White Christmas?

It looks like Portland, OR is going to have a white Christmas for the first time in years.

I'm personally very excited about this.  It may delay or cancel some of my plans, but this happens so rarely I think I can enjoy it. 

Here are some of the pictures I have taken of this exciting "snow event"

All of my snow pictures can be found here

4th Sunday of Advent - Peace

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 or Luke 1:47-55
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

We live in a world where the idea of peace seems to be a fantasy. Just turn on the news and the events and situations that present themselves are at times unbelievable. Someone has done something despicable to someone else. A husband is accused of killing his wife. A car bomb has killed innocent people in someone’s attempt to make a statement.

And even closer to home in our own lives peace is something that always seems to be out of our grasp. Things are bad at work, which for some reason we cannot leave at work. The test last week did not go well and next week’s test does not look any better. We feel sick and know something is wrong, but the doctors keep telling us that we are fine.

Yet Jesus speaks to us of peace in the midst of everything going on around us. This is one of those things that make us wonder (but would never admit to) if He remembers what life here on earth is like, because maybe He has been in heaven long enough that He sees everything through “rose colored glasses”.

But we must not forget that Jesus spoke these words while He was on earth. Before He was crucified, knowing what was coming. Jesus knew the pain, agony and death that was coming and He still spoke of peace. He spoke of a heavenly peace. A peace that we cannot understand. A peace that we would have in the midst of all the painful and frustrating experiences of this life. A peace that would make life not just bearable, but something we can enjoy.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Fourth Sunday in Advent.

3rd Sunday of Advent - Joy

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Psalm 126  or  Luke 1:47-55

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Many people try to put joy and happiness in the same camp.  They think that they are just different ways to say the same thing or convey an idea.  However, that is not the case.  Unlike happiness, joy has nothing to do with circumstances, joy comes from hope.

It is hard to talk about joy without talking about hope.  As Christians our joy flows out of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  Many who have no hope live lives of utter desperation without happiness, joy or satisfaction.

We we have hope because Jesus Christ has saved us from our sins.  But, that hope only comes when we know what we are saved from.  We are saved from the eternal consequences of our sins:  separation from God.  This hope brings us joy.

We have a hope that we will spend eternity with God, in a place where, as Isaiah tells us,  ‘sorrow and sighing will flee away’ where ‘the lame will leap like a dear and the mute tongue shout for joy.’  The hope that this brings gives this life meaning and purpose.  It makes this life bearable and it brings to our hearts joy.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Third Sunday in Advent.

2nd Sunday of Advent - Love

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

In one of the most familiar passages of scripture we are told why God sent Jesus to this earth.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It was because of love.  The word “love” in our society today does not have the same power or meaning it used to.  We love our car, we love TV show, we love the new video game, and we love our family.  If one was not paying careful attention we may see our family put on the same level as the car, TV, video game or something else.

However, this does not seem like the kind of love that would cause God to send His Son to die on a cross for the salvation of humanity.    Even Jesus commanded us to “love one another”.  But what does this really mean?

Jesus tells us that “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  This is what love is.  This is what we should mean when we use the word love.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Second Sunday in Advent.

1st Sunday of Advent - Hope

Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37

Sunday Nov. 30, 2008 marks the beginning of Advent, which also marks the beginning of a new cycle of the Christian year. The Christian year focuses the church on the major events in the life of Jesus.

Advent: The anticipation of His coming
Christmas: The celebration of his coming
Ephipany: Celebrating the visit of the Magi and later the baptism of Jesus
Lent: A 40 day fast, in honor of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness, to prepare us for Easter.
Holy Week: A remembrance of the last week of his earthly ministry
Easter: The celebration of his resurrection from the dead.
Pentecost: The birthday of the Church

The overarching theme of Advent is anticipation. We remember the anticipation of the Old Testament saints who looked for the first coming of Messiah. We who are believers experience once again the anticipation we have looking for the second coming of Messiah.

This is why we focus on the theme of “Hope” for the first Sunday of Advent. Anticipation breeds hope. We see the fulfilled hope of the Old Testament saints who were waiting for the coming of Messiah. This should inspire us as we remember the hope we have that Messiah will one day return again and take us to live with Him forever in paradise.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the First Sunday in Advent.

Rest

In a previous blog post I gave several tips on how to "Live a Balanced Life."

As I have pondered this, I think the hardest for me is number 7 - giving myself permission to relax. I have a very hard time with this. Like most of society I am programmed that if I am not doing 'something' I am wasting time. Take now for instance, I have nothing that I have to do tonight. Yet here I am posting in my blog...I have an incessant need to feel productive.

Even if I am doing something that I am not sure many people will find useful. Something that is only useful to myself, I have to do it. I can only sit and do nothing for so long without feeling like I am being lazy. Which is something I need to work on.

I know the pitfalls of always being active and never having any down time. I understand why rest is important. But it is a hard to do.

The Jewish people have a concept of a Sabbath rest. This is basically taking one day in seven away from work, away from the chores of life and just resting. This is based upon the fact that God created all of creation in six days and on the seventh He "rested" from His labor (See Genesis 2:1-3).

I am beginning to believe that there is something in this. For the Jewish people there are many spiritual and physical benefits related to the Sabbath, but I am seriously beginning to see a benefit to this. Taking one day of the week, to basically hit the 'reset' button on life.

Farmers will even let their fields "rest" by not planting them for a season and letting them return to seed. This, depending on the crop, greatly improves the quality of the future crops.

So I will encourage you as I encourage myself. To find time to rest and relax. To allow yourself time to be unproductive. To not feel the need to fill every moment of everyday with a project, goal or work.

Community

As most of you know I sing in a semi-professional choir. I have been singing in choirs since I was in high school. One of the most interesting things about a choir, is that it is one of the only groups I am a part of where every member has to give 100%.

If just one person is slacking it can (and most often does) affect the whole choir. If one person if off by a quarter of a beat, they will come in early or hold the note too long and dramatically alter the performance. Every member has to be giving their best and not holding back.

Contrary to popular opinion it takes hard work, skill, dedication and a lot of time to produce a good choral performance.

I wonder what life would be like if in every situation I found myself I applied the same dedication and commitment I do in choir. How would that affect my relationships, my job, my church, my life? How would it affect those around me?

Just think if everyone everywhere gave 100% no matter what situation they were in. Even if it was a situation they did not particularly like or want to have to deal with...say a meeting at work or a struggling relationship.

What if I took the attitude I have in choir (if I'm not giving 100% it dramatically affects the whole) to the rest of my life? I would like to think that it would produce as positive results in life as it does in choir. But, I think that for it to work like that everyone everywhere would have to have a common goal and take the same approach.

Practically I'm not sure it could work in society as a whole because of so many diverse opinions about what a common goal should be. But the church is another story.

The church is a place where Christians come to proclaim the greatness of God, fellowship with other believers and reach out into their communities with the good news of the Gospel. The church has a common goal and a common purpose. What if everyone in the church gave 100% to the common goal instead of (as is often times the case) treating church as if were something that can be done half-heartedly.

I think if everyone in the church took the attitude I have in choir (if I'm not giving 100% it dramatically affects the whole) then we would see a dramatically different church. We would not see a fractured church filled with problems. We would see a church that, even when it had problems, would have people coming together in love to solve it, instead of pointing fingers.

We would see a church that positively affectes its communities for good and fulfills its God given purpose.