Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Advent's Humble Beginnings {Reflections}
Anticipation and reflection mark our journey through the Advent season, a time filled with both hope and longing. Have you ever wondered how the humble beginnings of Jesus contrast with the might of rulers like King Herod and Caesar? Join me as I unravel these themes, exploring the profound contrast between divine humility and worldly power. I share personal anecdotes, like the warmth of Thanksgiving gatherings with family, to illustrate the importance of connection and cherished moments amidst the rollercoaster of life's uncertainties.
We navigate the tension of living in a world where glimpses of the kingdom of God are present but not fully realized. It's about embracing life's highs and lows and recognizing the beauty in both. This episode is a call to action: celebrate the goodness around you, while also working towards healing and wholeness for yourself and your community. As we wait expectantly for God's reign, I offer solidarity and love to each of you on this shared journey, encouraging us all to be good neighbors and care for those less fortunate.
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What is up everybody? Hey Ryan here, welcome to our Reflections podcast. It's great to be with you. If you didn't know, we are in the Advent season. So here at our church and in the Christian tradition, there are many pockets that celebrate this time leading up to Christmas called Advent, and so it's generally the four weeks before Advent and it's a time of preparation for Christmas. So you don't just jump into Christmas on Christmas Day, you have this month-long preparation for it. Advent literally means it comes from this Latin, fancy Latin word, which means the coming or the arrival, which means two things One, something is not here yet. This is deeply profound. Write this down. One, something's not here yet. And two, it's going to be coming. So there's something that we're waiting for the coming, the arrival this Christmas Advent season. We're waiting for it. It's not here yet, at least not fully, but it will be coming.
Speaker 1:So in the Christmas story, of course, we wait for the coming of Jesus in the manger every Christmas day and we read Luke 2, and we watch Charlie Brown Christmas the greatest Christmas movie of all time and we wait for Jesus to be born again in this not born again, but born once more in the manger in Bethlehem, this tiny little town of a couple hundred people in the shadow of the Herodian palace, this monolithic palace, that King Herod, who was this megalomaniac king of the Jews who was really put in place and in power by the Romans, but it's right in that shadow. So if you were going to look at this story like hey, who's the king here? You would never pick this infant baby who's vulnerable, who's tiny, with no power, born to a peasant woman and an illegitimate father. You'd be like this is not the king of the world, but you'd pick Herod, or maybe the Roman Caesar, again, this incredible empire that was the greatest empire the world had ever seen, and in slips, his baby. And so we wait for that story again, because we tell it every year on Christmas Day and we wait for it. We wait for the coming and the arrival, but also we wait for the full reign and rule of God to come on earth as it is in heaven.
Speaker 1:When Jesus shows up, he brings part of the kingdom, he inaugurates the kingdom, I should say is the fancy word. He inaugurates it and brings it and he begins to put it on display and he feeds thousands of people. He heals people of their demonic possessions, he heals them of their physical ailments and he restores community wholeness, health, emotional, all these kinds of things. It's incredibly beautiful but, if you notice, he doesn't heal everybody and he leaves and there's still work to be done. And he kind of says to his followers hey, guys and ladies, it's your turn now. You go and you build this kingdom. And he gives them help, of course, because we need help. He gives them the Spirit. But.
Speaker 1:But my point is this the kingdom of God is here in part, but not fully yet. And so we wait in this in-between time where the kingdom has been inaugurated, it's been launched, kicked off, started, sparked, catalyzed, but it isn't fully here yet. And so you have this in-between feeling and gosh, I don't know if maybe it's just me, but this is the sense I have in life, this in-between I'm a bit of a wanderer. I'm kind of home, but not fully home yet. I'm not saying that heaven is someplace else. I think that the rule and reign of God will come to this place very much in this world. It'll be resurrected or remade or renewed in some dramatic way, but it's not like we're going to go out of here and go somewhere else, but the kingdom of God will come here in fullness, but I do have the sense that life is full of all these mixed emotions and experiences because of this. So you might have this sense of life being a bit of a roller coaster, like, yeah, yeah, me too. In some ways.
Speaker 1:I want this podcast to just give you permission to feel this roller coaster of a ride that is life, where you have moments of beauty and wonder that take your breath away, and love and life and forgiveness, and you believe in all things good and you believe in God and the resurrection in like 100%. One moment and the next moment you turn on the news or you turn on your X feed or Twitter or whatever it's called now and you just see the devastation that's still being wrought in the world and you're like what in the world? And yeah, that's kind of where we are. This in-between time, this liminal space We've talked about that on the podcast before but this in-between time, like a trapeze artist who's let go of one rung, who's reaching for the next rung, but he is stuck or she is stuck in midair at the moment, and it's scary and terrifying and also thrilling and exhilarating. You see the wrong and you can't quite grasp it yet. And that's life, that's how we are. And so at Advent I want you to just have permission to feel this sense of tension and have this rollercoaster of a ride where at one moment you feel great and included and lovely and the kingdom of God feels to be humming within you, and then other moments you feel disconnected or lost or a bit confused, and this range and gamut of emotions.
Speaker 1:So both my older sons are in college and last week it was Thanksgiving and, lo and behold, they both came home and it was incredible, they were home. I'm a big family night kind of guy. We're going to have a family game night and then family movie night and I make them all do it and they love it At least I make them love it. But we had a family game night. I love it, and that's part of life.
Speaker 1:You know it's like there's this up and down and I'm not going to, you know, parse out or dissect all the. You know the family kind of organization, structures, and I don't mean that. I just think life is full of these moments that are just beautiful and wonderful and like this is the kingdom of God, and then the next moment it'll break your heart sometimes, and that's part of life, that's part of it. I get that they back to college and they should be adults and that's wonderful. But there was this moment where man life is so good and also so painful at the same time, and I don't always know how to make sense of that. But I think the point is not to make sense of it Sometimes, just to be present with it.
Speaker 1:So this Advent I do want you to be awake and alert and aware and as we wait for the coming and the arrival of the King, once again in the manger, but also once again the kingdom of God to come in fullness, when all things are kind of wrapped up and God makes all things new and restores all things, and we hope and wait and pray for that day, but in this in-between time, yeah, I hope you have eyes to see and ears to hear and sense enough to notice that this kingdom is kind of here in pockets and celebrate those moments and work for them and be good to your neighbors and take care of the poor and feed those who are hungry and love on the homeless and be good to your neighbors both across the street and around the globe, and also know that there is just going to be parts of life that will break your heart, and that's part of life as well, and we push against those kinds of things and we work for wholeness and healing.
Speaker 1:But we recognize this is also part of the in-between time, and so may you notice, this Advent season, the beauty and the wonder of life and of the kingdom of God all around us. May you also have a deep sense for the places of the world that don't experience it yet, and may you pray and work towards the healing and wholeness of the kingdom of God as we wait expectantly for the rule and reign of God to come in fullness. Love you guys and know that I'm waiting alongside with you and my heart aches many days as I also celebrate the good parts of life too. I'm in that rollercoaster, right with you. But okay, love you guys. Peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget, you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 830, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering, or you can check us out online at clcelkriverorg. Peace.
