Hello
Friends
I
did a little watching, warning and chasing yesterday with a few friends and
that got me a thinkin' about this the last Sunday in Advent. Of course it helped that we had just had
another storm that we had been watching for, that those weather forecasters
were warning us about and then I got to chase about in it. Here's what I am thinking.
Reading
the signs — those written on the skies, walls and windows, and those written upon the
winds of a changing world is a hard-earned skill to some and a gift to others.
One of the 12 tribes of Israel, the Tribe of Issachar, was known as the tribe
that “knows the signs and knows what to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). Jesus also
instructed his disciples to learn how to “read the signs.” Or in his words,
“You know how to read the signs of the sky. I want you to learn how to read the
signs of the times” (Luke 12:56).
But
whether we know it, or not, all of us are sign-readers. Every time our peeps
watch a stock report they are “reading the signs.” I read the signs when the
sun goes down and I watch out Bert's window for my MOM to come to pick me up. My MOM knows how to read the signs of when I
want to go outside, it's the look in my eye and the way I make the door handle
jingle when I tap it with my nose.
If
you have ever lived in the mid-west, or visited the plains during “tornado
season,” you know that one of the most important “signs” you can keep your eyes
peeled for is that little funnel cloud that appears in the corner of the TV
screen. If the funnel cloud is yellow it means there is in effect a tornado
“watch.” A yellow funnel cloud “watch” means it is time to go on “high alert,”
to be prepared, to keep vigilant, because the chance of a big, scary storm
heading your way is high.
If
the funnel cloud indicator on the screen turns red, it is time to “duck and
cover.” That color change is an indication that your area is no longer under
just a “storm watch.” You are now officially receiving a “storm warning.” Only
after someone has put actual eyes on the actual storm, is a “warning” posted.
When the forces of change are documented, shared, and on the move — that is
when a “warning” is issued to the world. That is when a “watch” becomes a
“warning.”
Today
we celebrate the final Sunday of Advent. We are in the final moments of a
“storm watch.” In three days, a “storm warning” will be declared. The Advent
Watch turns into Christmas warning. I
know you are saying "Goose brother don't you mean 'Christmas morning'.” Nope my friends I mean “Christmas warning.”
The
angelic message of the coming of the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, the one
who brings “glad tidings of great joy to all,” is also a warning message: a
message warning us that everything is now about to change. Life can no longer
be the same again. Jesus changes everything. With Jesus, the story of God went
from being carved in stone to being carved in the heart. And that my friends changes
everything.
There
is a new way of living and being in the world. The winds of change are going to
blow. A truth tornado has touched down. Kingdom come is a tornado touchdown of
beauty, truth and goodness.
Jesus
is proclaimed the “Prince of Peace” at his birth. But this “Prince of Peace,”
as Jesus himself warned, came “bringing a sword.” This is a Prince of Peace who
will be cutting through the protective layers of politics and power and
polemics that we shroud ourselves in and use to proclaim our own righteousness.
Jesus warned he was bringing “My peace . . . but not as the world gives to you."
The
miracle in Bethlehem was not meant to make way for the “miracles” of Wall
Street wizardry or the “miracle” of Best Buy gadgetry or even the Macy’s
miracle on 34th street. The miracle of Christmas made way for the miracle of
life and the miracle of love.
Urban
monk and founder of Philadelphia’s community “The Simple Way”, Shane Claiborne,
says in one of his books that he once had a conversation with a friend who
asserted “Jesus never talked to a prostitute.” When Shane protested that Jesus
spent a lot of time talking to prostitutes and other undesirables, his friend
came back and said, “Listen, Shane, Jesus never talked to a prostitute because
he didn’t see a prostitute when he talked to a prostitute. He just saw a child
of God with whom he was madly in love.”
That’s
why Jesus left behind him, not peace and quiet, but peace and disquiet, peace
and upset, peace and conflict. Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection
changed the world. And change is never easy. If you have ever gone through a
“renovation phase” at your home, you know that change brings about upheaval and
a large amount of messiness.
A
few decades ago a new team of scientists were born. They were
meta-meteorologists — aka “storm-chasers.” Storm chasers literally put caution
to the winds and “chased” around after storm cells that looked like they might
generate a tornado. Tornados are notoriously dangerous because they are so
unpredictable. Because of the (often fatal) work of these storm chasers, much
more has been learned about violent storms, their appearances, their
trajectories. Storm chasers have saved lives in dozens of communities.
Jesus
was the original storm warning – a “good news” message from God that the world
is being invited to participate in a new reality called the kingdom of God, a
divinely altered reality because of a new redeeming presence of God in this
world.
One
of the best signs of Christ’s kingdom is that the “stormy” presence of God
always disturbs the status quo. Wherever the “life as usual,” “let’s just keep
this up,” “we-never-did-it-that-way-before” mentality is in power, that is when
the disruptive, disturbing, “unpeaceful” sword of the Spirit will be unsheathed
and break forth. False peace is the bulls-eye target of the Prince of Peace.
We
can be there, we can be a part of the storm chase team. We can “share” the good
news “Christ is born.” We can be a voice against the storm of sin and evil, for
as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow put it in a verse buried in the bowels of “I
Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” – “And
in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said: ‘For hate is
strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men’.”
We
can be, all at the same time, in a state of kingdom watch, kingdom warning, and
kingdom chase, and offer our voices to join the chorus on the side of “peace on
earth, good will to all.” On this last Sunday of Advent, I implore you to...
Keep
Watching, Keep Warning, Keep Chasing.
Blessings,
Goose
