From the pastor

November 30, 2003

It’s a colder morning than we’ve had in some time. There’s barely a wind. And a deep quiet accompanies the cold. The only noises I can hear are inside the house. The furnace exhales in a steady hum. The mantle clock ticks—a little nervously it seems to me. And the world outside my window reminds me of those old silent movies. I can see the set. There’s some action: a squirrel leaps from one tree to another. But there’s no sound. I’ll have to hum the background music myself and make up the dialogue in my head.

Today is the first day of Advent. It is the season when we look ahead. We pay attention to what is emerging from the unknown. We anticipate God’s surprises.

I once got into an argument with a Southern Baptist woman over the topic of God’s predictability. She was rather rude, and the conversation wasn’t much fun for me, and I’ve avoided arguing with Baptists ever since. But she insisted that God was absolutely predictable and that she herself knew everything God had in store for her. She spoke of her assurance that God would simply gush over her religious fervor—outdo himself in rewarding her for her righteous zeal.

She also made a few predictions for me while she was at it. She was most irked at my halting thoughts before the awesomeness of God, my insistence that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and my stubborn belief that the Bible’s God is excitingly erratic. She told me that I was going to hell and certainly couldn’t expect to be seeing her during eternity. (which didn’t sound all that bad to me)

I cut the argument short that day. I thanked her for something—I can’t remember what, and got out of there. I can’t remember what she looked like, but I do remember that tone of voice, and I dodge it whenever I hear it. But in my own head, my side of the argument presses on.

I believe that God is faithful, not predictable. God is living and personal, not moribund and stagnant with divine legalisms. I believe that God is relational and responsive, not an impersonal cosmic formula for reality. I believe that God is emotional and amused, not impartial and detached. I believe that God is outrageous, not meticulously and mechanically fair. After all, how can God be predictable if God is faithful. In a world that is always changing, relational, and outrageous, God could never be faithful to us if God’s ways were entirely set and predictable.

Southern Baptists don’t have Advent. United Methodists do. It is the season of expectation tinged with wonder. We know that God is alive, but we can’t exactly predict what God’s next move will be. We sing our Advent songs to remind us that we should be watchful and alert. The good we predict may actually turn out to disappoint us. And the clouds beyond that we dread may actually bless and refresh us. The story at the center of it all is the birth of Jesus. Ah, birth and new life—there’s no smug predicting about it. --Mike