Advent 3…Reminders and Witnesses

I haven't spent much time reading 2 Peter, but if you know me, this will make you laugh, and you will understand why I stopped here on the Advent journey:

Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already…I think it right as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory...

The reminders are of eyewitness accounts of the work of Jesus Christ. The author refers specifically to the Spirit's coming at Jesus' baptism and the transfiguration experience on the mountain top. "Remember" the author says. "I know you know these things…but remember?!" And the author is not just concerned about the event, but that the event that reveals "the prophetic message more fully confirmed."

These biblical accounts of the saving work of our Triune God are not just a "cleverly devised myth" or a nice story. These are eyewitness accounts of God at work in human lives. That is what the season of Advent is about…looking, asking, seeking God at work. Demanding, at times, that God be at work. 

I've been reading Almost Christian and the section I read last night and this morning is about witnessing. To witness means both "to see" and "to tell." Learning to do both is a critical task of the people of God. Seeing God at work and telling others our eyewitness account, our experience of the great grace and love of the Triune God, that is fundamental work. Kenda Creasy Dean makes the case that "teens learn to articulate faith by hearing adults articulate theirs." (p. 163) She describes the "God-story" as the "decoder ring" that helps interpret our own experiences. "Without a story to tell, there is no faith; without a language to tell our story, Christianity remains on mute--and the church's missional imagination atrophies. The gospel is unambiguous: good news is meant to be shared." Dean suggest it is the core of our identity to "run from the tomb to tell: "Here's how it went, here's what I saw. I've been there and I'm going back."( p. 167)

The author of 2 Peter could have written Dean's book. "I intend to keep reminding you of these things though you know them already…" We understand the prophetic message, he or she says. We've experienced the honor and glory of God. We are part of a long line of men and women moved by the Holy Spirit to speak about God.

And so I remind. I nag. I question. I witness. I remind. I nag. I question. I witness. As long as I am in this body, I will remind you. And in the words of 2 Peter:

You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

That could well be the definition of Advent.