(This post not part of the Advent Devotional)
For our loyal readers you notice that the webpage has changed from purple to blue. But purple is the advent color! True, but blue is also an Advent color. Historically, the color of Advent shifted to blue when the season of Advent shifted away from being a season of penance to a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus.
At WWSIC we have decided to celebrate the Joy of God’s promises this season. Don’t worry, the purple will return come Lent.
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’A voice says, ‘Cry out!’
And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God!’
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.—Isaiah 40:1-11
In this scripture I hear a conversation between characters from Winnie the Pooh. Owl, the wise one starts: “Comfort is coming, Israel has served her term and now, she will be redeemed. The loving Lord has given her new life. It has been long, and hard, but we have persevered and stayed faithful (even though we grumbled!) and now we will rejoice in God’s favor.”
Then the sweet, open, innocent voice of Winnie the Pooh: “Make way! Clear the brambles from the road, smooth the mountain passes, the Lord has shown God’s glory and soon we will all be able to see and feel it. God has spoken to us!”
And yet, in spite of the good news Eeyore complains: “Who cares? Everything is ruined anyway. The grass has withered, the flower has faded. We are like the flowers, withered, tired; God has come too late for us. Woe, woe, woe.”
Winnie answers him: “No, my friend, the grass may be withered and the flowers may have faded, but…can’t you see? God’s word is forever! Come up here, on the mountain with us, and see. Sing praise to God with us. Proclaim with us, “Here is our God!”
And Owl sums it up, “Rejoice, indeed. Our Lord comes in might, with strength and protection and reconciliation. God will gather us as a shepherd gathers his sheep, and God will carry us, lead us, gently, into life.
Our world right now seems dusty, barren and barely livable. Many in the United States and more around the world live without enough food. People are still warring against one another; women and the poor are oppressed, still. It does seem as if life is withered and faded. We hear very few hopeful stories in mainline media. We receive so little nourishment; our souls may feel withered and faded.
The media get a lot of footage and pictures out of the barrenness of the world. That withered grass is good press; the soulnessness of humans is good press. Those are the news reports that lead the evening news; those are the front page articles in the newspaper and in magazines. We often get a lot of mileage out of pouting and proclaiming gloom and doom. It is so much easier to complain about the hurt we have received, to moan about how much we have suffered and how much we don’t have. But does that really feel better than joy? Does it nourish our soul as much as recognizing God’s gifts?
The story of Advent is this: Jesus is coming! Jesus IS coming! The One who encourages, reminds, prods, enlightens us is coming! Our God is coming to breathe air into us, to water our parched souls, to show us how to create with God a world of potential, a world where God will gather us, and feed us, and lead us gently into life. Our God is full of love for us, God weeps with us at the sorrow in the world, God yearns to share our lives, to fill us with love and teach us how to share that love.
How many times do we hold on to the memories of the bitterness and the times of hardship, keep our eyes and hearts closed to the potential of forgiveness and reconciliation, keep ourselves from reveling in the love of God, who, after all, is all.
My prayer is that this advent we remember the voice of the herald, O come, O come Emmanuel. God with us (forever), God within us (always and forever). Alleluia, Amen.
***
Terri Gibbons is a member in discernment in the United Church of Christ. She is a graduate of the Claremont School of Theology and plans to serve her ministry as a Chaplain for end-of-life care.
Jude 17-25
So often the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is so consumed with preparing for a visit from that “right jolly old elf” that we must be intentional about making time for Advent as the season of preparation for the arrival of the Christ, Emmanuel, God with us.
Today’s scripture from the Book of Jude reminds us to take the time and the care to prepare ourselves for “the last time.” After exhorting the readers about those among them who are the “grumblers and malcontents; they indulge in their own lust” (v. 16), the author tells the beloved to “build yourselves up on your most holy faith” (v. 20). We must prepare ourselves for the time to come, praying in the Spirit and looking toward the mercy of Jesus that leads to eternal life. One of the most interesting and challenging parts of this scripture is that we are to “keep yourselves in the love of God.”
This is one of the three simple rules of United Methodism, “stay in love with God.” What is most significant is that this is a conscious decision. It requires action on our part, intention, and deliberation. When those around us, especially those in the church, are living worldly lives unconnected to God, we must be intentional about preparing our own lives so that we can “keep ourselves in the love of God.” Jude, this small, often overlooked book, provides guidance to those in the Church to live as Christians in love with God even when those around them, including members of the church, are preparing to live wholly in the world, indulging in all nature of worldly, earthly pursuits. And then the author tells us to have mercy on others, even all those grumblers and malcontents, and even to “snatch them out of the fire” (v. 23).
This letter put me in mind of the Beatle’s song, “Hey Jude.” Beyond the commonality of the name Jude, the letter, like the song, calls us to make it better, to improve a sad and unhealthy situation. Despite the lengthy and somewhat graphic depiction of those who were living lives contrary to Christian teachings, those who are “waterless clouds…autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted…for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever,” (v. 12-13) Jude ends with a word of hope and reconciliation. Even those for whom the darkness has been reserved, the author says to have mercy and save them (v. 22-23).
Hey Jude, don’t make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
Dear Gracious and Loving God, I give you thanks for this time of preparation, for this opportunity to remember the grace that has been given me. Help me this day to consciously be in love with you. Help me to share that love with others, to show mercy on those who are unsure, and to help those who are struggling. In all things, help me grow ever closer to You. Amen.
***
Rev. Ann Thomas is the senior pastor at Griffith United Methodist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she is working to renew and revitalize this downtown congregation through spiritual renewal, social justice work and missions. A recent graduate of Claremont School of Theology, Ann practiced law in Las Vegas for 18 years before entering full-time ministry and seeking ordination. She was commissioned in June 2011 and is seeking full ordination in The United Methodist Church.
You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
—Psalm 18:28
I’m an impatient person
in an impatient world
except
december steals the sun
takes away the light
and leaves me in the long, quiet, dark.
Except
it isn’t always quiet.
Too quickly for even an impatient person,
the quiet tears the dark wide open,
unzips the deep and fearful places in my heart
and the already dark dark becomes darker.
The once quiet places become banshee howls
and my overwhelming lostness is revealed.
My own (at times) love of this darkness is made
manifest and all I can do is gawk at it.
I am defenseless.
I am helpless.
A lone pole on a thunderstormed beach
In Your mercy, You find me.
It is perhaps easier as the nights grow longer to sit in and experience the actual physical darkness of this season. December allows us to do this, forces us to confront literal darkness for longer and longer periods of time. What would happen if we allowed ourselves to be still (no matter how uncomfortable) and reflect upon our own places of darkness? In what areas of our life could we possibly see the need for healing, for hope, for wholeness? Where do we need God’s light to shine?
This advent, it may be time to let the long nights provide the backdrop for an intentional act of self-reflection; to look deep within, around corners that have too long remained in the peripheral and confront the dark places that cause us pain, that frighten us, that keep us from truly sharing in the glorious freedom of the children of God (Romans 8:21).
While it may feel like stumbling blindly, we are reminded that God lights our lamp. God, whose infinite love is coming to us in this season, will turn whatever darkness we uncover into light and bring hope and healing into unexpected places.
***
Donna Batchelor is a hospice chaplain and youth pastor in San Diego County, CA.
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