An Advent Contemplation

An Advent Contemplation

God comes first. Others come second. Dammit! I’m last again.

The "Me" generation in the United States is a term referring to the baby boomers generation and the self-involved qualities that are associated with it. The 1970s were dubbed the "Me" decade by writer Tom Wolfe, among others, who commented on the rise of a culture of narcissism among the younger generation of that era. The phrase caught on with the general public, at a time when "self-realization" and "self-fulfillment" were becoming cultural aspirations to which young people supposedly ascribed higher importance than social responsibility.

Christians were not exempt from this “focus on me” process as we were encouraged to have a personal relationship with God and explore forms of worship outside of the staid old liturgy that had been handed down to us over hundreds of years – to find something that spoke to us individually rather than just accepting the collective wisdom of ages. It should come as no surprise that there was also a sharp increase in the use of John 3:16 (For God so oved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believeth in him shall be saved.) in public venues. He saved ME!

There’s nothing wrong in having a personal relationship with God. Everyone should. There’s nothing wrong with John 3:16. It’s an important and meaningful verse. But it’s not what Christianity is really about. Christianity isn’t about our relationship with God. It’s about His relationship with us. It’s about His example to us of how to live and I feel as though that fundamental truth has been lost in the egotism of the Me Generation and the search for self. We don’t even have to search for God. He’s not lost. He knows where we are. And he’s willing to meet us right where we are. Heck, think about the father of the prodigal sons running towards his returning boy.

So what verses do define Christianity in a simple, fundamental, and direct way? When I taught Sunday School I would spend one lesson every year on what I dubbed the Short Attention Span version of the Ten Commandments:

Matthew 22: 37-40

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

At one point I believed that if you knew nothing else about Christianity but those 3 verses you knew everything you needed to know about being a Christian. I was, of course, naïve and oh so wrong. There needed to be some refinement. Being a poet at heart but an empiricist by training I like granularity. The concept of God is too large for my puny mind to comprehend and I’m fine with you having your own ideas about him. Or her. God is at all times, in all people, at all places. Way too big. I’ll let the poet part of me handle the concept of God. But the concept of neighbor can and should be explored.

That brings us to the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Samaritans claimed to be descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, two sons of Joseph, and the Levites. Samaritans believe that their worship, which is based on the Samaritan Pentateuch is the true religion of the ancient Israelites from before the Babylonian captivity, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to Judaism, which they see as a related but flawed, altered, and amended religion, brought back by those returning from the Babylonian Captivity. The Jews of the era thought that the Samaritans were ritually unclean and Roman collaborators. In short, the two groups hated each other. I’m not sure that there’s a contemporary comparison. Jesus’ use of a Samaritan in this parable is shocking and visceral in a way that doesn’t translate very well in our modern culture even given the recent rise of hate groups.

Luke 10: 29-37

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

The expert couldn’t even bear to use the word Samaritan and had to say, “The one who had mercy on him.”  Jesus defines for us in this parable who the neighbor is that we must love as ourselves and it is of course everyone, even the people who we detest. I don’t know about you but there are some people in my life that I have a very hard time loving. My feelings don’t matter and arguing with God is rarely productive. I’m pretty sure that this isn’t one of those rare examples in the bible where God is willing to bend a little.

This does not mean that you have to tolerate bad behavior. There is a time and place to flip over a few tables and even to chase people with whips. But the bible gives us examples of how to deal with intolerable behavior and they all start with an attempt at reconciliation to a relationship of love. It doesn’t always work and sometimes you may have to resort to that whip but it’s the exception and not the rule.

For quite a while I thought that those two verses were all you needed for a complete understanding of Christianity and once again I was completely wrong. It’s not that these two stories aren’t critical -- it’s that they aren’t complete. Like the Trinity they need that third component.

A friend of mine did something that I thought was very rude. I held my friend accountable and the response was they hadn’t meant to be mean or rude. I thought about that and realized that I didn’t care what their intentions were. In fact, if I had thought their intentions were to be purposefully rude I would never made an attempt at accountability. I would have let the friendship go fallow.

What I did care about was the rude behavior itself because all the protestations of sincere friendship are meaningless if the behavior belies the sincerity of the protestations. What we do is far more important than what we say. Actions speak louder than words.

That brings us to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26: 39-42

³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

Jesus doesn’t want to die on the cross. Crucifixion was a death penalty of pain, embarrassment, intimidation, and revenge. The pain generally lasted for hours or days. It was meant to be cruel and Jesus wanted to know if there was a way out for him. And God said no. He didn’t say no because Jesus had anything to prove to God. There’s that whole mystery of the Trinity thing going on. He didn’t say no because He wanted his son to suffer. He said no because the world needed to see Jesus put his money where his mouth was. All the pretty words, even the miracles, weren’t enough. Jesus had to act in the world at terrible personal expense to save us from sin and that meant dying in the most horrific way possible before raising again to teach and share God’s word.

Action was what was missing from the first two readings. For God, it’s enough to believe. But that belief needs to be put into action in the world or it has no meaning to anyone except God. We can think and feel the most wonderful thoughts and feelings in the history of the world and what do those thoughts and feelings do for anyone, even ourselves, unless they get translated into acts of love, charity, and kindness? Those acts need to be shown to our families, our friends, the strangers we meet, and our enemies. That’s what being a Christian is about and it’s not for the faint of heart, the cowardly, or the weak.

I believe that these three readings give a complete understanding of Christian life. There are supportive and augmentative readings but I go back to these three again and again and again in hopes of gaining some small mastery of each one. I encourage you to do the same or to find defining readings of your own and studying them over the coming years.

So why is this “An Advent Contemplation”. The world wants us to celebrate Christmas from Thanksgiving through Christmas Day. This steals Advent from us – a season more like Lent than any other; a time of preparation and anticipation. The world wants us to celebrate the day of Christmas and then hurry to get ready for the New Year rather than savoring the 12 day season of Christmas and the special joys that Epiphany brings.

I reject the world. I’m going to spend Advent with my silly little digital Advent calendar laughing at the cartoons and listening to the music. I’m going to spend time reflecting on the three readings that I just presented. I’m going to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas with family and friends. I’m going to continue doing quiet, private, unpublished acts of kindness for strangers. I’m going to treat my family and friends with all the love I can muster. And the world will just have to wait until I’m ready to give it my attention again.

May the peace of God which passeth all human understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.