A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 16

But when John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

- Matthew 3

These are harsh words, and they were aimed at those who did not “bear fruit worthy of repentance.” They were aimed at those who followed the rules for the sake of following the rules, not for the sake of a relationship with God.

We’ve all known people who followed rules as carefully as they could. Don’t you find such people insufferable? It’s as if they’re afraid of really enjoying life. Not that we should all go around breaking rules for the same breaking rules, but neither should we keep them merely for the sake of keeping them. Rules are meant to guide us into something bigger and more joyful. But what happens to those who fear joy?

I feel my body weakened by the years/
As people turn to gods of cruel design/
Is it that they fear the pain of death,/
Or could it be they fear the joy of life?

These lyrics are from the Toad the Wet Sprocket song “Pray Your Gods,” from the album Fear. The song ends with the repeated chorus “Dona nobis pacem”—Latin for “Give us peace.”

Gods that only demand rule-following are indeed cruel gods, because their punishments are not based on love.  They demand sacrifices in blood—our blood.

But our God of love waits eagerly for His children to come back to Him. He gives us not a punishment but a remedy: the gift of Himself.

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 15

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

-    Mark 1:1-8

If you really want to observe Advent, holding off the secular onslaught of Christmas for as long as possible, there may be no better way than to read the Daily Office: the day-by-day readings appointed by the Church. To create this calendar each day, I have begun with this website. The daily readings can also be found at the back of the Book of Common Prayer; while the weekly readings are arranged on a three-year cycle (Years A, B and C), the daily readings are arranged on a two-year cycle (Years One and Two). We are at the very beginning of Year One.

At long last, eighteen days into Advent, we hear of John the Baptist. Now, this is one of the funny things about Advent. We’re preparing for Christ to come on three different timelines:
-    Waiting for the baby to be born
-    Waiting for Jesus to begin his adult ministry
-    Waiting for the return of Christ

The appearance of John the Baptist is a major development in the second timeline. In the weekly readings in church, we heard from him on both the second and third Sundays in Advent.

My family has been using an Advent calendar that tells the Christmas story in little chunks each day. In that story, Mary and Joseph are already on their way to Bethlehem, and the Magi are already in Jerusalem meeting King Herod. This Advent calendar is concerned with getting the entire story in before Christmas Day. But nowhere in the Daily Office have we heard a word yet about Mary and Joseph, and the Magi are even further away—they won’t come until Epiphany on January 6.

However you observe Christmas, it’s a good idea not to rush it. Christmas is ten days away: a lot can happen in that time. And then, Christmas lasts for twelve days—a lot more time still to observe the season. Growing up, my family usually decorated the Christmas tree on December 19 (my parents’ anniversary, conveniently) so it wouldn’t dry out before January 6. We also gave little stocking stuffers for each of the twelve days. Now that I have my own family, we observe Christmas the same way. This weekend, we'll go hunting for a tree. There probably won't be a big selection left. We way wind up with something that looks more like Charlie Brown's tree, but that's OK.

I enjoy doing it this way because it’s counter-cultural, and I think Christianity is most effective when it goes against the dominant culture in both large and small ways—interrupting the daily flow with surprising joy. John the Baptist has appeared, and he’s getting people wet! We are drawing ever closer to the mystery of Christmas. “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!”

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 14

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness -
on them light has shined.

-    Isaiah 9

I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

-    2 Peter 1

Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, "Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?" They kept heaping many other insults on him.

-    Luke 22

During the season of Lent, we don’t use the word “Hallelujah/Alleluia” in worship. We keep it buried until the Resurrection is proclaimed.


Advent is different. We don’t shy away from that ancient cry of joy and praise. But in my worship, Hallelujah has a different flavor during Advent. It’s deeper, full of the expectation of true joy yet not forgetting for a moment the pain that is the flip side of joy. When we give ourselves to love, we open ourselves up to a world of potential pain as well as joy.

The 1993 movie Shadowlands starred Anthony Hopkins as C. S. Lewis and Debra Winger as his wife, Joy Gresham. The two get married during a time when Joy’s cancer is in remission. They enjoy several joyful years together. But Joy reminds him: “The pain then is part of the happiness now. That’s the deal.”

After her death, C. S. Lewis recalls her words, only reversed this time: “The pain now is part of the happiness then. That’s the deal.”

Joy does not mean mere blithe feelings of pleasure. It includes all the pain that comes with surrendering a part of yourself to another. I imagine Jesus saying to us, “Love. It’ll hurt. It might even kill you. But trust me: it’s the only thing that works.”

As Leonard Cohen wrote: “Love is not a victory march. It’s a cold and it’s a broken ‘hallelujah.’” Here’s Jeff Buckley’s 1994 version of that incredible song.

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 13

I preached this sermon yesterday on the readings for the Third Sunday of Advent.

Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. See, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

-      Isaiah 8

Sometimes all we can do is wait. In fact, sometimes we are simply instructed to wait.

It seems that most people who are familiar with the music of John Mayer either love him or hate him. Some wish he would just shut up already.

This song has always rubbed me the wrong way because it sounds like John has given up on changing the world. But as a person whose first instinct is to act, I do need to remind myself of my own words and spend more time simply waiting for a new situation. Here’s “Waiting on the World to Change.”

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 12

O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,
as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.
Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place,
that I might behold your power and your glory.
For your loving-kindness is better than life itself;
my lips shall give you praise.
So will I bless you as long as I live
and lift up my hands in your Name.
My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,
When I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the night watches.
For you have been my helper,
and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand holds me fast.

-    Psalm 63:1-8

I remember talking with my brother Seth one year about the fact that Christmas was coming. We were boys, and we were longing deeply for that joyous day. Suddenly, Seth shouted, “Christmas attack!” and started to run around the house, letting off steam, hollering “AAAAAHHH!” because his longing was so great he couldn’t contain it anymore. I knew exactly how he felt … so I did the same.

I fear I’ll never be able to recapture the delicious childhood agony of waiting all those weeks to find out what Santa would leave under the tree. In this era of Amazon wish lists and economic struggle, it’s even harder to get excited about the unknown. Never again will I experience the thrill of finding that, yes, despite all fears to the contrary, the Millennium Falcon is there, just waiting for me to place my Han Solo and Chewbacca action figures inside its cockpit!

But we adults are not finished with longing. C.S. Lewis wrote about Sehnsucht, a German word that he expressed as “inconsolable longing” in the human heart for “we know not what.” He wrote:

That unnameable something, desire for which pierces us like a rapier at the smell of bonfire, the sound of wild ducks flying overhead, the title of The Well at the World's End, the opening lines of “Kubla Khan,” the morning cobwebs in late summer, or the noise of falling waves.

Have you ever felt that longing? That’s what Advent is for. These four weeks of preparation are meant to lay our souls bare, to empty us completely so that we can receive the one thing our souls most long for: union with God. And the beauty of it is that we don’t have to perform death-defying feats or cross a great Eastern ocean to get to God, because God is coming to us.

If you have ever felt imprisoned, lost in darkness, or exiled, you’ll know what I mean. You just want to be ransomed, to see the light, to go home. Home … the longing is there, embedded in the very sound of that word. Home. Some people, as their lives draw to an end, develop a new vision of Home that means they’ll never have to move again.

But it’s not all melancholy. There’s another aspect of Sehnsucht that is pure, quivering excitement—the thought that you might not actually want to receive the gift, because if you do, you’ll have to let go of that wonderful longing feeling.

Jesus came many years ago to be with us. But luckily, in a mystery, Jesus is coming again. It’s never over. Jesus is always approaching, and every year, we mark his approach by observing Advent, four weeks of inconsolable longing and excitement. O come, O come, Emmanuel!

“Kyrie eleison” … Greek for “Lord have mercy.” Here’s Mr. Mister’s “Kyrie.”

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 11

Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!"

Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me." He said to them, "When I sent you out without a purse, bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?"

They said, "No, not a thing."

He said to them, "But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me, 'And he was counted among the lawless'; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled."

They said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."

He replied, "It is enough."

-      Luke 22

Have you ever given up everything? Neither have I. That sort of thing is easier to romanticize than it is to actually follow through with. Instead, we’d all like to be fine, upstanding citizens.

Scholars disagree about whether Jesus’ family was wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between. Many believe he began as a well-educated Pharisee. What is clear is that Jesus did not rest on whatever privileges he had; he used them in order to be able to discard them. He was a traveling preacher, a guru, a teacher, living off the generosity of others. He gave the people wisdom, and they gave him food and shelter.

In the end, he even gave up his “law-abiding” status, and he warned his disciples that the same would happen to them. Sometimes, to follow Jesus means to leave behind whatever comfort and security our society offers us.

Peter made a lot of mistakes. He said and did stupid things. But in the long run, he remained faithful to Jesus. He stayed in relationship. He embraced a life on the edge and followed it all the way to death.

Let’s do another Sufjan Stevens song today. This one is the centerpiece of his album about the state of Illinois. I believe the song is about giving up your privileges and trusting that there will be enough—and, in the process, finding redemption from a life full of regret. This is “Chicago.”

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 10

Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

-    Isaiah 7

“Immanuel” (also spelled “Emmanuel”) means “God with us.” God doesn’t just hang back and wait for us to straighten the world out. God doesn’t come rushing in to help, either. God comes in due time—at the right time—and we need to wait.

But waiting doesn’t have to mean sitting around in the doctor’s office reading outdated magazines. Waiting in prayer and expectation is a very active kind of waiting.

Here is Sufjan Stevens’ recording of the ancient hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 9

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it." They asked him, "Where do you want us to make preparations for it?" "Listen," he said to them, "when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, 'The teacher asks you, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"' He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there." So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

- Luke 22

About four years ago, I was teaching a group of kids about the Eucharist. I brought them up for a view from the church’s altar; most of them had never been in that space before. It’s a big altar, and I talked about how it’s also a table. The ancient place for sacrificing animals is also for us a place to eat a family Thanksgiving meal together.

I asked, “How many people do you think could fit around this table?”

“Ten!” shouted one kid.

“Twenty!” shouted another.

And then a quiet little first grader spoke up just loud enough for everyone to hear her distinctly: “This table is big enough for the whole world.”

Well. How big a table do you need? How big a house? How big an upper room? How big a heart? Here’s my one country music offering this Advent season: “Love’s the Only House” by Martina McBride.

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 8

Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the LORD sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump.

-      Isaiah 6

Disaster is all around us. Where is our deliverance? Where is justice? How long must we wait?

We lose the ones we love—to disease, to violence, to natural disaster.

Advent is a time of waiting—waiting for the Messiah, waiting for the one who will save us and be our king. The king who was coming into the world is still coming … a deep mystery. How long must we wait?

In 2006, U2 and Green Day teamed up for an anguished anthem about Hurricane Katrina: “The Saints Are Coming.”

And way back in 1971, John Lennon urged us to “Imagine” a different world.

Too many people live their lives trying to get to heaven, as if anything they did could earn them a ticket. Too many people try to avoid hell, as if they could avoid God’s judgment completely. Ironically, this excessive focus on the afterlife often leads to fear, hate, and the mistreatment of others -- whether it's Al-Qaeda or Fred Phelps. What if we took heaven and hell out of consideration? How would we live our lives then?

Religion can be defined not simply as all human dealings with God, but more narrowly as the useless systems we create to try to "get right" with God ... not realizing that God already loves us infinitely, and that nothing can change that. What if we really believed this? How would it change the way we act toward God and toward everyone else on the planet?

John Lennon was assassinated thirty years ago today. Remember him in your prayers. Remember the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Remember Elizabeth Edwards. Pray for all those God is calling you to pray for.

The holy seed is its stump. Something new will grow from the ashes of our lives’ disasters. How long will it take? Wait for it.

A YouTube Advent Calendar: December 7

But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

-      1 Thessalonians 5

One of my favorite cartoons shows a group of European Pilgrims arriving at Plymouth Rock only to discover that the Native Americans are constructing a giant wall to keep them out. The explanation? “They say we won’t learn their language or assimilate into their culture.”

In September, the Episcopal House of Bishops met in Arizona for their annual meeting. During their time there, the bishops took a trip to the Mexican border. Bishop Mark Beckwith of Newark wrote this reflection.

I learned a lot about these issues myself on a 2009 pilgrimage to Skagit Valley, Washington, where migrant workers live right in our backyard in third-world living conditions. These conditions are allowed to continue because those who live there are afraid to speak out for fear of being deported. They want to feed their families. They want to give their children a chance for a better life. Many people in our country illegally were brought here as children, unable to determine their own immigration status. Many people have also been lured here by false promises from corporations that offered them work in exchange for a green card--then reneged and had them deported before they could be paid.

My friend Jackie Grove submitted a song idea for this Advent calendar, and I think it’s most appropriate for reminding us of the aliens who work among us, whom both our Old and New Testaments urge us to respect and embrace. Here are Queen and David Bowie, together in 1982 with “Under Pressure.” “Splits a family in two … puts people on streets … Love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night, and love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves … This is ourselves, under pressure.”

It is time to extend social justice to at least some of those who, for one reason or another, are in our country illegally. It is not a simple, black-and-white matter of lawbreaking. Read here about the DREAM Act, which could come up for a vote in the Senate and the House soon. This is a very timely way you can defend from injustice those who cannot defend themselves.