Marginal Christianity

I am a Scrooge at Christmas, I admit it. It frustrates my wife. Exasperated, she asked me the other night why I dislike Christmas so much. I’ve been thinking about how I would answer that since then. As far as I can tell, I think a certain experience, family experience, and theological development play key roles. That certain experience happened when I was about 10 years old. My family went to the Christmas Eve service at our church. We arrived late enough to find empty space only on the first pew. I was seated on the aisle. As the choir began to process down the aisle to the choir loft past me, I suddenly burst into tears. Sobbing uncontrollably, my parents tried to settle me down without drawing embarrassing attention to my outburst. I could not explain why I was crying. But after I settled down a bit, I realized that the onset of the service sparked a question in my mind that I couldn’t get rid of and it saddened me deeply. “Why did they have to kill him (Jesus)?” was the q...

Matthew 3:1-12 Karl Barth kept a picture of the Isenheim Altarpiece over his desk most of his life. What most captured Barth’s attention was the long, bony finger of John the Baptist pointing to the crucified Jesus Christ hanging agonizingly on the cross. That long, bony finger of the Baptist’s witness to Christ became the central theme for Barth of Christian vocation – witness. I call it Advent giving us the finger! Yes, Advent gives us the finger – the finger of witness. It witnesses to us of Jesus Messiah and his coming to gather and reconstitute Abrahamic Israel from ethnic Israel and calls us to witness to our world of the work of Jesus Messiah through this reconstituted Jewish and then Gentile Abrahamic people. Advent equips us to give the finger (of witness) to the world. We witness -to the darkness of the world in which each Advent dawns, -to the darkness in each of us in whom Advent dawns, -to the new life for Abrahamic Israel – and through ...

The Meaning of Advent Micah 5:2-5a / Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7 / Hebrews 10:5-10 / Luke 1:39-45, (46-55) Now we move to the end of Advent, threshold of the arrival of the Christ-child, the God who comes. With him comes the fulfillment of God’s plans and purposes. Source of unending joy and delight. Joy itself is the hallmark of God’s presence and power. Joy attended all Israel’s expectations and anticipations of this fulfillment. Yet when the Christ-child comes history does not end, everything is not brought into alignment with God’s design, sin is not abolished, nor are heaven and earth fully and finally harmoniously reunited. Instead, Jesus engages and defeats the powers of Sin and Evil in a battle climaxing in his resurrection from the dead. His victory accomplished, God’s Israel on this side of the cross lives out that victory going forth to spread and implement its fruits in reconciliation and new life. Christ will return to finally and fully put heaven and...

“Advent creates people, new people.” ( Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas ) Zephaniah 3:14-20/Isaiah 12:2-6/Philippians 4:4-7/Luke 3:7-18 Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Advent The “waiting which hastens” is a key scriptural text for Advent we have discovered. Bonhoeffer helps us better understand this when he says, “ Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot. But all too often the greedy eyes are only deceived; the fruit that seemed so precious is still green on the inside, and disrespected hands ungratefully toss aside what has so disappointed them ( God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas ). Waiting (for the fruit of Advent to ripen) hastens the coming of the day of the Lord (because it matures us) to practice Christmas as we should. And how is that? Bonhoeffer again: “Who among us will celebrate Christmas correc...

December 6, 2018 by Brian Walsh [ A homily preached at St. Margaret’s Anglican Church, New Toronto, on December 2, 2018. The texts were  Jeremiah 33.14-16,  Luke 21.25-36 ] There is nothing ‘festive’ about Advent. At least not if you are listening to Jesus this morning. We read the gospel of Luke today not as a warm up to Christmas, nor as a way to get into the ‘spirit’ of the season, and certainly not as a way to ‘lighten up’ as the days get shorter and darker. Not for Jesus. In this gospel reading everything is going to hell. Jesus paints a scene of cosmic collapse, and everything – literally everything! – is falling apart. There are portents in the sky, paralyzing distress and confusion amongst the nations, and even the sea seems to be totally out of control with rising sea levels and devastating tsunamis. No wonder people are fainting from fear, no wonder people are overcome with anxiety, no wonder hope seems to evaporate in t...

Advent Begins in the Dark with God                                                                                                                                       (Year C, 2 nd Sunday 2018) (Malachi 3:1-4 / Luke 1:68-79/ Philippians 1:3-11/ Luke 3:1-6) Advent begins in the dark. So we have seen. But that does not mean w...

“What other time or season can or will the Church ever have but that of Advent!” [i]                                          Karl Barth                                                                                                                ...