Advent 2013 Week 4: JOY

Much like New York, joy is a state of mind. Dave's mom is the quintessential illustration of joy. Her personal slogan, which I've heard many times through the years, proves my point.

I will let nothing rob me of my joy today.

She would recite this when anything was amiss:  lost car keys, delayed flights, plans run amok. And now I see her living it out as her husband's mind is tragically being twisted by dementia. She is a living demonstration of that crazy call of James

when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 

Like I said, crazy, right? How can one find great joy in the midst of troubles? Dee practiced it for decades: through choosing joy as a response to all circumstance. To slow down, enjoy people, and find God's presence in every situation.

Last night we sang Christmas carols with some new friends here in Vienna. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen was especially poignant to me.

God rest you merry, Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Savior
Was born upon this day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
    O tidings of comfort and joy,
    Comfort and joy
    O tidings of comfort and joy.

To understand the carol, one must have a little old English refresher. The word rest means "keep" or "make" with you being the recipient of the keeping or making. Those pesky commas play a critical role as well, much like "Let's eat grandma" makes much more sense as "Let's eat, grandma." This isn't referring to "merry gentlemen" at all, it's a blessing and wish that God would make us merry, filled with joy. When we sing this carol we are announcing that God brings us comfort, He is the source of our joy.

Dee learned Joy from her parents.  They were the most adorable people, who liked to wear matching clothes. Clarence memorized and on many occasions recited Psalm 100. May God grant you joy found not in circumstance, but in a deep abiding understanding of who He is and His great love for you.

Psalm 100
A psalm of thanksgiving. 
Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Advent 2013 Week 3: LOVE

I love to feel loved. That longing is part of who we are as humans. That sense of belonging, of being understood, known and accepted.

I Corinthians 13 is the classic go-to in Christian circles for finding God's definition of love.  This chapter does not focus on me receiving love. On the contrary, it is about the love I give others. I chuckle at the first verse regarding language-learning without any love for others as pure noise. My German sounds like a lot of noisy gongs and clanging cymbals most days! But as I read through those first few verses, I find a pretty good list of what love is NOT:

• accomplishment - even of spiritual acts
• knowledge - even of spiritual truths
• works - even from great faith
• giving - even of my own body

The key in loving others must be something other than just these acts alone. Perhaps even something smaller. Read on in verses 4-7.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, it is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

I cannot show this kind of love without the resource of God's spirit in my life. When I grasp His love for me, I can pass that along to others without such a need for reciprocation or validation. I belong to God. I am understood, known and accepted by Him. Christmas is the perfect time to reflect on His great love for us, and in turn, how we can more beautifully and humbly show love to others.

Advent 2013 Week 2: FAITH

My favorite word in German is gemütlichkeit. It's one of those words that doesn't directly translate into English. If one looks it up in a German-English dictionary one would find words like

• cozy
• comfortable ambience
• atmosphere of comfort, peace and acceptance

But my favorite definition comes from one of our teammates, Dave Babcock, who has lived in Vienna for 44 years.

Gemütlichkeit is the musty aroma, the candlelight, the half-lit corner table with a vaulted ceiling in an ancient Gasthaus (inn).  I am a romantic with a deep desire to hold my dear wife's hand, look into her eyes and know her love and acceptance.  

You really do need a whole paragraph to get a grasp of the concept.  A single word won't do.

Our theme for the second week of Advent is faith. This is one of those words that is difficult to describe. It's like we're Germans trying to explain what gemütlichkeit is to our English speaking friends.

Faith is like belief, and yet more than belief. A key to understanding faith is recognizing that it is God-given. We don't muster up faith. It is God's gift to us in salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9) and our faith can continue to grow and expand (Hebrews 12:2). Scripture reminds us that we are to demonstrate faith in how we live, it shows in our actions. James makes his famous case that "faith without works is dead" (2:26). So two main points:  

1. Faith is a gift from God. Are you receiving that in increasing measure?  
2. Faith is revealed in action. Are others aware of your growing faith?

As we live this second week of Advent, of our waiting with anticipation for Christ's coming, may we seek to grow in faith and demonstrate it to those in our community.

Hebrews 12:2
We [run the race set before us] by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. 

Romans 10:17 Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news -- the Good News about Christ.

Advent 2013 Week 1: HOPE

ADVENT

I love the season of advent.  It takes me back to my childhood.  Each week at church a family would read a scripture, share the theme of the week and light the candle.  What a thrill to be chosen to handle fire in church!

15 years ago we were living in Azerbaijan, working with World Hope.  Emma was just a baby; Kayli and Dillon were 4 and 5 years old.  I wanted to continue our advent wreath tradition, but there weren’t any convenient supplies to be found.  Under the cover of night, I went out with my trusty kitchen scissors to cut off small branches of pine trees and holly in the neighborhood to make our wreath.  I am committed to the advent wreath tradition!

I used to think that Advent meant remembering because it held such a sentimental place in my heart.  It is kind of like communion, but not in that way.  It’s a time of waiting.  Of expectation.  Both communion and advent look forward to the return of Christ. 

I’ve challenged myself to write a little reflection on each of the themes of Advent this year.  There are different traditions in the themes and the order in which they are celebrated.  I’m using the official Wesleyan Church order because, well, that’s my tradition: Hope, Faith, Love, Joy.

The First Week of Advent:  HOPE

December 1, 2013

My class at Taylor University buried a time capsule just before graduation to be opened at our 25^th reunion, which took place this fall.  I received my envelope last week.  I remember feeling so strange about writing a note to my future self.  So much was unknown for me.  Dave and I had been dating for three years and were heading on a missions trip to Central America for 6 weeks, then I had internship plans at a law firm that fall.  I had only mapped out about 6 months of my life, much less 25 years!  My letter is boring and bland.  I continue to be terrible at dreaming to this day. 

Dave also wrote me a letter, and skirted around the issue of our future relationship. He was a year younger than me, not quite ready to make a lasting marriage commitment.    He wished me good health and general pleasantries.  He closed the letter with a list of his favorite things including: 

• Tony Campolo
• The Sound of Music
• Riding bikes
• U2
• Taylor University
• The book of Acts – Do we live like true disciples?

It reminded me of so many of the reasons I fell in love with him. 

Then he scribbled this on the back:

But, I plan to marry you in about a year and a half.  I hope you bear my children and we live happily together.  (Don’t be mad if we don’t)

Dave had an optimistic hope with a side of caution.  He couldn’t control the whole situation.  I was the wildcard.  His hopes did come true, however, and it only took one year.

The best part of our hope in God is that we can count on all that He has promised.  The object of our hope is secure.  We can be confident that when our hopes are aligned with God’s word, they will be fulfilled.  When we grow in our understanding of who God is, and who we are in His sight, we see how He gives us positivity for the future.  We aren’t waiting for Christmas hoping in the way we hope for good weather or that our favorite team wins a big game.

As we wait for Christmas this year, let us align our thoughts, motives and hearts to all that God wants to do in our lives and communities.  We hope for His transforming power in our lives to shape us and use us for His good in this world.

Romans 15:13

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.