Lent Musings (2 of 5)

“I suck at Lent” admits Dion Oxford

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o instantly dispel any myths that I might be creating for myself as a super spiritual person (those of you who know me already know better), I need to confess right off the top that Lent thus far for me has been a miserable failure. On Shrove Tuesday I committed to several Lenten disciplines that I would try to pursue throughout these 40 days and all but one of them has, for the most part, gone by the wayside. (The only one that I haven’t blown yet is my commitment to not shave, which I’ll get into in a later post but I’ll say now that this beard getting out of control…) I promised God that I would or would not do certain things for 40 days out of my love and commitment for Him and my desire to be more like Jesus, but the temptations for the things I promised not to eat or to do have quite pathetically proven to be greater than my promise to God. And it didn’t take long for that to happen. (It’s kind of liberating to get that out there but I feel like a total loser about it all)

So this Lent has reminded me of two very powerful truths about myself;

1. I am miserably prone to slipping over and over again back into sin.
2. I am going to die and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

As I’ve read and reflected on the text of Matthew 6:1-18 and have allowed myself to be challenged to read scripture, the first of four themes of Lent (known in liturgical circles as the four ‘acts of righteousness’), I am made very aware of the deep sin within me and my desperate need to confess and repent of that sin.

There is darkness within me. Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday, reminds me of that pervasive darkness and the struggle to keep that darkness in check. Lent reminds me in full force of the battle that rages within me, and the battle that rages within the world, of darkness verses light.

So Ash Wednesday, especially when reading the traditional texts that come with it of Matt. 6:1-18 as well as Joel 2:12-18, acts as a ‘reboot’ of the spiritual journey. I’m not a computer geek by any means but when my computer gets slow and sluggish I am occasionally advised to run the ‘defragment’ software in order to clean up the hard drive and help it not get bogged down in little bits and pieces that get stuck in there which aren’t necessary and only go to slowing down and confusing the computer. Ash Wednesday is God’s way of defragmenting us. It takes us out of our potential complacency and distractions, and brings us back to reality to focus on the truly important things of the Christian walk. It takes our minds off of trivial theological disputes (in the case of some of the recent dialogues on the Rubicon it reminds us that mudslinging over what version of the Bible is best or if or how we participate in sacraments, is out of step with the Christian walk) and refocuses us on things of bigger importance.

Lent brings us back to the basics of the story. And the story reveals that though the darkness is all around us and through us, and though we are born sinful and flawed (Ps. 55:5), the darkness cannot overcome the light. The darkness that followed Jesus every step of the way, and in very real ways came close to tempting Him to sin, did not defeat Him. But He did get murdered for standing firm against the darkness. His witness of light came at great cost. So too, our attempt to stand against the darkness should cost us. In fact, if it doesn’t cost us anything it’s worth absolutely nothing.

Ash Wednesday then is reboot day. It is the beginning of our walk towards Easter Sunday, where Jesus defeated sin and death. It reminds us that we too have sin within us that needs to be overcome. It reminds us that we too are on a journey towards our own death. It reminds us that, with Jesus, we too can overcome the sin and death in our own lives.

But it leaves us with choices to make. How than shall we live? What might we do to stand firm against the darkness? What disciplines might we attempt to embrace in our efforts to stand firm? When the world literally crumbles all around us (Haiti, Chile, Japan), when corrupt governments deal in death and people continue to die in the streets, when death surrounds us everywhere we look, how do we respond? Is our response to death the same as that of the rest of the world’s or are we noticeable in our response to oppression, injustice, and death?

Lent offers suggestions as to where to start with that. The first, as I’ve mentioned, is to read and take seriously the scriptures that have been given to us to reveal something of the nature of God and how we as His created beings are to respond in light of the good news of God’s love for us and for all of creation.

In my next piece I will focus my thoughts on the 2^nd of the 4 acts of righteousness, giving.

Until then I’m still sucking at Lenten disciplines, cursed with sin and longing for Easter,

Dion 

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.

Lent Musings (1 of 5)

Lent for Dummies - Like Me (by Dion Oxford)

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or those of us who grew up not paying much attention to the Christian calendar, Lent is a season that has often passed us by without even noticing it. Protestant piety made a point of rejecting everything associated with the higher liturgical traditions, for many very good reasons I might add, but sadly threw away a lot of great proven spiritual practices along the way in an effort to purge itself from the many legalistic trappings that can come with liturgical worship.

But in the past few years as I have begun worshipping in a more liturgical tradition, Lent has become of crucial significance to me in my Christian walk. When I started trying to observe the season, I originally needed a “Lent for dummies” lesson. So, as I suspect there are others out there just like me who are interested in Lent but know very little of what it means or where it comes from, here’s my feeble attempt at offering my own flawed version of “Lent for dummies”.

What does the word ‘Lent’ mean?

The word ‘Lent’ has a lengthy evolution. In Latin, the word quadragesima was used to refer to the 40 days leading up to Easter. In the middle ages, the English word ‘Lent’ emerged which means, quite simply, spring. (Which comes from the German word Lenz and the Dutch word lente) This derives from the German root for ‘long’ due to the fact that in springtime the days visibly lengthen. (Notice that ‘Lent’ and ‘Lengthen’ are very similar)

The practice and Purpose of Lent

(This entire section comes from http://www.crivoice.org/cylent.html)

“Originating in the fourth century of the church, the season of Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter. Originally, Lent was the time of preparation for those who were to be baptized, a time of concentrated study and prayer before their baptism at the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord early on Easter Sunday. But since these new members were to be received into a living community of Faith, the entire community was called to preparation. Also, this was the time when those who had been separated from the Church would prepare to rejoin the community.

Today, Lent is marked by a time of prayer and preparation to celebrate Easter. Since Sundays celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the six Sundays that occur during Lent are not counted as part of the 40 days of Lent, and are referred to as the Sundays in Lent. The number 40 is connected with many biblical events, but especially with the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for His ministry by facing the temptations that could lead him to abandon his mission and calling. Christians today use this period of time for introspection, self examination, and repentance.

Lent has traditionally been marked by penitential prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Some churches today still observe a rigid schedule of fasting on certain days during Lent, especially the giving up of meat, alcohol, sweets, and other types of food. Other traditions do not place as great an emphasis on fasting, but focus on charitable deeds, especially helping those in physical need with food and clothing, or simply the giving of money to charities. Most Christian churches that observe Lent at all focus on it as a time of prayer, especially penance, repenting for failures and sin as a way to focus on the need for God’s grace. It is really a preparation to celebrate God’s marvellous redemption at Easter, and the resurrected life that we live, and hope for, as Christians.”

Where do I start if I want to participate in Lent?

As I have attempted over the past few years to go deeper with Lent, I have tried to observe the four emphases of Lent that traditionally are derived from Matthew 6. These are;

1. Scripture (Matthew 6:1-18)
2. Giving (Matthew 6:2-4)
3. Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15)
4. Fasting (Matthew 6:16-18)

Hopefully you will find reading the Matthew passage through this lens would be a helpful start if participating in Lent is new to you. And if you think it’s too late to try some of these disciplines this year, hear me plead with you that it is not too late, lest we slip instantly into the legalistic pitfalls that can come with practicing the spiritual disciplines!

So, over the next 4 Lent Musings, I will focus on each of these areas individually as they relate to my own life and my attempt to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God.

Longing for Easter,

Dion

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.

The lame walk again - Advent Musings #4

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ell here we are at the 4th installment of these Advent thoughts. As I write this today we are exactly one week away from the big day. We are 7 days from the day we celebrate the arrival of the King of Kings … but yet I am ashamed to admit that today my main anxiety is regarding the few presents I want to buy for the people that I love the most. As much as I try to leave behind the baggage of this westernized version of materialistic, consumer driven Christmas where the only entity that seems to come out on top is Walmart, I can’t seem to shake it off.

So these four blogs have hopefully demonstrated my own personal struggles in Christmas. I wait for Christ’s final return in desperate anticipation of the day when He’ll make all of creation right, but yet get sucked into my own selfishness which then contributes to the destruction of the same creation I long to see made whole.

I struggle with all of the brokenness that I see all around me which often brings me down, but yet I’m overcome with joy when I see something wonderful happen in someone’s life. I hope beyond hope for all of the pain in the world to end, but yet I love my life, my wife and daughter, my friends, my job and my church so much that I want it to last just a little bit longer despite the billions of people all over the world who are desperate to leave behind the destruction that they face every day.

So I’ve concluded within myself that these musings are quite a bit about me. And so I’ve chosen to end these stories of hope and struggle with my own.

Many of you will know that I have lived with Multiple Sclerosis for almost 13 years now. It has been full of ups and downs but for the most part has been quite manageable and I have come to grips with it. But this Advent season of waiting has brought with it a very personal anticipation in light of the amazing new possibilities in MS research that have come to light these past few weeks. Most of you will have heard about this already, but for those who haven’t, a doctor in Italy has hypothesized that MS is a vascular disease as opposed to an auto-immune one and that it could quite possibly be cured with a simple angioplasty surgery to open the veins wider and allow for better blood flow. 

I must admit that despite my doctor’s urgings to not get too excited about something that hasn’t been tested enough yet, it has been massively difficult to keep it together since that news hit the airwaves. While I have come to grips with the disease, I have also needed to acknowledge some losses along the way. Lately I have real difficulty in walking and it seems to be here to stay. I can’t stand up for more than a few minutes without it zapping all of my energy. Walking for more than a few blocks is a real challenge for me. I’ve even needed to admit to myself that I now need a scooter in order to get around on longer journeys. So for example, if I want to spend the day at the zoo with my 7-year old daughter Cate, I will need a mobility scooter in order for that to be possible. (One of the Advent miracles within the story is that this week a very generous family has offered to buy me the exact scooter that I need. I’m truly overwhelmed by how supported I feel at times like this.)

I watched a half-hour TV special on this new MS discovery that showed interviews with people who had lived with MS, who had the exact same struggles as I do, who had the surgery and now can no longer remember what it was like to have MS. I watched one man with tears in his eyes speak of how he can now play tennis with his son when he couldn’t do that before he had the surgery. And I found myself longing for it more than I can remember longing for anything in my life. I want to be able to run around in the park with my daughter. I want to go for long walks with my wife. I’m embarrassed to have to need a scooter and be looked at with sympathy and even scorn. I would trade everything I own for this as not one material thing in this world could ever come close to what this would mean to me.

The most brutal thing of all in this is that it’s so painfully humbling to need to be cared for when I’m the guy who cares for others. I hate it. Yet it is a gift to me that I needed even though I haven’t asked for it and I’d gladly give back if I could. It is here that I will turn it over to Henri Nouwen who speaks to me and can speak on my behalf.

Keep your eyes on the prince of peace, the one who doesn’t cling to his divine power; the one who refuses to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights and rule with great power; the one who says, “Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness” (see Matt. 5:3-11); the one who touches the lame, the crippled, and the blind; the one who speaks words of forgiveness and encouragement; the one who dies alone, rejected and despised. Keep your eyes on him who becomes poor with the poor, weak with the weak, and who is rejected with the rejected. He is the source of all peace.

Where is this peace to be found? The answer is clear. In weakness. First of all, in our own weakness, in those places of our hearts where we feel most broken, most insecure, most in agony, most afraid. Why there? Because there our familiar ways of controlling our world are being stripped away; there we are called to let go from doing much, thinking much, and relying on our self-sufficiency. Right there where we are weakest the peace which is not of this world is hidden.

While I haven’t found complete peace in my weakness, I know exactly what he is getting at here and I long for more of it. So I find myself yet again stuck in the paradox of Advent. I long to be whole in body but my brokenness is bringing me closer to my God. I want to be in unity with the Creator of the universe but I want to be able to run around with my daughter too. I want to be dependant on the Prince of Peace but I also want to be independent in this body of mine. I want this peace that comes from only being weak but I desire to be strong while I experience it.

Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly and rescue me from my confusion and make me, along with all of creation, whole.

Shalom,
Dion

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.

Raised from the Dead - Advent Musings #3

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o think that we have just remembered the 3^rd of only 4 Sundays of Advent is shocking to me. Time keeps flying by and it overwhelms me to think of how quickly life seems to keep on happening.

The 3^rd Sunday of Advent is known in liturgical circles as ‘Gaudete Sunday’. And the symbolism of this 3^rd Sunday is perfect for those of us who cannot quite believe that we are this close to Christmas already. The word ‘gaudete’ means to rejoice, and anticipates the arrival of Christmas. It is the first word in the liturgy of the day; 

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice; let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.

Of the 4 candles in the Advent wreath to be lit on each Sunday of Advent, three are purple and one is pink. The pink candle is lit on this 3^rd Sunday as it is meant to symbolize the joyous anticipation of the coming of the King of kings and the Prince of peace. Pink is meant to symbolize the merging of the purple more somber candles with the white Christ candle which gets lit on Christmas day. Gaudete is an early celebration of what is to come. It anticipates light overcoming the darkness, peace overcoming war, hope overcoming despair, and life defeating death.

Here at Gateway we get to have these gaudete days quite regularly amidst the turmoil of the streets. I’d invite you to meet Anthony;

“Imagine the dirtiest, smelliest bum you’ve ever seen. Now multiply that by 100. That was me in 2002,” says Anthony Schofield, now 34.

Anthony grew up in a home with a stepfather who has since lost his life to crack cocaine and alcohol abuse. Anthony had low self-esteem, and his erratic behaviour led his parents to have him placed in special education classes, group homes and a mental health centre. Anthony started selling and using drugs at a young age. His drug problem escalated when he was accepted into the Ontario College of Art. His $8,900 student assistance loan and the downtown school’s proximity to drug dealers proved to be too tempting of a combination.

In 1994, Anthony dropped out of school and started living on the streets. He was one of the first “squeegee kids”, cleaning drivers’ windshields for a donation. “When we first started doing this, drivers were sympathetic to us and quite generous. I was making about $60 an hour.” Yet, this newfound source of plentiful cash only made it easier to feed his crack addiction.

Living under an overpass, Anthony’s white skin turned black with grime. Hardly eating, he dropped to 100 pounds. His shoulder length hair matted into dreadlocks. His face was swollen. His feet were so bruised and raw, he could barely walk. Not bathing for months, he constantly smelled like urine. “Even other bums were repulsed by me. It’s a miracle that I’m alive today,” says Anthony

For four years, he popped into the Gateway on occasion to warm up, get a bite to eat, clean up, or sleep in a bed. “At the beginning, I was belligerent and foul-mouthed with them, and abused the place by smoking crack in their bathroom. And they’d kick me out because they didn’t allow that behaviour. Yet, every time I came back, I received unconditional forgiveness and support.

“One day while in the Gateway, I was really feeling hatred for myself. I started punching myself in the face, and blackened my own eye. The staff at the Gateway held me down so I couldn’t hurt myself any more. They hugged me and prayed for me until I settled down.

“Over the years, they have listened to me and I’ve received counseling from everyone there, on my addictions, on managing my life, on self-awareness. They helped me make the decision to get off drugs. On the day I was going into detox, one staff member dropped everything to drive me to the hospital. The Gateway helped me to get into a recovery home. I lived there one year as a recovering addict, and the next year, they hired me to manage that home, which I did for a year. With the grace of God, I’ve stayed off drugs ever since, and continue to go to Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

“The people at the Gateway gave me the strength to turn my life around. They have become my friends, and they never stopped believing in me. They taught me what it was like to have a healthy relationship with someone, and how to love.

I’ve done a lot to get myself back on my feet, but they’ve supported me every step of the way and still do - I run all the big changes in my life past them. “The people at the Gateway never turned their back on me. I owe them my life.”

Presently Anthony is employed at Gateway as a street outreach specialist. In fact, he tapped into his skills as an artist this year and designed our Christmas cards that we used as a fundraiser (I still have a few packages of these for sale if anyone is interested) In my opinion, he epitomizes the theme of gaudete Sunday in that he is alive and has defeated death.

In fact I would say that he has literally been raised from the dead.

Still waiting but rejoicing.

Dion

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.

Do They Know it’s Christmas?- Advent Musings #2

As a reminder of where I left off last week, I outlined that at Advent, Christians are asked to remember and reflect upon the past, present and future of what Christ’s coming means to us and to the world. I admitted my own impatience as I wait for Christ’s final return where He will set all of creation right again, but I also acknowledged that as I not-so-patiently wait for this, in the meantime I get the privilege of witnessing glimpses of grace and hope right here and right now.

It’s during the 2^nd weekend of Advent that, among other things, we remember the feast of St. Nicholas. He was a holy man in the 5^th century striving to live out the Christian life in the best way that he knew how. Legend has it that when his parents died he inherited so much money that he’d never be able to spend it all. But instead of living a life of luxury, he chose to use that money to help people who were struggling through poverty.

Legend has it that there was a widow that he knew of that had 3 daughters. The widow had no source of income and so was very close to turning her three daughters out to the streets as prostitutes in order to pay the bills and put food on the table. But good old St. Nick was having none of that so he filled 3 bags full of gold and either slipped them in the house through a window or a door, or actually dropped these bags down their chimney. The woman and her daughters were spared a life of humiliation and degradation.

Long story short, this is the origin of our current form of gift giving at Christmas as well as what has now become Santa Claus. This very righteous act of kindness has been destroyed over the centuries by human greed and turned into the disgusting self-centred shop-till-you-drop nastiness that is Christmas today.

At Gateway, thankfully we’ve seen some resistance to this.

Every year we have a Christmas store. We know that the men who stay with us have loved ones (a child, a parent or family member, a partner, etc.) that they want to give a gift to. But being homeless doesn’t exactly make it easy to go and buy something for them. So unfortunately every year they have to go and beg for these gifts from some gift depot or toy distribution place and give it to their loved one. But deep down inside it becomes another humiliating reminder of their inability to provide for the ones they love. So we at Gateway buy about $1000 worth of toys and trinkets and set up a Christmas store. Then our residents can either buy these gifts at very discounted prices, or they can do chores to earn coupons to purchase them. This way, when they give their loved ones a gift at Christmas, they know that they’ve earned it and didn’t have to beg for it. After all, as Jesus Himself has said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

But some guys are so alone and so alienated from anyone that they once loved, that they have no one to give a gift to at Christmas. So last year a group of men who fit this description showed me a beautiful glimpse of wonder and hope and community. These 3 or 4 men decided they’d do a bunch of chores and earn as many coupons as they could, and then buy up as many things as possible from our Christmas store and donate them back to a gift distribution centre so that they could help less fortunate families at Christmas. After all, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive.

Now, while this was quite a bit awkward for us as it sort of defeated the purpose of what we were trying to do, it was a moving display of beauty and selflessness that really demonstrated that while the world certainly isn’t all right, there are some miraculous things to witness right here and right now that remind us that there is still much to hope in; even amongst those that much of the rest of the world has discarded and left behind as having no value.

So in this 2^nd week of Advent, let’s reclaim the legacy of St. Nicholas and let’s keep our eyes open for glimpses of hope. They’re all around us; especially in places we least expect to find them.

Still waiting.

Dion

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.

“Not so patiently waiting” - Advent Musings #1

Well it’s that time of year again.

Santa, Christmas trees, decorations, trees, parties, presents, turkey…  It all sounds so great right? Everyone loves Christmas right?

Well, not so much.

While Christmas for some is definitely full of life and joy and peace and is something to look forward to with great expectation and excitement, for others it is a season to be tolerated. It is one where some put their heads down and say to themselves “it’ll be all over in a month so I’ll just grind my way through it until it’s over.”

It is a season of being reminded of old family wounds, loneliness, and isolation from loved ones.

For those who know little about what Advent means, it is the season leading up to Christmas in the Christian calendar. The word ‘Advent’ gets its origins from the Latin word ‘adventus’ which means ‘coming’. So as we enter the Advent season Christians are invited to think about the coming of Christ, and we reflect on what that means in past, present and future tenses. Christians remember that Jesus came as a baby, a Palestinian Jew to be exact, around 2000 years ago. He came as a fully human baby who also happened to be the Messiah, the saviour of the world. So we Christians remember the mystery and wonder of this historical event during Advent.

Christians also are to reflect on how Jesus affects us right here and right now. We believe that Jesus is the King of Kings today. We only ‘bend the knee’ to one King and His name is Jesus. Our allegiance only rests in Him and in no one or nothing else. So we are reminded during Advent that when we have a choice of bending our knee to ‘Caesar’ (which in our case could be anything from money, to the government, to our addictions to things like shopping, materialism, individualism…) or bending our knee to Jesus, that our decision must be obvious. Jesus is our King today, and not just someone to remember who came 2000 years ago.

But then we also think about who Jesus is for the future. And that is where the waiting and the patience comes in. Christians believe that Jesus will come back at some point to make everything right. At this moment, the world is not all right. If one needs proof that not everything is perfect, they’d be advised to just watch the news tonight for 5 minutes for a rude awakening.

And here at Gateway as we walk alongside folks who live on the streets, we are reminded every second of every day that the world is not right. When we hear the horrible stories of abuse, violence, rape, neglect, and poverty, we know that the world we live in is not all right.

And so at Advent we Christians ask the question, “How long Lord will you wait to return to make everything right? How long must we wait? How much more pain do we have to witness? How long before it all goes away?”

Are we to wait patiently? Yes. Do we wait patiently? For me the answer to that is no; my patience runs thin.

But at Christmas, we Christians are called to watch, to wait, to hope, and to be ready for Christ’s final return once and for all. That means that we don’t sit around and do nothing but we work tirelessly to bring hope to people while we wait as patiently as we can. And in the midst of that waiting we get little glimpses of hope and new life. We get the privilege of witnessing amazing things. We see lives changed before our eyes. We see people who came here without hope, leave us with new hope. We see people who come here with no life, get raised from the dead.

And over the next few weeks of Advent, I will share some of those stories of glimpses of grace and hope here.

So, Happy Advent. Let’s together stand against the tide of our westernized Christmas filled with manic consumerism and madness, and wait and work with the hope that at some point in time all of creation will be made whole and right.

Shalom

Dion

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.

Tags: feasting, mission, poor

Concise Oxford | The end of Christendom?

I think not says Dion Oxford

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ome would argue that Christendom has finally come to an end. Now we can get on with the business of the church once and for all and leave the crusades and residential schools behind.

Before Christendom, becoming a Christian was very much a counter-cultural act. When people became Christians and got baptized (became soldiers?), they weren’t asked if they believed in all of the doctrines of the church and to sign some kind of doctrinal covenant (”I promise not to drink or smoke or gamble…”). They were asked about their works. “Did you help clothe people who needed clothing? Did you feed hungry people? Did you care for the sick and visit people in jail?” It was the answers to these questions that solidified membership in the church. Not questions of stances on moral and ethical issues ranging from sexuality to what one consumes to what one wears to church.

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Concise Oxford | How we measure success

Dion Oxford | Our primary mission?

I‘ve been thinking a lot again about how we as Christians measure success. I know I’ve written about this before, but I feel the need to explore my own thoughts on the topic again.

What has God actually called me to do? Has He called me to save souls? Is that how I measure success? Has He called me to feed hungry people; to provide shelter for folks who are homeless; to clothe people who need clothing? Do I measure my success based on the number of people I help get off the streets each month? Am I a failure if no one that I meet falls in love with Jesus and prays a particular prayer?

If that’s how I measure success, then I guess I’ve been quite successful. I can quote those stats out the proverbial ‘wazoo’ and impress audiences wherever I go to speak.

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The Concise Oxford | face of Christ

Am I a fraud asks Dion Oxford

It was Tuesday, a wintry January morning in Toronto at 7am. I had started a new day and had scheduled a breakfast meeting at 7:30am downtown with a friend of mine who also works alongside folks who live on the street. So I set off on my bike, riding to my destination in the dark. It was wet, slippery and just plain miserable. I was getting drenched from the splatter. I just wanted to get to where I was going.

Then it happened. While I was sitting at a red light, a young girl appeared without warning, out of nowhere, and looked me in the eye. She said, “I don’t need any money sir”. I just stared at her with nothing to say. She looked about 16 and was very clearly homeless or close to it. She went on to say, “I’m pregnant and I’m hungry and I was wondering if you would buy me breakfast at McDonald’s.” I looked and noticed we were right in front of the golden arches.

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The Concise Oxford | huh?

Luke 17:20-37

Every once in a while I stumble across a passage in scripture that really confuses me. And if I’m busy (which is too often the case) I make an empty promise to myself that I’ll go back to the passage later and try to figure out what is being really being said.

Other times I will read a passage and feel that it doesn’t quite line up with my own theology of grace, forgiveness and redemption. When this happens I usually convince myself that I must be misreading what Jesus is saying. Surely He couldn’t possibly be putting around such judgemental ideas? So I quietly forget that passage and go back to making my composite picture of who I want Jesus to be.

Well, Luke 17:20-37 is one of those passages. I’ve been working through Luke as part of my Lent discipline this year, and when I read this section I had no idea what in the world was going on. The only concrete thing I could initially grab onto was that faith continues to be a mystery for us. However, as I made a commitment as part of my Lenten discipline, I have continued to read this book and take the time to dig a little deeper and try to figure it out.

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