Jill Duffield, Senior Pastor
I know, I know, it seems an odd theme for Advent. If we’d left off the question mark, all would be well.
But I am not sure that kind of conclusive sentiment would have felt truthful this year. Aren’t we all a bit unmoored this year? Unsure of what might come at us next? The places we make pilgrimages to for spiritual solace or simply for the beauty of creation remain in disrepair due to the ravages of Helene. Wars continue to rage not only month after month but year after year. The bruising election leaves lasting wounds on our collective body politic. We grieve the death of loved ones and bear the pain of losses public and private.
So, yes, I’d like to add a different punctuation to our Advent tag line, but the question mark feels honest. Will there be comfort and joy? If so, when, and how and for whom?
Of course, Christmas is coming, Emmanuel will be born, Christ will return. We would be theologically and biblically sound to add that period and, yes, even an exclamation point. The Spirit, the Comforter, surely does not fail and Jesus makes good on his promise to make our joy complete. Ultimately, God makes all things new, but only through a radical transformation that upends the current status quo. The Scripture readings appointed for Advent are apocalyptic featuring fire, pruning, winnowing and a reordering of the first and the last. John the Baptist calls us a brood of vipers and then gives us clear instructions for how we need to change our behavior if we are to prepare the way for the Lord. Comfort and joy?
Well … yes, but not without some discomfort and lament in the process. Frankly, I’m grateful for Advent, the two weeks of John the Baptist, the prophets’ calls to make right that which has gone terribly wrong, Jesus’ admonition to be on the lookout for signs of God’s radical inbreaking as the sun and moon and stars fall from the sky. I’m counting on divine intervention in the places and circumstances where our human efforts have clearly failed. If the Good News for all people requires sweeping change, I pray I am willing to submit to the fire and let go of the chaff.
This Advent may the Son of God, winnowing fork in his hand, gather in the wheat, so that everyone will be fed with the bread of heaven. Then, when Christmas comes, we can change the question mark to an exclamation point. Comfort and joy!
