“Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.” James 5:7 NRSV
Patience is not my strong suit. That’s why I can’t wait for the moving truck to come and to be in Iowa as your new bishop. I can’t wait to get to know Iowa churches and for us to begin to lead together, bringing the message of Christ to our communities. I just can’t wait!
I wonder about the waiting that tries your patience. Perhaps it is waiting for the conflict around disaffiliation to subside. Maybe it is waiting for the grief of division to feel less painful. Maybe it is waiting for a new bishop to arrive, to find out what she is about, and what she believes.
We are all in a period of waiting. Indeed, that is what Advent is about. It is about waiting for the coming of Christ. It is as the writer of James suggests--like the farmer who puts seed into the ground, allows the rain and the sun to nurture it, but then must wait the whole season for the harvest.
So, this Advent, we read the familiar stories and wait in anticipation for Christ to come yet again into our hearts. Do you remember when Christ first came into your heart or when your heart was strangely warmed by the awareness of your faith?
I do. I had grown up in the Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. We were members of New Hope Baptist Church, where my grandmother Allie Mae Sneed was the “Mother of the Church.” Our Sunday worship lasted all day, from 9:00 am until the closing prayer service that was held in her home. Sometimes that lasted until 11:00 at night.
As I grew older, I drifted away from church. But in my late 20s I became involved in a new-church start—Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston. Its first services were in the pastors’ living room. I listened to pastor Ray preach, and my heart was strangely warmed, like John Wesley’s was during his experience at Aldersgate. The seeds my grandmother had planted, that she and others had watered with prayer, began to sprout, then break new ground and grow.
What was the message that warmed my heart? It was simple. I heard that God loved me and all of us so much that God became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. God took on our humanity and our human experience. God came into the ordinary, the dirty, the violent, the joyful, the adventuresome mess of human life.
That is ultimately what Advent is about. It is about the miraculous and generous love of God that is expressed in the incarnation. God came to live among us in the person of Jesus Christ—Christ, fully God, but willing to empty himself of divinity to experience what we experience—Jesus, fully human, encompassing all of the diversity of the human experience, leaving no one out of the meaning and impact of the incarnation. What greater love is that? And, what a miracle!
But we are not yet at that part of the story, are we. We are at the waiting part. We are remembering that Mary is pregnant, the seed of God’s love growing in her womb. She is singing a song of praise: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed,” Luke 1:46b-47, 48b, NRSV.
Friends we are blessed to have Jesus Christ in our lives. We are blessed to be able to share Christ with others. We are blessed to be able to share the hope that comes with the birth of a little baby. I am blessed to be your new bishop and to be able to be with you in a few weeks. I can’t wait.
If you are curious about me or about what I believe, please explore my website, https://www.bighamtsai.org. I used the website to help the NCJ delegates get to know me as a candidate. It can help you get to know me as well. Also, I will be sending out regular blog posts to introduce myself and my family.
I leave you with this prayer:
May this Advent season bring you joy. May you remember the people who formed your faith. May Christ come again into your hearts. May you and all of your generations be blessed.
Blessings in Christ,
Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai