more advent ..

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.       ( Isaiah 9.2 )
...
This is what God, Yahweh, says, - who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk on it -
“I, Yahweh, have called You for a righteous purpose, and I will hold You by Your hand.
I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, 
in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.    ( Isaiah 42.5-7 )

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:
                                              the blind see,
   the lame walk,
                                    those with skin diseases are healed,
                     the deaf hear,
                                                                the dead are raised,
             and the poor are told the good news.

And if anyone is not offended because of Me, they are blessed.”       ( Matthew 11.2-6 )
.. . .       .

advent
   in stages
reconciliation
   in process
as one new testament scholar puts it
   there is a sense of the done, the doing, and the not done yet
      ( in my words )

for some reason God decided to bring about reconciliation the long, hard way
but .. he's God, after all
and he gets to do it right
regardless of our take on it

selah ..~

israel's long-awaited Messiah advented some 2,000 years ago
and it changed the world
forever

humble man he was
yet focused
   determined
   unrelenting
   forthright
   frank
                        missioned
simple man
yet profound
   wise
   relevant
   challenging
                            missioned
ordinary man
yet he changed the face of God for all the world to see

he put a face on God ..

selah ..~

what do we do with this man  ?      ?

selah ..~

the sense of dread that weathered his time was palpable ..
the oppression
servitude to empire
obeisance ..
you could almost feel the cold of it

israel's statehood swallowed up in rome's empire
they had long lost their identity
slaved again

"  i am the Lord,
your God ..
it is i who brought you out of slavery in egypt and set you free  "
   repeatedly repeated in their holy writings

and then there was the passage quoted at the beginning of this post
israel had the promise of Jahweh himself
he would anoint one
send him
for release
for rescue
   salvation

messiah
long-awaited
anticipation
in the darkness
the gloom of oppression

"  i am the Lord
i am your God
with my own arm i will rescue you  "

messiah
God with arms
and feet
and eyes and hair and stomach ..

advented

selah ..~

they waited
longed for him

he came

... ..  .. . . .      .

thing is
we feel the bite of winter
   wherever there is winter's cold bite ..

but there is a winter which is a statement of being
a dreadness that chills most of the 7.2 billion humans that were alive as of 20 seconds ago
.. the majority of them shiver in the cold bite of Earth's winter

winter bites in the form of cold darkness all across this Earth
in the forms of slavery, child labour, child prostitution, hunger, lack-of-potable-water, homelessness,
drugaddiction, mental health challenges, illnesses ageing and the waiting-to-die ..        
                                                       poverty
      deprivation
                            enslavement
 hurt
            numbed by the cold of life in this fallen place

messiah stepped in to that

and he will step in again one sunshiny day
there's the ' anticipate ' for ya
right there ..
the long-for
the hope for us all
when reconciliation will be perfected

selah ..~

thing is, though ..
                           he steps in now
now
this christmas
this season

but moreso
                                now
as in now
today
here
over there
on the eastcoast
across the sea in that country

he advents right now
in
                 you
in
              me
wherever we are
wherever we will be in an hour

Messiah advented
and advents, as in present tense
through us

God advented in Jesus ..
Jesus advents in us

the same way Jesus put a face on God
we get to be
Jesus' arms
and feet
and eyes and hair and stomach

is that not what his Body is  ?
aren't we that  ?
Jesus' Body
on Earth
now           ?    ?

advent
happens                                                      
now
here
in                us
through                       us
out to the world
in Jesus' name
for God's glory
for the kingdom ..

so
advent, then ..

be advent ..

put a face on Jesus

shalom