Advent and Preoccupation with Singular Salvation

This is the second Sunday of Advent. The second week of Advent may focus on peace, preparation, and anticipation in some traditions. I appreciate Advent for several reasons, not least of which is the focus on Christ's return.

This morning we read from Luke 2:22-40, focusing on Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna. I came away unable to shake the sense of immediacy and urgency the prophetic voices of Anna and Simeon would have had as they met the infant Christ. I regularly lose my focus, and found myself imagining the type of focus they would have had to maintain in readiness for this day. How would the mundane have worked out in between? The reality I came back to in reflecting on these two people of God was sin.

It may sound like a strange place to land, but I have been reading through the minor prophets and Isaiah for the last couple of months. It's difficult, nay impossible, to miss the reality of sin as you navigate this portion of the Bible. What I have been struggling with is the idea of sin as missing the mark. This is one of the main ways we talk about sin, especially in the New Testament.

But here's an interesting sin passage, right from the get-go in Isaiah. 

  4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are— 

      loaded down with a burden of guilt. 

    They are evil people, 

      corrupt children who have rejected the LORD. 

    They have despised the Holy One of Israel 

      and turned their backs on him. 

Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Is 1:4). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

I have a hard time reading a passage like this and merely thinking of missing the mark or deprivation. Alternatively, reading Hosea and having the relationship of Hosea and Gomer typify the relationship of God to his people, sin becomes most blatant as an act of adultery. Although missing the mark and deprivation certainly are apt; faithfulness and adherence to faithfulness vs. adulterous action seems much closer to describing holiness and sin. At least in this context. Not that we can't bunch things into neat and tidy compartments, but it seems to fail to hit the metaphorical mark. 

I don't want to ramble about the limits of language, but sin isn't the focus of the Bible, even when it is keenly felt. Living in a Reformed town, I have been taking the time to attempt to review my own root metaphors. Sin as an abstract concept is one those basic conceptual items. It changes the way I think about the world, and this isn't necessarily wrong. It is just one of those realities.  I wonder though, is it a concept I share with those who do not believe in Christ? 

This is where Anna and Simeon come into view. As I prepare for the return of Christ, I feel the effects of sin at work in my own life and the world around. I yearn for the return of the Messiah who comes bringing salvation. However, in a world (or a culture at least) where the individual is paramount, is it possible to assume other people know what I mean when I talk about sin? We might even be "saving" people from one thing while failing to bring them to reality of who God is and who we are supposed to be. This is likely one of the reasons our churches fail in their discipleship and evangelism. 

My thinking at this particular point has been touched by David Bentley Hart  and Scot McKnight (among many others!). It seems to me as we yearn for the return of Christ, it is time to return to collective narrative. A way of speaking about and including people in the story of God. In other words, maybe the reason sin is not such a big deal is because we have made it too personal sometimes. Maybe, just maybe, it is time to return to positioning ourselves in something bigger than our own individualistic settings. 

Here are where I think some of our Reformed brothers and sisters get some things right:

1. Christian expressions of art, music, and creative expression are not walls. They should be the best we have to offer as we tell about the wonder of our God. 

2. Tradition can have a place. In a caring community formed around a celebration of what is sacred we can proclaim the stories of God. 

3. We must focus on the places and ways we are inspired to be good and holy. This is a celebration of the Holy Spirit in God's people. 

Additionally, maybe it's time to celebrate God's divinity in life giving ways with those who aren't believers.

1. Can I share a meal or conversation with someone and share the joy of Christ returning? Does my life shine expectant even in the mundane?

2. How can I live faithfully as a person of peace? Do my actions reflect faithfulness to God rather than to idols (whether of nation, politics, security, finances, family etc.)?

3. Gray areas exist. I'm not talking about moral ambiguity, but reminding (myself) we don't have to know all or live in a comfortable existential place. Our lives can reflect this and still be faithful. Simeon was ready to die after seeing the Messiah and delivered an odd word of encouragement to Mary - 

"and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Lk 2:35b). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.