Advent 2

Advent is my favorite season, and not just because it ends in Christmas. It's because it's about new beginnings in a way no other season is for me, not even Lent. Here are some thoughts about it.

Isaiah proclaimed that God would send a messenger--a messenger who cries out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” John’s appearance and announcement centuries later is enough for Mark to be sure that messenger has arrived. These few verses from Mark are filled with expectation! And expectation is so much of what Advent is about.

As I think about Advents past, it seems to me most of us have the expectation part of Advent down pat. Our entire culture has really gotten on board with that part. The expectation of gifts, of a Christmas card from a friend, of a huge holiday meal and a round of parties; the expectation of beautiful trees covered with lights and angels, of family visits, and beautiful worship experiences, these are quintessential Advent expectations. That some of these are viewed with a sense of dread doesn’t overshadow the excitement of others of them for us.

But, John’s mission was not only to announce the coming Messiah, but to call people to prepare their hearts for his arrival. We keep Advent season as our time of preparation. But, have you wondered what does the preparation entail? In John’s theology, a necessary part of that preparation for our encounter with Christ is repentance.

What is the repentance John says is necessary preparation? Our problem with repentance is that it may be very misunderstood. Repentance doesn’t mean penitence as in “godly sorrow for sin.” Repentance is not remorse; it’s not admitting mistakes, nor is it self condemnation. Repentance is an act of will that produces a complete change of mind, a complete change of will, an altered purpose in life.

Once there was a learned and pious man who went to see a Zen teacher. He said to the teacher, “teach me what I need to know to have a meaningful life. I have studied sacred scripture. I have visited the greatest teachers. I have traveled the world looking. But, I haven’t found the answer to a meaningful life. Teach me, please.” The Zen teacher said nothing, but began serving tea. He began to pour tea into his visitor’s cup and kept pouring until it overflowed. Even then, he continued pouring until it ran all over the table and flowed off on the floor. Still he poured. The visitor couldn’t restrain himself and said, “Stop! It’s full. No more will go in!” The Zen teacher then said, “Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations, full of yourself. How can I teach you anything unless you are empty?”

During our Advent work, if we look deeply, we may find like the learned and pious man, we’re already full. Full of the busyness of the season. Full of the distractions commanding so much of our attention. Full of ourselves. If so, maybe we need to repent in the sense that we need to want to do things in a new way and in the sense that we begin to do things a new way.
Each of us knows we are not, at least in some ways, the person or the Christian we might be. Perhaps the beginning of repentance is to ask, “What holds me down; what holds me back from being the person God longs for me to be?” Maybe it is our love affair with the material and transient. Maybe it is baggage from our past we’ve not unpacked. Maybe we are consumed with our selves in the most selfish sense. Maybe it is thinking we have no need for repentance. If repentance is a change of mind, we have to ask “what changes in my thoughts and attitudes are called for?” If repentance is a change of will, we have to ask, “how can I make God’s will my will?” If repentance is an altered purpose, we have to ask, “for what holy purpose, large or small, have I been called?”

Advent gives us the occasion to struggle with these questions. Honest self examination is never easy or fun. Most of us would just as soon skip it if we can. I know I would. But Advent calls us to a discipline of self examination. Whatever it is that we are full of that will keep Christ from pouring in calls out to be discovered and emptied.

Peace,

Jerry+