The Archetypal Way: First Sunday of Advent

Mary the mother of Jesus. 

Mary the mother of Jesus. 

In this Season of Advent we anticipate a celebration of Jesus being born to us. The two Bible readings we had this morning were both expressions of anticipation. The Magnificat that we started with, also known as the Song of Mary, was the song Mary, Jesus’ mother, sang, as she awaited the birth of her son. It’s an optimistic, uplifting song of thanksgiving, that through Mary, a lowly servant, some great divine promise will find fulfilment. Her song echoes the Psalms of thanksgiving. Her song also echoes some of the attitudes Jesus later expresses, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. Mary sings that ‘He has filled the hungry with good things’, very much like Jesus’ “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled”. And Mary sings of the rich being sent away empty, which again mirrors Jesus’ general attitude towards those who orientate their lives towards wealth and power, that such as they will bring spiritual ruin upon themselves. Mary’s song becomes our song, a cooperate act of celebration and anticipation. The Psalms in general also invoke such cooperate expressions.
 
If we think about it, most songs or poems work in this way. They consistently evoke an emotion or sense within us. By listening to a piece of happy music together for example, it is as if we together go on a voyage with that music, even if we individually feel bad, angry, sad, or disappointed, or we individually feel good, happy or excited. In listening together, for a moment, we suspend our individual selves, and enter into a collective expression. The liturgical calendar works in a similar way. Moving through different emotions, the highs and lows of the biblical narrative, we enter together into the epic human narrative: the archetypal journey, the spiritual journey from alienation, the dark clouds of nihilistic unknowing, up the mountain of discovery, to the release, the summit, the sense of connectivity with all of creation, the sense of oneness, of love rupturing time and space, of divine presence, of the baby in the barn, to show us a way all but forgotten. It is a journey each of takes. Often we have a sense of taking it more than once, that we get it, we get it, but now we really get it, that year upon year, we walk the well-trodden path, into the clearing, where the Magi and shepherds gather, that each year we look down into the manger, but perceive things a bit differently.
 
Psalm 24 is a psalm of anticipation. I’m going to look at Psalm 24 in depth, as you can map this whole journey we’re on throughout Advent onto this psalm. The psalm begins:
 
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.
 
This is a reference to the creation narrative. Although Christian theology would now state that God created everything Ex Nihilo, which means out of nothing, that is not actually what the first verses in Genesis say. It begins not with God and nothing, but the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. In early Jewish cosmology, the water had always been there, and remains. The land was built upon the waters, and the dome within which we are housed keeps the water at bay. Think of an upturned glass bowl upon the flat earth, and you’re quite close to early Jewish cosmology. The dome above is blue, because water is blue. We know there is water beyond the dome, because from time to time water falls down from the dome. The Psalm continues:
 
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
 
That is clean hands in the ritualistic sense, not in today’s germs sense. We’re reading a Psalm in the Old Testament, so pre-Jesus, so going to the Holy Place is not about entering Jesus’ presence in a physical or metaphorical sense, although Christians would certainly read that into the Psalm today. Rather, we’re entering God’s dwelling place upon earth, which in Old Testament times was either a reference to going into the temple, or going into the tent which housed the Ark of the Covenant. Or indeed, walking along, processing along with the Ark, which was possible before it was housed more permanently within the temple. And that is what is happening here. They’re ascending up the mountain of the Lord with the Ark of the Covenant.
 
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Savior.
 
False Gods, or false idols in this case, you can think of as those things which orientate our lives towards unhelpful or unhealthy things, such as those which Mary decried, who orientate their lives towards power or money. Or those who orientate their lives towards the approval of others. Or those who elevate all the incidental things of this world, and forget that it’s all about manifesting love, kindness, freedom, and joy in this present moment. So, we are moving up the mountain together. We’re carrying the Ark of Covenant up with us, and what are we approaching? A city upon the hill. Every city in this world is built either next to the water, a river or a sea, or in a few rare cases upon a mountain. Jerusalem is one of these rare mountain city examples.
 
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek your face, God of Jacob.
 Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.

Who will seek God? This people before me, those who seek to do right, who seek after the way of Love. And so, lift your gates oh city of Jerusalem. This Psalm brings to mind Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, while at the same time, it brings to mind coming into Jesus’ presence on Christmas day. We have climbed the mountain, we have ridden for days, and here we are at the peak, at the crib, and gates of Jerusalem.
 
Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    he is the King of glory.
 
This is the journey. This is the time of anticipation. This is our Advent Season. Glory, Glory, Glory...

Amen.

 

First Sunday of Advent: A Time of Anticipation

In the Christian liturgical tradition, this is the period in which we begin preparing our hearts for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. The liturgical calendar is structured as a journey you take throughout the year; periods divided into seasons. These seasons have different emphases, different moods, there is an ebb and flow to the year, periods of penance, periods of reflection, and periods of joy. Here at the Meeting House, we rightly hold to the liturgical calendar very lightly – giving us lots of opportunity to draw on other sources, such as music, fiction, philosophy, other religious traditions and so on… But it is valuable to just reflect for a moment on what is lost in doing this. Take this period of Advent - the mood of the period is expectant waiting, a hopeful anticipation, as we create the space in our lives to allow God in. It’s all about hope. It’s like when you have a guest come round to your house, you might do the vacuuming, tidy away that pile of papers that’s been sitting on the dining room table, and make up the spare bedroom, ready for their arrival. But instead of it being your house you’re getting ready, it’s your heart, and the guest is Jesus.

It has been said if you’re sick of Christmas by December 25th then you haven’t done Advent properly. Doing the vacuuming, doing a spot tidying, is not always fun, but it’s done in hopeful expectation of what is to come. In other words, we are supposed to be delaying gratification, doing the heavy lifting now, so that in four weeks we can celebrate together. Within the Unitarian tradition, we largely (though not entirely) take each service, each hour together on a Sunday morning, as its own hermetically sealed little thing. We think to ourselves - did we find that service good? Which means, did we enjoy it, did we find it interesting? This is problematic way of thinking about it, but we’ll come back that. This morning’s reading from Matthew 21 about Jesus getting hold of that donkey, upon which he rode into Jerusalem; Jerusalem, where he was crucified, where he died because his radical ethical message was too much for everyone. So it’s a ‘both and’ Gospel reading. We’re on a journey with Jesus, towards his birth during this Advent season, but also towards his ministry, towards his message, and towards the culmination of that ministry.

Jesus cursing the fig tree.

Jesus cursing the fig tree.

Following this morning’s reading in the Gospel of Matthew, we have the incident concerning the fig tree. It goes like this. “In the morning, when he (Jesus) returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done.” We’re on a journey, we’re heading towards Christmas, and we confronted with a withered fig tree – what an earth is that all about?! What is the purpose of this story? Is this really just a story about Jesus cursing stuff because he is grumpy and hungry? Because that’s how it appears on the surface. But no, there is a deeper meaning, lost to our contemporary ears. In 1st Century Israel the fig tree had symbolic meaning; it represented the Temple, more specifically the political power of the Temple, the establishment - the Jewish Religious authority. The political class of that time. What does Jesus do on the way into the city is that he effectively burns the flag! This is a loaded, theological, social, political gesture unlike any other. He is condemning the system – the industrial, economic, religious, political system – and why? Because salvation is no longer to come down from on high, no longer to be meted out by priests and politicians, rather it is to be found within us. The Kingdom of God is within us.

Cursing a fig tree could get you killed! It’s a pretty risky thing for Jesus to do, the kind of gesture which is going to upset some people, even though they need to hear it. Really the Jews who are upset by fig tree being withered need to receive that message, need to hear it, more than those who aren’t. This story of Jesus withering the fig tree is an important lesson. It’s an important but divisive message about how we should relate to the Kingdom of God, as opposed to the establishment of the day. Whether individuals Jews on that particular morning found that message edifying or good or uplifting is not simply irrelevant, it would be to entirely misunderstand the spiritual journey. The Sermon, or Address, is to be endured? Is to be evaluated? Is to be examined? To stand with your head above the parapet? I wonder if anyone can hear me?

What is the purpose of an Address? Part of it is discerning where the line is, working out what’s going to take people out of their comfort zone, and then just stepping over that line just a little bit. But you’ve got to be careful, if you misjudge where that line is, you could lose everyone in the room, or be so bland that then there’s no point at all. That’s what you’re doing some of the time. An address should also help people grow in their spiritual stature, or grow into person they are called to be, or God calls them to be, or the universe calls them to be. And being challenged to grow in this way is not always comfortable, or feel uplifting. Sometimes we need to be brought into an uncomfortable place for a time, to be challenged for a time, and to be left churning ideas for a time.

‘So, did you like it? Yes, I liked it. Oh you liked it!...’

An address should be about being there, about experiencing something, about wrestling with something and coming out yourself a different person on the other side. ‘I liked it’ is missing something. If the address just becomes the thing which is done, and it’s not about movement, or a journey, or an awakening, or a process of self-discovery, then we’re just in the maintenance game. And I don’t want to be in the maintenance game. Do you? When I was talking about the liturgical calendar at the beginning, this is where I was heading. With a rolling liturgical calendar everyone knows there is a process taking place. We might be in a challenging space now, but it won’t last. We might be confronted with a burning flag now, but it won’t last. We might be asked to look into the darkness within, to self-examine, but it won’t last. And in the same way, during this season of Advent we enter into a period of anticipation, and a time of waiting, which means in a sense this service will be left incomplete, as will the next, and the next... As we do the hoovering, the heavy lifting, and clear the papers… Because something is coming, and it’s going to change us.

Amen.

Easter Liturgy

We rejoice, Great Spirit of life,
in the dance of Nature, the breath of spring time,
the budding blossom, the golden sun.
Here we linger a little while.

Loose in us our divinity within,
A Love for Life, A hunger for Truth,
A Hope for what can be.

From stony indifference, to loving embrace
Release our hard hearts from winter’s chills.
Here we encircle together in Eastertides’ chirping chorus
In victorious triumphant songs of joy.

Loose in us our divinity within,
A Love for Life, A hunger for Truth,
A Hope for what can be.

Tall evergreen totems of the living earth,
Models of unanxious presence,
Anchors of peace in our orb of flux,
Reconcile this interior self with beauty’s insight

Loose in us our divinity within,
A Love for Life, A hunger for Truth,
A Hope for what can be.

Kind hands and caring words reaching out to hurting souls,
Here we draw together our polarised selves,
Dreaming of hands clasped across gulfs of difference
That new life can spring forth from unseen places

Loose in us our divinity within,
A Love for Life, A hunger for Truth,
A Hope for what can be.

For here we linger a little while.
Hope engulf us, kindle the creativity within us.
Make us envoys of Love, and pathfinders to truth,
As we join together in unending melodies of joy.

May it be so, Shalom, Amen.