Preparing for His Coming

Second Sunday of Advent, C

December 9, 2012

Luke 3:1-6

Greek Orthodox Icon of St. John the Baptist in Thessalonikki, Macedonia, Greece.

Introduction

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent, and we continue to prepare for the “coming” of Christ. We are preparing to celebrate his first coming on Christmas; at the same time, we are preparing for his coming again in final victory. How do we prepare to celebrate his coming?

Today’s Gospel reading begins with Luke listing down historical figures to place the story in context: When Jesus was born, Augustus Caesar was emperor of Rome (Luke 2:1); while Herod the Great was King of Judea (Matthew 2:1). Now, thirty years after, Tiberius Caesar is now emperor of Rome. Herod the Great is now dead; now, his kingdom was divided into four (“tetrarchies”) and ruled by his sons. When Jesus was born, Quirinius was governor of Syria, under which Judea was governed. Now, Pontius Pilate is procurator of Judea. In addition,, Annas (Hananayah) was high priest (kohein gadol) (John Wesley notes that there can only be one high priest; Caiaphas probably served as Annas’ associate high priest.)

Over this backdrop, “the word of the Lord came” (an expression often used of the prophets) to John the Baptist (Yochanan ben Zacharyahu). The mission of John the Baptist is to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah (Mashiach), just as his father, Zachariah the priest, prophesied at his birth:

“And you, child, shall be the prophet of the Most High, for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way; to give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of their sins…” (Luke 1:76-77).

I. We prepare for Christ’s coming by receiving the Word of God.

John the Baptist stayed in the desert, waiting, until the Christ was to be revealed. When the time has come, “the word of the Lord came” unto him (3:3). This Advent season, let us return to the Word of God, both by attending to public preaching and to private reading. We should not only depend on the reading and proclamation of the Word during public worship. We should also go back to daily Bible reading both in our families and in our personal lives. We prepare for Christ’s coming by receiving the Word of God.

II. We prepare for Christ’s coming by repentance.

The next way of prepare for Christ’s coming is by repentance. When the Word of the Lord came to John the Baptist, he went into all the country around Jordan “preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin” (3:4). When we encounter the Word of God, we may become aware of our own sinfulness. The appropriate response is repentance. Some of us may think that repentance is a more appropriate theme for Lent instead of Christmas. But Advent is a season of preparation. And we prepare for Christ’s coming by repentance.

Our first reading (Malachi 3:1-4) gives us an image of repentance. The preaching of God’s “messenger” (fulfilled by John the Baptist in Mark 1:1-2) is about repentance, which is like “a refiner’s fire” and “fuller’s soap” that purifies us. As our second reading (Philippians 1:3-11) says, “that you may be sincere and without offence until the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (v. 11). We prepare for Christ’s coming through repentance.

III. We prepare for Christ’s coming by preparing the way of the Lord.

The ministry of John the Baptist is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”  (Luke 3:4-6; cf. Isaiah 40:3-5)

The imagery is of that of preparing the road for the coming of a king or dignitary: the crooked is made straight; the rough ways are made smooth. This Advent season, we are prepare the way to our heart: What are the things that need to be straightened and made smooth in our lives?

The Warning and Comfort in Christ’s Coming

First Sunday of Advent, B

December 2, 2012

Introduction

Today is the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Christmas Cycle and of the Liturgical Year. The theme of Advent is preparation for the ‘coming’ of Christ: we prepare to celebrate his ‘first’ coming on Christmas by preparing for his ‘second’ coming as we say in the Mystery of Faith: “Christ has died; Christ has risen; Christ shall come again!”

In the Gospel reading two Sundays ago, the Sunday before Christ the King, we read in the Gospel of Mark the ‘signs’ of  the coming of Christ that will happen on earth:

“And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled: for such things must happen; but this is not yet the end. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be earthquakes in diverse places, and there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.” (Mark 13:7-8)

Some of these signs shall be caused by people: “wars and rumors of wars” and nation rising up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. But some of these signs are not man-made, like “earthquakes in diverse places” and “famines”.

But in today’s Gospel reading, now from the Gospel of Luke, we read of the signs of the coming of Christ that will happen in heaven:

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the roaring of the sea and the waves. Men's shall faint because of fear, and in expectation of the calamities that shall come upon the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:25-27)

When these things begin happen, Jesus said, “Look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28)

I. The Coming of Christ: A Comfort

The coming of Christ is should bring comfort to the heart of a Christian. After narrating all the signs of his coming, Jesus used the parable of the fig tree:

“Behold the fig tree, and all the trees: When they shoot forth, you see and know for yourselves that summer is close at hand. So likewise, when you see these things come to pass, you know that the kingdom of God is close at hand.” (Luke 21:29-31)

When St. Paul wrote of the coming of Christ in the clouds to gather the believers in Christ, “both the living and the dead” (Apostles’ Creed),

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

--then he writes, “Comfort each other with these with these words” (v. 18). The coming of Christ is not a message of doom; it is Good News!

II. The Coming of Christ: A Warning

The coming of Christ is not only a comfort, it is also a warning. Because Jesus is coming, no matter what tribulations may come, we have comfort: our troubles will come to an end. But at the same time, the coming of Jesus is a warning. He said,

“Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness, and with cares of this life, and so that day would come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Keep watch, therefore, and pray always, that you may be deemed worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)

Some people live as if Christ is never coming, so their lives are “weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness, and with cares of this life”. That is why when Christ comes—no matter what signs may be—that day will catch them “unaware”. Therefore, Jesus told us to “keep watch and pray always” that we “may be deemed worthy… and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Conclusion

How are we preparing for the coming for Christ? How are we preparing to celebrate Christmas? Are we looking forward to “gluttony and drunkenness”? Are we “weighed down” by all of the things we want this Christmas? Or, shall we heed the message of Advent? “Keep watch and pray”. Who knows, Christ might come back this Christmas?

__________

Graphic courtesy of www.pray4zion.org.

Kosher Tocino

Okay, here’s a shameless plug: Support Chevon Tocino. It’s good for your health and it tastes good. It’s for the thesis of a former student, Emilie Baldimo, a graduating Food Technology student. “Milay”, as I fondly call her, is a very diminutive girl: she barely reaches my shoulders. Open the dictionary to the word “diminutive” and her picture would be there. She was one of my first students when I began to teach in 2008; so we were both freshmen, so to speak. She was then an Accountancy student but divine providence led her to shift to Food Technology. We would remain in contact ever since that first semester when we had English 1.

Food Technology is a degree program that deals with food preparation. It is different from the more popular Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM), which I could say deals more with food preparation. (Okay, that’s a gross oversimplification.) It’s kind of like the difference of Computer Science and Information Technology. Computer Science deals with code-level programming: they are “behind the scenes”. Information Technology deals with the presentation side of computers, like website development. Another example is Civil Engineering and Architecture: the former deals mostly with the structures that hold a building up (again, behind the scenes); the latter mostly deals with the design of these structures. None of these degrees are more important than the other: because one needs another.

What is chevon? Chevon is goat meat. Back during the Norman Conquest of England, the British were under the rule of the French. So the British would raise the animals: goats, sheep, swine, & c. and that British would eat them: chevon, mutton, pork, & c. Thus, the English had the words for when the animals were alive; and the French had the words for when they are dead.(See a Wikipedia entry here.)

Going back: I found out about her project on social networking. So I contacted her and we met. She gave me a packet and gave me instructions on how to cook it. Milay told me that Chevon Tocino is actually a continuation of an earlier study. Besides making an improvement on the recipe, she wanted to find out how to package and sell these. (She claimed that she had to process nine kilos of goat meat.)

I told her that goat meat is “kosher”, that is, considered “clean” under Jewish dietary laws. (That’s “halal” to you, my Muslim friends.) Well, the goat had to be slaughtered by a sholchet or kosher butcher; to make sure that all the blood has been drained (eating blood is forbidden in the Torah) and that the animal has been slaughtered humanely. (But then, as a Christian and as a Gentile, Jewish dietary laws do not apply to me: Mark 7:19; Acts 10:9-15.)

So washed the meat in water and prepared a Teflon pan with water. When the water began to simmer, I tossed in the tocino. When all of the water has evaporated, I got this:

Chevon Tocino has a very strong and exquisite taste, with just the right amount of tang (from the pineapple juice). My older brother (who is not used to eating goat meat) said that the tocino tasted “weird” and “different”. Meanwhile, my grandmother remarked it tastes like beef. That night, I relished my cooking with gusto.

My only suggestion is that the cooking instruction should be printed on the package. And also there should be a caveat to people who are dealing with arthritis or gout: chevon, veal (calf meat), and others are rich in uric acid, so they better stay away from it. (See an article in Livestrong here.)

So there you have it. Support Chevon Tocino; and help a charming and bright girl finish college.

Christ’s Victory in the Saints

23rd Sunday after Pentecost, B

Sunday of All the Saints

November 4, 2012

Foreword: Today is the celebration of the Feast of All the Saints, transferred to this Sunday from November 1. It is the culmination of “A Season of Saints,” which began on World Communion Sunday last first Sunday of October.

Introduction

Today we celebrate the Feast of All the Saints.  It may come as a surprise for us Protestants to be celebrating a supposedly “Catholic” feast day which may even have pagan roots. But first, we need to clarify a few terms:

• Halloween is usually associated with ghosts and the dead. People dress in costumes and children go around “trick or treating” for candies or money. “Halloween” simply means “All Hallows¹ (Saints) Even²”, the evening before All Saints Day (that is, October 31).
• All Saints Day, November 1, in the Philippines is usually observed as the day of the dead. But the “day of the dead” is actually the following day. We will discuss All Saints later.
• All Souls Day, November 2, is the actual “day of the dead”. In the Roman Catholic tradition, this is the day when a “plenary indulgence” is given for prayers for the dead in order that they might escape Purgatory and go to Heaven. It is precisely against this practice that Martin Luther issued his “Ninety-Five Theses” on the eve of All Saints (October 31, 1521).³

All Saints Day was originally celebrated as a feast for “all the saints”. In the Roman Catholic Church, saints are commemorated on their feast days throughout the year⁴. Eventually, the calendar got cluttered and some saints were no loner remembered. Thus, November 1 became a day to remember all the saints, especially the “forgotten ones”.

Should Christians celebrate “All Saints Day”? In the New Testament, “saints” are believers in Jesus Christ, as seen in the salutations to the Epistles (the saints in Rome, in Corinth, in Ephesus, & c.) As Protestants, should we commemorate the saints? Yes, but we should fix our eyes on Jesus:

Since we are also surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Let us look unto Jesus, the beginning and end of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1, 2; italics supplied)

The “great cloud of witness” (tosoutov…nefos marturōn) in this passage refers to the Old Testament saints in the preceeding chapter (Hebrews 11). But we are to “look unto Jesus” (aforōntes eis…Iesoun), not the saints!

Therefore, Protestant Christians can observe All Saints Day⁶, to celebrate the witness of the saints! May I add, not only the saints in the Bible, but saints from every time and place. John and Charles Wesley are saints commemorated in the calendar of the Church of England!) But we must not focus on the saints; we must “turn our eyes upon Jesus” (for that is the meaning of aforaō—to turn the eyes from other things and fix them upon something else) who is the Author and Finisher, the beginning and end, of our faith. To use an analogy in sports, we, the saints on earth, are in a race⁵. The saints who have gone before us are in the stands, cheering us on. But we are not to focus on them; we are to focus on Jesus, who is waiting for us at the finish line!

Now, we go to our Gospel reading. In John 11, we see the victory of Jesus over death, as seen in his resurrection of Lazarus. In the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus showed that he is “the Resurrection and the Life” (v. 25). Not only would Jesus be resurrected after his death on the cross, but he will also resurrect all those who believe in him: “He who believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live; and whosoever is living and believes in me shall never die” (vv. 25b-26).

I. Death is a reality in this life.

Death is a reality in this life. So are the following:

• Sickness is a reality in life (Lazarus is sick, John 11:1-3)
• Sometimes, God withholds healing (Jesus does not immediately go to Bethany and heals Lazarus, vv. 4-ff)
• Sometimes, we blame God for not healing our loved ones (Martha in vv. 19-27; Mary in vv. 28-32).
• Death brings us sorrow. (Mary was weeping, v. 33; the Jews were weeping, v. 33; even Jesus wept, v. 35) (However, there is a difference: the word used for Mary and the Jews is klaiō, ‘to cry, to bewail’, for Jesus is dakruō [edakrusen ho Iesous], ‘to weep, to shed tears’.)

II. Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Death may be a reality, but there is a greater reality: Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Life will not end in death; but because of Jesus, death will end in life!

• Jesus intentionally did not go immediately to Lazarus, letting him die, so that “the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified” (v. 4).
• Jesus wept for Lazarus, but he was “groaning (embrimaomai) in spirit” for those who mourn (vv. 33, 38).
• Jesus resurrects Lazarus so that the glory of God may be revealed, and so that people will believe in him, who God has sent (vv. 41b-42, 45).

Conclusion

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live; and whosoever is living and believes in me shall never die” (vv. 25-26) He then asks, “Do you believe this?” Martha answers with a classic affirmation of faith: “Yes, Lord: I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who has come into the world” v. 28). Jesus showed that he is “the resurrection and the life” by rising from the dead. One day, he will raise up “those who sleep in Christ” from the dead. The question is: Do you believe this?

_______________

¹ ‘Hallows’ is an old English word for ‘holy’; as in the Lord’s Prayer: “Hallowed be thy name.” The word “saint” comes from the Latin sanctus (where we get the word sanctification and others), which also means ‘holy’. Thus, hallows = saints.

² The term ‘Halloween’ is derived from the phrase ‘Hallows (Saints) Even’ → Hallowe’en. ‘Even’ is an old English word for ‘evening’.

³ At that time, St. Peter’s Basilica was being constructed. In order to fund the construction, the Roman Catholic Church sold “indulgences” all over Europe. An indulgence is a purchase of “good works” from the “treasury of merits” of Christ and the saints.

⁴ The feast day of a saint is not his/her birthday, but his/her death anniversary, which the saint’s “birthday in heaven”.

⁵ The analogy of a footrace is often used in the New Testament as a picture of the Christian life; cf. I Corinthians 9:24.

Thus, The United Methodist Church celebrates All Saints Day (The Book of Worship, p. 413), but we do not celebrate Halloween and All Souls Day, for the doctrines of Purgatory and prayers for the dead (as well as praying to the saints) are against our doctrine (Articles of Religion XIV, Discipline 2008 ¶103).

Icon courtesy of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church, Raleigh, NC, USA.

A Prayerbook review

My researches into historic, liturgical worship have led me to the practice of daily prayer, particularly the Daily Office. As a young pastor (back in the late 90’s), I would spend time researching into the liturgy of the denomination to which I belong to, The United Methodist Church. This led me to research into the liturgical practices other faith communities, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, and most especially the mother church of Methodism, the Church of England. Even if at that time I was assigned to a very small mission church, I wanted to do the liturgy right.

I was delighted with my discovery of the Daily Office because not only can I have liturgy on Sundays, I could have liturgy everyday, several times a day! The Daily Office is a practice among clergy and religious (monastics) to pray at certain hours of the day (hence the other name, the Liturgy of the Hours). Each “office” or “hour” is composed of hymns, psalms, antiphons, Scripture readings, and prayers. (God willing, I will write a review of the hours in the future.)

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer. With an iconic cross on the cover, the BCP must be the "default" prayer book used in Hollywood movies (especially weddings and funerals).

My first prayer book is The Book of Common Prayer (1979, Seabury Press, New York) of The Episcopal Church, USA. (How happy I was when I found a copy at a second-hand bookstore!) It contains orders for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Noonday Prayer, and Compline. The BCP contains a treasury of liturgical resources like Collects, Proper Liturgies, Prayers and Thanksgivings, lectionaries and more. I would use the Daily Lectionary at the back for my daily Scripture reading (three readings: Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel; plus up to three psalms). I have come to be familiar with the prayers in the Daily Office, knowing them by heart. But the downside is that I cannot bring the BCP and a Bible when traveling. (However, I still use an electronic version of the BCP as a source of the Proper Collects for my Sunday liturgy. I also have a PDF version in my smart phone.)

My next prayer book was Christian Prayer: the Liturgy of the Hours, printed locally (here in the Philippines) by the Daughters of St. Paul. It’s an average sized volume with more than 1,700 pink-edged pages. Its main feature is the four-week psalter: The offices for everyday (for a cycle of four weeks) are all printed out—antiphons, hymns, psalms, Scripture readings, prayers—so there is ordinarily no need to flip from one part of the book to another. My copy became all scuffy from use. I use it to pray the Office on the long commute to and from school, to conferences and camps. The volume was complete: it has orders for Morning and Evening Prayer, the Little Offices, Compline, Propers and Commons for various festivals, and more. However, the thousand-page tome was too thick to be really portable.

I began to look for smaller prayer books: a breviary in the real sense of the word. I wanted it to be complete (that is, I wouldn’t need to juggle a prayer book and a Bible); at the same time, handy (that is, I could hold it with one hand). My first breviary was Panalangin ng mga Kristiyano sa Maghapon (1994, Ministry for Liturgical Affairs, Manila) (loose English translation: ‘Daily Prayer for Christians’). It was a very handy volume: about the size of my palm. It has the four-week psalter from the Liturgy of the Hours and Propers for Sundays, the liturgical year, and the sanctoral feasts. It has orders for Compline (Night Prayer), but it does not have orders for the Little Offices (sometimes I would like to snatch a few moments to rattle off a Little Office).

Another breviary I used was the 1953 Book of Common Prayer (Seabury Press, New York), again from The Episcopal Church, USA. This leather-bound volume is about half the size of the 1979 BCP. As an added bonus, the second half of the book is a hymnal (with musical scores!). However, the readings for the Daily Offices were not printed (however, the Gospel readings are printed out in full). But there is a daily lectionary, so I had make my readings from my mobile phone or from a pocket New Testament.

My researches into Christian liturgy have led my back to Jewish liturgy. I happened unto a couple of copies of Siddur Sim Shalom (1989, the Rabbinical Assembly of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, New York) at a second-hand bookstore. The copies were slightly damaged; I gave one to my equally crazy Judeophile cousin. At first I had difficultly navigating the seemingly convoluted Jewish liturgy and I find myself tripping over Hebrew prayers. But with practice, I could now manage to davven—maybe Christians would wonder what all that machine-gun rattling of Hebrew prayers is all about. One thing I like is excerpts of Torah readings (for Mondays and Thursdays, traditional days for study) in Hebrew at the “back” of the book (Hebrew is written from right to left, and their books are arranged from the “back” to the “front”.)

The current breviary I use is Shorter Christian Prayer (1988, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York). It is a slim, handy volume bound in supple red leatherette. It is an abridgement (a word related to the word “breviary”) of the Liturgy of the Hours. It has the four-week psalter all printed out. It also has Propers for Sundays, the liturgical calendar, sanctoral feasts, and a hymnal—all in a volume of less than half a inch thick.

The prayer book that I’m looking forward for is the fourth edition of The Book of Offices and Services (2012) of The Order of St. Luke, the religious order to which I belong to. The current BOAS I use is the third edition (1988, 1994, 2003, OSL Publications, Akron, OH). I came with the parcel which contained my certificate of membership and other documents related to the Order. It is a slim, blue volume with a wide left margin. It was made so that members can opt to have that side cut at a paper shop and have it ring-bound so that it could lie flat. It contains rituals for Morning and Evening Prayer, our services of Profession, Induction of Offices, and a Healing Service. At the time our newer members were professed, they did not receive BOAS because it was being revised at that time. From what I’ve been hearing on online discussions of my confreres, the new BOAS will have orders for the Daily Offices, the various services of our Order, and more. I am excited to get a copy of this new BOAS, and I hope to get one soon.

My confrere and I using the BOAS (3rd edition) to lead the service of profession for our local OSL association.