Upstairs and Downstairs: A Look at Downton Abbey.

     If you're a Downton Abbey addict then the above title needs no further explanation.  But to those of you who aren't, here's the simple explanation.  In an estate such as Downton, the aristocracy live upstairs; the servants live downstairs.
     Downton Abbey, now in its third season, has given us an up close look at the world of nobility and those who serve them.  But in this third season the future of the estate has been threatened by a financial pitfall.  Amidst the ever mounting drama one night, an interesting comment caused me pause.  Someone remarked that the loss of the estate might not be such a bad thing, for isn't it just a life of pageantry?  And what's so bad about that ending?
     Now maybe it's just me but good writing always takes my mind to 101 places.  In this case I instantly thought of the church and my own spiritual journey from above the stairs to beneath them.  Yes, you heard me right, upstairs to down.
     For many years I felt like church was pageantry of a spiritual kind.  It was the place where people came dressed in their finery and paraded their good deeds.  The Noble words of Christendom were dropped like a symbol of spiritual arrival.  Everyone came to church ready to be seated at the right hand of the Father.
      Of course I knew it was pageantry.  As the facts of people's lives dribbled out, as they always do, I came to know that underneath the three piece suits and freshly pressed dresses were sinners of the regular kind, and some not so regular, committing all the sins the Old Testament will take you through.
     Now, I'm not writing this to say that dressing up for church is right or wrong but rather that sheer pageantry is.  Church pageantry is focused on doing externals in one's own strength.  It is appearing to be outwardly clean while carrying a dirty heart.  It's like Lady Mary moving a dead body in the middle of the night and then showing up at the breakfast table in her finest.  It is doing good deeds for the sake of appearance while hating one's neighbor.  It is doing the work of the spirit without being connected to the power of it.  This takes us to being downstairs.
     If you are downstairs, then you are a servant.  First and foremost, it means that you know your place.  For us to live a life empty of pageantry, we must know our place before the Father.  Anyone who has traveled the road to Christendom, knows that if you truly are one of the Father's children, then you will come to a place of shedding the fancy airs, and make yourself comfortable in the on-your-face position before Him.  He loves it when we move "downstairs."  Once we know our place, He has us exactly where He wants us.  Then comes education.
     The footmen at Downton have shown us there is a learning curve, even in servitude.  "That's what you get for teaching him to run before he could walk." Thomas remarks about a new footman in his typical snarky way.  And truthfully, we do have a lot to learn.  But until we know our place, the pride we hold keeps us out of the classroom.
     In the opening credits of the show we see a wall which rings the various bells to alert the staff as to what is needed.  It's one means of communication between the Master of the house and the servants beneath.  Listening to God is certainly a learned discipline.  It is a discipline we will never learn if we remain upstairs in pretentious pageantry.  It's something we'll never learn as long as we keep shifting "dead bodies" around in secret.  But, if we come downstairs we will learn the "various callings" of the Father.  We'll learn when He is prompting our hearts to action and when He is speaking.  A good servant will respond in action.  We begin by walking and over time become able to discern better and eventually run.
     So in the end, we can say that a good servant knows his place, listens to his Master, and obeys his instructions.  Isn't that what God calls of all His people?  It seems that He is looking for us to be downstairs people.  Is that so bad?  In the end we even find ourselves seated at the finest feast of all...
     Imagine that, a feast for the downstairs people, given by the Master of the house (Or in this case, the universe.)
    "Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come..."
"Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'  And he added, "these are the true words of God." Revelation 19:7a and 9.

The People that in Darkness Sat: From Advent to Epiphany

     I like the season of Advent.  I appreciate that the church year makes room for our seasons of sadness, doubt, fear and grief.  The church years allows us times to lament and actually encourages us to do so.
     The People that in Darkness Sat is one of my favorite Advent hymns.  It's especially meaningful when you  understand that darkness is just the absence of light.  But behold a light has come.   Matthew 4:16 says "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the Shadow of death a light has dawned."
     Today we can still relate to the words of this great hymn.  For we too sit in darkness.  We experience the  darkness of the spirit of the age wherein we live.  We experience the weight of continuing to live under a curse.  All this causes us to need times like Advent to reflect and ponder.
     This year I came to Advent with a heaviness of heart.  Certain family members were struggling with serious health issues which weighed heavily on me.  In pouring through the incoming Christmas letters I was further saddened to see a theme this past year in the loss of babies.  A number of stillborn and miscarriages occurred in several friend's lives.
     But once again the Bible understands this pain and the ongoing grief.  This too was even a piece of the Christmas story.  Matthew 2:18  "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more."
     The Christmas story allows us to enter into it with hearts that have been broken or are currently aching with grief.  This Christmas story offers us hope because we still need it.  We desperately need that light which came so many years ago.  And we continue to long for the fulfillment of the promise that one day that very light will eradicate the darkness completely.
     Isaiah 60:1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."  This is the passage we read on Epiphany.  We are called to let this light fill us and thus shine in the darkness.  And from scripture we see that we can do this even in the midst of our own trials and grief.
     Without the light we are sunk.  We are left with darkness and the holly jolly, consumerist bustle of the season which never satisfies.  The cookies, festivities, and the songs about sleigh rides and snow leave us unable to pull ourselves out of the mire.  We truly cannot make ourselves merry, only a light piercing through the darkness can do that.