I have really enjoyed our Advent sermon series “Let There Be …”, particularly the imagery and the development of the metaphor of light and darkness as it relates to Jesus’ coming. As much as I love the Advent Conspiracy, it felt due to move through Advent in a different way and I’m confident that many were able to keep the missional dimension of Christmas. Once again, it’s been a meaningful Advent for me. But meaningful means I’ve had to hash it out, throw things at it, process and find something redemptive so here’s a bit of my Advent journaling.
“Light and darkness” are such excellent metaphors of Jesus’ coming. But the over-churched part of me knows how a month-long metaphor could lose its steam as there is only so much you could do with light and darkness, right? All this said, my one problem with the metaphor that I’ve been dragging around all Advent is this – Even after we experience the light of Jesus, we still experience the darkness of the world. What do we do with that?
It’s often been hoped for that upon encountering and receiving Jesus, all your problems disappear. If God needed a consultant, I would suggest this: “Almighty Father, if we’re really serious about filling our churches on planet earth, we should have clear and obvious rewards upon conversion and have incentives as each “believer” continues on. Christianity has it backwards, where you commit all this time, energy, heart and life up front on an invitation with the possibility of some heavenly reward. People who do this are either naive or have great faith but it’s not a doorbuster idea.” This is how consulting works right?
I mean what if upon belief there was no more darkness in your life? Before Jesus, you find yourself oppressed with the darkness of bankruptcy, chronic illness, and broken relationships, then after Jesus, you are experiencing the radiance of financial stability, good health, and true community. That doesn’t feel like we’re asking for too much. I could have easily exaggerated the point and said, after Jesus, we should become perfectly healthy, lottery winning, A-list celebrity. [Read more…]
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