Advent starts in about a month, which is a preview of the birth of Christ, so we’re going to do a preview of that preview during November called “Wonder”.
Children are the best examples we have of wonder. Everything is new and exciting and they have not yet become disappointed or jaded. They have an openness and vulnerability that we would all like to emulate. When do we lose that? When did the what-ifs become no-we-can’ts? When did curiosity give way to caution? There are obviously good reasons we do this, but it’s still a tragedy, and we should seek not to throw the baby off wonder out with the bathwater of irresponsibility as we mature. As children of God, we should have a childlike wonder for Him and the World he made.
The passage comes from the song of Moses after the passage through the sea – Moses has led the people of Israel out of Egypt, pursued by Pharaoh’s army, trapped between the water and the chariots. What a conflicting time that must have been – on one hand rejoicing at the freedom gained and justice done, on the other hand terrified at the doom bearing down upon them.
But we know the story – God rescued the Israelites miraculously, leading them through the sea, and destroying the army that pursued them. That is the context for this song of relief and rejoicing and wonder.
In our lives, we have also experienced these moments of salvation – job offers at the right moment, just the amount of money needed arriving in the mail, other such rescues. But like the Israelites, we often forget. So let’s reconsider the wonder we should hold at these events.
Wonder is a catalyst for praise and worship. In this story, we see Moses’ song of rescue lead into Miriam leading corporate worship and the spontaneous dancing and playing of musical instruments. Much like David’s dancing before the Ark of God, when we are overcome with wonder it naturally leads to a joyful overflowing of worship.
Second, wonder activates covenant. Even when we have wandered, when we see the wonder of God’s goodness and creation, that re-engages our covenant relationship with God. That wonder itself is a core piece of that relationship. We are saved through faith, but too often we see “faith” as meaning “knowledge” and knowledge becomes the focus of our walk with God. And while that’s a part of it, wonder is unavoidably the core of our relationship with a God as mighty as ours.
That recognition of the greatness of God can also open us up to possibilities and transformation. The mystery of God is core to our relationship with Him, just as mystery is key to love. Our own smallness and the massiveness of the universe and its Maker, opens us up to the changes that God seeks in us.
But often these mountaintop experiences give way to the wilderness and the desert. We can easily follow the pattern of the Israelites, losing our wonder and going right back into “adulting” and the cares of daily life, and the griping that often comes with that. We hold onto the things we have done in the past, instead of being open to the new things God may have for us.
This is why we gather, to come together in worship and wonder, to refresh after our weeks in the desert. But we need to be sure to come in the childlike wonder that Jesus explicitly calls us to.
As we prepare ourselves for Advent, let us do so with that openness, wonder and vulnerability of a child.
–Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, October 30, 2022