Candlelight & Hope

N.B. In Advent Christians light the Advent Wreath. In Hanukkah Jews light the Menorah. Some thoughts about Hope. 

Put on the Armor of Light

The Advent wreath is in place. The Christmas Tree from Halifax, Nova Scotia has arrived and thousands of lights brighten the night sky on the Boston Common. In our evening driving, more and more homes are now decorated for the Christmas Holy Season. Many use the word Holiday, but I like to use the root words; “Holy Day”. That’s because time is holy. Life is holy. God’s Creation is Holy. The days become shorter and shorter as we approach the Winter solstice. It brightens our souls to see Christmas lights brighten our homes. The passing of the Seasons reminds me of the lovely old Sunday School Hymn I learned as a child.

Advent tells us, Christ is near:

Christmas tells us Christ is here!

In Epiphany we trace

All the glory of God’s grace.

On those Sundays during Lent

The Bible tells us to repent;

That in Lent we may within

Earnestly confess our sin.

Holy Week and Easter, then,

Tell who died and rose again;

O that happy Easter day!

“Christ is risen indeed,” we say.

Yes, and Christ ascended, too,

To prepare a place for you;

So we give Him special praise,

After those great Fifty Days,

When God sent the Holy Ghost,

On the day of Pentecost,

With us ever to abide:

Well may we keep Whitsuntide!

Last of all, we gladly sing

Glory to our God and king,

Glory to the One in three,

On the Feast of Trinity.

   ~based on words by A Katherine Hankey, 1888

The Church Year so simply and succinctly summarized!

The contrast between the works of darkness and the armor of light is as clear as night and day. We can be children of the darkness or we can be a children of the light. For the sake of our survival and redemption we need to know the difference. As Jesus came to us in a manger, born of a human mother, reared in a home in Nazareth, and ministered to us in Galilee, so we learn to put away the works of darkness and to put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life. This is what our Advent Collect teaches. In our Baptism we renounce the works of darkness. We turn to the light and embrace the love of God and his righteousness. More and more we become courageous agents of God’s love in a dark world. In our mortal life we embrace the eternal life of God. This is our “end” and our purpose for living. 

The Gospel teaches that the end is always at hand. We just don’t know when, how, where or what. Jesus taught us to be watchful; awake and alert to the facts.  

The signs of the end are all around, and Jesus tells us; “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” It may be the kind of end that references the end of a civilization or an era. We can name some of them like the Classical Civilizations; the Greece and Rome of Jesus. There were the Dark Ages, although we also know that Celtic Civilization flourished at the same time and preserved many of the writings of the ancients. The Renaissance and the Reformation brought a new birth of science, art, and literature and spirituality to life. The effects of the Industrial Revolution are still with us as we move into the Information Age. Nations come and nations go. 

Nature also sees its ends and new beginnings. The process of natural selection and evolution are as inevitable and immutable as any law of nature. Many species go into extinction as the influence of human activity and other influences encroach upon them. We nearly saw the end of the Buffalo and the American Bald Eagle. But with careful intervention, we managed to nurture them back into abundance once again. Not long ago, I read of the return of the American Bald Eagle to the City of Boston in the estuary of the Neponset River. It made my heart rejoice to read of it. In a visit to Yellowstone National Park. Several years back, I saw with my own eyes an abundance of Buffalo, Elk and Antelope. It is a magnificent sight. 

The recent publication of “The Fourth National Climate Assessment” indicates that there is a growing preponderance of evidence of global warming. Melting polar ice caps; and glacial cover in the Himalayas, the Alps, Greenland and Alaska all point to significant and unavoidable change to our planet. We are free to recognize the prophetic utterance and do something about it. Or we may choose to bury our heads in the sand. Your call!

Whether it is personal, natural, political, social or spiritual; the biblical message is clear; The End is At Hand. 

That is only one kind of “end” however. There is another. For what end have you and I been created? What is our “purpose”. What is the “reason” for our being here? 

Life is busy and hectic at this time of year. But unless it is centered in what our purpose in life is, we run the risk of merely running around in circles like a gerbil on a treadmill. Sometimes I wonder about Advent. We tend to gloss over this wonderful season of urgent expectation. The music, the decoration, the celebration are all a wee bit premature. We celebrate the birth of the Child before he gets here, and then after all the hoopla, there is a let down. No sooner than the Christmas Dinner is over, we cannot help but sigh and say; “Oh well, that’s Christmas for another year!” Then the January “doldrums” set in and we find ourselves in a funk.

That’s not what the Church Year teaches. The Sanctification of Time teaches that every moment of your life is worth celebrating. Christmas is a season that is born with a Baby. As you and I both know, the birth of a child is but the beginning of a long story. Even when a child grows into adulthood, you’re not done. And you know it! Sometimes they move right back into the house, and on and on the story goes. 

The Christmas Season extends 12 days out until it bursts forth into glory with the The Season of Epiphany. The Wise Men come to worship, Jesus is Baptized, and then his early ministry emerges. At the conclusion of The Epiphany season, we celebrate the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Holy Mountain. There is so much life to celebrate.

Our “end” is not a conclusion only. Our “end” is a reason for being. Why has God put you here? With what love, and compassion does God want you to live this life? George H. W. Bush said that he was not afraid of death, he had so much to live for. Good Lord, the man parachuted out of an airplane on his 90th birthday. God rest your soul Mr. President. I’m glad you are back with Barbara!

You and I are set in a world of Darkness and despair. The Season of Advent is born in Hope. The very first candle of our Advent Wreath says so. How can we be present to those who despair? For so many there is no God or Jesus. If there is no God there is no Hope. If there is no Jesus, there is no Redemption. The world needs a People of Hope. That’s where you and I come in. We are the People of the Christian Hope.

The Catechism teaches us; “The Christian Hope is to live with confidence in newness and fullness of life, and to await the coming of Christ in glory, and the completion of God’s purpose for the world…Jesus does not come in weakness but in power…everlasting life is a new existence in which we are united with all the people of God, in the joy of fully knowing and loving God and each other.” ~Book of Common Prayer, page 861

I love Advent. Jesus teaches us that the End is near. Jesus will come again! I take that as Good News. My end and yours is to live on purpose for God until our life’s end. This is what gives us Hope. This is what gives the whole world hope. 

Mary and Joseph had a long way to go as they prepared for the Birth of the Holy Child. So too for us. We have a long way to go to Bethlehem. Into the Darkness we go with courage and confidence.  Put on the Armor of Light, now in the Time of this mortal life!

In the Name of God, the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity.

Amen.

Fr Paul