Advent Spirituality

I want to follow up on the Advent Theme. "Waiting" is a major theme of the OT and NT.  ('Watch' occurs 61x and 'wait' 91x in the New King James Version) It is a reminder that it is God Who makes the definitve act of salvation. We look toward that day, but waiting and watching are not passive, they are actions.

One of the hardest things for Christians to talk about is Christian behavior in relationship to God. This is especially true in the post-Augustine, post-Reformation Western church. The emphasis on God's activity sometimes is supplemented by a total disdain for human acts (refered to disparagingly as 'works'). Biblical verses like the one from Isaiah 64:1-9 this Sunday ["all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth"] illustrate this position well. "See," we are told, "the best we can do is garbage."

I am easily persuaded by such a position. Philosophically, I am keenly attuned to the idea that God's ultimate perfection is unbridgable, and in comparison to His perfect Goodness and Beauty all we have to offer is like garbage. The problem is, of course, at some point a thinking person becomes aware that "if the best I offer to God is garbage, then what difference does it make?" There is a reason why we generally make relative assessments. If a second grader was graded relative to the expectations of a PhD program, then probably the smartest kids would be getting 15% or so. Everyone would have a big, fat 'F' and the smartest kids would be told that they do not measure up. True, accurate and totally unhelpful. It is much better to grade them based on expectations of eight year olds. When a Christian [e.g., me and you] internalizes the belief that all our righteous deeds are a filthy rag, how long is it until one stops trying?

Without getting too deep into the exegesis of Isaiah, what he is saying  here is not a universal declaration that we are incapable of ever pleasing God. He is certainly not saying that good and bad deeds are all the same. He is not exhorting ancient Israel to give up trying to please God. What he is saying, and it is important, is that Israel's sin has produced desolation. That the sin is killing her. That God alone is the hope for deliverance.

Waiting and watching are active. Staying alert, scanning the horizon, living in preparation for the coming visitation is active. We are not passively laying around. We are active. Advent is active. It is focused. It is disciple (pray, study, Bible) and it is apostle (preach, teach, heal, exorcise), it is pasoral (counsel, feed hungry, provide for needy) and it is community centered (worship and work together). Those who wait for the Lord are very busy, it is just that the busyness is focused on the right things. And the busyness is directed to welcoming the Savior Lord.

If I can delight in the smiles of a six month old child, I imagine God can delight in the "righteous deeds" of His children. God does not need us, true, but He loves us. We have little to offer Him besides our love. And it seems to be the case that that is exactly what He wants. He is a Father (Isaiah also makes that point Sunday!) I know something about being a Father. I have art work on my desk which my kds made some years ago. No museum would have them, but I would not trade them for a Van Gogh! They are beautiful to me because of who made them! So compared to God we may be worth nothing, but He treasures us none the less. Plenty of reason to think that what we do matters. Plenty of reason to make the Advent season central to our spiritual discipline in the coming weeks.