I’ve got a secret… I’m not sure I should share it. Oh – you won’t tell anyone, will you? I don’t want the congregation to know. Ok?
Thanks!
I went… well… I went… went Christmas shopping yesterday. I wandered the mall humming Christmas carols and thinking of the gifts I wanted to give to people I care about.
Most of them are pretty silly, little things… but I’ve tried to put some thought into them. With each gift, I want the person who receives it to know that this gift is a token of my respect and love for them.
And I had fun! OH – look – don’t tell the minister that, ok? Don’t tell the minister that I had fun during Advent!
See… I get the feeling that we’re supposed to use Advent as a quiet time. A time for ‘getting ready’. Almost a ‘penitential’ time. A ‘get down on your knees and pray time’. Not really a time for dancing and singing or being particularly joyful.
(Pause)
Pardon me? You saw the minister putting up decorations? You say that he was sipping on a cup of hot apple cider?
You heard him singing, “Joy to the World”?
You saw him coming out of “A Thousand Villages” with a bag or two?
Hmmmm…
(Pause)
I wonder.
I wonder if there can be joy in our waiting?
I wonder if there can be joy in our preparing?
I wonder if there can be joy in our looking back at our lives and in our looking forward into the coming year?
I wonder if joy and Advent can be together?
I… wonder.
In our wondering, we worship God.
In our waiting, we worship God.
In our joy, we worship God.
We worship God.
Sung response: “As Long As We Follow / Na nzel na lola” (Words and music: Joseph kabemba, Congo, (c) 2004 General Board of Global Ministries, GCGMusik, 475 Riverside Dr. New York, NY 10115.)
God of all life,
we sing your praise,
we shout our rejoicing,
we dance our joy –
knowing that you rejoice
with your creation.
In the birth of a child,
in the laughter of teen,
in the smile of an elder –
you are here!
In the cries of a baby,
in the quests of youth,
in the wonderings of the wise ones –
you are here!
Alleluia, loving God!
Alleluia, amen!