Wondering Pilgrim

Advent Voices – the Pointers

There have always been those who point the way – often only to the next marker, for even they cannot see beyond the fog. John’s gospel (ch 1:6-8, 19-28) introduces us to one who points to the source of life and light. Such pointing often leads to confrontation with those who are committed to pointing only to the next visible marker – often in the shape of short-term, easy-fix, immediate satisfaction goals.

Witness the peaceful protests by fifty Australian Christian leaders yesterday concerning children in detention and the imminent deportation of 25 infants to the hellish conditions on Nauru. Temporal political point-scoring may be a desirable outcome for a nation that has lost its way. Pointing to the Logos, the source of light, life and truth, illumines the fact that, no matter how attractive these short-term markers are – they are going the wrong way.

John the Pointer (aka the Baptist) was an irritation to leaders whose hearts were set on their markers then. It seems that Christian pointers in Australia, who submit to arrest and even strip-search to highlight the way illuminated by the Source, are as much an irritation today.

Advent Voices – Human Rights Day

This day’s reminder to respect and uphold universal human rights is more than the left of centre pre-occupation – it is fundamental to maintaining and enhancing our integrity as people. The beatific vision of Isaiah 65:17-25 that rhapsodises new heavens and a new earth, while initiated by YHWH, can be imagined to be addressed through people given to the vision of the reign of shalom. Such is granted for the removal of barriers that prevent access to full health, education, nutrition, shelter and meaningful vocation. Such universal “reminder” days help us to maintain focus and direction, particularly when tempted to succumb to lesser self-serving narratives.

Advent Voices – plain speaking

Russian icon of the Prophet Isaiah, 18th century (iconostasis of Transfiguration Church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia). Public Domain

“For I, YHWH, love justice…”

So continues the rest of the oracle in Isaiah 61:8-11.

Isaiah’s euphoric response to God’s affirmation assumes a community that is equally responsive, having embraced an equal love for justice tempered with loving-kindness and mercy. It is infused with the life-giving Spirit that binds all together. This reality goes far beyond personal belief that is merely assent to a set of propositions. It is faith and love in pro-active vigour – creative imagining of how even the least regarded within the community can enjoy a transformation. It is an infusion of the manifesto of the chapter’s beginning into daily experience.

WE NEED MORE RELIGION, NOT LESS

Wise words from my neighbour across the valley…

WE HAVE A DREAM TOO

The statement sticks in my mind as if attached with glue – something that is quite rare as I approach senility. It was the statement of Greg Barton, the Director of The Global Terrorism Research Centre. He was speaking about the rise of Islamic State (IS) in Northern Iraq and said “We need more religion, not less”. The point he was making was that “there is a need to do some positive counter messaging and so far no-one is doing it very well …….. The message of I.S. is a positive message (leave the comforts of home behind, fulfill your religious destiny and you’ll be part of history) and we need to demythologize it ….. We need more religion, not less.”

The statement reminds me of an article by John Gray in the Financial Review where he applauded Karen Armstrong’s “Fields of Blood” and accused secularists of distorting the present…

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Advent Voices: a manifesto against our latest law

Isaiah 61:1-7 is repeated in Luke 4 by Jesus when he announces the blueprint of his operations.
It is the antithesis of the Immigration Bill allowed by the Australian Senate last Thursday night.

It is a strong Advent voice that calls the Australian people to account.
It comes not as warning, but as proclamation of the inevitable, in spite of our mean machinations:

Good news is there for the oppressed;
Binding is present for the broken-hearted;
Liberty for captives is proclaimed, as is release for prisoners!

Australian people, get on board and stop fighting the inevitable! This legislation is a feeble whimper against the storm of goodwill and compassion that our population will find once again because the unspeakable horror that this law exposes us to will wake us up.

Second Sunday in Advent – Peace

Wembley Downs Church of Christ

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight”

Isaiah’s oracle is how Mark’s Gospel begins – straight into a face off with the powers of the land. Isaiah’s prophecy finds flesh with the arrival of John the Baptist. He calls the people out of their day to day stupor – out into the wilderness to face the challenge of renewal of heart and mind and a new beginning. In this way, they prepare for the coming of One who will unite them into a new way of community where the Hebrew gift of shalom can find full expression.

No more dissemblance from political ivory towers, no more cheating, no more cruelty, no more cheap bartering with human lives…

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Advent Voices – Peter

St. Peter Preaching the Gospel in the Catacombs by Jan Styka, Public Domain

In a world that is growing increasingly dystopian, the realisation of the realm of shalom ushered in by Jesus seems to be getting further and further away, or perhaps being driven further underground. “Patience!” counsels Peter to his persecuted community: “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.”

In the meantime? “Strive to be at peace, without spot or blemish.” Maintain focus on the Way you have been called to walk, no matter the obstacles, distractions and disappointments. Cultivate patience as part of the process towards the sacred vision that awaits fulfilment.

Advent Voices – John’s cousin

Puvis de Chavannes, The Beheading of St John the Baptist, c. 1869, Public Domain

John could not go around saying the things he was saying without attracting the attention of the authorities and he ends up in Herod’s dungeon. By now the one to whom he had been pointing, his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, is traveling the land, teaching and healing in the manner that John had predicted. Even strong voices can falter under stress (as seen in our own Senate last night), and Jesus, having reassured the wavering John, impresses John’s pedigree upon the crowd. “Don’t lose focus,” he virtually says, “you received the integrity of John’s message then – nothing has changed. Regardless of what you perceive to be happening, the implementation of the reign of God is on course.”

Advent Voices – John the Baptizer

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons — Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Zechariah’s son certainly made up for his father’s speechlessness before John’s birth! John’s call is to repentance – an intentional reorientation of heart, soul, mind and action. Zechariah’s silence had been the stillness before the storm that sweeps clean. Such was John’s magnetic appeal that crowds went out into the wilderness to hear him. His advent voice was a true call for preparation – we need to be “tuned in” and receptive to truly appreciate what is about to happen in our midst.

Advent Voices – Mute Zechariah

GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico Zacharias Writes Down the Name of his Son Fresco Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Public Domain

Can the voiceless speak? Zechariah was struck mute when he questioned the veracity of an acutely personal Advent vision while he was performing his set priestly duties in the temple. Luke 1:5-17. (Never say serving on a church roster is boring and humdrum!)

Apparently so. We read on and find that when he emerged from the sanctuary, people wondered at his speechlessness and realised he had been visited by some divine encounter. He kept serving the temple in silence until it was time to return to his home – to await the birth of his son whom the angel, Gabriel, had directed him to name John – already marked as special by Zechariah’s community because of the speechless father that had emerged from the sanctuary that morning.