 |
| Making Room in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder by Bette Dickinson |
When God seems absent, we (get to) be expectant for him to show up with good news at any moment. And he gives us a second chance to receive him even if we doubt at first. + Bette Dickinson, Making Room in Advent
This final Bette Dickinson Advent post features again her artistry and authenticity. Along with previous posts, "Making Room for Limits" and "Making Room for Outsiders with Emmanuel" in Making Room in Advent, and a bonus Advent message from artist Scott Erickson in Honest Advent, I hope you continue to ponder anew what the Almighty can do during this season of Advent.
Advent | Making Room for Messengers
In Luke's Gospel, Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds tell us a lot about how we welcome God's messengers. Angels make the invisible God visible. They convey God's message and speak with his authority.
A Message for Zechariah: Be Expectant for Good News at Any Moment
Luke 1:11, 19
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ...
19 “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news."
Zechariah is in the very place the presence of God dwelled, and yet he is "startled" when God shows up through Gabriel. He responds to the angel's message with a demand for certainty and proof. The result? He is rebuked and silenced.
Okay, let's cut Zechariah some slack. God had been silent for four hundred years. Zechariah had not had any signs of angels in his life. How would he know to expect one to show up that day? But perhaps this is just the lesson. Zechariah teaches us that even when God seems absent, we must be expectant for him to show up with good news at any moment. And he gives us a second chance to receive him even if we doubt at first.
Like Zechariah, I often stop looking for God when I quit believing he could show up. After long stretches of silence or disappointments, I'm prone to become blind to God's presence in my life. But Zechariah reminds me to keep my eyes open for God's arrival when I least expect it.
A Message for Mary: The Lord is with You in Humble Places
Luke 1:26, 28
26 God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth ...
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
In contrast to Zechariah, Gabriel comes to Mary in an ordinary place, and yet she receives him with awe. Her posture is humble, and she leans in. She asks open-ended questions and invites God's word to be fulfilled in her life (Luke 1:38).
The result? God's Word becomes flesh in her womb. Mary teaches us how to respond to God's messengers: with humility and reverence. Like her, we can lean in with questions and invite his Word to manifest in our lives too.
A Message for Shepherds: Do Not Be Afraid, Be Curious & Open to Great Joy
Luke 2:9-10
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them ...
10 The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."
And finally, when the angels appear to the shepherds, the shepherds' curiosity leads them to seek Jesus in the flesh.
The result? They get to meet Jesus and spread the word about him. The shepherds teach us to respond to God's messengers by getting curious. They challenge us to seek confirmation of God's words in the person of Jesus. When we do this, we encounter him and want to spread the word about him!
A Message for Us All: Slow Down and Give Attention in the Darkness with Expectancy, Humility, and Curiosity
What does it look like to have an open posture, available and attentive to God's words of hope? It takes practice, intentionality, and the gift of perception ... (But) It is hard to pay attention when you are in a hurry.
Perhaps, if we are willing to slow down with a posture of humility, expectancy, and curiosity, we may be available to perceive the messengers the Spirit sends our way. We may not have heavenly angels appear to us like these characters did, but the Holy Spirit still chooses to speak through all kinds of messengers in our lives.
Our lives are often full of messengers. The question is, Are we attentive to recognize when they show up? And are we able to listen to what they have to say? Like the angels in Luke, they will come to us with good news. They will tell us not to fear. They will remind us that the Lord is with us. They will speak of the miracles God wants to do within us. And they will always reveal Jesus' work in our lives.
God comes into the world by sending his messengers. We make room for him by making room for them.
Ponder
How can you cultivate an attentiveness to God's messengers in your life?
Where have they shown up recently?
Pray
Inhale: You send messengers.
Exhale: May I be open to them.
An Invitation: Experience God-with-Us Today in Your Fears
Maybe the place we experience God-with-Us today is in the very fears we have about our own lives, our own world, our own future. The fears that keep us from believing that anything can be different. The fears that make the silence of the Divine feel like centuries have passed. The fears that we are here all on our own. The fears we will be holding at our upcoming angelic visit.
Today, let our fears be the starting place of divine connection, because if a messenger from heaven were to show up with an announcement of good tidings of great joy, a message that will change everything, historically that proclamation would begin with the greeting "Be Not Afraid" — or, the way we say it today, "Merry Christmas."
May you be not afraid, for Love has drawn near.
+ Adapted excerpts above from Making Room in Advent by Bette Dickinson and Honest Advent by Scott Erickson
Here are links to other recent Advent City Notes (CN) books:
The Cross and Peacemaking Presence; Living and Loving Curiously with Wonder; Praying with Mary and Jesus; Making Room for Limits; "Merry Christmas" = "Be Not Afraid"; "Christ with Shopping Bags" Story of God; Waiting is the Womb in Which We Are Formed; The Paradigm-Shattering Event of Human History; Making Room for Outsiders with Emmanuel
With presence, peace, and many prayerful blessings,
Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan
No comments:
Post a Comment