Love is so easy to say but hard to do. Let me tell
you a story passed on to me from a friend. She is married to a kind man who has
a soft spot in his heart for a couple of outdoor cats who have taken up residence
around their house. One of the cats looked like he was sick and the husband was
able to corral the cat and take him to the vet. It was a neutered male so at
one time had had a home. The vet found the difficulty and started some
treatment. So far so good, but like the story of the Good Samaritan, the
husband decided to do more than just bind the wounds; he wanted to make sure the
cat was comfortable; so he opened up his house as an Inn at night for the two
cats. So far so good - except on Sunday night or Monday morning, when my friend
woke up and thought that she smelled something. She went over to a pile of
Christmas presents waiting to be wrapped and sent out to family members. The
sick cat had chosen that particular pile on which to be sicker. After a little
while when she was able to look at the whole situation, she comforted herself
that she had a few more days to go shopping to try to replace the presents. She
did not spend more time being angry with the cat or with the husband, but she
continued to love both husband and cat.
This is a story of love, like the four stories of
love in the scripture passages for today. Micah, an 8th Century BC
prophet, tells the story of how, while the Northern Kingdom of Israel is
messing up the Promised Land and the Assyrians have taken over the Kingdom,
Micah hears God promising to be faithful to keep the covenant of love which was
initiated with all the people. For God, love is not based on approval but on
commitment.
In the Psalm for today, there is a subscription in
the title calling it an “eduth” in
Hebrew which means “Testimony”. Psalm 80:1-7 was probably written during that
time of the Assyrian Conquest; the 7th verse, is the Testimony - “Restore
us O God of Hosts, show the light of your countenance and we shall be
saved”. This response we sang is the
song that the 8th Century Israelites would have used as their
prayers, knowing that they had not deserved that love but that love is a gift,
not a reward, even when we mess up. Love is not based on perfection but leaves
room for people and forgives and accepts them - not where they should be, not
where they could be if they tried harder, but accepts them where they are.
The Gospel story for today has Mary, the young
single, pregnant daughter being sent off “with haste”, says Luke, to live with
her older cousin in another town. This could be seen as a retreat from shame,
but Mary finds love and acceptance from her cousin Elizabeth. Together they
find God’s presence in the middle of a confusing time, and together they sing a
variation of a thousand year old song of hope – the Song of Hannah from the
Book of Samuel. Love means being open to new possibilities and sharing hope
with one another that all will be redeemed though God’s presence in their
lives. They commit to be vulnerable in the future, that future which they
cannot control but only trust, for that is what love is. They do not look for a
Deus-Ex-Machina kind of God doing a
mind-blowing external miracle that will tie things up nicely, but they look for
God in the ordinary things of life, like birth - so ordinary and so miraculous.
The passage from Hebrews tells a story of how Jesus
showed Love in his sacrifice. The word “sacrifice” means making something - an
ordinary thing - sacred, holy, dedicated to the relationship with God and
neighbor. The old Sacrificial system was a series of external events and rituals
where people gave things to the religious institution to be used for the worship
and appeasement of a vengeful God. However, this whole system is replaced by
Christ Jesus when he gives his very self - taking the inconvenience, the pain,
the wounds and making them sacred. That is what love is about - making the
space between people, neighbors, and God sacred by giving one’s very self. This
becomes a model of how we worship, giving ourselves to proclaim that all the
world is Holy and Sacred.
Searching
for Advent Love (Poem)
Ruth
said she never considered love’s divorce;
murder
Yes, but not divorce. Opposite of love’s
not
rage, which can to one side be given shoves,
but
it is indifference, caring no longer of course
for
the commitment of making the space sacred
between
the two. It is Holy Ground, where feet
and
heart are vulnerable, open to be able greet
the
best of hope in others; of a time not wasted
by
holding on to all those slights, or resentment
that
flesh’s heir to; but giving them up by taking
them
to a loving soul and turning over, making
prayer
for forgiveness of you both of judgment.
We
learn to love by being able illusions to lose,
and by holding on to the lovers giving the cues.
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