Watch, Wait, and Wonder: A Midweek Series for Advent

 

Watch, Wait, and Wonder: A Midweek Series for Advent

The voice of one crying in the wilderness says:

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”

Hymn - Kindness by Steve Bell

        Listen Here

Let us pray.

Stir up our hearts, O Lord,

to prepare the way for the coming of your Son.

Give us courage and faith to proclaim, in word and deed,

the good news of your coming,

even as we wait in patience

for that day when Christ will come again.

Amen.

Readings

Psalm 37:3-8; 16-19; 28-29

Trust in the LORD, and do good;

    so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.

Take delight in the LORD,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;

    trust in him, and he will act.

He will make your vindication shine like the light,

    and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him;

    do not fret over those who prosper in their way,

    over those who carry out evil devices.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.

    Do not fret - it leads only to evil.

Better is a little that the righteous person has

    than the abundance of many wicked.

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

    but the LORD upholds the righteous.

The LORD knows the days of the blameless,

    and their heritage will abide forever;

they are not put to shame in evil times,

    in the days of famine they have abundance.

For the LORD loves justice;

    he will not forsake his faithful ones.

The righteous shall be kept safe forever,

    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

The righteous shall inherit the land,

    and live in it forever. 

God our strength, give us the humility to trust in your loving care, and the patience to be faithful in seeking your way, that we may come to share in the inheritance of your saints; through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

A reading from the Second Letter of Peter (3:8-15a)

    But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

    Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

    Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

Reflection

From Steve Bell's Pilgrim Year Series "Advent", Chapter 4

    I was surprised, when I started researching customs around Advent, to discover that it was traditionally more of a sober season than I had initially thought; that it had some of the feel, in fact, of Lent.

    Joyful as it was, Advent was also understood by our spiritual ancestors to be a time to examine one's life, take stock of one's allegiances and attachments, and assess their value in the light of the coming Christ. Those things that were deemed unbecoming or superfluous to the divine life were to be discarded, and a season of fasting and prayer was recommended in preparation for the feast of the Nativity.

    In the writings I studied, two words kept recurring: recollection and detachment.

Recollection

    We live incredibly fragmented lives. The ease of transportation and communication means we can belong to multiple disparate communities at once: church. works, sports, family, political, artistic - none of which needs to be organically connected to the others. Each community has its own set of social obligations and ideological commitments. Balancing them all is, unarguably, a profound stress.

    In addition, with the ascent of the Internet, we are now engaged with almost every corner of the globe at once. We have immediate access to news in other lands. We maintain friendships on other continents. We have remote opportunities to consider. And we have knowledge of terrors and tragedies over which we have no control. The cumulative effect of all this information and activity is the gnawing feeling that we are spread too thin, and that the centre cannot hold. Anxiety and distraction mark our days.

    Advent recollection in the hard spiritual practice of stepping away from the fray, gathering back the fragmented bits of ourselves that we've scattered across the multiverse and finding ourselves once again - calm, collected, and of sound mind - in possession of ourselves and ready to receive the Christ child.

Detachment

    The practice of detachment comes up over and over in the writings of the great spiritual athletes of history. Simply put, it is naïve to think we should have the capacity to attach to Christ if we are endlessly entangled by myriad lesser attachments.

     Expectant parents, living in limited space, instinctively know they must let go of certain things to make room for their new child. Some things are packed away and put in the garage; others are discarded altogether. often they recognize that significant lifestyle changes are also necessary. But those who fail to manage some degree of honest detachment from their old reality will find the new reality more of an obstruction to life than a fulfillment of it.

    To the modern ear, austerity sounds a dour tone; restraint is cheerlessly counter-intuitive; contentment is pointlessly counter-cultural. Ironically, however, the saints who sincerely practiced recollection and detachment were often renowned for their child-like joy. I have met contemporary ascetics whose countenances bear this out. They understand that when we give ourselves over to things that are neither restorative nor life-giving, we soon find ourselves greasy and glutted with paltry pleasures and petty distractions rather than exuberantly satiated with nutrient-rich fare. In our day. I suspect one reason we increasingly find the season of Christmas time to endure rather than celebrate is that we come to the table already full.

    So, from the more contemplative wing of the Church comes the encouragement to

        - take time and step out of the fray into silence, solitude, and fasting;

        - move into the desert, where there is little to distract;

        - give ourselves time to detox from the culture of endless, empty consolations and fruitless attachments;

        - provide ourselves with the opportunity to fell what it is we are really hungry for.

    A hearty hunger makes a banquet supremely inviting. An honest thirst makes a draught of wine a profound pleasure. And the absence of company makes coming together a festive joy. In short, it is the fast that makes the feast.

Hymn - Fashion for Me by Steve Bell

        Listen Here

Prayers

In peace, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God,

and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise,

let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the health of the creation, for abundant harvests that all may share,

and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For public servants, the government, and those who protect us;

for those who work to bring peace, justice, healing, and protection

in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who travel, for those who are sick and suffering,

and for those who are in captivity, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For deliverance in the time of affliction, wrath, danger, and need,

let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For all servants of the church, for this assembly,

and for all people who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy,

let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

Guide us waking, O Lord,

and guard us sleeping;

that awake we may watch with Christ

and asleep we may rest in peace.

Amen.

Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those

who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

forever and ever. Amen.

Blessing

Even as we wait, watch, and wonder,

God is with us.