God Is Calling You to Be an Advent Person
by Larry Wilson
I have heard too many religious professionals say, “I know what the gospel says about enabling the little ones, about peace and about money, but the way the world is today, we can’t expect people to listen to the teachings of Jesus.” We are afraid, you know – afraid that we will not have enough money to retire; afraid that if we share what we have, we might not have enough to meet our own needs; afraid that other countries might take what we have. In the season of Advent we read scripture about people who are unafraid, certain that God will come and that his promises are dependable.
There is Mary, a poor woman blessed by God, who knows that God is coming and that He will make all things right. She sings, (Luke 1: 51-53) God has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. We read this scripture every year during Advent, but perhaps we need to pay closer attention to what the passage has to say.
Mary sings, “God scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.” Historically, the proud and the powerful often do look foolish; the strongest and most powerful seldom win in our world. American colonists defeated the British, the “Super Power” of the 18th century. The Americans were greatly over-matched, but “God scatters the proud.” The Soviet army lost to a very primitive Afghanistan on one front and to non-violent Polish workers on the other, ending the Soviet empire. America never lost a battle in Vietnam but lost the war. Today America once again finds itself engaged in a war where it cannot lose a battle, but victory, in any real sense, seems improbable. I pray every day that something good might come from this war other than God “scattering the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.” The story of David and Goliath might help all powerful countries to remember that “rock throwers” often win.
John the Baptist is the other main character of Advent. To those in power, John was a scary sort of fellow; he lived in the wilderness, dressed in rough camel hair with leather under-shorts, ate grasshoppers and robbed wild bees. What status quo well-heeled mom would want her children to follow him? When asked how people should repent, John says (Luke 3:11 NRSV) … “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” What John has to say to a society like ours, full of people who are anxious that they may not have just the right coat to wear, is scary. John is sure that people are more important than “stuff.”
Luke, the Gospel writer, is an Advent person, too. He begins his story of the birth of Jesus: (Luke 2:1 NRSV) In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.” Luke mentions that Jesus the babe is born during the reign of the Caesar Augustus. But who is the powerful one? Luke knows that God in Jesus is doing something that will dwarf the mighty Caesar. Luke is right; I often read the words of Jesus, but I can scarcely think of anything said by the Caesar. How could a man crucified by the army of Augustus be worshiped long after Augustus is forgotten? As Mary said, “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.”
Ever since the resurrection of Jesus, the church has been populated by people who are “someday people.” Saint Francis is an example. Born into a wealthy family in 1181 or 1182, he chose to give up everything and follow Christ. Many, including his father, saw him as a crazy man adopting an unsafe lifestyle. Francis lived with the poorest of the poor and ministered to the sick, living a life of total dependence on God. He knew what Mary knew… that the poor will be raised up and the rich sent away empty. None of us knows who the Pope was at that time or how the Crusades were going, but in nearly every wedding I have performed, and during every Advent season, I read and pray the prayer of Saint Francis.
Martin King was the one of the best of the “someday people” of the twentieth century. He said, “I have a dream that one day …the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” He knew that someday, at First Baptist, Biscoe, Nathan Cassidy would stand between Pat McBride and Julie McCaskill as together they sang that great twenty-first century Advent hymn, “I Can Only Imagine.” Martin could see a world in which a little African-American girl, Jada Cagle, would be seated between two little European- American boys, Devin Blake and Max McCaskill as they listened to their parents in the choir singing praises to the God of Mary, John, Luke, Francis and Martin.
Some day (Philippians 2:10-11 NRSV) …”at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, {11} and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Advent people bow today.
