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By Jeff Gang, December 17, 2011 12:56 pm

The Gospel reading for the fourth week of Advent comes from Luke 1:26-38, where the Angel Gabriel visits Mary, announcing that she is chosen to bear God’s Son. In verse 34, Mary is struggling to believe Gabriel’s news, she says to the angel, “How will this happen?’ … ‘I’m still a virgin!’” Gabriel replies, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” To which Mary responds in verse 37, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Mary’s response to the Angel (and in turn to God) are some of the most courageous words in Scripture. Mary was likely aware of what could happen to her. Being a young single pregnant Jewish woman in first century Palestine would not be easy. Yet despite all the risks, Mary responded, “Let it be.”

Mary had courageous faith. She was willing to trust God no matter the consequences. Through the history of the church there have been many followers of Jesus who have said the same thing, even to the point of death. It reminds me of people such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said “let it be” to God as he resisted the rise of Nazism in Germany or Martin Luther King who said “let it be” to God as he fought against unjust laws in Birmingham Alabama. They practiced radical courage.

We need that kind of courageous faith today as well. Our “let it be” may not be on the scale of a Bonhoeffer or King, but we need courageous faith everyday, even in small ways–in our home, our work, our school, our church, and our community. God needs women and men who are not afraid to trust him despite the consequences. Mary said, let it be. And because of that she embraced the awesome responsibility of bearing God in her womb. In a sermon about Mary’s response to God, Barbara Brown Taylor once said:

“If you decide to say no, you simply drop your eyes and refuse to look up until you know the angel has left the room and you are alone again. Then you smooth your hair and go back to your spinning or your reading or whatever it is that is most familiar to you and pretend that nothing has happened…. Or you can set your book down and listen to a strange creature’s strange idea. You can decide to take part in a plan you did not choose, doing things you do not know how to do for reasons you do not entirely understand. You can take part in a thrilling and dangerous scheme with no script and no guarantees. You can agree to smuggle God into the world inside your own body.

- From “Mothers of God ” in Gospel Medicine

Thinking about Mary’s “let it be”, reminds me of the classic song from the Beatles by the same title. At one point in the song, they sing: “And when the brokenhearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be.” May we alongside Mary, hear with awe and wonder that the God of all the universe has strangely decided to act through us, and with Mary may we ponder what all of this means, and may we have the courage to respond, let it be.

Advent 4, Year B, 2011

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By Jeff Gang, December 16, 2011 5:00 pm

A quote to begin the Sabbath:

Christmas is the promise that the God who came in history and comes daily in mystery will one day come in glory. God is saying in Jesus that in the end everything will be all right. Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration, and death; he simply stated that the Kingdom of God would conquer all of these horrors, that the Father’s love is so prodigal that no evil could possibly resist it.

-  From Reflections for Ragamuffins by Brennan Manning
Used in A Guide for Prayer for All Who Seek God, p. 27

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By Jeff Gang, December 9, 2011 6:41 pm

Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece (1515 AD)

I have an affinity for the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with Mark’s Gospel being my favorite (as I mentioned a couple posts ago). So I am pleased the Gospel readings for Year B are primarily found in Mark. However the Gospel reading for third week of Advent is from the Fourth Gospel, John. And like last week, we return again to the story of John the Baptist, John 1:6-8, 19-28.

Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Fourth Gospel approaches the story of John the Baptist from a different angle. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke emphasize the “Baptist” as an Elijah like prophet, preaching a message of repentance, John has a different emphasis. John (He’s never actually referred to as “the Baptist in the Fourth Gospel) immediately follows a theologically rich prologue, which proclaims Jesus as the eternal Word of God. Similarly, John’s role is one of proclamation. We are told that he was sent by God as a “witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.”

A few verses later we return to John, this time in conversation with the Jewish leaders. John turns the attention from himself to Jesus, demonstrating what had been said earlier of him, that he was not the light, only the witness to the light. In many ways, John’s role in the Gospel story, is the role of the church and disciple of Jesus today. Yet sadly, more often than not, when the world asks, “Who are you?” our response is filled with pride. Our answers are more about us than about Jesus.

In 1515 AD, Matthais Grünewald painted the Isenheim Alterpiece in the Monastery of St. Anthony near Colmar, France. Considered one of the artist’s greatest masterpieces, the center of the altarpiece is a scene from the crucifixion of Jesus. To the right of the cross Grünewald painted John the Baptist with his finger extended pointing up to Jesus. Many observers of the painting have agreed that the artist wanted to emphasize John’s role as witness to Jesus over and above himself.

In this third week of Advent, may we remember the testimony of John, who in total disregard for himself, proclaimed Jesus as the true Light sent from God. May we like John be able to find the courage to live the same way, letting go of our pride, and faithfully proclaiming Jesus as God’s crucified and resurrected One, over and above ourselves. By God’s grace may it be so.

Advent 3, Year B, 2011

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By Jeff Gang, December 4, 2011 12:44 am

The Santa Ana Winds descended upon Southern California this week with a vengeance—the strongest winds here in thirty years. They remind me of the hurricanes we lived through in Florida years ago. After a calm night the winds were back this morning. My daughters were hurriedly preparing to go outside. In the midst of the commotion I asked, “What are you going to do outside?” My oldest daughter, Madison, replied, “To see the wind!”

The Gospel reading for this week is from Mark 1:1-8. The Markan gospel skips Jesus birth narrative and begins with John the “baptizer”, who’s radical message of repentance and forgiveness is turning the world upside down. As the text says, “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” They’d come to see the wind!

In 1991 a Nor’easter off the coast of New England became known as the perfect storm. For that event to occur, three weather systems had to collide—a cold front from the west, a high-pressure system from the north, and a hurricane from the southeast. In his new book, Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters (HarperOne, 2011), N.T. Wright uses this “Perfect Storm” as a metaphor to talk about the turbulent times of Jesus’ first century Advent.

Continue reading 'Advent 2'»

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By Jeff Gang, November 26, 2011 11:09 am

This weekend marks the beginning of a new year, i.e. the Christian Year. The season of Advent has arrived—a time of expectation and hope, as we anticipate the coming of the Christ in our world. For those familiar with the Revised Common Lectionary, we are entering the Year B cycle. Much of the year will be spent in the Gospel of Mark (my favorite Gospel). Mark is short and full of action, possibly the earliest written Gospel during a time of persecution for Christians living in Rome.

Ironically for Seventh-day Adventists, a people who place much emphasis on the second Advent of Jesus Christ, this should be one of our most celebrated times of the year. In fact the Gospel reading for Advent 1 is Mark 13:24-37, a passage often used by our evangelists to preach about the second coming. Yet not all biblical scholars agree that’s the context. I recall my New Testament Professor in seminary, Dr. Jon Paulien, observing that many of these “end time” events had taken place by the end of the first century CE. Continue reading 'Advent 1'»

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By Jeff Gang, December 28, 2009 10:44 am

Here’s an interesting blog post about N.T. Wright’s take on Christmas based on the hymns we sing during the season. I came across it thanks to a number of RT’s on Twitter. It’s by Peter Leithart at the CREDENDAagenda blog. A really good read. I couldn’t agree with Wright (and Leithart) more.  You can read his post here. Here’s the punchline for me if you don’t have time to read the whole thing:

What does Simeon sing about?  When he takes the infant Jesus into his arms, he blessed God: “Let your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation.”  And what is that?  Access to heaven?  Forgiveness of sins?  No: “the light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

Continue reading 'Is N.T. Wright a Grinch?'»

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By Jeff Gang, December 11, 2009 12:23 pm

Gabriel visits Mary

Here’s a good quote for Advent from J.B. Philips (I don’t know the source but I found it on the Christian Prayers and Worship site, inspired by the Celtic Christian Church):

“If New Testament Christianity is to reappear today with its power and joy and courage, men [and women] must recapture the basic conviction that this is a Visited planet. It is not enough to express formal belief in the “Incarnation” or in the “Divinity of Christ”; the staggering truth must be accepted afresh — that in this vast, mysterious universe, of which we are an almost infinitesimal part, the great Mystery, Whom we call God, has visited our planet in Person. It is from this conviction that there springs unconquerable certainty and unquenchable faith and hope. It is not enough to believe theoretically that was both God and Man; not enough to admire, respect, and even worship Him; it is not even enough to try to follow Him. The reason for the insufficiency of these things is that the modern intelligent mind, which has had its horizons widened in dozens of different ways, has got to be shocked afresh by the audacious central Fact — that, as a sober matter of history, God became one of us.”