(Written for the December 2014 Wayland UMC ARK newsletter)
Good morning and God bless you. Do you know the web site Dictionary.com chooses an annual word of the year? The 2014 Word of the Year is exposure (http://blog.dictionary.com/exposure/).
In their article they highlight these aspects of the definition: being exposed to danger or harm; bringing to public attention; bringing to light, unmasking, revealing crime, misconduct or evil; disclosing something private or secret.
In the news coverage of the grand jury decision not to indict police officer, Darren Wilson, who shot and killed 18-year old Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri in August, we witnessed again the exposure of pain, powerlessness, injustice, violence and resilience. So many dimensions of life are so broken that to think they can be healed is almost an act of foolishness. Where do we start? What will finally bring relief, justice and peace?
As people of faith, we now enter the Advent and Christmas seasons. November 30 is the first Sunday of Advent and first Sunday of the new church year. The work of Advent is preparation, and the celebration of Christmas is that God is willing to be here as a child; exposed to the danger, wonder, hope, and fear of being human.
God shares our condition in Jesus as a powerful act of hope. Advent worship will celebrate God in the People, the World, the Lowly, the House, the Light and the Child.
We believe that this exposure is truly a revelation of God’s promise to be with us in unfailing love and faithfulness. It is almost an act of foolishness to think we can be healed, except for the Good News that God does not give up on us. We are given the power to keep exposing “evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” (Baptismal Covenant I) as we are exposed to God’s grace and peace in Jesus.
At Christmas God is willing to be here as a child; exposed to the danger, wonder, hope, and fear of being human.
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