Advent Again

“God, make us new again.
Let your face smile on us with favor.
Then we will be saved.”
--Psalm 80:3

In an intriguing episode of the classic sci-fi tv show X-Files, Agent Scully, the female FBI agent heroine, was facing an uphill battle against cancer. Agent Scully was a driven career woman. She had gotten far with her brains, her talent, and her pluckiness. She was trained as a medical doctor and her faith was squarely in science.

Agent Scully was home for the holidays and her mother had a large meal planned. She invited family and friends, among them their parish priest. Father McKay took time to talk with Scully about her cancer and the faith she had forsaken. She firmly told Father McKay to get lost. She had no need for religious faith. Her career and her science would sustain her quite well.

As her cancer progressed and her doctors treat it more aggressively her attitude begins to change. She faces losing her career as she grows weaker and weaker. The science she dearly loved had not been able to save her. She became aware of her need to be connected to a higher power. In a moving scene, she apologized to her mother for being so abrupt with Father McKay and asked that he come to see her. The episode concluded with Father McKay at her bedside as they prayed together.

Agent Scully became aware of her deep need for God. The psalmist recognized this need when he cried out: “God, make us new again. Let your face smile on us with favor. Then we will be saved” (Psalm 80:3). It’s awareness hard to come by. After all, there is bit of Agent Scully in all of us. We fancy ourselves as independent and self-reliant. From an early age we are taught to be self-sufficient. All of this hinders the awareness of our need for God.

The Church calendar calls these weeks before Christmas Advent. In Advent, we anticipate God smiling on us with favor in the coming of Jesus Christ. These days before Christmas bring excellent opportunities to prepare for a fresh coming of Jesus into our lives. Recent events should convince us that there is no amount of money, no politician, no job, no scientific theory … no person or thing… that can be counted on to bring renewal to our lives. A proper understanding of our lives will lead us to an awareness of our great need for God. It is a constant need. Only a fresh advent of Jesus in our hearts can meet that need. We wait…we anticipate…we long for…the promised
coming of the Lord.

Let every heart prepare Him room!

Intimacy with God

I've been reading a spiritual classic: Thomas Keating's Intimacy with God. It's been very eye-opening to me. One concept is the observation that we become present to God only by our consent. We will only give our consent if we trust. From today's reading, Keating's observation on trusting God:

The Christian spiritual path is based on a deepening trust in God. It is trust that first allows us to take that initial leap in the dark, to encounter God at deeper levels of ourselves. And it is trust that guides the intimate refashioning of our being, the transformation of our pain, woundedness, and unconscious motivation into the person that God intended us to be. [Thomas Keating, Intimacy with God (Crossroad, 1994):22]

Let it be with me...

Luke 1:35-38

I read this passage again while I was in Minnesota for my father’s memorial service. I am always struck by Mary’s willingness to accept the lot in life that was set before her. The news that the angel delivered was both exciting and scary. As an unmarried young woman in her culture, the implications of her pregnancy were life-changing…far deeper than simply becoming a mother. She would have to endure much. She risked losing a lot. So her ability to say, “Let it be with me…” was a very big thing.

There is challenge for me, as I believe there is for many Christians, found in Mary’s response. Are we able to accept the lots in life that we are dealt? Are we willing to endure the consequences and the challenges that God allows into our lives? Will we live yielded to God’s way and power so we can say, “Let it be with me…”?

It’s important to recognize that when Mary said “yes” to God, she was also saying “yes” to the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary was not in it alone. God’s Spirit was with her, and in due time, God’s Savior would be with her. Whether life is dealing you hardship or opportunity…whatever challenges or rewards lay before you…there is much to endure and much to risk. Fortunately, we live in the generous grace of God who reassures us that “…nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

To get to the place of saying “Let it be with me...” you and I have to answer a big question. “Will I trust God and the Spirit’s power?” When I read this a few weeks ago I found myself confessing that I was taking on a lot in my life without yielding to God’s power and guidance. I was worn out. God’s gracious word to me was that I wouldn’t get through the challenges of dad’s memorial service and the Christmas season very well without inviting God’s presence and power into ALL facets of my life. I share this with you because I believe many who read this know exactly what I am talking about. My confession is your confession.

The Advent season is a time of preparation to receive God’s Messiah. It’s our opportunity to deepen our trust in God and to yield ourselves to the Spirit’s leading and power. Christmas gives us the opportunity to welcome Jesus into our lives afresh. It is from this place of trust and yieldedness…it is when we can say “Let it be with me…” that we discover the very real power and grace of God.