This week following the Christmas weekend has been such a nice quiet break. I have been taking advantage of the peace and reflecting a bit on this busy month that is coming to a close and also on this whole year. More on that later.
I attempted to take our church family on an Advent journey this year. With a few exceptions Advent was mostly unknown to many people in our community. I’m already looking forward to how we can build on this experience next year.
Our journey this year was steeped in the prophets (specifically Isaiah, Zephaniah, Mary, and Ezekiel.) Thousands of years have passed and we still find it hard to listen to these men and women of God.
Candle #1 – HOPE
Here comes our God. Creator has drawn near.
Listen to me, Jacob;
Israel, whom I called:
I am the one;
I am the first and I am the last.
My hand founded the earth;
my strong hand
spread out the heavens.
When I call to them, they all stand up. -Isaiah 48:12-13
Listen to me, house of Jacob,
all that remains from the house of Israel
who have been borne by me
since pregnancy,
whom I carried from the womb
until you grow old.
I am the one,
and until you turn gray
I will support you.
I have done it,
and I will continue to bear it;
I will support and I will rescue. -Isaiah 46:3-4
Candle #2 – SHALOM
“Comfort, my people. I am doing a new thing!”
A voice is crying out:
“Clear the LORD’s way in the desert!
Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
Every valley will be raised up,
and every mountain and hill
will be flattened.
Uneven ground will become level,
and rough terrain a valley plain. -Isaiah 40:3-4
Don’t remember the prior things;
don’t ponder ancient history.
Look! I’m doing a new thing;
now it sprouts up;
don’t you recognize it?
I’m making a way in the desert,
paths in the wilderness. -Isaiah 43:18-19
Candle #3 – JOY
Being open to the in-breaking of God. Do we have eyes to see his arrival?
Rejoice, Daughter Zion! Shout, Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem.Watch what I am about to do
to all your oppressors at that time.
I will deliver the lame;
I will gather the outcast.
I will change their shame into praise
and fame throughout the earth. -Zephaniah 3:14,19
Read the story of Zachariah in Luke 1 and meditate on its connection to the message here in Zephaniah.
Candle #4 – LOVE
God moves in justice and mercy. Forever and today!
Mary said,
“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.” – Luke 1:46-55
And all of this promise and deliverance comes together in the fifth reflection:
CHRISTMAS
The promised Shepherd. Hope, peace, joy, love. Our salvation!
The LORD God proclaims: I myself will search for my flock and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out the flock when some in the flock have been scattered, so will I seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered during the time of clouds and thick darkness. I will gather and lead them out from the countries and peoples, and I will bring them to their own fertile land. I will feed them on Israel’s highlands, along the riverbeds, and in all the inhabited places. I will feed them in good pasture, and their sheepfold will be there, on Israel’s lofty highlands. On Israel’s highlands, they will lie down in a secure fold and feed on green pastures. I myself will feed my flock and make them lie down. This is what the LORD God says.
I will seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak. But the fat and the strong I will destroy, because I will tend my sheep with justice.
-Ezekiel 34:11-16
Walking through this month of expectancy and longing has benefited my own journey and I hope it has been half as helpful to some others in the church. One thing that I held to be very important throughout the month was to not come to a simple and straightforward lesson or application with each reflection. While they are concise thoughts I don’t think they turn salvation into something simplistic. I did not try to sum up all that God is doing. What I did try to do is awaken our imaginations – to focus us on who God is and what his dreams and plans are. My hope is that then we can find our place in that divine memory.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!
(All scripture quotations are taken from the Common English Bible. I’ve been using the CEB for readings and Bible studies at our church for the past couple months and I absolutely love it.)
