Concise Oxford | Advent

If He’s coming back… let’s get on with it

I‘ve been thinking that for my last blog before Christmas I’d write something profound and spiritually enriching for Christians to consider in the last week leading up to the big day.

But the fact is, I feel like those words would have been empty and void of the truth of where I’m at these days. I could have pontificated and used some of the best Christian-eze you could find anywhere about how mysterious and wonderful the Christmas season is. And while those words would have been true, and while I would have believed in those words with all of my heart, in reality I don’t really feel any of it today.

Advent is a season meant for reflection on three things;

1. That Jesus came and dwelt among us. (He moved into the neighbourhood, as Eugene Peterson interprets it in The Message)
2. That Jesus is here with us now.
3. That Jesus will come again and make everything right once and for all.

In reality for me this Advent, the first of these reflections rings true. But the second for me right now is harder to hold on to. I’m not entirely sure that I feel Him here with me/us right now. This leads me to the third reflection which I think I’ve been consumed with this Advent season; if He’s coming back, there’s no time like the present so let’s get on with it.

My prayer has been something like this; “Jesus, you claim to be here with us now but I don’t feel you near. And you’ve promised you’d come back again and make everything right once and for all. So if you’re really here, can’t you see how truly horrific things are all around us? How long will you wait? Why do you keep us waiting? How bad does it have to get before you’ll come back?”

Last year, a movie called No Country for Old Men was released. (Which in my opinion was the best movie in the past few years by far, but don’t watch it if you’re sensitive to violence or language as it can get brutal.) It best describes how I’m feeling these days. This movie is a Psalm on film. It’s a portrayal of the battle between good and evil, where it seems up to the bitter end that evil prevails.

There’s one profound line that is uttered that demonstrates how people are feeling about that evil force. That line is “You can’t stop what’s coming.” It’s a show of defeat and surrender to that presence of evil. The darkness is moving at will through the country and there’s nothing they can do about it, no matter how hard they try.

But thankfully, when the movie is all but over the, character who represents the presence of goodness (in this case the policeman who lives a righteous life but is now old and feeling defeated because his world is a much worse place then it was when he started as a cop) recounts a dream he has. The dream is one of reconciliation and hope. It is a dream that resolves the entire movie and if you’re not paying attention will leave you completely confused about the whole point of the story. The dream is that at some point in the future, there will come a force of goodness that will overcome evil and make everything right.

I feel like I’m in that movie today. It seems as though evil is ravishing and raping the entire world and there is nothing that I can do to stop it or even slow it down. I can’t stop what’s coming. I feel helpless, confused and even a little angry.

So my hope is, as was the hope portrayed in that dream, that there will be a day that this evil will get stopped in its tracks and destroyed forever.

That is the hope of Advent.

Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Writer: The Concise Oxford is written by Dion Oxford who, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto, Canada and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. He and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is a recovering Salvationist who currently worships at an evangelical Anglican church but still works for The Salvation Army at the Gateway, a shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbour. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.

8 Comments to Concise Oxford | Advent

1. Dion

   Thanks for the reminder about the ultimate Advent–when Jesus returns.
   So many of us in this society seem to have forgotten that the Cradle of Christmas leads to the Cross of Calvary which leads to the Crown of Completion when creation is completed with the triumphant return of Christ.
   That Blessed Hope remains to come yet.

   The Kingdom of God is twofold for us who follow Christ:
   firstly, it is here and now and we can see and experience it even among all the evil of this world
   secondly, it will be fully manifested when Jesus returns.

   And yes, like you, I sometimes wonder about wether this is the time or not.
   But then I look at the history of the last 20 centuries and see many times when conditions in the world were as bad as they are today.

   He will return but it will be at the time that God wills it.

   John Stephenson
John Stephenson on December 20th, 2008

2. I’m intrigued by your description as a “recovering Salvationist.” What exactly is it that you are recovering from? I’m curious, because I’m also a “recovering Salvationist.” The difference is that I found peace and freedom by rejecting theism. Perhaps the reason you’re having difficulty with points #2 & 3 are that #1 is not true either.
Recovered Ex-Salvationist on December 20th, 2008

3. Hey Dion,

   Great stuff. Love No Country, and it’s good I think to see it as a Psalm - more Psalms were “laments” than anything else.

   Personally I would see that movie as closest to Psalm 88 though, the only one that doesn’t resolve. I have a different interpretation on the ending I think than you do, though yours is interesting. I think this movie, and Psalm 88, are vitally important in that they honestly describe life when no hope is visible at all. What do you do then? What do you hold onto? In this place platitudes and unfounded optimism really do not hold up at all. There has to be a real depth of faith to plunge through such doubt and complexity.

   Grace,

   Aaron
aaron on December 20th, 2008

4. Hi John,
   It’s always nice to hear from you. Thanks for the reminder.

   Hello ex-salvationist,
   You words are so honest and challenging and cut me to the core.

   When I left the SA I was in a place where I almost made the same decision you made.
   My own personal experience was that I had grown up in a very conservative environment which was extremely legalistic and my faith became a series of rights and wrongs; do’s and dont’s, but lacked any true faith in the creator and sustainer of all things. I played in the band and got pretty good at it, but realized in my 20’s that my instrument was my god. My decision to leave the Army was that I needed to find God for myself if He really existed and in order to do that I needed to leave behind my other gods; most of which were bound up in my church of upbringing which happened to be the Salvation Army.

   Over time, I did find God. It happened to me on the streets while hanging out with folks who were homeless and left behind by society.
   As an evengelical conservative Christian, I went to the streets to ’save’ people, but quickly realized that it was me that was being saved. I thought I was bringing Jesus into dark alleys with me, but realized that when I got into those alleys, Jesus was already there and I got to meet Him there in ways that I never did in the hallowed halls and pews of my church.

   There have been seasons however, like the one I am in now, where I don’t feel Him but believe in Him with every part of being. Thankfully, the Psalms and many other parts of scripture give me freedom and permission to express this distance. I do know that this is just a season that will pass.

   I appreciate and respect your honesty. And I do hope you rediscover jesus somewhere along the way in a place you least expect to.

   If you’re in or around Toronto and you feel safe to reveal yourself to me, I’d love to buy you a meal or a mutually agreed upon beverage.

   Shalom,
   Dion
Dion Oxford on December 20th, 2008

5. Me again,
   ex-salvationist,
   You said in your comment that your peace and freedom have come by rejecting theism. My peace and freedom have come from rejecting legalism (which for you Salvos out there, does not mean rejecting the Salvation Army. I’d hate my SA friends to think I was saying that the two are necessarily the same)
Dion Oxford on December 20th, 2008

6. Dion:

   Thanks for your polite response. I respect the fact that you’ve struggled and sorted through issues in a thoughtful way. You’ve arrived at a different answer than I have, and that’s okay.

   Best wishes for a joyful, peace-filled holiday season.
Recovered Ex-Salvationist on December 22nd, 2008

7. Aaron,
   I left my comments before yours was posted. Sorry for the appearance of ignoring you. Absolutely not my intent.
   I’m glad you liked No Country. It’s so good. Psalm 88 is the perfect comparison given your interpretation of the last scene.
   The only other almost entirely unresolved Psalm, which has some glimpse of hope at the beginning, is Psalm 44 (which some have argued is the basis for U2’s ‘Wake Up Dead Man’.) In my view, this would be the better comparison as I do see some hope in this movie.
   I did have the advantage of having read the book a year before the movie was released. The final dream he has is about his father (already a reference in my mind to The Father). They are both riding horseback through mountains on a dark wintry night. His father rides past him without a word and keeps on going.

   “He just rode on past and he had a blanket wrapped around him and he had his head down and when he rode past I seen he was carryin’ fire in a horn the way people used to and I could see the horn from the light inside of it. About the colour of the moon. And in the dream I knew he was goin’ on ahead and that he was fixin’ to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and all that cold and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there.”

   that’s some awesome writing right there.

   Ex-Salvatioist,
   It’s been nice chatting. I too hope you find peace, hope and joy this Christmas.

   Shalom,
   Dion
Dion Oxford on December 22nd, 2008

8. Dion and others,

   Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ve not had time to add mine, but I’ve found listening to yours both interesting and helpful.

   Thanks again.

   Bernard
Bernard on December 24th, 2008

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