Has God become routine?

Many of us do something, not because we make a choice everyday to do it, but because it’s become part and parcel of our lives, one of the things that we do. Church going can be like that, but then Advent turns up in the church year to unsettle and challenge us; to wake us up and out of our routines into some serious re-engagement with the fundamentals of our existence. Advent reminds us that all this ritual, prayer and worship isn’t just a routine that we’ve gotten used to and quite enjoy, but actually is about our eternal destiny and about the things that matter most: truth versus darkness; goodness versus evil; judgment and end times.

Wake up we are told, be watchful, get ready, be alert! Jesus might have left but He will come back; the things that you have been taught and promised are realities; God is not some dream that was imagined a good long time ago; the search for truth, the work of goodness is real.

John the Baptist is a serious prophet – not one to allow us to fall into a sleep. He shows us how repentance and conversion are united together – we can’t have the one without the other – if we repent then we change:

And the crowds asked John the Baptist, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.                 Luke 3

We are encouraged to see, or rather to perceive in Advent, and that means ultimately perceiving or discerning what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. ‘Put on the armour of light’ we are encouraged, ‘cast away the works of darkness’; of course the discernment of truth can be a murky business and we can be particularly good at deceiving ourselves. There is a very short window of opportunity when we might be willing to see ourselves as we really are. Most of the time we put the best account of ourselves forward to others, and are unwilling or at least reluctant to admit our weaknesses, failings or sin. The practice of confession is integral to the lives of Christians because it is about trying to work our way into seeing ourselves as God sees us, as we really are; and that is both a message of hope as well as a message of judgment. In Advent we hold together God’s mercy and God’s judgment and it takes courage to enter into God’s light which is a light that sees truly.

But, the good news is that the new community which is formed out of people who, in repenting their sins and reforming their ways, are led into a vision of a new creation. In the letter to the Philippians 4:8-9* we are encouraged, with the original recipients of the letter, to focus on that which is true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing and commendable. We are not told to focus on what is false, unjust, impure etc. This is a necessary correction for all of us, as it is much easier to gather in criticism and hopelessness than it is to gather in truth and hope. When we gather together as Christians, can we remind each other that to focus on that which is good, is what we are called to along with building one another up and encouraging each other? Similarly, as we turn outwards to those who don’t yet believe, it is our duty too, to be bringers of light and of hope, of truth and of justice, of mercy and of peace.

*'Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.'