Experience Advent...& Christmas!: Thursday, December 13, 2012

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Thursday, December 13, 2012

God is Faithful

Read Jeremiah 33:14-21.

“I will raise up a righteous branch from David’s line,

who will do what is just and right in the land.” –Jeremiah 33:15

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son!

Hail in the time appointed his reign on earth begun!

He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;

to take away transgression, and rule in equity.

Jeremiah was a prophet to God’s people during their time of exile. They were struggling in foreign lands, wrestling with their faith and their future. God sent Jeremiah to offer them words of comfort and hope. God will never give up on God’s people, Jeremiah promised. God will remember the covenant made with David. God will remember the promise of the Messiah, the one who will rule over Israel with justice and righteousness. Jeremiah assures God’s people that nothing can make God forget the covenant, nothing. God’s faithfulness is as sure as the rising and setting of the sun.

The Christmas story is a story of God’s unwavering faithfulness. Not only does God keep His promises, God graciously gives more than we can ever ask or imagine. God promised a Messiah, and God gave the world the gift of Christ, God-incarnate. As the incarnate God, we believe that Jesus was born the Almighty King, and we look forward to the day when Jesus will return to earth and reign forever. God established a new covenant with us through Jesus’ death and resurrection, promising that all who follow Jesus as Lord will be saved for Christ’s eternal Kingdom.

Often we can identify with the exiled Israelites. We feel like we are struggling in a foreign wasteland. We feel like God has abandoned us. We are wrestling with our faith, and we are unsure of our future. May Jeremiah’s words bring us comfort as we search for hope in our exile. May we be encouraged by the promise that God is faithful, ever present, and abounding in love.

To him shall prayer unceasing, and daily vows ascend;

his kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end.

The tide of time shall never his covenant remove;

his name shall stand forever; that name to us is love.

Laura Johnson

God of Advent, walk ahead of me, helping me keep sight of your vision of peace. May I hold peace in my heart and pray for peace in our broken world. Amen.

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Christmas is Born!

Fourth Week of Advent: Joy

The fourth candle on our Advent wreath is the candle of joy. As we enter this last week of Advent, we allow ourselves a little celebration--the Savior is coming, alleluia! We've been waiting, and we must wait a bit longer, but God is coming--soon!

The invitation to rejoice during the season of Advent reminds us to consider the joy that awaits the end of Mary's pregnancy. Mary must have felt joy in carrying a child, in anticipating the birth of her son, the birth of the Savior. Her hymn of praise, the Magnificat, praises God for the great deeds that God has done. The God who proclaims righteousness and justice, who has fed the hungry and sent the rich away, this same God looked on Mary with favor and blessed her with the gift of service to the world.

Our joy calls up visions--what gifts can we expect from the Mighty One who has blessed us and looked upon us with favor?

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart (edited)

God of joy, may we dream dreams and share tales of hope as we enter these final days before Christmas. I praise your mighty name. Amen.

Third Week of Advent: Love

The fourth candle on our Advent Wreath is the candle of Love. That seems so appropriate as we begin the last week of Advent, the final days before we receive God's greatest gift to us--divine Love wrapped in swaddling clothes,lying in a manger.

Joseph's place in this drama is one of love. Engaged to Mary, he discovers that she is pregnant. Even the visit of an angel probably does not answer all of his questions or calm all of his fears. But Joseph, I like to think, acts out of love. Love and trust make up for any doubts he might have about his role in this matter. Joseph takes Mary as his wife and makes room in his heart for her son, whom he names Jesus.

We certainly don't play such a dramatic role as Joseph in God's story, but we are, nevertheless, important to the whole. Every action we take, every small or large task we perform, is woven in love into God's cosmic story.

God of love, may everything I do become an expression of your love. Amen.

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart

Second Week of Advent: Peace

The second candle on the Advcent wreath is the candle of peace. When we light the candle of peace, we affirm Isaiah's vision that peace will come on earth. As we move closer to the birth of the Prince of Peace, we are acutely aware of all the places in the world, in our families and relationships, and in our hearts that have not achieved peace. Peace is a vision, a hope, a promise made by the Holy One--that there will be a time when peace will prevail.

Peace, in the global sense, is the cessation of violence between peoples and nations...in Israel and Palestine, in Darfur, in Iraq and Afghanistan. We people of peace hold the vision that God's spirit will rest on the leaders of the world and will whisper wisdom in their hearts, wisdom that will guide their actions toward paths of forgiveness, compassion, and peace.

In our own hearts and lives, peace is the calm in the midst of chaos. Each day, may we hold the vision of peace, seeking times of rest and prayer when we open our minds and spirits to God's powerful, gentle peace.

Let peace be our vision.

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart

First Week of Advent: Hope

The first candle on the Advent wreath is the candle of Hope. When we light the candle of hope--in the Advent wreath or in our hearts--we kindle a flame of expectant anticipation that something rich, something special, is on the way.

As we enter into this Advent journey, we already know that the something special at the end of Advent is the birth of Christ, God's great gift to the world. But much of the richness of this season comes with the anticipation, the waiting, the deferral of the celebration until the appropriate time.

During Advent, the first season of the church year, we relive the story of Jesus, the wonder of how he came to be, the story of his birth. We don't yet know what God has in store, but we trust God's promises of righteousness, justice, and peace for the hurting world and our discouraged spirits. We live in the hope, that despite our current struggles, God has something good in store for us.

Jesus, the hope of the world, is coming to an unsuspecting world.

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart