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Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant
to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
-Genesis 2:9
On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit,
producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the
healing of the nations.
-Revelation 22:2
Imagine with me for a moment that all of history, all of time, is a pond that sits between two trees: the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9) and the tree of life described in the book of Revelation (Rev. 22:2). The branches of the trees extend over the pond and intertwine so that no longer can one tell which branch, which leaf, belongs to which tree. In fact, they have become so intertwined and connected that the two trees are actually one so the distinction no longer exists. Now, imagine that a leaf falls from these two trees which are now one and it floats down and hits the surface of the pond. Notice that the ripples extend in all directions: forward, backward, and from side to side changing the whole surface of the pond, impacting all of time.
This is the Christ event – the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
In Advent we focus forward, backward, and side to side. We begin in hope by reminding ourselves and each other that all of history is moving toward God’s fulfillment of creation. We hear the prophets, along with apostles, and the various characters that will populate the Christmas story pointing us toward a vision of the world where everyone will have enough, swords will be beaten into plowshares, people will not hurt or exploit other people, all of creation will live in harmony – the lion will lie down with the lamb, the wolf and the kid together, and even death itself will be swallowed up. All the earth will be in communion with God.
We will also focus back to the waiting and anticipation of Jesus coming into the world as a baby – a human being like us, vulnerable to the world. But even he will point us back to the beginning, as “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God…and the word became flesh and dwelled among us.” (John 1:1 and 14)
Even the most casual observer will observe that the world is not the kind of place we look forward to, or even, as the story goes, back to – when the world will be/was in full communion with itself and God. Suffering, hunger, pain, greed, war and violence, fear, and a sense of scarcity are all too prevalent in our world. The world aches. Do we not ache right along with the world? Do we not ourselves worry about the future? We all long for the day when the current state of things gives way to the “age to come”, to God’s day of peace.
The cry of Advent is, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that morns in lowly exile here, until the Son of God appear…O come, Desire of nations, bind our spirits in one heart and mind; bid envy, strife and quarrels cease; fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.”
In addition, the cries of “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!” as well as “Prepare the way of the Lord!” ring out right alongside the cries of longing. We are getting ready for Christmas. We are getting ready for the arrival of Emmanuel, God with us; the one who will bring about God’s glorious vision. Along with Advent, the church celebrates Christmas, not as an end to a season of shopping and busy-ness, but as the beginning of a season of fulfillment for our longing, “…the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
However, let’s not forget the side to side – the present. Advent is also observing how Jesus is present in the world acting to heal, give life, love, reconciling, befriend, bringing justice, comfort, feeding, offering shalom, providing rest, and guiding us so that we can join in and be partners with God in the healing of the nations. We are waiting, not in reticence with the way things are, but working with Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to embody God’s day of peace now.
Christ is coming! Christ comes now! And Christ has come! Let us prepare the way of the Lord!
Shalom,
Pastor Owen
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