Advent is the season of waiting for the coming of God, for the coming of God made flesh in Jesus Christ at Christmas. But it isn’t a time of passive waiting. It’s not like we are sitting at the DMV waiting endlessly for our number to be called. It is also not a time of cowering—waiting in fear for some unknown savior to rescue us. Advent is a time of waiting with deep spiritual engagement. A time where we are well aware of the pain and challenges we face as individuals, as a community, as a world. But even as we know and name those challenges , we know there is something else and that something else is coming. The good is alive, the restoration is already underway, the roses are blooming among the thorns.
I came across a quote from the somewhat obscure 19th-century French novelist Alfonse Karr this week that I rather liked: “Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” As we enter the season of Advent, I ask us to take that attitude as our guide. To be grateful for the roses amid the thorns, to begin to see the roses amid the thorns. The promise of vaccination amidst the pandemic, for example. The lighting of the advent candles week to week. The story of Ms. Kelly, as she prevails living with AIDS even during this incredible season of pandemic. The drugs available to manage HIV exposure and disease. I am grateful that thorns have roses. I would even lift up how we are worshipping today and for the season of Advent and Christmas as a sign of the rose amid the thorns. As some of you know, we were sought out last week by a First Amendment Auditor who exercised her right to videotape and broadcast from the middle of the street whatever she could see including us and our worship services, and then egging on her viewers on YouTube to make disparaging comments about us as we were likewise exercising our First Amendment right to worship publicly and freely. We decided to move our worship into the courtyard—which we were going to do for Christmas anyway—so we wouldn’t have to contend with her distractions. And look, we have created a beautiful site for worship out of that experience. Feel how the strains and vibrations of the cello relieve our sorrow and make space for hope. Remember the words of the Advent hymns we will sing in the coming weeks: “Oh, how a rose ere blooming,” “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Taste Holy Communion for a foretaste of the Holy Future that began with the indwelling of God as the God with us.
Today, we start the season of Advent, I want to give you an assignment. It is this: “Look around you for the roses among the thorns.” Take photos, find images on your photo roll, hold fast to your memories that encapsulate the spirit of Advent—this time of waiting with our spiritual selves deeply engaged in making visible the future coming of God.
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