Advent Practice: Waiting

Lord knows I am not a patient person. I hate waiting. I am the person that will walk back and forth, looking for the shortest check-out line at the grocery store. Being stuck behind a slow driver on a two-lane highway fill my car with all sorts of colorful language.

I hate waiting. I suspect that is true of many people.

We are taught to be productive, to make good use of our time. In a world filled with commitments, our schedules are full to overflowing. Work, school, children, friends - there is always somewhere for us to get, something else for us to be doing, something to accomplish. And when we are stuck waiting, we are "wasting time."

Isn't that part of the frustration? There is somewhere to get, somewhere to go, something to do. We don't have the enough time to waste it standing around waiting.

And yet, that is precisely what Advent calls us to do - to come out to the wilderness with John the Baptist and wait.

Fittingly, this is what the people of God have done throughout our history. Abraham and Sarah are promised a child, and they grow impatient when it does not happen soon enough. When they try to take matters into their own hands and conceive through Hagar God reminds them, "Wait, I've got this."

Moses secures the freedom of the Israelites from Egypt, and they are ready to get back home, ready to come into the promised land. Instead, they head out into the wilderness where they wait - a chance for God to prepare them to come into the promise.

And now we enter into Advent, and we too receive the command: Wait. Like Abraham & Sarah, like Israel in the Wilderness, like Israel in Babylon, we have been called to the important work of waiting.

Yes, "important work of waiting." It is as we wait that we go about the work that the Baptist calls us to, preparing a path for the Lord.  The word “wait” carries with it meanings of “look for” and “expect.”

As we wait, we look for the coming Lord and the Kingdom. As we wait, we prepare expectantly for the advent of Emmanuel.

I have officiated at an inordinate number of weddings this year. Hours before the wedding service is scheduled to begin, I am at the church preparing. And while there, of course I run in to the bride- and groom-to-be. The are waiting: rushing around talking to friends and family, laughing, fixing hair and clothes, preparing their hearts for what is about to happen, getting all the last minute arrangements into place. Not a moment wasted in that waiting!

Or talk to a couple pregnant with their first child about waiting for the arrival of that child. There is a nursery to paint, cabinets to childproof, supplies to stock up on, and all sort of preparations for this huge change in their life. Not a moment wasted in that waiting!

Yes, we have busy schedules – especially this time of year. But there will be time to wait, I guarantee.

As you are standing in that long check-out line (and they are all long lines this time of year!), quit wasting time, there is important waiting to do! Say a prayer for the people in line around you and for those who do not have the luxury of buying a feast for their family.

Stuck in a traffic jam? Quit wasting time, there is important waiting to do! Give thanks that you have a car and someplace to get to.  Spend the time thinking on how you can generously share God’s love with those in need in your community.

Again and again there we will receive the gift of unexpected time this December. Quit wasting it, and get on with the important work of waiting!

Advent History: The Nativity Fast

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ….

Ok,not really. Actually in 1054 ce, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Bishop of Rome split ways. Commonly known as the Great Schism, this created a divide in Christendom between the Eastern and Western traditions. Over time, these two traditions have grown apart in their practices. Liturgical traditions in the Western church (Roman Catholic, Anglican/Episcopal, and mainline Protestant denominations) observe Advent. Churches in the Eastern church observe the Nativity Fast.

In many ways, the Nativity Fast is similar to Advent. It is a time of preparation and anticipation of the coming of Jesus. It encompasses both a remembrance of Jesus birth in Bethelehem, and the eschatological hope of his return in glory.

But unlike the four weeks of Advent, the Nativity Fast is forty days. This period of abstinence and penance begins on November 15, and concludes on December 24. In this way, the Nativity Fast is similar to a Lenten fast to which many Western Christians are accustomed. Special services are held. Greater religious discipline is expected. The liturgical colors are somber, usually purple. Adherents are asked to fast from rich foods including red meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, oil, and wine.

The focus of the time of the fast is to prepare for the Nativity (the birth of Christ). Many of the extra Bible readings are from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and lift up the prophets who foretold the incarnation: Obadiah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Daniel and the three who survived the fiery furnace.

During the Nativity Fast, several feast days are celebrated. These include the feasts of Saint Nicolas (Dec. 6), Saints Spiridon & Herman (Dec. 12), and Saint Ignatius (Dec. 20). During a feast day, the fast is broken and feasts are observed.

What can Western Christians learn from our Eastern brothers and sisters? Certainly it is a complicated question, and has many answers.

First, the Nativity Fast is truly a season of preparation – of fasting and getting ready. With the exception of the few feast days sprinkled through the forty days, Christians are encouraged to focus on getting ready. The Nativity Fast reminds us that it is not yet time to celebrate – that time will come, but it is not yet here.

Second, Nativity Fast is broken by feast days. On those days, the fast is lifted and the full bounty of our world can (and should!) be experienced. As we think about our lives as Western Christian – about office parties, family gatherings, and the intense period between Thanksgiving and Christmas – we find encouragement in the Nativity Fast. Yes (of course!), observe the season of Advent. But at the same time, participate in the joyous celebrations – the feasts – happening around you.

Although Advent is a period of preparation, we cannot – nor should we –completely separate ourselves from the world around us. Even in the midst of a fast, we find cause to enjoy God’s good gifts at the feast.

Advent Practice: Silence

We live in a noisy world. Cars driving by, cell phones ringing, TVs blaring, radios thumping. Around every corner, in every nook and cranny of our life, there is noise. We have become accustomed to it - the noise is the soundtrack of our lives.

Into all this noise, we raise our voices in prayer. We tell God what we want, what we need, what we think God should be doing in the world. And then we go back to our lives, surrounded by the noise, and wonder why God does not answer our prayers.

Last week, I found myself in conversation with a young man with his iPhone earbuds on. Don't get me wrong - I'm no curmudgeon about technology. Actually quite the opposite. Yet this conversation was near impossible. He approached me at a coffee shop, to ask directions to another spot in town. I turned, and quickly gave him directions. He said, "What?" I spoke a little more slowly, a little bit louder. Response: "I didn't catch that last bit."

St. Anne says, "Shush!" 

Without recounting the whole thing, you see where this is going. It was a very aggravating conversation. I answered him very clearly, and very directly, but my inquirer could not make sense of my answers because he was not listening.

And so it is in our lives. Sure enough, we talk to God. We are quick to tell God what we think God should be doing in the world, or to make requests to God. But we are too busy talking and listening to the noise of our lives to hear any response that God might make.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, and just known that they were not listening to you? As you talk, you can see on their face that - rather than really listening to you - they are thinking of what they are going to say next? I have a feeling that we often seem that way to God.

Advent invites us to quiet the noise, quiet down, and listen. Stop talking for a minute. Turn off some of the noise that we invite into our lives, and really - attentively and intentionally - listen.

It's not always easy - especially this time of year. But find a quiet space and a quiet moment. No phone, no music, no television, no interruptions. Find a still and quiet space in your life, and listen. For if we can hear, God is speaking.

The Lord said to Elijah, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still, small voice.
~ 1 Kings 19:11-12