No doubt some of you here have heard the word B-HAG. B-HAG is a management term coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in the mid-90s. B-HAG stands for Big, Hairy Audacious Goal. Collins and Porras tell us that when it comes to setting and meeting a big, hairy audacious goal, we only need 1% vision. With vision the size of a mustard seed, we can change our lives, change the world. We only need 1% vision. And then in order to realize the vision, we need 99% alignment. Alignment is what we do to rearrange our lives so that what was before impossible becomes possible. Alignment is why improving one’s physical fitness is harder than just signing up for the gym membership. If we aim to get to the gym, then we will have to shuffle our appointments in order to make time in the day to get there. We might have to hire a babysitter, or get trained to use the equipment. Achieving a goal – making a change in our life – is 1% vision, 99% alignment (James Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies & summarized by The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, December 1, 2011, at a gathering of clergy from The Episcopal Diocese of Washington).
Some forward-thinking companies these days invite their leaders to step back and take stock. Outside the daily grind, a person can think creatively and see new possibilities. They can start to formulate a vision.
John the Baptist lived in the wilderness. Living in the wilderness, outside the din of Jerusalem
While we toil in Washington
Saint Luke records a conversation in which John expands this vision of justice and mercy (Luke 3: 1-14). John tells people to prepare for the coming of the Lord, and the crowds come to be baptized, and they ask, What shall we do to prepare?
Any one who has two shirts, John tells them, should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.
Next, tax collectors come to be baptized, and they ask John, What shall we do to prepare for the coming of the Lord? John tells them not to collect anymore money from people than the Romans require them to collect. Then soldiers come to be baptized, and they ask John what they should do. John tells them not to extort bribes from people and not to accuse people falsely.
The conversation John has with the crowds, the tax collectors and the soldiers is about alignment. He tells them concrete things they can do to align their lives with the vision of the coming Lord, a Lord who will do justice to every living thing.
John provides the vision; Advent is four weeks set aside to align our lives with that vision. Advent is time for us who generally don’t want for much to start wanting - really wanting - the same things God wants: justice and mercy. The same things the Christ will bring.
We can align with God’s vision by practicing justice and mercy, even if frankly we feel indifferent. Advent is our rehearsal for God’s coming Kingdom. Like stage actors, the more we rehearse doing justice, the more naturally it will come in the future. John’s conversation with those coming for baptism gives us good starting places for aligning ourselves with the vision. John first says anyone with two shirts or extra food should share with one who has none. In the next three weeks, we might reflect and take stock of the plenty in our lives that we might share with another. Translating this good intention into action might mean changing some December habits. The Advent Conspiracy, for instance, is an on-line Christian movement that advocates everyone buying one less gift than they ordinarily would and giving the money saved to someone who is hungry, sick, or lonely. This afternoon you might visit adventconspiracy.org
to watch their 3-minute Youtube video.
John tells the tax collectors not to collect more money than is required. Here he’s advocating honesty in business and politics. We must not cheat our partners or customers, for instance. And John’s advice extends even to politics. Aligning ourselves with God’s justice means supporting policies because we sincerely believe they are better for the whole, not because they serve our narrow interests. Suppose you are deeply concerned about the problem of hunger. You might forego a few hours of Christmas shopping to research relevant government policies and private initiatives. You could write to your representative and send support to organizations working to alleviate hunger.
John also tells soldiers to refrain from accusing people falsely. We might, this Advent, think about people who we have unfairly blamed or against whom we hold a grudge which we have nursed longer than they deserve. Advent is a time to reflect on that damaged relationship, make it a matter of prayer, and ask God for how we might move forward with that person.
Desiring the same things God desires is indeed a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. It’s so big that we can’t accomplish it in four weeks. It’s so big, in fact, that we can’t accomplish it without God’s help. Advent is a time to begin to align our selves with God’s vision as expressed by John the Baptist. By sharing our possessions or by seeking to repair personal relationships we rehearse for the coming of the Lord. And if any of this seems overwhelming, we can remember that God completes in us the good work begun. John’s baptism with water precedes Christ’s baptism with the Holy Spirit. In the same way, we first act on God’s vision as much as we are able. We trust that later God’s Holy Spirit will complete the work in the world and in our hearts.
Alignment is about removing the obstacles to God’s entry into our hearts. This is the same call given us by Isaiah, and repeated by John the Baptist when they said:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make the rough places smooth,
and the crooked paths straight,
This Advent may our acts of justice and mercy prepare the way for Our Lord who comes to bring them to completion. Amen.
0 comments:
Post a Comment