Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19, Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3:1-12
This second week of Advent, the scriptures remind us that God is clearly and visibly at work and there are people willing to tell about it. The Hebrew prophet Isaiah unabashedly proclaims the coming of the King of Kings, the one gifted by the Spirit in wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. John the Baptist boldly invites his listeners to do whatever is necessary in their lives to prepare for God because God is surely coming. The psalmist (King Solomon) sings praises simply because God alone does “wondrous things” and God’s “glory fills the whole earth.” These three men, Isaiah, John, and Solomon, though separated by generations, come together this Advent week as “one voice glorifying the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:6.) God is at work and there are people willing to tell about it.
These passages have got me wondering how God is at work in the lives of people around me. I am curious if the Spirit is moving and speaking clearly in people’s lives and for some reason no one is talking about it. No one has pulled me aside to say, “Oh, Enuma, I HAVE to tell you of the wondrous things God is doing. I can’t keep this to myself! Do you have a few minutes?” I have yet to open my front door and encounter some faithful person sharing publicly about the steadfastness of God being made manifest in their life, or someone inviting me to take a closer look at my own life and make sure I have room to welcome Wisdom, Counsel, Divine Knowledge and Holy Might because God’s stopping by for a visit. Apparently God has zoning laws cause no one is sharing of having caught any glimpses of God around “these here parts.”
Until I ask.
I am surprised and grateful for how ready people are to share about God’s presence (or lack of) in their lives once they have been honestly invited to think about it. I have found that when we create and offer such spaces for this kind of conversation both sharer and listener are blessed. Talking with one another about where we see God or where we are striving to see God can be a real way of coming together with “one voice to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Sharing openly about our faith lives can also be a way of supporting one another as we try to cultivate lives that can play host to Wisdom, Counsel, Divine Knowledge and Holy Might. We might even find ourselves invited to join in God’s work…
When we hear of God’s presence in the lives of others we can find encouragement and renewed hope that God is active. Such hope can lead to deeper trust and expectation in our own lives. And when we tell of God’s work in our lives we are reminded again of the reality of God and of the immense gift it is to serve a God who wants to dwell amongst the nitty gritty mundane aspects of our daily lives.
But here’s the challenge for most of us – we find it hard to have these conversations. We think our journey with God is our personal business. We wonder if people would think we were nuts or “Jesusfreaks” if we talked so openly about how God is working in our lives. We second guess our own experiences of the holy and chalk it up to coincidence or our imagination. We assume such conversation is self-indulgent or not substantive enough with all there is going on in the world and in our own communities. We fall victim to such thinking for countless reasons but the result is still the same: where we do not share about God’s work in our lives we all miss out in countless ways, individually and communally. And rarely do we know what we have been missing until we begin to experience new practices.
So, this second week of Advent, when the biblical saints are boldly and openly sharing what God is up to in the world I wonder if we will take the challenge to begin to ask such questions of and share with the regular old saints in our midst. My friends know that often I interrogate them as bluntly as, “So what’s God doing in your life these days?” But it doesn’t have to be that straightforward, we can offer more subtle questions if the opportunity arises (just be prepared to answer them yourselves!)
Further reflection (to ask yourself and others)
1. “So does your tradition recognize the Advent season? How?”
2. “How has this season of Advent been different for you?”
3. “Do you sense God inviting you to wait for anything in particular or to try to pay more attention this season?”
4. “What are you “expecting” from God?”
5. “What do you think God might be inviting you to be a part of this season?”
6. “Do you find yourself ignoring this Advent season? Why do you think that is?”
7. “Does this season bring up any challenging or difficult questions or memories for you?”
________________________________________
Enuma Okoro lives and writes from Durham, NC. Her most recent books are Reluctant Pilgrim: A Moody, Somewhat Self-Indulgent, Introvert’s Search for Spiritual Community, and Common Prayer: Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals co-authored with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove.
http://www.enumaokoro.com/