by Lilly Lewin
It’s that time in the Season of Advent that we can lose hope and lose heart and get discouraged that we’ve had great expectations for celebrating Advent but not many of them have come to into being. It’s ten days til Christmas and that means a lot of tasks still need to be done and the do to lists are getting longer rather than shorter. At my house, we still need to get the tree and decorate it. I’ve got a stack of packages to get in the mail so they actually arrive before the day, and I’ve still got some shopping to do for the family.
One of my Advent practices was to take a walk everyday and get outside and be in nature, that hasn’t happened. Today, I posted the wrong word for @Adventword, the practice I’ve been doing of posting a photo on Instagram and facebook. The word for today is TRUST and I posted TRUTH…both start with TRU and my brain only held that much information! Thankfully I’m seeing the humor and not beating myself up over that! But if you are like me, when my to do list gets long and my sleep isn’t enough, and the things I’d hoped to do haven’t happened, I can get really discouraged and even forget the good stuff that has happened this month, this Advent.
So let’s take a deep breath and start again!
Happy Advent! Happy #almostChristmas Happy Middle of December!
We are getting ready to light the JOY candle in the Advent wreath this Sunday. I started lighting my JOY candle today since we lose a week of Advent with Christmas eve falling on a Sunday this year and because I need the reminders of JOY, PEACE and HOPE of the three candles right now! I need to reboot my practice, I need to find new joy and reboot Advent.
I’m grateful for the signs of Hope, Peace, and Joy I’ve seen this week: in Alabama, in hosting a Christmas Sacred Space at our home, the squirrels not totally dismantling the birdfeeder and allowing the birds to actually have some of the seed and the beautiful sunsets we’ve had in Nashville.
How about you? How is your Advent going? Are you finding signs of Hope, Peace, and Joy this week, this month?
Or do you need to reboot and have a do over? Do you need to take a deep breath and pause? Maybe you need to take time to laugh and find joy in something simple. What would bring you Joy today? What can you do to find Hope, Peace and Joy between now and Deceember 25th?
Here are a few things that can help you reboot your Advent:
1. Watch something funny! Yesterday I saw this great video from a Christmas Pageant where the sheep stole the show! I laughed so hard I cried!
2. Watch something meaningful! One of my favorite Christmas movies is “Millions” it brings me hope! I watched it while folding laundry and doing dishes!
3. Check in with someone who brings you hope! My friends Martin and Sally Poole live in Brighton England. Their church hosts and Martin curates a Beach Hut Advent Calendar using the Beach Huts along the Brighton and Hove seafront. One hut opens it’s doors each night for the community! This is their 10th year Anniversary of hosting this event! We all can follow along here and receive the Beauty, Hope and Joy of the Season!
So once again, Happy Advent! Happy Almost Christmas! Happy Middle of December! Enjoy today, receive permission to reboot Advent and watch for the JOY 
along the way.
As Christmas approaches one of the things I am aware of is how white our images of Christmas tend to be. I very much appreciate Leroy Barber’s help in opening my eyes to this and my need to expand my vision of God and of Christ by deliberately choosing other images, many of which are far more realistic to the gospel story. The beautiful image above and the song below are two that have provided fresh perspectives for me this Christmas.
By Trevor Horn —
“I can’t believe you support those people. They need to get the f*** out of our city. It’s not my problem,” vehemently responded one lady to our team.
Last Sunday, a number of us from Kardia ventured out to continue our More Than Me campaign. The entire central focus of this campaign is learning to live for more than me in a culture that says everything is about me. This is especially true in a season around Christmas that has become centered on materialism and sales versus the true meaning of this season. Our campaign this Christmas season is focused specifically on homelessness in our city.
Recently, our team made signs like you would see from homeless folks but with a twist. For example my sign said, “Family of 4 Provided 4” or we had another girl on the team write, “Always had a roof over my head.” The core idea was that we would write truth statements about our lives but then stand on street corners to raise money for the homeless in our community.
Last Sunday, as we stood on street corners we got a wide range of reactions. Some were upset because they didn’t want the homeless in our city. Some were encouraged that we would be willing to stand for hours outside to bring awareness and raise money. But the greater reaction was one that we all knew all too well…indifference.
The first hour on the streets most of us were full of smiles and joy as we stood on the street with great expectancy. But slowly but surely a strange feeling set in. Person after person would walk or drive by and never even acknowledge that we were there. Like we were some sort of social pariah’s who didn’t belong or less than human. The good and bad reactions were a much smaller margin compared to the thousands of people who went by indifferent, bent on living their normal life without any sort of care for what happened outside of their 9 to 5, starbucks holiday drink runs and shopping.
As several hours went by I started to realize that the real issue wasn’t just all THOSE indifferent people but that I am one of THEM. I am one of the people who gets so locked into my 9 to 5 that I don’t take time to realize the basic humanity of the person on the street corner and fails to even make eye contact. I am one of the people who spends way too much on Starbucks holiday drinks and gifts for my own family. I am the person who lives with great indifference in light of the great injustices around me. I am the person who would say that this homelessness is not my problem. Through the process of being on the street corner my heart began to break for those who actually stood there to get money for their next meal or who stood there for 10 hours a day in the cold to just get by.
With the money we gained by being on the street, the following week in our groups at Kardia Church, we put together care packages for our homeless friends. The intention is for our people to be able to give out these packages filled with gloves, socks, power bars, a special note, hand warmers and treats during this season as they befriend those in their daily lives that are on the streets. A tool for deeper connection and to also have something to give. We also plan on continuing working with the organizations that are already doing so much in our city as part of our monthly group rhythms.
I realize that this campaign won’t end homelessness in the city and that as a new church plant we are limited to what we can do. BUT we can do something. The great failure in our city is when good people do nothing. I have a long way to go like many of us but I know that I refuse to be a person who will be caught in a life of indifference towards the homeless community and for the greater justice issues in our city. I know that I refuse to be a person who will only live for himself this Christmas season. I know that at Kardia we refuse to a community of people who live unchanged by the love of God and will relentlessly pursue practicing the way of Jesus.
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey we invite YOU to join us in living More Than Me. If you are in Seattle, we welcome you to check out our church and join a group where we are learning and implementing our More Than campaign. There are many creative ways you can live more than yourself in your own community too. I don’t care how you do it, but ultimately I care that all of us would live a life More Than Me this Christmas season.
As you know Leonard Cohen’s song Anthem is one of my favourites. I have used it in the past for my Monday meditations Today however I came across this rendition of another favourite that I thought you might enjoy during this Advent and Christmas season, his beautiful song Hallelujah.
By John Birch —
Luke 1:39-45 “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
As a mother, the narrative of Mary during the Christmas season seems to come more alive. Imagine you are Mary. You just got the news that you are the lucky one to carry the Son of God and have the privilege to raise him. Plus, with all the cultural implications behind not being married, looking like an adulterer, etc this is no small task! So what would you do after hearing this?
I think I would do exactly what Mary did.
Run quickly to my closest kin who the angel mentioned as part of the story anyways and talk about what just happened even though she agreed with such faith. I don’t think I could contain that incident. Just imagine the thoughts going through her head… “I JUST SAW A FREAKING ANGEL! THE MESSIAH IS COMING! And I get to be his mother?!” Like most women, I would just need to process that out loud with trusted friend.
So after Mary greeted Elizabeth, she was rewarded with such assurance from her step of obedience and faith. The baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit that led her to shout with a joyful message. I am positive this message encouraged Mary with her faithfulness and reassured her that the Lord is true to His promises. I am sure she was probably expecting a much different greeting and reaction!
Yet, Elizabeth spoke a prophetic word to her that Mary can hold onto even when things will get tough for her in the future. She didn’t tell her she was nuts, believe the worst in her, but gave her a gift of encouragement from the Lord.
How often do we need someone to shout a joyful assurance to us? When the going gets tough we often can find ourselves isolated, believing we need to figure it out on our own. But God puts people like Elizabeth in our lives to spur us on.
Like Mary, we try not to doubt, but rejoice and be assured that God keeps his promises to what he speaks to us. And often, we need to not hide those promises or bury them because we lack faith or assurance that they will come forth. But to speak them out to our community so they can encourage us in them. Not only this, but to encourage others in their promises with a joyful prophetic word. Trust and joy are two vital aspects of walking with God and often we need community to help us confirm those promises. To give us joyful assurances.
This season I am hoping to bring the joy, peace and love of Jesus to my community. When people have dreams, to not be a doubter but a cheerleader. When people are down, to help lift them up. Maybe it’s through encouragement, speaking truth and reassurance in their life. Let us be people like Elizabeth who speak truth and hope over people’s lives when they are in hard times, good times or stale times. May the message of Jesus be heard all around us in word and deed this Christmas.
By Britni D’Eliso —
Luke 1:11-17: “And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
At the age of 7, I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I often spent my free time playing “classroom” with my stuffed animals, spent every Sunday of my middle school years working with the children’s church classes and sought out a University with a reputable education program.
Though my desire to teach remained steadfast throughout my childhood and adolescent years, God pulled some strings my sophomore year of college and sent me on an entirely different career journey… and I must say that I am extremely grateful for his intervention and beyond satisfied with where I’m headed now.
Now John the Baptist had his “career” choice established for him, prior to his very conception. His life was to be set apart, with fairly strict guidelines given by Gabriel himself, and they didn’t seem to leave much wiggle room. Though his calling to continue the message of Ezekiel in preparing the people of that day for the coming of the Messiah was of the highest honor for him and his family, we don’t read of how he may have wrestled through a life of probable seclusion and questioning. John was a 14 year old boy at some point…what did he think of his set apart life then?
We read later in Luke that John grew and became strong in spirit and fulfilled his distinct purpose with fervor as he devoted his life to preparing the way for the Lord. His message of repentance and reconciliation could not have been an easy one to convey, but he did so valiantly, and as a result, the story of Jesus was made possible.
Though our calling may not be as direct or as unique as John’s, we have been invited to continue in his message. It’s a message that will alter our current course in life and will arrive in an inconvenient fashion and will require committed sacrifice; but let us not lose sight of the beautiful fact that when we engage in preparing the way for our Lord, we join a Kingdom-wide movement of restoration.
How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:7
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