Excerpt from Hebrews 12:24–13:5

"Our God is a consuming fire."

Reflection by William C. Green

Advent hymns can sound like dirges next to the bright carols of the holiday season.  Those who appreciate their haunting beauty deplore the mall-like rush to Christmas.

The actual issue is penance.  Advent began as much as a penitential season (its sanctuary color purple) as one of gladness and promise (so now, blue, a more positive color).  At root, Advent is as somber as it is hopeful.  We anticipate the coming of Jesus while expecting his coming again in divine judgment.

God's love includes joy and judgment.  It's "a consuming fire."  It's at once wonderful and terrifying.  It burns away all that stands between us and God.  It's ruthless against everything in us that diminishes the joy God wants for us.  At the same time, what's destroyed is what's destroying us anyway.

Penitential questions of Advent could include: Is my problem with faith really about God, or a broken heart?  In whom, or in what, have I placed my trust?  When I'm disillusioned, why did I need the illusion?  What am I doing that makes me unhappy and why am I doing it?  How does God's love make me accountable?

This is the honesty made possible by the love born for us at Bethlehem—and coming again to burn brightly and forever.

Prayer
 
I bring judgment on myself and make trouble worse when I can't trust your love, God, or anyone else's,  May I see this more clearly and find hope in the coming of Jesus whose own trust had to overcome doubt.  Amen.

About the Author William C. Green, a United Church of Christ minister, is the Director of Long Looking, a consultancy service specializing in fundraising and education for congregations. His new book, 52 Ways to Ignite Your Congregation: Generous Giving, has just been published.