Advent Day Seven: Questioning Angels

"Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.'

"The angel said to him, '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. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.'

"Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

"When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 'The Lord has done this for me,' she said. 'In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.'" - Luke 1:18-25

Here's an instance where I just don't understand what's happened.  Why is Zechariah's question a problem?  Why is it so offensive to the angel that he makes Zechariah mute until Elizabeth's baby is born?

As my husband said, if an angel appeared to me and told me something was going to happen, something miraculous, I'm pretty sure I'd take him seriously.  It is an angel, after all.  But characters in the Bible have been asking questions of God and his angels forever to the point of disputing the point (Moses) and outright disobedience (Jonah).

Maybe it isn't that Zechariah questioned the angel; maybe it is the nature of the question.  Zechariah asks, "How can I be sure of this" given the circumstances of my life? Another person will question the angel Gabriel in a few verses.  She will ask, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"  Zechariah's question is one of certainty.  Mary's question is one of possibility.

An angel of the LORD appeared to Zechariah.  An ANGEL of the LORD appeared to Zechariah.  

"How can I be sure of this?"

It is a question of faith and the reliability of God when he makes promises.  Like it or not, faith is not a business of verifiable facts and tangible evidence.  God's business is mysterious, miraculous, strange, counter-intuitive, the unlikeliest of outcomes from which springs forth joy, love, peace, mercy, and redemption.  

Given the fact that Zechariah was a man and Elizabeth a woman and married, their background in Jewish history probably should have been a clue that God is capable of miraculously moving a woman's womb back to childbearing years - there's Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Rachel (and Leah), Hannah, to name a few - women and men who begged God for children, couples who went barren for decades before new life blossomed inside.  Zechariah would have known these stories - he was a faithful and committed descendant of the priestly order (in today's terminology: he was a pastor's kid).  Despite what Zechariah knew about God's history of making the less likely to conceive give birth to nations, he still asks, "How can I be sure of this?" Don't give me hope.  I want certainty.

Given the choice between hope for things unseen and certainty, I think most of us would ask, "How can I be sure of this?" But every unknown I've ever stepped into with faith and hope has unfolded in beautiful and surprising ways.  I didn't know how it would work out.  I didn't even know if it would work out.  That's part of the adventure and the delight: stretching out a hand to reach for that which has promised to lead you through.

Advent Activity: Tuba Christmas

Today is Ashland's Tuba Christmas concert at noon. It should be an adventure in sitting still and listening. :)

Advent Day Six: Delivering a Message of Hope

"Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.'" - Luke 1:11-17

This isn't your average, every day pregnancy test.

In between miscarriages early in our marriage, I had to have a procedure done that caused me to wonder whether we would ever be able to conceive.  I was filled with anxiety beforehand.  Our pastor, Joe Coffey, came to the hospital to pray with us and to read us a passage of Scripture that helped to quiet our spirits.  Yes, God had called us by name.  God had promised to be with us.

When I was a student for a time in a master's program in Christian ministry, there was a dispute among students about the authorship of the New Testament letters.  If we do not know for sure who wrote them, if someone wrote them in the name of another, what are we to do with the Word of God?  After the discussion came to a heated standstill, the professor said, "A good ruler for determining whether a Word is from God (extrabiblical or biblical) is this: Does the Holy Spirit speak to someone each time the passage is read?  Maybe not for you specifically but to someone?"

There is a strange and mysterious power in words.  Words can speak life or condemnation, root into your heart and grow.  There have been times when I have felt compelled to call someone I haven't seen in a while or to write a note on Facebook or email, and in that moment I feel kind of silly, kind of embarrassed, kind of hesitant to speak.  I have learned, though, that you do not ignore those compulsions to share a word of encouragement, that inevitably, the recipient needed that word at that precise moment, to carry with her like I've carried those verses Joe gave us in our moment of need.

Our presence may not be as startling as Zechariah's angel, but we have the same power to speak hope and light into the lives that surround us, from our children to our spouses to our co-workers to our friends and even to strangers.

Advent Activity: Polar Express Movie Night

It's Friday!  Movie night in the Wells' house, and my husband is actually home this weekend, so it's an extra special movie night with all five of us here.  You can bet there will be hot chocolate tonight.  Maybe we will bring blankets out to camp on the living room floor, but even if that doesn't happen, there will certainly be snuggling.

Advent Day Five: But They Were Childless

"In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside." - Luke 1:5-10

You might know what comes next, but it might not hurt to pause here and remember that Zechariah and Elizabeth didn't know what would come next.  

After our second miscarriage, I remember my disdain for God.  I burned with anger at him.  To hearken back to yesterday's post, I stomped my feet and yelled to my father in heaven, It's not fair!  Even while I threw myself into work and professed to be "okay," I found myself retreating inward, into the chasm of grief and doubt where I spent most of my thought life asking, Why? Why? Why? Who are you anyway?!

That seemed like a long season.  I didn't know whether we'd ever conceive and carry a child to term.  What I thought I knew to be true about God was shaken.  I don't think most of our family members and friends knew the burden I carried (well, that's probably not true: I'm not exactly a private person).  We don't all go around broadcasting our fears and our doubts, our inner struggles and wrestling with God.  But that doesn't mean the wrestling match isn't taking place.  

Underneath the exterior, underneath their obedience and their righteousness, Zechariah and Elizabeth struggled with infertility.  They passed their childbearing years childless.  Maybe it had been decades.  

Do you think Zechariah ever raised his fists to the heavens?  Do you think Elizabeth ever collapsed in a heap of shuddering flesh and bones on the floor of her home, grief a puddle of tears?  I bet they did.

Maybe Zechariah and Elizabeth had long since abandoned hope of ever conceiving.  Maybe the hurt of that burden had yet to wear off.  Maybe they had settled into their lives as husband and wife, joyfully serving, the pang of childlessness dull-- maybe so far muted they hardly noticed the absence anymore.  

How silent, how unresponsive did God seem during those years?

And yet, in the mercy of stillness, in the grace of silence, Zechariah entered the temple of the Lord.

Sometimes, all we can do is enter the temple of the Lord.  And be still.  And wait.  Wait for glory to fall.  Wait for the Light.  Wait for the peace that passes understanding.  

Advent Activity: Look through Family Photo Albums

This might be one of my favorite activities during the advent season.  Each year since we moved to Ashland, I've put together an annual family photo album using Shutterfly, so now we have something like six photo albums cataloging all that we've done together the last six years.  It is heartwarming to reminisce together with our children, especially as they recall memories they've made and invent memories they couldn't possibly have acquired on their own.  Flipping through these photo albums reminds us of our family's story.  They map out our family's adventures through all of the valleys and mountains to where we have arrived today.

Advent Day Four: It's Not Fair!

"'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.'" - Jeremiah 33:14-16

My children's favorite phrase lately is "It's not fair!"  Even our two-year-old, Henry, if denied a snack ten minutes before we are supposed to eat dinner, will look up into our faces and yell, "It's not fair!"  From who gets to go first to who gets to pick out the movie, arguments abound in our house about fairness.

Something innate within us longs for justice and righteousness.  We each seem to carry a measuring rod that surveys the level of injustice and wrong in the world, most often the level of injustice that is being inflicted upon us.  How have I been wronged lately?  What pay raise has passed me by, who has cut me off in traffic?  Minor injustices, really.  And yet our bones seem to scream, It's not fair!

Never mind the long list of injustices and wrongs that are committed daily, covered in the news and inflicted in secret, in the shadows of homes, in dark alleys, injustices that leave us paralyzed by helplessness.

These are the injustices we face that make the promises of the prophets, especially this one in Jeremiah, poignant.  This righteous sprout will do what is right and just in the land.  He will rescue us from the kingdom of injustice and deliver us into the kingdom of God.  He will be called The Lord Our Righteous Savior, and the kingdom of God will descend to Earth.

Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

Advent Activity: Read a Christmas Book

Underneath our tree are about a dozen or so Christmas stories, ranging from The Night Before Christmas to A Tow Mater Christmas and everything in between. Tonight, we will take time to read a few Christmas books together near the tree, and if I am feeling extra ambitious and generous, maybe there will even be hot cocoa again.

Advent Day Three: His Resting Place

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

"He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.  He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

"In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious." - Isaiah 11:1-10

Know what my favorite part of these passages is?  The absence of danger.  The absence of fear.  The absence of destruction.  Just last night, after I had a minor parenting breakdown at Lydia's basketball practice with Henry in tow (oh, Lord, basketball season...), I put the kids to bed and returned a phone call from a neighbor who warned me to lock the doors because there was someone driving through our field who was suicidal, and I felt the muscles in my chest tighten even more than they had earlier.  A minor threat, really, but one nonetheless.  I locked my doors.

What did every heavenly body come saying?  "Do not be afraid."  What did Christ come saying?  "Do not be afraid."  The wolf will live with the lamb.  The infant will play near the cobra's den.

Oh, to know that kind of peace, to rally around the Lamb and rest in that place always!  Come, O come, Emmanuel.

Advent Activity: Play Christmas Music
I need to stay late at work tonight, so the advent activity had to be non-labor intensive.  We will play some Christmas music while we cook, and after dinner is over, my plan is to have ourselves a merry little Christmas dance party.

I was thinking about the measure of sobriety and the contrasting portion of merriment in these posts and feeling a little false with both sentiments at once.  But isn't that the way of the world?  How can we survive under the weight of reality without a little gaiety, a little joy and conviviality?  And isn't the season of advent not just about the waiting and longing for a Savior but also the rejoicing and celebration of freedom and grace that we already know because of Christ?  The troubles might seem heavier some days and some seasons than others, but these frivolous moments might be just enough to lift the burden for a bit and let the light shine in, to give us a glimpse of the kingdom where infants play near the cobra's den.

So dance to Jingle Bell Rock we will.

Advent Day Two: Isaiah 9:2-7

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." - Isaiah 9:2-7

The prophet Isaiah speaks to a nation whose people were oppressed.  Here in 2013, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we know very little about national oppression - we vote our leaders into office, for better or for worse, we are free to voice our beliefs, worship our gods, publish our words, work for a living, etc. etc. etc. You know the list of our freedoms.

For most of us, oppression manifests itself in quieter, darker, more internal ways.  There are a myriad ways our hearts may be heavy, the burden across our shoulders pressing our gazes to the ground so that we can't see the great light.  It could be the burden of debt, the burden of illness, the burden of disease, the burden of addiction, the burden of want, the burden of hunger, the burden of discontentment, the burden of depression, the burden of helplessness in the face of so many other griefs and injustices.  It is all so heavy.

What do we yearn for in times of trouble?  Maybe a wise counselor who could give guidance and encouragement.  Maybe a mighty God who can defeat the oppressors.  Maybe an everlasting father whose love and embrace can lift us up out of the darkness.  Maybe a prince of peace, who can deliver a calm that passes understanding in the middle of the storm.  We yearn for justice.  We yearn for righteousness.

God is eager to deliver these things - that's what zeal is - an eagerness, a fervor, a passion, a desire, and it is this zeal that promised to shatter the yoke that burdens us and destroy the rod of the oppressor. 

Who is this Deliverer? He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. "...In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:4-5

Advent Activity: Make Cinnamon Ornaments

The kids and I are off today for the last day of Thanksgiving break, so I thought we'd make a few cinnamon ornaments for homemade Christmas gifts.  These were great when we made them a few years back, and maybe our friends and family are ready for them again.  Here's an easy cinnamon ornament recipe.

Advent Day One: John 1:1-5

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:1-5

It is both the first day of December and the first Sunday of advent.  For the first Sunday of advent last year, I wrote a poem called, "Advent: The First Candle."  The first candle of advent symbolizes hope and represents the prophecies made about the coming Messiah.  

I'm increasingly affected by the darkness around me: death, loss, tragedy, accidents, disease, war, hunger, greed, and selfishness seem to press in around me more than they have in the past.  Life is unfair! I yell.

And yet.  The prophets spoke about a day when the darkness would pass away.  "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  The darkness isn't gone yet.  There are days when it seems like the only force, and then a flicker of hope, a flicker of light.  The darkness has not overcome the light.  "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind."

On this first Sunday of advent, remember the presence of the Light, store it away inside, let it warm you, and then embrace another so they might feel that light, that hope hot enough to kill the darkness.

Advent Activity: Make Hot Cocoa

For an extra special and easy homemade hot cocoa to warm your spirit, try two cups of almond milk heated to boiling on the stove, one tablespoon or so of honey, and two sizable chunks of real good dark chocolate melted in.  Serve to the eager little snowpeople in your world, or enjoy all by yourself next to a glowing fireplace (with a little bit of Bailey's, maybe?).