December 23

Isaiah 9:2-7

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually,
    and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
    He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

              “Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”

This year especially we can empathize with the people of Isaiah’s day. It feels as though we have been walking in darkness, captives mourning in lowly exile. Some have labored under the yoke of burdens. Others have suffered the rod of oppressors. We yearn for a government upon righteous shoulders with peace and justice.

Into our darkness comes a great light. Hear the mighty words again.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder
and his name will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.

Lord of hosts, even when we feel lost in darkness, we remember that you
send us light and increase our joy. Thank you for the gift of light, a child, your son,
our Prince of Peace.

Chris Norton

December 21

Luke 1:39-45

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Five Haikus for Elizabeth and Mary

A visitation - 

two women, powered by God

to birth Holy Men.

Hearing Mary's voice,

Elizabeth's baby leaped 

with joy in her womb.

Elizabeth, filled

with the Holy Spirit, cried:

"Mary, blessed are you."

"Blessed are you among

women and fruit of your womb

God's power unleashed!"

Fulfillment done.

Given by God and believed:

A faithful response.

Char Lyon

December 20

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.


This undated poem points to a moment when God will give a home to those who have no other home. God will restore their lives. God will re-establish their physical well being and affect the environment around them. “They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” That is good news. God promises joy.

Someone describes joy this way: “Such a gift, far from being a positive attitude or constantly upbeat mood, is best described as a deep confidence, even a kind of astonished laughter because of the discovery that there is One at work in our world more central to our stories than we are to ourselves.” (Tom Currie, The Joy of Ministry, p. 4)

Joy is more than a transitory emotion, as with all the other emotions that come and go. Joy is a “deep confidence” or an “astonished laughter.” It is rooted in the kind of God that we have. God’s work in the world is with those who have weak hands, feeble knees, and fearful hearts. It’s where confidence replaces the fear, where laughter interrupts the sorrow. Joy is the deep and abiding knowledge that, no matter what happens to us, God is with us, and God is working out the restoration of the world.

This is something that we can keep reminding one another. Isaiah’s poem is not a carrot on a stick, some vain hope that entices us to keep going. No, it’s this confidence that there is a greater love at the heart of the universe than what we see day to day, that there is a greater goodness than the recurring human nastiness, that there is a deeper wisdom than all short-sighted human foolishness, that there is truly a salvage operation that heaven is undertaking on earth.


Restoring God, save us, lift us, salvage us, and give us joy. Amen.


Rev. Bill carter

December 19

Psalm 80:1-7

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might, and come to save us!
Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

When our children were younger and there was confusion in the house, if she needed attention, instead of calling out “Dad!” our daughter would sometimes shout out my first name. Saucy, but effective; I listened!  She knew me well enough to call me by another name.

The Psalmist does something like this, using a collection of names: Shepherd! Enthroned one! God of hosts! -- Restore us! save us! shine your face upon us!  We call out for such things in Advent, the season of waiting. It may seem futile, trying one name, then another. Yet it is the language of lament, a gift the Bible offers. It is full of sorrow, yet not hidden sorrow; rather, it is sorrow expressed, sorrow addressed, to a specific one, whom we know well. Later Jesus will do it, mimicking Psalm 22: “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”

Psalms of lament give us voice to speak out, to describe graphically how we really feel: my only bread is my tears! But the lamenting psalmist does not shout into the wind; no, he addresses God, who has made himself present before in many ways. We know him, and this gives us confidence to keep on calling until we are heard.  

God of many names, you have come before. Come again. Heed our cry, and the cries of so many who sorrow today. 

 

Charlie Pinches

December 18

Micah 5:2-5

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
    from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
    when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
    to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth;
5 and he shall be the one of peace.

 

Waiting.  We spend many minutes of our life waiting; waiting in line at the store, waiting on the telephone, waiting at the doctor’s office, …. the list goes on and on.  Micah was waiting for a new ruler, someone to rescue the people of Israel and bring peace to their nation.

Micah is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets.  He was the first prophet  to  predict  the downfall of Jerusalem. He felt the city was doomed because it was supported by dishonest business practices which impoverished the citizens of Jerusalem in addition to mistreatment of women and children, and a government that lived in luxury off the hard work of the nation’s people. It’s not surprising that over two thousand years later many cities and nations around the world are still guilty of these practices.  As Micah predicted Israel did fall to the Assyrian Empire in 722BCE.

In the verses we are reading today, Micah writes of a new ruler arising from the lineage of David and Bethlehem as the birthplace for the new ruler of Israel.  Like many others Micah compares this new ruler to a shepherd who gathers together the people of Israel and cares for them. He envisions peace throughout the lands and protection from the Assyrians. Even though this prophecy is centuries old, it still resonates with the current status of our nation and the world.

Lord, during this Advent season may we be followers of the Shepherd and minister to others in need.  Help us to lead simple lives and use our waiting time for spreading peace and joy to all we meet. Amen

For your listening pleasure copy this link into your browser: Waiting for a King
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=aOtCJajwD_M&list=RDAMVMaOtCJajwD_M 

Connie Weiss

December 17

Luke 1:34-38

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Frederick Buechner writes of the angel Gabriel:

    She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he'd been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it.

    He told he what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. "You mustn't be afraid, Mary," he said.

    As he said it, he only hoped she wouldn't notice that beneath the great, golden wings he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl.

from Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who's Who

December 16

 Luke 1:26-33

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”


Much has been written about Mary, Mother of Jesus. We know that she was young, set to marry a man named Joseph, a virgin, and a person of immense faith. The Protestant Reformation condemned the veneration of Mary. Martin Luther believed that we “…have an obligation to honor Mary…,” but reminds us to “…be careful to give her honor that is fitting.” Over time, some Protestants have softened a bit on the issue of giving Mary too much reverence. Certainly, Mary should be admired for her faith and courage in the face of such a huge task, and she took on this responsibility knowing the risks that it entailed. Shannon Kubiak, the author of God Called a Girl, spoke to Mary's vulnerability. "She was a nobody from the middle of nowhere...and God chose to use her for the most incredible task of a lifetime," marvels Kubiak. 

I think it is safe to say that, as culture, we have become risk-adverse. We can easily relate to her fear, but few of us respond to God’s call in such a selfless way, sure that God would not ask something from us that we cannot give. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be more like Mary? Each time we are faced with some situation that we can make better through our love and belief in God, some injustice or grief that we can alleviate, we should be more like Mary. Step up to the fear or even pursue those actions that make us fearful but are in response to God’s call. 

Maybe the best way to honor Mary is to be a bit more like her in the small ways that God sets in our path.  

Tabbi Miller-Scandle