New Year's Eves

We're in the final hours before Advent starts.  New Year's Eve for Christians!  Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the season in which we wait and prepare for the coming of the Christ child and the 2nd coming of Christ.  Unlike New Year's Eve for the calendar year, this eve starts quietly in the dark without fireworks or champagne toasts, without parties and countdowns, without rockin' TV shows or celebrity concerts.  In this season we don't join gyms and make weight loss goals, and most of us don't make resolutions.  In this season we wait.  We journey with John in the wilderness.  We repent.  We listen with wonder to the angel's news.  We prepare.  We anticipate.  We get ready.

I actually celebrate three New Year's Eves each year.  One is on December 31, the turning of the calendar year.  The second is the eve of my birthday, my own personal New Year's Day.  And the third is the evening before the first Sunday of Advent.  It is the third that I love the most - as we walk in darkness we await the great light.  What do I need to do to be ready for its coming?  Tomorrow we will light a single candle on the Advent wreath, and the new season will begin.

Tonight I am preparing to preach tomorrow.  I'm finishing up Thanksgiving pie and listening to the purrs of my kitties as they keep me company while I type.  It's been a gloomy, dismal day outside, one that makes it easier to sit on the couch and ponder the season ahead.  The calm before the holiday storm.  My Advent wreath is ready and waiting though I have forgotten to purchase my candles.  After church tomorrow I will remedy this.

While preparing my sermon I read a quote from David Lose about tomorrow's Gospel reading, "We end up preparing for Christmas rather than for Christ and thereby more easily miss the presence of our Lord in the face of those in need..."  

My prayer for all of us is that we will not be so distracted by preparing for Christmas that we neglect to prepare for Christ.  May Christ be born in us again this new year and always.

God Rests, but God Don't Coast

At the end of my sermon a couple of Sundays ago, as I was exchanging the Peace with my colleague, Josh, he laughed and said, "God don't coast!"  I cracked up.  In my sermon I had preached about how God is always doing a new thing.  Jan frequently reminds me that people and organizations can hit a plateau after they've accomplished a big goal or celebrated an important life event.  If we don't have something on the other side, we just hit a wall.  As an example, I mentioned the installation of Bruton's new organ and how we have to be careful not to get stuck now that this huge project has been accomplished.  

"Whew! We think. Got that down. Now we can just coast for awhile.
But no, God is always doing something new, and we get to do that, too."

Josh summarized the sermon as "God don't coast!"  (And neither should we!)  If I'm not careful, I could hit a plateau or get stuck.  Having pushed myself hard as Acting Rector, I could easily just hit cruise control and stop paying much attention.  As I've been considering how to manage this transition, I've also been thinking about Sabbath.  God might not coast, but God does rest.  God created the world and then rested on the 7th day.  God instituted Sabbath and commanded us to keep it.

As I encouraged the congregation to look to what new thing God is doing at Bruton, I was also thinking about my own life.  For more than four months this year, I have served as Acting Rector of Bruton Parish while our rector has been on sabbatical.  On Monday I turn the helm back over to him and breathe a sigh of relief.  Whew!  Job well done.  I'm grateful that's over!  Now I can just coast for awhile.

If I'm not careful, I could hit a plateau or get stuck.  Having pushed myself hard as Acting Rector, I could easily just hit cruise control and stop paying much attention.  As I've been considering how to manage this transition, I've also been thinking about Sabbath.  God might not coast, but God does rest.  God created the world and then rested on the 7th day.  God instituted Sabbath and commanded us to keep it.

So the trick for me in the coming weeks is to balance the need for rest (I'm weary to the bone!) and the desire to stay awake as Advent begins and we wait once more for the coming of Christ.  I want to be alert and present to the new thing that God is doing (God IS doing something new all the time) AND I want to rest so that I will have the energy to participate.

It will be a challenge for me to hold the tension.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to do so.  

What are you doing next, God?  I'm ready to be a part of it, after I catch a nap!