First Wednesday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. 2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild. 3 They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead. 4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us. 5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire? 6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name; 7 for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland. 8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. 9 Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. 10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants. 11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die. 12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord. 13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.
Micah 5:1-5
A Promised Ruler From BethlehemMarshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod. 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” 3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. 4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 5 And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders,
Luke 21:34-38
34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” 37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
Translating Christmas
by Jenn Burnett
Jenn Burnett is lead pastor at The Well church plant in Kelowna, and has received her doctorate from Portland Seminary. She longs to see the body of Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit and contending for unity across difference. She also loves rugby, the outdoors, the colour orange and the chaos that goes with raising 4 kids.
I find the Christmas season is hard to untangle as a pastor, as a mom, and really just as a person. So many of our cultural customs have faith stories conflated with consumerism. I love how Christmas lights interrupt the darkness of our shortest days. But walking my neighbourhood it feels more like a competition of displayed extravagance rather than the candle of hope I long for. And yes, the neighbourhood I walk through actually does make it a competition. It is a bit of fun and I am all for fun, but then the bobbing blow-ups, swirling projections and rainbow-coloured lights wrapped around every tree and bush remind me more of Chevy Chase than Jesus.
My Syrian refugee friends notice these expressions of our Christmas culture with curiosity. My friend recently was showing me photos on his phone from his walks along the streets near his place. I know that he takes many photos to share with his friends still in camps in Lebanon or who have been resettled elsewhere. I can only imagine what they would think of what he shared; how our expressions of opulence contrast their current circumstances. His camera roll held many of the various light displays. He had quite a few of a yard filled with blow-up minions in red hats and a lingering looming dark figure that had clearly been left and integrated from Halloween. Light and darkness intermingled. How does one begin to explain this? How do I explain to my Muslim friend with emerging English how this is also Christmas? And yet isn’t at all Christmas.
Though they are Muslim, they are encouraged to sign up for the various Christmas hampers. They could certainly use the top-up that grocery gift cards or items would offer. And my 10-year-old friend would absolutely be blessed by a few new toys or fresh warm clothing. Last year a workplace that has a practice of giving at Christmas chose them! They generously gave a gift card and then we all debated whether to include the fake Christmas Tree that was part of their tradition or not. I do appreciate the rise in generosity in this season. I also struggle with how much of it has become arm’s length generosity. Some people donate anonymously to organizations while others sign up and are screened to receive the donations. Needs are met from a little bit of distance so there isn’t the embarrassment that might go along with merciful giving and receiving. Relationships across this economic divide aren’t nurtured. Still, this season of culturally embraced generosity is encouraging and has a faint echo of magi offering gifts to a poor baby in a manger.
The almsgiving of the early church has been woven into current practice, except that this practice is under the banner of Christmas, not simply giving to those in need. It seems strange to ask my Muslim friends to sign up for Christmas presents. Stranger still when those gifts are handed out by Santa Claus. My friend showed me another photo from his camera roll of his younger brother with Santa at the mall. And then a few with his brother experimenting with phone filters. One that makes him look like Santa.
It’s a strange thing trying to explain Santa Claus. The easiest to get clear through google translate would be to leave him as a fictional character meant to be a symbol of giving. I may leave out the way he also functions as an annual judge of children’s behaviour and that they are rewarded with material goods for their alignment with cultural ‘good behaviour’. Truthfully we’ve mostly abandoned the threat of punishment by way of coal giving. But there is another opportunity that I don’t want to miss. Because Santa Claus has a beautiful Christian origin story. My Dutch friends and relatives help because they still celebrate Sinterklaas on Dec 5th, the eve of St. Nicholas Day.
A fourth-century bishop, perhaps born in Lycia, travelled to Egypt and Palestine and finally Myrna. He also was likely at the council of Nicaea. How often have you traced Santa Claus back to the Nicene Creed? Anyway, legend holds that St. Nicholas would pay the wedding dowries for poor young women. One take on it is that he threw the coins into stockings hanging by the fire. (Yet another connection.) His love for the poor and downtrodden was a genuine expression of his faith. Some accounts maintain that his care for the vulnerable often resulted in miracles. He may have even raised the dead. People were drawn to him and sought him out in the hopes of encountering a touch from heaven.
The protestant reformation saw Saints largely removed from many cultures and St. Nicholas was no exception. A handful of European countries persisted and when they immigrated to North America the story of this saint took on a life of its own. But I love teaching children about St. Nicholas. His story, though likely also embellished, draws me so much closer to the ways of Jesus; privileging the poor with encounters of heavenly hope.
There is a glimmer of beauty in this story that I want to particularly draw out. While many of our traditions have been altered for marketability, I invite you to be curious. Dig through to the origin stories and reclaim them. And even if google translate doesn’t get it quite right, tell them anyway. Reminding ourselves is holy work too.
Thank you for reading the New Leaf Advent Reader, a collection of reflections from writers across Canada. If you are enjoying the reader, sign up to receive the readings in your inbox each day here: SIGN UP
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[1] Esau McCaulley, November 2, 2020, 2:34PM https://twitter.com/esaumccaulley/status/1322985323052388355?s=19
