Eyes Wide Open
Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8
I’ve got an announcement to make this morning: We are expecting!
Now, before you get all excited and start thinking that Cheryl and I have had a middle-aged Moses and Sarah moment, I mean “we, here at Clarendon, are, this season of Advent, expecting.”
“Expecting what?” you may ask, anticipating the typical churchly response about “the coming again of Christ into our lives.”
But I’m not going to give that churchly response, because I’m not sure I believe it. Let’s be honest about the whole “coming again” thing. I mean, it’s been 2,000 years since Jesus of Nazareth lived and died. When we talk about Jesus coming again, do we really expect that same human being, Jesus of Nazareth, in his first-century garb with a first-century mindset, to show up in our midst?
Sure, in some more or less important sense, we do anticipate Jesus coming again, but do we really expect it?
And what would that look like, in practice?
Well, let’s see, what does it look like, in practice, to expect any particular event? For example, I expected y’all to show up this morning for worship on the first Sunday of the season of Advent. So I prepared: I found the Advent wreath and candles, planned worship, wrote a sermon, got out of bed this morning. I expected you to come, so I took action, I prepared, I made the necessary adjustments and arrangements. I put my faith in you into action. I put my beliefs into practice.
We’ve been talking together all fall about the way we practice our faith together as Christians. We’ve talked about worship, about doing justice, about contemplation, about discernment, about hospitality and about a host of other practices of Christian faith and life that give vitality to the church of Jesus Christ.
As it turns out, this first Sunday of Advent coincides with our look at the final one of these practices that Diana Butler Bass identifies in Christianity for the Rest of Us – beauty.
It is altogether fitting that we should consider beauty this morning, as we enter a season of light, of decking the halls, of filling the sanctuary with even more beauty than it typically shows.
For beauty is not mere decoration, although the idea of decoration is interesting. Like most, if not all, cultures, the ancient Israelites had a word meaning “decoration,” and its root meaning referred to the fruits that grow on the branches of the trees. In other words, to understand the purpose of the tree meant to appreciate its decorations. The decorations pointed to the meaning.
In the same way, beauty in this place points us to God, and often, in our everyday lives – out there in the world where we anticipate the coming again of Christ, perhaps, beauty also points us toward God.
So go into that world this Advent season with eyes wide open, for in a profound sense, that is how we prepare, how we make the necessary adjustments in our lives, how we walk faithfully in the world in expectation that Christ is coming again.
Beauty – whether it is natural or created by us, whether visual or aural – points us toward God as the original creator and artist. Our calling, particularly in this season of anticipation, is to live with eyes wide open.
So, as we prepare to gather at table, let’s reflect together for just a couple of moments on our experiences of the artistry of God, on places of beauty and wonder that we’ve experienced in God’s good creation.
I’ve got an announcement to make this morning: We are expecting!
Now, before you get all excited and start thinking that Cheryl and I have had a middle-aged Moses and Sarah moment, I mean “we, here at Clarendon, are, this season of Advent, expecting.”
“Expecting what?” you may ask, anticipating the typical churchly response about “the coming again of Christ into our lives.”
But I’m not going to give that churchly response, because I’m not sure I believe it. Let’s be honest about the whole “coming again” thing. I mean, it’s been 2,000 years since Jesus of Nazareth lived and died. When we talk about Jesus coming again, do we really expect that same human being, Jesus of Nazareth, in his first-century garb with a first-century mindset, to show up in our midst?
Sure, in some more or less important sense, we do anticipate Jesus coming again, but do we really expect it?
And what would that look like, in practice?
Well, let’s see, what does it look like, in practice, to expect any particular event? For example, I expected y’all to show up this morning for worship on the first Sunday of the season of Advent. So I prepared: I found the Advent wreath and candles, planned worship, wrote a sermon, got out of bed this morning. I expected you to come, so I took action, I prepared, I made the necessary adjustments and arrangements. I put my faith in you into action. I put my beliefs into practice.
We’ve been talking together all fall about the way we practice our faith together as Christians. We’ve talked about worship, about doing justice, about contemplation, about discernment, about hospitality and about a host of other practices of Christian faith and life that give vitality to the church of Jesus Christ.
As it turns out, this first Sunday of Advent coincides with our look at the final one of these practices that Diana Butler Bass identifies in Christianity for the Rest of Us – beauty.
It is altogether fitting that we should consider beauty this morning, as we enter a season of light, of decking the halls, of filling the sanctuary with even more beauty than it typically shows.
For beauty is not mere decoration, although the idea of decoration is interesting. Like most, if not all, cultures, the ancient Israelites had a word meaning “decoration,” and its root meaning referred to the fruits that grow on the branches of the trees. In other words, to understand the purpose of the tree meant to appreciate its decorations. The decorations pointed to the meaning.
In the same way, beauty in this place points us to God, and often, in our everyday lives – out there in the world where we anticipate the coming again of Christ, perhaps, beauty also points us toward God.
So go into that world this Advent season with eyes wide open, for in a profound sense, that is how we prepare, how we make the necessary adjustments in our lives, how we walk faithfully in the world in expectation that Christ is coming again.
Beauty – whether it is natural or created by us, whether visual or aural – points us toward God as the original creator and artist. Our calling, particularly in this season of anticipation, is to live with eyes wide open.
So, as we prepare to gather at table, let’s reflect together for just a couple of moments on our experiences of the artistry of God, on places of beauty and wonder that we’ve experienced in God’s good creation.
posted by David Ensign at
1:23 PM
<< Home