The Advent Promise
Dear LFP Church Fam,
Have we entered the "Season of the Sticks?" It seems so. The rain and the grey have settled in today. Outside I see a lot of twigs on our trees, surely a sign that life is "going dormant."
And in the midst of that apparent dormancy we have entered Advent. A time of waiting. A time of hoping. A time of longing. We've just passed Cyber Monday, a full throttled attempt to pull our loves toward what is shiny and bright and new. This is all well and good, if we got a deal on something that we know our loved one might cherish. But it feels sometimes like our culture's consumeristic idols pull so hard against our greater priorities of love, relationship, and charity. This indictment by Will Collier rang true this week:
How can it be that Advent—these sparse days given to grieving prophets and a hard reckoning with our dire predicament—has taken on a measure of kitsch alongside Elf on the Shelf? Advent is ache and silence. Advent is for poor fools who’ve crashed into the end of the line. Yet we’ve somehow arrived at Advent bougie. The Powers of Enterprise have proven they can employ absolutely anything in the service of the holiday blitzkrieg.
-- Will Collier (read more of this article on his Substack https://winncollier.substack.com/p/advent-for-the-troubled-soul
Friends, if you find yourself disoriented, a bit jaded, maybe kind of depressed, or generally at the end of your rope in some way -- the Advent promise is for you. The longings for all of us in different ways are very real. And before we get to the bright hope of the Christ Child, Advent gives us a space to breathe. To be honest. To recenter our hopes on the promises of God. We are praying those longings through the Great O Antiphons this season. Prayers that reflect the deep ways Christ fulfills those longings. I invite you to join us in this journey this December.
To that end, we are doing things a little different for communion this week. I know it's raining, but come prepared to step outside into the parking lot during worship service this Sunday. We could all use a moment to get our hands dirty gripping the promise of hope and peace. Bring a rain coat. Wear some good shoes. Weather permitting we'll finish worship outside.
Oh, and don't forget to drop off a plate of goodies downstairs before you head into the sanctuary for our annual Goodie exchange!
With Joy in the Journey,
Pastor Jeff
P.S. We've got two special giving opportunities this month to consider: December 21 Christmas Joy offering with PCUSA, and our Christmas Eve offering for Vision House diversion center. Watch out for more details.