Mind-Set

“Joy to the word the Lord is come.”  That  line puzzled me as a child. It didn't sound right to me.  I thought Christmas was a time to celebrate the birthday of the Lord Jesus who had come (past tense). “Joy to the world the Lord has come” was my childhood version that I sang and clung to for a long time.   But of course, that’s not what it says. The operative word is is! (present tense)  Advent and Christmas has less to do with what happened then, and actually much more to do with the possibilities of God’s presence right now - in the present. 

To me that's the essential meaning of Advent, God taking shape in our lives right now - to bring the past into the present – to transform “has” and “was” into “is” and “now.” 

Very briefly I want to connect the two passages that were read just moments ago.  We read the passage form Mark 1, “Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the good news.’” (1:14-15)  "Repent" is most certainly a common catch-word for Advent - a good old fashioned religious word that, I believe, is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted words in the biblical lexicon.  The popular notion of “repent” focuses primarily around the theme of contrition; that is being sorry for our sins, confessing our sins and perhaps even doing penance.  We Lutherans have historically been good at contrition; groveling; confessing; feel sorry for our sins.  But the biblical meaning of the word “repent” has less to do with contrition and much more to do with something else - with change and transformation. 

In the Old Testament the meaning of the word “repent” means to return from exile to the place of God’s presence.  A familiar verse during Advent is the cry of Isaiah to the exiles in Babylon, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (40:3) To “repent” means to travel the road home, to follow the highway that leads out of exile to home; from a place of separation, from a place of alienation; from a place of estrangement to a place of reconnection.

The New Testament meaning of "repent" adds to the OT meaning.  In the NT, the Greek word translated as “repent” means “to go beyond the mind that you have;”  to adopt a new "mind-set." 

The second passage is from Mark 11.  Your first reaction to the reading of  Mark 11 might be, "Am I confused?  Isn't this a Holy Week/Palm Sunday text?"  The answer is "Yes."  Not "Yes I am confused, but yes a Palm Sunday text."   But it is also a passage about the arrival of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, so that also makes it an Advent passage. 

You may not be aware that two parades entered Jerusalem on that day, that week of Passover, so long ago - two parades, not just one.   Of course there was the familiar one; the one we know so well.  From the east Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers - mostly peasants - laying down their branches and coats before him - shouting their "hosannas." 

But on the opposite side of the city, from the west, there was another parade.  Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea and Samaria, entered Jerusalem leading an impressive parade of imperial cavalry and soldiers. It was standard practice for Roman governors of Judea to arrive in Jerusalem for major Jewish festivals, not out of reverence for the customs of their Jewish subjects, but to be in the city for a show of military power to discourage uprisings and insurgencies; especially at Passover, the Jewish people’s commemoration of liberation from an earlier oppressive empire. 

When you understand there were two parades, it adds to the meaning of Jesus' parade.   Jesus’ parade suddenly resembles a planned political demonstration, the meaning of which is taken from the prophet Zechariah.  According to Zechariah, a king would be coming to Jerusalem “humble, and riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (9:9) Zechariah says that this king will bring an end to war-chariots, war-horses, battle bows, swords and the equipment of war, and this king shall be, Zechariah says, “a king of peace.”

Jesus’ parade was a deliberate contrast to what was happening on the other side of the city.  Pilate’s procession embodied the power, glory and violence of the empire that ruled the world.  Jesus’ procession embodied an alternative vision, the kingdom of God. 

What’s interesting is that both of these kingdoms advance the idea of peace.  The difference is how that peace is to be attained and then maintained.  For Rome, peace was to be attained and maintained through coercive power: military, economic, political and ideological power; to rule the world through intimidation, fear, violence and brute strength.

For Jesus, who came announcing the imminence of the Kingdom of God, it was a peace attained through the pursuit of social justice for all people; a kingdom in which the least and the last would be first; a kingdom in which the proud would be lowered and the humbled lifted; a kingdom where enemies were loved and prayed for; where the unclean were embraced; where outcasts were included; a kingdom attained not through military violence, economic exploitation, or political coercion but through non-violence, love and the pursuit of social justice.  This is the great contrast of kingdoms that Advent calls to our attention; brings to our awareness.   

Back to repentance: If repentance truly is about a new mind set, then I must ask myself, “Which mind-set will be reflected in my life: the strong-armed imperial approach - or the kingdom of God approach?  Will I be an advocate for an imperial approach, one who trusts in the shades of coercive power that take expression in every relationship, from our most intimate and personal to international relationships between nations?  Or will I be an advocate of the kingdom of God and the pursuit of social justice, love, shalom and grace?  For me, that is an Advent question; an Advent soul-search; an Advent assessment that I must address.   Upon which kingdom will I build my life, and to which kingdom with I give my ultimate allegiance?   Which mind-set will it be?

One thing I must recognize is that the kingdom of God is always vulnerable to the imperial powers of the world, for the same Jesus who rode into Jerusalem staging a demonstration contrasting the two kingdoms ended up on a Roman cross just a few days later.  If I adopt Jesus' mind-set and embody in my life the kingdom he embodied in his life, I must recognize and accept that there very well may be a cross waiting for me down the road he calls me to follow him upon.  Will I take up my cross for the kingdom of God? 

But the good news is the story didn’t end with the cross.  The resurrection beyond his cross is vindication of God’s kingdom, vindication of the mind-set of Jesus, that follows him on the path to peace that pursues love and social justice.  The resurrection is the good news that the kingdom that Jesus announced and embodied is not merely a past memory but a present reality that I am called into everyday.

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”