Feel the Burn

We of  liturgical bent are savoring the journey through Advent, a season created to acknowledge the need for a soon-coming Savior to exorcise the brokenness within ourselves and our culture.  There are those who will preach this weekend’s texts as a prophet would, challenging that which is trite & tawdry & tarnished.   The job of a prophet, says Norman Podhoretz, is to confront the idol and those who would worship this idol.  Advent is our chance to yet again name the demonic in our midst that would rival God for our affection and allegiance.  But brothers and sisters, if you’re going to use the imagery of a Refining Fire, please be sensitive to those who’ve barely survived the recent infernos of California and other western USA states…

The Old Covenant revisits one of these prophets, Malachi, who reaffirms the hope for a Messiah to straighten things out (3:1-4).  “He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap…he will purify the descendants of Levy…but who can endure the day of his coming?”  What in the lives of the worshipers is in need of refining, and will it hurt much?  Advent reminds us that the Savior’s amazing entrance brings Comfort & Joy only after the Junque is removed!  Malachi’s ancient oracle indicates that Creation yet unfolds as we are being carted unto perfection!

Paul anticipates this perfection as he greets the Church in Philippi, 1:3-11.  “In the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless.”  As we stand somewhat removed from the Manger of Bethlehem, we recognize that there’s still a lot of perfection to be achieved, and much of this will be accomplished through “the Refiner’s fire”.  We Philippians yearn for “the wrong to fail and the right prevail”, even if this Peace on Earth comes with a searing price.

The Lesson from Luke, 3:1-6, begins with a laundry list of the powerful, not only for historical context, but also to contrast with the flower-child (John the Baptizer) who comes from the Wilderness to speak a necessary Truth.  The process of making the paths straight and level involves a radical departure from the topography we’ve experienced of economic highs ‘n’ lows, moral disregard and endless mountains of materialism.  Has the landscape changed (and should it)?  Kathy Beach-Verhey  claims, “Our repentance, our turning around, will likely involve us looking at the structures and the systems and the people of the world around us in new and different ways.”  (FEASTING on the WORD, C 1:49)

Julie Polter has an excellent article, “A Whirlwind in a Wildfire”, in SOJOURNERS of December 2018.  She speaks of her/our self-righteous rage at the way things are, and our impulse to burn it all to the ground.  “Revenge fantasies, however justified they may feel, are not the same as God’s righteous anger.  Your fire is not God’s fire….There will be plenty of fire to go around, everyone restored to show-room condition…. When the tumult and ash of Advent settles, we are left waiting and watching–intent on the promise that God will one day make all things new….We put down our matches and look to bear witness to God’s fire instead.”  May your hearts be strangely warmed…

God Bless Us, Every One!                               Horace Brown King

My arsonist tendencies are examined every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com