Happy New Church Year!
As we enter Advent, to me it’s a time of excitement but also a season where I can find myself feeling as if I am not doing enough or doing it right. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy Advent and think it is vital to my faith, but I still always have this longing to dig deeper. When looking at the texts that we have for this first Sunday of Advent, there are things that could scare us, but also provide encouragement to keep going.
Take Isaiah for example. We have a text that goes through and reminds us of the power of God in so many ways, like verses 2 and 3 for example. Yet, concluding Isaiah, we are called a vessel made from the hand of God to perform the task we are called to do even if we fall short. The message of falling short and asking for forgiveness is seen in the Psalm, but it is juxtaposed with the 1 Corinthians text of stating that we are not lacking in anything and are equipped for the task at hand. This then leads us to the gospel, where all of these texts come together. We as people struggle to understand how God’s timing and signs work as compared to earthly things. We humans just can’t fully comprehend God’s timing well. This leads us to the parable of the landowner leaving his slaves in charge while telling the doorkeeper to keep watch and to “keep awake”.
How do all these texts come together in a way that we can actually follow?
It is surprising that the word “prepare” never appears in any of these texts. When I think about Advent, I think of it as a season of preparation. These texts remind us of the importance of preparing and equipping ourselves. Do we really prepare? I know that being the midwestern person that I am, I have spent months preparing for the incoming winter that should arrive at any time, but how well do we prepare for something that we struggle to see?
This is where I think that our feathered friends can help us get in the right mindset for these texts. Every year, millions of birds migrate from warmer winter climates to the breeding grounds and then back again in the fall. This is all triggered by the photoreceptors in their brain noticing the differences in the amount of light, which then triggers new flight feathers a larger appetite, and more restlessness at night. These birds then start their preparation for making their long trip. These trips can be thousands of miles, so this preparation is necessary.
For the fall migration, the breeding hormones drop, and you see birds more and more doing training flights together along with finding food sources together to make sure they can make these flights. They find that flying together makes it easier for them to accomplish their huge goal of reaching their end destination. They need to train together, feed together and fly together so that all have the best chance of doing it. In doing so, it is easier for everyone involved. The preparation is necessary for them to fulfill the calling that they must fulfill. There is a lot of building up reserves for the long journey. A lot of muscle building is also necessary. It is difficult to build up the strength and muscle to do it, but they do.
We as people sometimes forget that we have been put in charge and don’t know when the master is returning. That still means that we need to take care of the place where we have been put in charge – the Earth! – to the best of our abilities. We are also reassured that we have gifts given by God to do the jobs that we are called to do, even if it seems difficult. We also can see that we need to work together, like migrating birds who know the season, in order for us to accomplish these goals to which God is calling us.
What are some of the projects we need to work on?
One example would be the current climate crisis with which we are dealing. Our lack of action and our staggering ability to ignore this issue is catching up with us quickly. We need to be able to tackle the difficult tasks of addressing the climate crisis together for all of us to do well. By no means are these easy things for us to solve. It will take all of us working together. Each of us taking small actions, asking challenging questions, and finding and sharing results will help all of us grow and learn together. This will not only draw us closer to each other. During this process, we will also be drawn closer to God. We will then prepare to show the master upon the return that we messed up, but we worked hard to fix it to the best of our ability. The act of seeing our sin and working to reconcile with human and non-human alike is part of us living out the faith as we take care of this place, the Earth. To me, it appears we have some preparation to do, ahead of when the master returns! We know things will not be perfect, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying. This process of trying will help us deepen our faith as we prepare for the season of receiving our gift from God.
References:
https://www.axios.com/2023/09/14/climate-change-paris-accord
https://www.axios.com/2023/11/20/un-climate-change-emissions-gap
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/how-do-birds-prepare-for-long-migrations/#
Tyler Bublitz
Bemidji, MN
Tyler Bublitz is the Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministry at First Lutheran Church in Bemidji. He is also the Host and Founder of The Faith and Science Podcast, which is a podcast the follows the Revised Common Lectionary each week and finds a science tie in for each weeks text. He lives in Bemidji with his wonderful wife Sarah.