Advent Listening: John

Advent Listening

During a season which is often full of noise and lists and errands and travelling or connecting long distance, we are going to seek to slow down on Sundays during Advent.

We are going to seek to slow down.

To take time to listen. To hear the Scripture read, as we always do in our Sunday worship gatherings, but then to stop and listen again. And again.

To slow down and pause. To hold space for ourselves and for one another. To ask God to speak to us, and then to have the audacity to practice listening - and to do this together.

We’ll hear the text read three times. And we’ll take a slightly different posture during each of the three readings. The first time, we will just listen. Try to simply hear the text as its read and to hold a posture of attentiveness.

We’ll leave some quiet space just to help us with the whole slowing down thing. Just a minute or two…to just sit. To ask God to speak to you through this text…and to tell God that you’re listening.

Then, we’ll read it a second time - and don’t worry, I’ll remind you of what’s happening. During the second reading, we will pay special attention to whether a word or phrase catches our attention. This time, if something does stick out to you, go ahead and “get stuck” there… write down the word or phrase - and we’ll take a moment after the second reading to share our word or phrase with one another, if you’re comfortable.

Finally, we’ll listen a third time, and during the final reading, we’ll ask God whether there might be an invitation for us in the text. Is there something we sense that God wants us to take with us?

Holy listening, you might call this. It’s one way that we can enter into Advent and intentionally SLOW DOWN, take time, and refuse to add to the noise and sense of busy-ness that often is a reality in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Listening to John

Ok. So how can we listen well to the text this morning? To these words from the opening of the Gospel of John?

A move from Old Testament to New Testament.

A move from prophets to gospel.

A move from synoptic gospels to John - (one of these gospels is not like the others) Judy Fentress-Williams writes:

John is the last of the Gospels in both canonical order and date of authorship, probably written between 95-105 CE. The exquisitely elusive words of this Gospel are directed to a faith community struggling with their identity. Externally, there are the ongoing pressures from the Roman Empire. (Scholars debate the intensity of that pressure.) Internally there are divisions over doctrine. The community to whom the Gospel is addressed is most likely diverse in ethnicity and religious backgrounds. There are competing theologies and doctrines, primarily centered on the answer to the question of who Jesus is. In response to this confusion, the Gospel presents a metaphorical universe, one that stands in stark contrast to the audience’s fractured reality, crafted to introduce them to the Jesus they all thought they already knew.”