The whole people of god
title our readings this morning: longing for the coming of God, the people cry
out for God to act, Christ with us and yet still to come, and working while we
wait …
The subtitle for this week in the lectionary is ‘longing’ –
it notes that Advent marks the beginning of a new church year. There is a sense
of starting over, though for most of us the new year began in September and we
feel near the half way point. (They then end with a query) Are we ready to open
to God’s coming into our lives and into our world?
Advent is the beginning of the new year in the church, and
it is also the time of year when we begin anticipating – even longing – for
Christmas. One of the readings I have returned to over and over since it
appeared in the Whole People of God curriculum in the early 90’s is a piece
called “A Time for Active Waiting” that reflects on Advent through the
experience of Mary waiting for the arrival of her child.
(A Time of Active Waiting – excerpts(I will add this later))
SO, as we embrace our ambiguity in this season, while
trusting in God’s care – what is it that we are waiting and longing for as
Advent begins?
Are we waiting for a traditional nostalgia filled season –
a season full of comforting foods, familiar traditions and the things that make
the season special?
Are we waiting for more? Given the political mess in the
US, we could be waiting for something … anything, that is better than this … Or
we could be waiting for a revival of our community, our church, our flagging
spirits. Or are we just
waiting – uncertain of what lies ahead?
Last week, I tossed out the ideas from John Pavlovitz’s
book A Bigger Table that we are called to embrace four concepts of revisioning
and reorienting the Church beyond the comfort and tradition of what we have …
he suggests we need to embark on 1) Radical Hospitality 2) Total Authenticity
3) True Diversity and 4) Agenda Free Community …
What if we are longing for the Incarnation present and real
in our community embodied in the bigger table of a transformed community?
If we take the longing and anticipation of Advent
seriously, the door is open to allowing this journey to Bethlehem – to the
coming of the Christ Child, to be more than just revisiting familiar stories,
hymns, themes and traditions. If we embrace the active longing – the active
waiting, as we move through the coming days, we can embrace and embody and
exemplify much of what Pavlovitz is urging the Church to be about …
Radical Hospitality – it sounds ominous and almost
frightening, but it is startlingly simple.
Pavlovitz notes that “the
church begins to expand the table by providing the kind of hospitality that
equally embraces everyone, not pulling some close and keeping others at a
distance.” It is “ministry as sitting with people and listening to their
stories, rather than standing at a distance and trying to dazzle them with
brilliant words …”
For Pavlovitz, the transformation of
the Church will begin when we start to sincerely, honestly, openly, and
lovingly share space with others. When we sit and share a meal, a cup of
coffee, and we TALK … not preach, or bring a dogmatic intent to convert, but
talk – listening, sharing, speaking as friend to friend …
He suggests – (page 70-71- Pavlovitz – "what if")
This advent season, as we journey towards Bethlehem – let
us envision the challenge offered by Pavlovitz through the peopling of the
Nativity scene … the gathering of characters in Bethlehem can help us see in
our earliest stirrings as Church, the call to faithful response and action that
has never faded nor gone away …
We are called to be Church – with the slipping away of our
relevance and our impact on society, we NEED to do things differently, and the
most radical step is to go back to basics: sitting at table and welcoming in
each other … it started here: with the gift of hospitality to the holy family …
and it continues as we live out the words we heard last week: just as you do it
for one of the least of these my sisters or brothers, you do it for me …
Setting a bigger table, and living a radical welcome means
using what we have, who we are, and what assets are around us to reach out into
the community and offer our ministry in tangible ways. It is a case of using
community capital in all its diverse forms to BE CHURCH:
Community capital is any resource that a community has that
can be invested to create new resources. … natural, cultural, human, social,
political, financial, and built capitals. In farming communities the land,
natural capital, is transformed into financial capital. In scenic places, the
consumption of natural capital is transformed into social capital and built
capital as the wealthy seek out these places for recreation and construction.
Some towns may not have much financial capital to invest, but they may have the
human capital of labour force ready and willing to work in even low-paying
jobs. They may have the cultural capital of a commitment to hard work and civic
involvement. Church leaders can use this approach to name the strengths of a
community and congregation that can then be strategically capitalized upon.
What if, the future of the church lies in setting a table,
and offering hospitality and daring to meet our community where they are,
rather than staying safe and comfortable in our buildings and waiting for them
to come to us??
We are in the season of active waiting … we are waiting to
welcome in the holy family … and they may not be what we expect …
Thanks be to God … let us pray …
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