Recently,
I was asked if I thought our nation would heal after such an antagonistic
campaign season. I had to think about
that. I’ve heard calls for unity, for
coming together…and that is all well and good.
But, no, I don’t think we will heal from this season. I don’t think there is a recovery.
Recovery
is defined as “a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.” I will take a guess that God has little
interest in “returning” us anywhere. If
that is what we are waiting for – to be returned to some idealized state of
well-being – we misunderstand the power and mystery of this holy season of
Advent.
God did
not bundle up in our flesh, walk this earth, teach us, eat with us, die in
front of us, and be resurrected for the purpose of giving us a “return to a
normal state of health, mind, or strength.”
No, the Word became flesh for our transformation, not our recovery. This is not just a play on words. This gets to a deep truth of our faith. Jesus was not simply returned to life after
the crucifixion. He was
resurrected! Transformed into a life
that was and is and will be forever.
That is a promise for us today.
Life with
Christ is an exercise in transformation right now. We have received grace upon grace right
now. We are the children of God right
now. We’re not just waiting for heaven
in the sweet by and by, we are waiting for transformation right now. We are practicing for transformation right
now. Christ makes us different than we
were before.
Sometimes,
Christians miss that point. We put our
attention on protecting our beliefs rather than living our faith. That’s a human thing to do. We put our attention on clenching our fists
around our stuff and our rights, rather than stretching our hands out to
embrace and serve others. That is a
human thing to do. We make our faith
about life after death rather than growing the fruits of the spirit in the here
and now. That’s a human thing to do. We find more passion in enforcing our rules
and our moral codes on the rest of the world than in basking in the mysterious
grace of “I will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32) That is a human thing to do.
But, as
Brian McLaren reminds us in “We Make the Road by Walking,” “Jesus’ birth
signals the beginning of the end for the dark night of fear, hostility,
violence and greed that has descended on our world. Jesus’ birth signals the start of a new day,
a new way, a new understanding of what it means to be alive.”
That’s
why we wait. That’s why we hope. That’s why we work. We live in a new day and we must share it
with others. “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent
me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to
let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
People, it's Advent, and we have work to do!
