Tracy Daub writes about the Christmas Story, Advent, as found in the Gospel of Mark. Ironically, Mark never wrote about the birth of Jesus Christ but starts his Gospel with His baptism. Therein, is the twist. In Holy Disruption, the author addresses key themes found in Mark and how Jesus interacted with the people. This IS Advent, because by definition it is the anticipation and waiting for the coming of the Lord. And He came to serve. A great quote from the work is "Welcoming the way of Christ means turning our lives, hearts, and priorities into a kind of counter-procession against the "empires" of our day. Consider the empire of consumerism and its vice-like hold on most of our lives. Christ's way of peace and justice stands in direct opposition to the dominant beliefs that one's worth and happiness and peace of mind are found through the acquisition of material goods and wealth." This book is a good reminder for the season of Christmas but also for anytime of the year. An advance copy was made available to me for review without commitment from the publisher and Netgalley.

Advent is just a few weeks away. With lower temperatures and lesser sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, the mood is set for quieter and gloomier weather. The gospels give us various dimensions to the nativity story. Most of our narratives about the birth of Jesus come from the gospel of Matthew and Luke. Instead of birth narratives, John provides us with a theological rendition of the birth of Jesus. Mark does not give us any information about baby Jesus, only some passing information about his mother and his ministry. Herein lies the challenge. How then do we discover Advent in the gospel of Mark? Author Tracy Daub shows us five ways to do just that.

1) Anticipating the Coming of Jesus
2) Peace on Earth in Christ Jesus
3) Belonging to Christ
4) The revelation of the Messiah
5) The Hope of Immanuel: God with Us

Daub starts the Advent preparation early by reflecting on Mark 13, the "little apocalypse" chapter. She unpacks the contexts of the first century and compares them with our existing world. The turmoil of today is not necessarily worse than in the first century. Gradually, readers get a sense of what it means to anticipate hope in tumultuous situations. The common human response would be to try to flee from such terrible situations. The incredible thing is that Christ was called to enter into such a traumatic time in spite of the dangers. The second week looks at the notion of peace on earth and goodwill to all. War and peace are strange bedfellows in this conflicted world. On the one hand, everyone wants peace. Yet, sometimes wars need to be fought in order to attain that. Is there a way to share peace even in times of trouble? Mark shows us Jesus' way, that True Peace means dismantling false beliefs and pretenses in this world. Palm Sunday presents to us that faceoff between two competing kingdoms. The third week of Advent is a call to find our spiritual home in Christ. Israel has a history of being displaced. Christians too are increasingly marginalized in this world. Advent is another opportunity to proactively invite Christ into our hearts and to gain a heavenly perspective of what it means to be home in Jesus.

My Thoughts
==============
I have often used the gospels of Matthew and Luke in my Advent messages. I seldom use the gospel of Mark because of the lack of birth narrative in it. This book helps me to once again celebrate the Advent from the eyes of Mark. Advent is about preparing our hearts to receive the Messiah. It is about looking back at the first coming and looking forward to the second coming. Let me offer three thoughts about this book.

First, the title. The author's theme resonates with the theme in the gospel of Mark. Indeed, Mark's gospel challenges us toward counter-cultural living. By calling the book as a "Holy Disruption" in any society, Daub hopes to let the messages of Advent shake us up from earthly apathy toward heavenly anticipation. It is easy to become dejected and discouraged by the declining spiritual climate in our world. The Early Church didn't have it all easy too. In fact, through the centuries, the Church has suffered in many different ways. It was persecution in the First Century; heresy in the third and fourth centuries; spiritual corruption in the Medieval times; spiritual rebellion during the Enlightenment; rising atheism in modern times; etc. Different parts of the world are still experiencing various challenges even today. Jesus himself came not just as an answer to our questions, He comes as Giver of Hope to all. By pushing back against the worldly norms of today, He challenges us to reconsider the ancient Truths that are timeless and eternal.

Second, the message in this book can be used to dovetail into the traditional Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, culminating in the person of Christ. Hope is about anticipating the coming of Christ. Mark contains themes about what true peace requires. Joy is about finding space in our hearts for Christ to make his home. The love of God is manifested in the coming of Jesus as the Messiah, to fulfill the prophecy of old. Christ himself is the epitome of all the promises of Advent. Daub has given us a way to discover these themes. Preachers and teachers can take this book as a springboard to discover more for themselves and their congregations. Mark is the shortest gospel in the Bible. The author has also arranged a Daily Scripture Reading Plan for the 24 days leading up to Christmas.

Finally, why should anyone read this book? One word: Hope in Christ. After spending so much time in society, it is tempting for anyone to feel disillusioned with world events, social upheavals, leadership scandals, injustice, falsehood, and all kinds of negative politics. The Advent is the annual pilgrimage to re-align ourselves back to the hope in Christ. As we do so, we are reminded of the history of Christ's first coming. We get to appreciate the despair of the people during that time. We are also reminded that Christ will come again in the future. We should never allow the present state of the world to bury us with nonstop problems. Hope is always that light at the end of the tunnel. There is no need to sweep the problems of the world under the carpet of positivistic thinking. Just like how Mark approaches the life events of his time, we too can see the world from the lens of Christ. May this Advent equip us with renewed thoughtfulness about the Christ event.

Tracy S. Daub is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has served three congregations in Western New York and has been the Pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, NY, for the past twenty years. She has served as Moderator of the Presbytery of Western New York and co-led seminars on faith and culture to El Salvador and Tanzania. Daub and her husband have two young adult children and live in Buffalo, New York.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

The concept for Holy Disruption by Tracy S. Daub, intrigued me but I wasn't sure if it would meet my expectations. I'm so thankful that I ended out requesting it anyway. (The stunning cover definitely helped sway my decision.😉)

This was a delightful read—a thoughtful commentary on where we can find the Advent story in the Gospel of Mark who seems to have completely jumped over Jesus' origin story, straight into his kingdom work.

Holy Disruptions is an engaging and accessible read. It touched on so many important discussions we need to be having today, and while it is meant to be read during Advent, I felt it had just the right balance to that it could also be read at any other time of year with equal impact.

I did find the cultural references, (eg. Wizard of Oz and Narnia parallels,) more distracting than helpful. While they did not take away much from the overall experience, I did not feel they added much, either.

I loved how the author emphasized that peace cannot be just a platitude, but must be a rigorous reconstructing of our society to fit into the image of God's Kingdom that Jesus has left us with. All in all, I'm excited about the insights the book has brought to the table and the new ways that it has opened of the Gospel of Mark for me