advent ember days: our king and saviour draweth nigh

christianity is not a democratic religion. recent liberal protestantism seems determined that it should be, and if one's understanding of christianity comes from the history of religion school that dominates many seminaries, the popular press, and the popular media, one would think that the divinity of christ and his messiahship were the results of a vote held at nicea in 325.

the traditional propers for the advent ember days present a different view.* in the older western lectionary it is on the third sunday in advent that our attention is turned from the last things, the coming of christ at the end of the world, to the coming of christ as jesus of nazareth with a gospel from matthew, and "our ministry" is put into that context with an epistle from 1 corinthians. in contrast, there are no seasonal ember days propers in the newer lectionaries, and the emphasis has, not surprisingly, moved almost solely to the inclusive nature of the people of god and away from the exclusive sovereignty of god. (see, for example, the collects "for the ministry" and "for the mission of the church," pp. 205-206, 256-257, book of common prayer 1979.)

but still we have the advent antiphon on venite, "our king and saviour draweth nigh: o come let us adore him." and this is the true context in which we live our lives and die our deaths.

i have included this rather lengthy historico-polemical introduction because it is easy to forget that the one whose coming we celebrate this season is not an elected official, but the absolute sovereign of the universe. true, we may elect to serve him or to oppose him. but either way, "he cometh, he cometh to judge the earth; and with righteousness to judge the world, and the peoples with his truth."

jesus insistently reminded us that no on can serve two masters. it is remarkable but not coincidental that at no other time of the year than advent does mammon make such inticing claims on us. so, these advent ember days are a sober opportunity for each of us to consider whom one recognizes as king.

*these include isaiah 2:2-5, psalm 24, isaiah 7:10-15, luke 1:26-38, psalm 119:151-152, isaiah 9:1-5, psalm 85, luke 1:39-47, psalm 53, isiah 19:20-22, psalm 19, isaiah 35:1-7, isaiah 40:9-11, isaiah 45:1-8, the song of the three holy children 26-30, benedictus es, 2 thessalonians 2:1-8, and luke 5:1-6. one might notice that there is no lack of mention of the inclusion of all peoples in the kingdom of the holy one.

advent: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the world

one of the problems of starting blogging is that one feels one should continue blogging, especially during the big times of the year. so, i have been thinking i should say something about advent, but have been hesitant to jump to it. advent is a multi-layered season, because the coming of christ is a multi-layered event, and our celebration of it brings together many parts of that coming at one time.

the earliest observation of advent by the church seems to have been in the fast preceeding not christmas but the ephiphany, which from very early times in the eastern and celtic church has been a time of baptism. that is where the penitential layer, which is much less popular in the west particularly today, comes from. we are not in our "culture" very comfortable with penitence; we tend to focus more on the coming of the new-born king. more and more we use blue advent candles. and the birth of christ, at christmas, is of course also part of the season. but the earlier emphasis in the west was on the second coming, on the last things as we used to say. this is made very clear in the propers in the pre-vatican ii lectinary and missal.

i have been thinking about whether i might write a little something about each of these emphasises, but i think what is suggested by folklorists as an even earlier understanding of this time of the year is something most of us need most, and which would allow us time to explore some of the other gifts of this season, the gift of a new king who would give us a new heart, so that all would be well.

that earliest understanding is reflected, some think, in the advent wreath. the story is that at this time of the year, the dark time with long and cold nights, people would actually take the wheels off their wagons to turn them into chandeliers to light their times together as they waited and encouraged the return of light, telling stories in the glow of the candles.

few of us would not benefit from something similar. rather than make advent a time of making a list and checking it twice, we could sit down and tell each other stories, read to one another, or curl up with candle light and a novel. (i just finished hermann hesse's wonderfully provocative and ironic the glass bead game, a wonderful meditation on, among other things, both penitance and the last things, although i did not expect that when i picked it up.)

there is a beautiful collect in the family prayers section of the book of common prayer we might find helpful:

"o god of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength; by the might of thy spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art god; through jesus christ our lord. amen."

i confess i was even more pagan after reading hesse: i had a little campfire last night to celebrate the beautiful advent vesper light, and the encourage the return of light and warmth.

st. john of damascus

john of damascus would probably have a much harder time these days than he did in the seventh and eighth centuries. in the seventh and eighth centuries the struggle between christians and muslims was hardly off the ground. he is famous for his hymns, but even more famous for his defense of icons.

what i find so fascinating about his defense of icons is that he was able to write his treatises, usually called on the holy images, because he had the protection of his muslim friends. he had been born in damascus, his father had worked for the caliph, and he had as well before he retired to the desert of palestine. he, as did many of his contemporaries, thought of the muslims as another christian heresy.

ironically, it is usually thought that the orthodox aversion to icons at this time was because the muslims looked upon the holy images as a violation of the second commandment.

had he remained closer to the centers of power and orthodoxy during the iconoclastic controversy, john would probably been severely punished; almost certainly his treatises would not have been published. but working at the fringes of imperial power, he was protected by the caliph and produced the work that led to his often being called "the last of the fathers."