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Many of the
city buses in New Haven, Connecticut, have a sign
on the back in large letters “Don’t Zone Out.” The signs are there to
encourage people to pay attention as they drive so they won’t hit the back
of a bus stopped to pick up passengers. I want to apply this message:
Don't Zone Out to your Advent experience this year.
To make the most of Advent: “Don’t Zone Out”,
but listen to and for God.
Listen actively and attentively because God always
has a Word for us. God always has something to
say, something worth hearing, so listen.
Expect God to address you in some way. As you
worship, as you read the Scriptures, as you sign hymns and carols, as you
take a time to read the devotional booklet, as you engage with the NPC
Advent blog, as you meet friend and stranger, as you pray for the world, as
you go about your daily tasks, God has something
to say to you so Don’t Zone Out!
Listen attentively and actively to and for God.
This was the encouragement the disciples received from Jesus when they
pondered on their future and the world’s future.
Be alert at all times;
Listen to and for God!
To make the most of Advent: “Don’t Zone Out” but listen to and for God,
listen critically. See if you can make the connection between the following
reports from the Police blotter:
Sullivan, IN: A man was in critical
condition after emergency surgery for a stab wound after he and a friend
attempted a robbery.
Putnam, CT: At 3 a.m. two gunmen confronted 15 to
20 people standing outside a Wal-Mart store and demanded money.
Fresno, CA: Two people arrested after a crowd
trampled people in a parking lot.
Manchester CT: A man was beaten and robbed after
being surrounded by five men.
Englewood, OH: Two men
wearing black ski masks and sunglasses hold up 2 store employees at
gunpoint.
Allentown, PA: A teen
robbed by a man who tapped on his car window with a handgun.
Lexington, KY Someone
fired BB pellets from a passing vehicle at people waiting outside a Best Buy
store.
Henrico, VA: Police fired to get the attention of
an unruly crowd of about 350 waiting in line outside a Target store.
McLean, VA: Police fired
pepper pellets Friday morning to subdue a rowdy crowd of about 200 people
outside a Circuit City.
The link? All these cases involved people determined by hook or crook
to “acquire” the new Playstation 3 video game console. And there is still a
debate about whether such games cause violence? Even buying a video game
caused all this violence.
If we listen to unfettered consumerism, if we accept at face value any idea
or product will complete our lives, if we sell out to those who hawk their
wears to us, if we get ourselves into debt to buy a symbol of success,
then we will have been listening to the wrong message. Don’t Zone Out
– listen for God... critically!
Test the real meaning and value of all the
messages you will hear – and listen for God.
To make the most of Advent: “Don’t Zone Out” but listen to and for God,
listen purposefully. Listen
with the purpose of living changed lives; lives
renewed and refreshed because we live closer to the way God hopes we will
all live.
Today, we have entered this Season with the words of Bonhoeffer ringing in
our ears. We need to replicate the great courage demonstrated by the
Confessional Church in Germany in the 1930’s. The banner that symbolizes
their Confession of Faith, written to affirm the Lordship of Jesus Christ,
is the banner about which many people comment, given that it includes the
swastika, the graven image representative of a
hated and vile doctrine and regime. But always,
always
remember that the swastika is crossed out by the much, much greater symbol:
the Cross. The symbol of and for Jesus
Christ. Despite the
flames of hatred and violence, the cross reminds
us of God’s loving purposes in the world.
In the place and time in which we find ourselves, what is the symbol of the
message or movement or world-view that represents a “clear and present
danger” to the Christian Church today, in the same way as the swastika did
in the 1930’s?
I would suggest that the swastika could be replaced with a Pound sign or a
Euro sign or a Dollar sign or the sign for any and all of the world’s major
currencies. These currency symbols represent a world gone mad for things,
as evidenced by the fights and violence over Playstation3! We also
see people rushing over the edge into debt having bought into the idea that
the newest gadget or trinket will bring meaning or significance to their
lives. Money twists our values to breaking-point.
What else can explain the now-abandoned plan for a
division of the FOX empire to publish the OJ Simpson book, “If I Did It”,
telling how he might have murdered his ex-wife, though not admitting he did.
By the way, the last time I looked,
the bid for illicit copies of the book were at $2,200! Our
currency symbols remind us of misplaced values where some are up and some
are down; a requirement for someone to make a
profit! Yes, we could put our money symbol right there! The scary thing
is that we find the need to own and win and gain
so difficult to resist. Difficult to resist because we are so enmeshed with
the benefits of this system. You
see, I like some Fox shows “House” and “24”.
Sure their news coverage is quite unbalanced,
but I like Jack Bauer and Dr. Greg! So would I have been prepared to give
them up if the OJ book came from the same stable? We find the love of money
so difficult to resist because this very thing that is our enemy is also a
thing from which we have gained so much and which has enabled us and lots of
good people like us to do so much good – as we build churches, as we assist
the poor, as we endow schools.
Recognizing our dilemma and our need to be right with God let us be quick to
listen!
Listen…. the One for whom we wait
transcends the world’s symbols of value.
The advent of Jesus stakes out God’s commitment to
the world, to the whole world poor and rich,
the arrival of Jesus necessitates an new way of living -
giving not getting.
Whether we are ready or
not, the presence of Jesus with us and for us puts
an end to all arguments and prognostications;
the world’s way is not the way! The world’s way,
the way of division and domination, the way of
grasping and greed, the way of me-me-me and more-more-more, the way of pride
and prejudice, the way of violence and vengeance, symbolized by our money
symbols is not the way that reflects the goodness of God, it is not the way
to God, it is not God’s way! This Advent let us listen to the voice
of God in Jesus Christ so we can follow the way that God has for us.
So Listen!
Listen attentively! Listen actively! Listen purposefully! Listen critically!
Listen God is coming into our midst! Listen! Amen. |
