Advent: Promises Kept

Promises, Promises...
Last Christmas one of my children was severely disappointed with a promised gift. The request made, the wait long, the hopes high...the gift? Not quite right.
Advent celebrates promises kept in answer to the desperate need of God's people.
The requests- made
The wait- long
The hopes- high.
The gift?
Perfect.
The Gospels share personal stories of personal experiences with The Gift.
But before we get to Mary,

Elizabeth:

Jesus,

the fruit of Mary’s womb

root of Jesse.

The story is God's, but I am in the story...

Trace the tree of life and see

Fruit to bloom and bloom to leaf

Leaf to limb, and limb to bough

Bough to bole and bole to root…and

Jesus there as well

Jesus fruit

And Jesus root.

The beginning and the end.

I am only Elizabeth

But I played a part in the epoch of eternity...

Like two trees growing side by side

Zechariah and I

Were grafted together in the soil of our faith

Waiting.

I thought:

If I were as big as God

I would press my cheek upon cerulean blue

Roll back the cloudy covers

reach through atmosphere and ages.

And wrap My people in My promise…

Immanuel.

But I was only Elizabeth;

Old, disgraced in barrenness

Waiting.

I was Elizabeth…

“My God is an oath”

…that’s what my parents named me

it IS what God became to me…

The promise keeper, The promise kept

And all the years of shame were swept

Away

By Immanuel.

He was Zechariah.

“The Lord recalled”

…that’s what his parents named him-

it IS what God became to him…

The Lord remembered, He could not forget…

and the months of voiceless wonder met

John

Who was the voice.

He was John.

“The Lord is gracious”

…that’s what we were told to name him-

it IS what God became to him…

The Lord showed favor to His elect

And the hopes of hearts in waiting set

To rest

in Immanuel.

“The Lord IS gracious”!

I carried the messenger

of Immanuel.

I felt him leap

In the presence of

The fetal Messiah

I knew him as son

whom you call:

“John the Baptizer”.

I raised

the martyred messenger

of the risen Christ,

I am only Elizabeth

But I

know

Immanuel.

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us

and accomplished redemption for His people,

...to remember His holy covenant

...to give His people the knowledge of salvation, by the forgiveness of sins,

Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, 

To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Luke 1: 68, 72b, 77-79

Reason for Thanks

…50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;… Mt. 27:51

Fabric heaving under tension
straining, cowered, curled
the man.
Obscured behind the curtain
brilliance shining, the
I Am

Glory, Peace and power
love in spaces meant
for man
pushing out around the edges
lighting light from the
I Am.

Corrupt in striving weakness
now pride's folly all
consumed
for the dangling shroud dropped, ripping
as Christ roared,
"You're mine-
I Am!"

2 Samuel 14:14
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

On a dim day
Maples blaze;
striking poses nearby-
a line of naked limbs,
vestures shed.
Their colors lay in disarray.

Starlings startle at my plodding,
and I thank God
for a walk in Autumn.

"But he has given proof of what he is like. He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven. He gives you crops in their seasons.
He provides you with plenty of food. He fills your hearts with joy."
Acts 14:17 (NIRV)

The difference between life and death Gen. 3:14-24

2 Corinthians 5:8-9English Standard Version (ESV)

^"8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.⁹ So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him."

We have arrived at the end of the beginning.
Adam and Eve set us to wondering many things...feeling many things...
but above all,
I leave this study feeling simultaneous grief and awe.
God offered the richness of His love and the fulness of His life; but Adam and Eve were under-awed, under-whelmed
and way over-inflated.
They would not maintain marital unity and intimacy without God.
They would not find lasting purpose in life apart from God.
They could not continue on in their isolated condition, eternally the walking dead.
No
No
No
Death was never intended to be a part of life.
Man and woman chose death when they turned inward, closing themselves off from the life-giver,
like a flower that won't drink the rain
or a tree that won't look to the sun.

But the love God made man to share in is
Indefatigable
He will never say
"You've tried my last nerve!"
He pursues relentlessly
for He walked in the garden
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
offering inclusion
to man.
The plans God made man to share in are
Inalterable
He will never be overcome.
The Father said -

"Serpent, eat dust

Satan, be crushed

Woman, life through pain 

Man, pain through life...

Son, win them back."

and His death redeemed our life.

1 Cor. 15:21-22, 54c "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive...'Death is swallowed up in victory."

Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden.
Riveted to the gate that closed behind them, The Father drew their eyes to gate that opened ahead.

For this earth and these bodies and all that they are bound to are done away with at death and we are freed...
in Christ.

What kind of a God takes on the form of His own creation to be with them?
What kind of a God subjects His own life to suffering for the sake of ones by whom He's been rejected?
What kind of a God uproots the natural order to upturn the spiritual...and bring us back to Him?

Our God.
He makes the difference between life and death.

^"6-8 That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.10

...Sooner or later we’ll all have to face God. "

2 Corinthians 5:8-10The Message (MSG)

Gen. 3: 11-13 "Who?"- Shame part 2

Wearing shame.
It's revealing!
Revealing my own awareness of what I am not and what I am but wish I weren't, shame is sometimes  a result of accurate self-assessment and sometimes it is not.

My weaknesses make me feel shame. Every day provides ample opportunity for me to want to hide in the bushes. "I'm worthless. I'm pointless. I'm completely incapable." As a result, my gut response to confrontation is defensiveness: 
"Oh please don't tell me I let you down! Of course I did. I always do. I'm a failure. I'm...
ashamed."
My inadequacies cause other people hassle and pain; so I'd rather just go into hiding.
Joking and apathy are good hiding places; 
isolation is too.
When all else fails, blame may do the job.
Just like in the very first confrontation between God and man, 
following the very first game of hide and seek, blame became a tool of self-defense.

God: "Who?"

Adam: "...It was you! It was the woman!"
Eve: "...It was the serpent"

"Blaming or denigrating others serves to disown what the shameful person feels. Shame may lead a person to make attributions about others that are disguised attempts to restore a positive self-view or hide negative self-perceptions. In order to escape shame's self-diminishing effects, a person might instead denigrate others or express contempt toward them. Thus a person might attempt to bolster his own view of himself by finding flaws in others so that they become the one who is shameful." by Mary C. Lamia, Ph.D.

God in His infinite grace and mercy has compassion on us.

 Psalm 103: "An earthly father expresses love for his children;
    it is no different with our heavenly Father;
The Eternal shows His love for those who revere Him.
¹⁴ For He knows what we are made of;
    He knows our frame is frail, and He remembers we came from dust."

Psalm 100:3  "Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture."

³ "Psalm 139: 13-14 "For You shaped me, inside and out.
    You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath.
¹⁴ I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe.
    You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
    Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul." The Voice

You see a "positive self-view" cannot start with the self and cannot end with the self. It must start with the One who made us and must end with the One who saves us. 

Ephesians 1:4 "...He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight;"

Here's my take on a personal conversation following my own games of hide and seek-

Me: "Shake it off
the shame that plagues me
strip myself from
shame that weighs
Feigning virtues, 
blush betrays me
But I will not be 
the one to blame!"

Jesus: "Pick it up
and lay it on me!
stripped, I bore
the guilt that slays
claiming virtue
Love compels me
I'll be the One
to take your blame."

Isaiah 30:18The Voice (VOICE)

¹⁸     Meanwhile, the Eternal One yearns to give you grace and boundless compassion;
        that’s why He waits.
    For the Eternal is a God of justice.
        Those inclined toward Him, waiting for His help, will find happiness.

Gen. 3:7-9 "What's become of you?" - Shame part 1

Shame
It seems at times, I wear my life
like an ill-fitted garment.

Reluctant to reach if ripping
Unwilling to run if tripping

Afraid I'll be exposed or fall
But perhaps it's not the fit at all.


Leaves picked in newly private places.
Conscience pricked in freshly wrecked regard.
Contaminates contaminated.
Man, made from the dust...
found a dirty self unearthed
and he ran to bury it.
Everything right felt wrong.
Everything around them-wrong.
Everything between them-wrong.
Everything about them?
What would God, the only thing- the only one still right, think?

In the gentle breezes of the day, God's presence stirred the garden. No, He was not content to wind up his world like a clock and let it tick away like a bomb because God is not simply the Creator.
God is Father. On the day He was betrayed; God the Father pursued his children.
"Where are you?" or "What's become of you...why are you hiding?" God called to the man.
This was not a shattered God gasping, "For shame!"
This was a grieved God offering reconciliation.

And,
How like the Father is the Son who, though betrayed, calls His people out of hiding..."What's become of you? Come!"
How like the Father is the Son, who calls us back to freedom..."Why are you hiding? Come"!
He calls you back to all that's right...
He calls you back to life...
Come!
Revelation 2-3, 22:12-17

Silence of the man...

"...and she gave also to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." Gen. 5:6b

Adam
First man ("Ish")
First hu-man (God-man)
alone...
But then
to complete God's image,
wo-man (Ishah- from man)
a helper (one to strengthen).
Eve lent not just hands for a task
Eve came alongside Adam,
who recognized his need of a fitted partner,
to empower him.
Together, given the command from
Creator, Father
"Be like me -
Give life
nurture life
manage my world."
Eve's design to em-power
became device to over-power.

By the power of speech,
God brought light into darkness
order into a holy mess-
earth.
By silence
Adam welcomed chaos back.

Why did the power of speech elude Adam at this critical moment? Perhaps Eve had discovered her womanly influence...
perhaps Adam thought: "to avoid conflict is the higher road", and seemingly without protest,
Adam joined his wife...
initiating conflict between God and his creation.
Eve was enticed into believing she needed more than she had; Adam seemed to believe Eve was all he needed. By stepping outside of God's Word, they stepped into a world without God.

Together they were given the world,
Together they gave it away.
Adam-First to omit
Eve-First to commit

How dare we blame God for the craziness of what's become of all His good beginnings...
for the end of good beginnings was the beginning man's of sin.

But God IS good,
and this story has a different ending;
God will speak
and His enemies will be silenced.

Rev. 21:3-5a "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
"He who is seated on the throne said,
'I am making everything new!'"

* A resource I used to write this blog is : The Silence of Adam by Dr. Larry Crabb


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