Happy New Year (Election Is Over)

I have spent five of the last six years in Brazil, which I sometimes call living in “the upside down.” The sun may still rise in the east and set in the west, but the face of the moon appears upside down as do some other constellations, at least the ones you also get to see up there. Summer starts just before Christmas, while winter waits till late June. And so the new year in January is a time of heat down here, as so many of my neighbors flee the steaming concrete of the city for the refreshing breeze of the beach. Hot Christmases and New Year's Days take some getting used to.

But that's not all, as a relative newcomer to the church's calendar, I am still adjusting to resetting the new year every late November as Advent begins. Some years it sneaks up on me amid all the other things going on in my life. But this year? I am more than ready for it before it begins, because I need to be reminded of who I am and who God's people really are. Or at least what we are called to be.

Advent resets our calendar by relaunching our “brand” as God's people. We have a month-long lead up to Christmas in which we focus on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. I say a reset because the past several months have focused too much on Fear, Falling-apart, Despair, and Indifference. I'd like to say that us Christians are more immune to the forces of attention that get unleashed upon the world through all the endless, clamoring noise and news, especially in an election season. But, sadly, I am not immune; neither are you. And all our neighbors are watching and listening.

And so here comes Advent. I bought a poinsettia today to remind me of the season; they grow naturally here and love the summer sun. It and our Christmas tree will be steady reminders in our home of the glories and blessings of God's promises made and God's promises kept. 

The angel told Joseph and Mary that her child will be called Jesus because he will save his people from their sins, and he will be great. Matthew then comments that this child will be Immanuel - which means God with us. With us in all our fear, our falling apart, our despair, and our indifference. 

Mary's child, Jesus, grew in wisdom and stature. As a prophet he was despised and rejected, especially in his hometown. He became an itinerant teacher with fishermen and supposed fools for followers. He dined with outcast women as well as the despised tax collectors. Any and all ragamuffins of society seemed drawn to him. He said he was their good shepherd. He said he would take their burdens and replace them with something easy and light. 

But not everyone was pleased. Respectable, self-sufficient people didn't know what to do when Jesus told them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The rich and well-to-do weren't willing to deny themselves and take up their cross in order to follow him. A cross?, they balked, that cursed instrument of torture and death? Religious leaders who knew the Bible were threatened by Jesus, so they wanted to kill him. He flustered high priests and council members. He disappointed kings when he refused to entertain them. He confused politicians who flogged him and dangled him in front of a crowd. But that crowd picked an insurrectionist named Barabbas over him. They demanded he be crucified, so crucified he was. He struggled in front of onlookers as he slowly headed outside the city gates. Once there, at a place named after a skull, he was nailed to a cross, abandoned by his fearful followers, mocked by bored soldiers, and gawked at by smug onlookers until he died. He was then buried and left behind by a bustling city on one of its busiest days of the year. 

But he'd never be forgotten. Jesus never stops being God with us. For he did not stay dead in the tomb. He rose again, just like he said. He did not leave his little flock as orphans, just as he promised. His people's Fear turned to Hope, their Falling-Apart became Peace, their Despair flipped to Joy, and among all those who were Indifferent to him, well, he Loved them also. And he tells us, his people, to go and do likewise.

As Jordan Harrell reminds us many things can be “biblical,” even slavery, genocide, and patriarchy. But fewer things are Christlike, such as breaking chains, loving enemies, and elevating women. It is Christ, after all, who gives us the name Christians. And it is Christ who determines our brand as his people. At Advent we have an opportunity for a New Year's Resolution to no longer be caught up in the billowing waves of the world's agenda that aim to drown our witness and dim our light. 

The New Year reminds us;

Our brand is Hope.

Our brand is Peace.

Our brand is Joy.

Our brand is Love.

Our Lamb is Christ, who has conquered. Him we will follow!