Feast or Famine

Advent Reflections, 2007

Wednesday, December 12 – Scripture Readings:
Psalm 38; Amos 8:1-14; Revelation 1:17-2:7; Matthew 23:1-12

As hard as it has been, day after day, to read the dire words of Amos, it does invoke Advent – a season of and sense of anticipation, longing and hope. When all one hears is doom and gloom it definitely moves us to deeply desire something, anything different. I’m guessing that’s the point.

Today, in Amos 8:11-13, we read:
The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. In that day the beautiful young women and the young men shall faint for thirst…

I feel thirsty just reading these verses. I am parched for a good word, for something that feels more consistent with a God who sends a son to earth to live with and love us; a God who extends mercy and grace and faithfulness time and again; a God who offers us a heavenly feast, not just some day, but every day as we beckon, welcome, and further God’s kingdom.

I don’t want the famine. I want the feast.

And, as I’ve typed frequently these past days, both is our reality. I know famine and I long for the feast. People around me know different famines than me and need the feast. The world is hungry – metaphorically and in reality – and begs for the feast. But is just acknowledging that both are true enough? Could it be that Advent, in all its anticipation, longing and hope, is inviting me to be about bringing the feast?

What would that look like, even today? For me, a feast would be the awareness of God’s presence, care, and provision; a lessening, even if only a bit, from the worries and concerns that often press in; a day of good relationships, much laughter, full, rich life. What would that look like for people around me? I can’t answer with certainty, but I can certainly be about offering “feasts” wherever I go and with whomever I am in contact. I can offer a feast of kindness, of compassion, of listening, even of coffee. I can be the feast and maybe, even if only a bit, lessen the famine another might feel. What would that look like in my world? I can choose to read the news today with an ear and heart that mirrors, even if only a bit, that of God. I can send an email to my congresswomen/men asking for their advocacy on issues that directly impact famines – metaphorically and in reality. I can give money. I can talk to my daughters about the reality of other girls around the world…the famines they know and the ways in which our feast (even if we don’t see it as such) can be shared.

Amos’ words are a good reminder and a clarion call to Advent – to our peaked, on-tiptoe, even-desperate waiting for a Savior, for God-with-us, Emmanuel.

…the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
And the Lord will destroy the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
the Lord will swallow up death forever.
The the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of God’s people will be taken away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for God, so that God might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in God’s salvation. (from Isaiah 25:6-9)

The waiting that Advent invites seems worth it: death swallowed up, tears wiped away, disgrace removed, famine turned into feast. I can taste that, even now, and offer it to others, even if only a bit. ‘Seems worth the hope, worth the effort, worthy of the God I desire to love.

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