advent 2020: the good news of disruption

To hear Brandi read this week’s essay, click here: https://youtu.be/HJkUCdj_OTY

This year the reality of our divides loom rather large. We are, most often, willing endorsers of us and them thinking. God cannot be shocked, and he certainly knows our love of this terrible kind of belonging, the kind that comforts us since we aren’t with those people. Here’s the thing though: God won’t abide being mocked.

You can’t tell the story of Advent without talking about extending our welcome, expanding our ideas about inclusion. You can’t tell the stories of God’s good Gospel news without talking about a moving Spirit, a boundary crossing prophet, a widening tent. The Gospel is good news to the poor, to the broken, to the ignored. It also issues an invitation, written in the language of repentance, to those addicted to power or greed or delighting in the exclusion of others. 

The last few years I keep forgetting how good this news really is. I look around, especially at some wealthy, segregated American brands of Christianity, and I feel outrage rise. If we don’t take particular care to stay familiar with the Scriptures and with those prophetic voices aligned with maligned folk, we begin to think God endorses the kinds of hateful platforms that a lot of Christians in our country seem to love. That’s my bad. I’m working on it.

I brought all of that mess with me into December this year. Thankfully, there was space to sit with the prophecies anticipating the Messiah, and then time to linger in the play by play narrative that culminates in this babe wrapped in a manger, bringing goodwill, as the Prince of Peace. Abiding in Jesus covered my pain with a healing salve. If we look closely, we can pick up the trail that has been there all along: that the good news of the Gospel is infinitely disruptive, inviting us to live life on our toes, leaning in as we realize our peace and contentment are rooted deeply in the ever-expanding love of God, and in little else.

Before I send you on your way with the final readings of Advent in 2020, look with me at the stars of our Christmas nativity, and hear the invitation to join the kingdom of heaven as it arrives on earth. Ours is a story of disruption.

The faith of Zechariah and Elizabeth had taught them to still believe in a good God despite their lifelong grief. The voice of God exposed those manipulative coping mechanisms for what they were, and disrupted their determined contentment with the miraculous fulfillment God brings. God disrupts our coping mechanisms, and invites us into infinite hope. With God, impossible things are possible.

Take a look at Joseph or Mary, and notice that God disrupts our reputations. Surrendering to this good news might mean people talk trash, or that we make our homes in places others dare not linger. The Advent story is an invitation to trust God with our families, our hopes, our dreams of significance, thereby disrupting our own logical map for increased success through strategic planning.

The story of the wise men reminds us that our God rejects alliances with evil power, and does not compromise to save face when other bodies are on the line. They show us that power is often most interested in more power, delivered at the cost of others. This good news disrupts the “way we do business”, and instead invites us to follow the prophets instead of political promise.

The story of the shepherds is pure, precious disruption. You who wander the margins for a living, you get a special invite to the throne room of God almighty. You who protect the innocent, your presence brings dignity to this embarrassing stable. You shepherds who mostly follow the same path, you are going to learn to disrupt that path and follow curiosity instead. (“‘Let’s go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, that God made known to us.’ And they went with haste…”).

And finally, this week, spend some time looking at Jesus. At the remarkable story of a God who disrupts our pattern of talking a good game, but leaving others to fend for themselves. God disrupted time and space. He willingly surrendered unlimited power in order to make Godself accessible to others who had no hope. I pray this Christ child disrupts your patterns of comfort, of coping mechanisms, of logical steps forward, of expected routines. I pray you get blown away with a gift you’ve taught yourself to no longer want. I pray you get the chance to reject any alliance with a powerful person who will likely hurt others. I pray you get invited into less fanfare, and into deeper roots. I pray you follow curiosity into overlooked spaces, where Jesus is honored, and peace abides.

Merry Christmas. Cheers to a New Year.

Fourth Week Readings

Gather around the Advent Wreath on Sunday 12/20

Light the purple candle of Peace or Purity. 

The baby who becomes a man brings his incredibly present Spirit to us; the Prince of Peace abides in us still.

Hymn of Peace (Listen to this old hymn, cherished in churches for years)

“O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, it is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.  Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth.  A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.  Fall on your knees!  Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born.  O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, with glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.  O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming, now come the wise men from out of Orient land.  The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger; in all our trials born to be our friends.  He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger.  Behold your King!  Before him lowly bend.

Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace.  Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in his name all oppression shall cease.  Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, with all our hearts we praise His holy name.  His power and glory ever more proclaim!”

Prayer for the Final Week of Advent:

“Lord our God, you wanted to live not only in heaven, but also with us, here on earth; not only to be high and great, but also to be small and lowly, as we are; not only to rule, but also to serve us; not only to be God in eternity, but also to be born as a person, to live, and to die.  In your dear Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you have given us none other than yourself, that we may wholly belong to you.  This affects all of us, and none of us has deserved this.  What remains for us to do but to wonder, to rejoice, to be thankful, and to hold fast to what you have done for us?”            -Karl Barth

Dec 21 Psalm 46:1-11

Dec 22 Isaiah 11:1-12

Dec 23 John 14:15-20; Psalm 78:4-8

Dec 24 Luke 2:19-40

Readings for the Final Week:

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”                                                                                     -Revelation 2:20

“The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue.”                                                                        -JRR Tolkien 

“Hope does not rely on human achievement or triumphalism, but instead on God’s grace…. However, the hope for restoration comes not from a distant God, but from Immanuel, ‘God is with us.’”                                               -Soong-Chan Rah

“[In Advent waiting,] a longing emerges within us, which will not be silenced, a longing that all should be fulfilled amidst all the failures and against all the evidence, yet we protest its fulfillment all the stronger.  This is a waiting within us for nothing less than that this world will be redeemed through and through—not by this or that political means, but by God.  When God himself comes to, then Advent truly becomes real.”                                                                                                -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The perception of the human body shapes the body of the city, then the way the church understands itself as the embodiment of Christ should transform our interaction with the body of the city.  Our understanding of the incarnation, therefore, takes on an added measure of importance.  In the incarnation, here is the full expression of God’s active love for humanity and the act of making his dwelling among us.  The incarnation, therefore, gives us the model of an active body of Christ confronting the passive body of the city…The church as the body of Christ embodies Christ in the world…The church is called to embody Christ in the city.”                                                                                                                                   -Soong-Chan Rah

“Our identity rests in God’s relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.”                                                                                                    -Brennan Manning

Christmas Day, Dec 25

Light the white candle of Christ. 

God with us, Immanuel has come.

Hymn of Birth (Listen to or sing this hymn taken from the Gospels)

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and Nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.”

Christmas Scriptures

Luke 2:1-20; Isaiah 9:6-7

Advent 2020: celebrate 'thisgiving'

To hear Brandi read this week’s essay, visit the Expand Your Us Youtube page, or click: https://youtu.be/YEO5lFmGbqQ

December is here. Usually this month begins a manic but magical season of frantic rush and intentional memory-making. Of crazy parties and quiet moments before a well-lit tree. Of neverending things to do and contemplative pauses to ground us. This year though, December means we begin to end a year full of hard. More than in years past, we have experienced untimely death and illness, job loss and insecurity, mental health concerns and physical restrictions, literal and figurative isolation, and distance from our communities. With schools closing, a year of uncertainty looming, rising COVID numbers and sustained exhaustion piling up, December does not feel like the beginning of a season of magic and miracles. It feels like being the last runner to complete a marathon, after the finish line has been packed up and the fans are gone. Or maybe like the beginning of the end of a horror movie, where you know it’s almost over, and you aren’t sure what’s coming, but you know it is gonna be bad.

And yet. My long relationship with God and Christ offers a counter narrative to the one I just shared, one seen best through Advent. December hosts a holy time to pause for Jews and Christians. While December ends our calendar year, Advent begins the Christian calendar. That’s what Advent offers: It takes a thing that feels like a dead end, and transforms it into a beginning. The Latin roots of the word mean “to come toward” or “coming,” and in every sense, Advent is a season when we reflect on the coming of Christ, the coming of hope, the coming of joy, and the coming of justice. 

I use a contemplative practice which grounds me in the waiting, the lamenting, the longing for an encounter with the Divine by reading scriptures every day during the 4 weeks of Advent. Below this essay are readings I put together to help followers of Christ dwell on the coming of Immanuel, God with us.  They remind us of the context that the Messiah came out of and into: Christ is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with a weary and hurting world; Jesus is the manifestation of the Word—the prophecies and scriptures—that came before Him. I include a hymn you can hear, a prayer to pray, daily scriptures, and a few readings to ponder.  I’ll share them weekly in case you want to join me, along with a few thoughts that have captured my imagination in the week just passed.

This week I have been struck by the idea that Advent, a Christian holiday, follows Thanksgiving, an American holiday. Christians tend to mash them all together, as if founding America and blessing it was the eleventh commandment. It wasn’t. Still, it is kind of fun that Americans, greedy and thieving as we are and have been, are simultaneously generous and thankful. Incredibly, we pause a lot of work just to memorialize giving thanks. (Of course the origins of that holiday offer us a master class in historical erasure and hegemonic oppression, and now we twin that holiday with Black Friday, a day fueled by aggressive greed…but I digress.)

My youngest child still has charming speech mistakes, and she calls Thanksgiving Thisgiving. Her pronunciation offers instruction for how to celebrate Thanksgiving and prepare for Advent all at the same time. Thisgiving requires engagement in the moment; it demands my full presence in this moment and rejects multitasking and achievement (outside of pie baking, of course). It asks for humble generosity, the giving of oneself to others rather than to our agendas. Advent invites a similar response.

Advent, for me, is a reminder that the God I claim to love and the Christ I claim to follow are wholly uninterested in the power structures that control me.  The earned importance that I find alluring, to which I try to conform, for which I perform my loyalty and pledge my energy and allegiance, is blasphemous. God is not impressed by our achievement or perfection. The season of Advent can serve as a reorientation for the Christian; a time and space to remember your own failings and attest your need not for more importance, money or position, but for a Savior.

The Biblical record shows the Creator God often shaking his head at the wayward creatures we have become. We lose our way. We betray God and each other. We chase after power, treating people like pawns used to get us what we think we deserve. But God doesn’t just talk about the mess we are in. God doesn’t just moan about how it all turned out. God decides to do something, and becomes a baby who can grow up and walk among people who need a reminder that they were made to live differently than they do. Jesus shows us how to live together, to love and sacrifice for each other, to see people where they are and to love them even when they are disasters. Jesus celebrated Thisgiving. He showed up with his whole self, and he gave all of his attention to the people around him. Day after day.

This is a picture of who God is. This is who Advent celebrates. This is who we strive to look like in our moments with others. Celebrate Advent today by imitating Jesus. Lean in instead of staying out of it. Engage everyone. Reject trading favors to get yourself more invitations, more power, more followers, and instead befriend the folks slipping through the cracks in your neighborhood. Show up with your best self in places usually overlooked, and be generous there. Follow Thisgiving straight into Advent, and watch December become a month of wonder.

If you would like to join me in Advent readings, the Scriptures, prayers and hymns are below. Each week’s readings will by posted on the website by Saturday evening, but the email will continue to go out on Tuesdays.

WEEK ONE

Sunday, 11/29 Gather around an Advent Wreath, or a single candle.

Light a purple candle for Hope or Prophecy

Christ is the Hoped For One, the fulfillment of prophecies and the law.

Hymn of Prophecy (Listen to this (London Philharmonic is great), taken directly from Isaiah)

“For unto us a child is born, unto us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.  The kingdom of this world, is become. The Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. King of kings, and Lord of Lords.  Hallelujah.”   

-Handel’s Messiah (“For Unto Us a Child is Born” and the “Hallelujah Chorus”)

Prayer for the First Week of Advent:

“Lord, may you now let us this year once more approach the light, celebration, and joy of Christmas Day that brings us face to face with the greatest thing there is: your love.  What could we possibly bring and give to you?  So much darkness in our human relationships and in our own hearts!...So much over which you cannot rejoice, that separates us from one another and certainly cannot help us!  So much that runs directly against the message of Christmas!  What should you possibly do with such gifts?  And what are you to do with such people as we all are?  But all of this is precisely what you want to receive from us and take from us at Christmas—the whole pile of rubbish and ourselves, just as we are—in order to give us in return Jesus, our Savior, and in him a new heaven and a new earth, new hearts and a new desire, new clarity and a new hope for us and for all people.  Be among us as we once again…prepare to receive him as your gift. Amen.”             -Karl Barth, 1960s

Nov 30 Deut 18:18; Psalm 45:6-7  

Dec 1 Gen 3:19-21; 9:4-12

Dec 2 2 Sam 7:11-16

Dec 3 Gen 15:1-6, 22:1-18

Dec 4 I Chron 17:11-14

Dec 5 Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7

Readings for the First Week:

“The blessedness of waiting is lost on those who cannot wait, and the fulfillment of promise is never theirs.  They want quick answers to the deepest questions of life and miss the value of those times of anxious waiting, seeking with patient uncertainties until the answers come…Not all can wait—certainly not those who are satisfied, contented, and feel that they live in the best of all possible worlds!  Those who learn to wait are uneasy about their way of life, but yet have seen a vision of greatness in the world of the future and are patiently expecting its fulfillment.  The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.  For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God the child in the manger.  God comes, the Lord Jesus comes, Christmas comes.”                                                                                                               -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“In the biblical world, hope does not emerge from the self-aggrandizing act of recounting our successes. It is the desperate plea for God’s intervention that arises out of lament that reveals a flickering glimpse of hope….We are not elevated above God or even above God’s creation.  We do not stand in the place of Christ, able to incarnate ourselves into another community as if we could operate as the Messiah.  Our only hope for meaning and worth is in the fullness of Christ as God’s created beings.  Lament recognizes our frailty as created beings and the need to acknowledge this shortcoming before God.”     -Soong-Chan Rah

“Advent is not four weeks of Christmas. It is, rather, a season of hopeful aching and watchful waiting amidst the very conditions—depravity, disease, division, despair, death—that made Christmas necessary at all.”        -Duke Kwon

advent readings 2019

My 4 year old daughter does not understand that Christmas lasts an entire month. We have been playing Christmas music for weeks, and as decorations began to appear, she eagerly asked, “Mama! Is Christmas tomorrow?”

“Umm…no? I mean, sort of? Yes. But also no.”

After thoroughly clarifying that situation (obviously), her question stayed with me. Her eagerness, her impatience for joy, her jumping-up-and-down anticipation, embodies Advent, the name Christians give to the Christmas season. The Latin root means “to come toward” or “coming,” and Advent makes space to reflect on the coming of Christ, of hope, of belonging in the Beloved community. The magic she anticipates spills into more than one day, just as the miracle of God coming to live among us impacts our every moment. We often live in isolated silos where we constantly prove or perform our worth, and Advent offers us a chance to put that down and feel our need to belong and our excitement at the celebration to come. We need a God who never leaves us, and we need people on whom we can depend and with whom we can hope (and partyJ). Those needs are worthy of our attention.

This year, I have been reminded again and again that healing and hope come in the middle of pain, not when it ends. We become healers when we see and hold our own vulnerabilities. Part of waiting on God, part of actively hoping for Him, begins with my honest lament over all the brokenness in and around my life. Advent also gives us space for this. It is not unfaithful to be scared or disappointed or angry or brokenhearted—these are conditions of humanity. It is deeply faithful to notice the places in your own heart, relationships, city and world that need the healing and wholeness Christ will bring. Make space to notice your pain, remembering we celebrate One who “comes toward” us, not just as a baby 2000 years ago, but also as the redeeming One who will come to make “all things new”, and, importantly, as One who offers healing and wholeness right now, both for you and through you. Advent is a season to remember what it means to hope in our own hard places, and to expectantly wait for Immanuel to be “God with us.”

My prayer for all who read these words:

May we, like Mary, patiently wait for God to bring new life into our broken places. 

Like the Wise Men, study the Scripture and learn to look for Christ, especially in unexpected spaces in our family or town that have little hope. 

Like the Shepherds, wait expectantly for the Glory of God to visit our ordinary lives, and then actively follow Christ by moving toward vulnerable others. 

Thank you for being a God who comes, who moves with us, who refuses to leave us alone. Give us a rhythm of confessing our need for you as we feel the longing for your presence. Thank you for the crazy mystery of Christmas, for knowing our worst but seeing our best. Teach us what it means to know you come toward us in the year to come.

 A note on the structure

There are daily scriptures, divided into weekly themes (Each theme has a prayer, a hymn, and other readings). Each day, read the prayer (top of page) and daily scripture listed. You can use the optional readings and hymn once per day, all together, or not at all. If your tradition uses an Advent wreath then each Sunday, light the candle, read the scripture, and sing or listen to the hymn listed for that week.

Prayer for the First Week of Advent (Everyday read the prayer, then the Scripture):

“Lord…let us this year once more approach…Christmas Day that brings us face to face with the greatest thing there is: your love. What could we possibly bring and give to you? So much darkness in our human relationships and in our own hearts! So much over which you cannot rejoice, that separates us from one another and certainly cannot help us! So much that runs directly against the message of Christmas! What should you possibly do with such gifts? But all of this is precisely what you want to receive from us and take from us at Christmas—the whole pile of rubbish and ourselves, just as we are—in order to give us in return Jesus, our Savior, and in him a new heaven and a new earth, new hearts and a new desire, new clarity and a new hope for us and for all people. Be among us as we once again…prepare to receive him as your gift. Amen.”                                                                  -Karl Barth

Dec 1: Light the purple candle of Hope or Prophecy Read Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7

Christ is the Hoped For One, the fulfillment of prophecies and the law.

Dec 2 Deut 18:18; Psalm 45:6-7     

Dec 3 Gen 3:19-21; 9:4-12

Dec 4 I Chron 17:11-14; Isaiah 11:1-6

Dec 5 Gen 15:1-6, 22:1-18

Dec 6 Exo 3:13-15

Dec 7 Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7

Hymn of Prophecy

“For unto us a child is born, unto us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The kingdom of this world, is become. The Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. King of kings, and Lord of Lords.  Hallelujah.”    -Handel’s Messiah

Readings for the First Week (Optional to read throughout the week):

“The blessedness of waiting is lost on those who cannot wait, and the fulfillment of promise is never theirs. They want quick answers to the deepest questions of life and miss the value of those times of anxious waiting, seeking with patient uncertainties until the answers come…Not all can wait—certainly not those who are satisfied, contented, and feel that they live in the best of all possible worlds! Those who learn to wait are uneasy about their way of life, but yet have seen a vision of greatness in the world of the future and are patiently expecting its fulfillment. The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God the child in the manger. God comes, the Lord Jesus comes, Christmas comes.”                                         -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“In the biblical world, hope does not emerge from the self-aggrandizing act of recounting our successes. It is the desperate plea for God’s intervention that arises out of lament that reveals a flickering glimpse of hope. What about us? Even after tasting God’s fury and wrath, do we still have hope? Do we still have the ability to worship even as our faith is being tested?”                                                                                          -Soong-Chan Rah

 “We are not elevated above God or even above God’s creation. We do not stand in the place of Christ, able to incarnate ourselves into another community as if we could operate as the Messiah. Our only hope for meaning and worth is in the fullness of Christ as God’s created beings. Lament recognizes our frailty as created beings and the need to acknowledge this shortcoming before God.”                   -Soong-Chan Rah

Prayer for the Second Week of Advent:

“Lord Jesus, come yourself, and dwell with us, be human as we are, and overcome what overwhelms us.”                         -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Dear Lord God, Awaken us, that we may be ready when your dear Son comes, that we may receive Him with Joy and serve Him with pure hearts, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”                                -from a German prayer

Dec 8: Light the purple candle of Love or Bethlehem. Read Luke 2:1-7

The Savior of the World is born in a Manger; love incarnate has come!

Dec 9 Matthew 1:18-25

Dec 10 John 1:1-18

Dec 11 Luke 1:11-38

Dec 12 Luke 1:39-56

Dec 13 Luke 1:57-79

Dec 14 Luke 2:1-7

Hymn of Bethlehem

“Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child.  Holy infant so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing, “Alleluia!” Christ the Savior is born. Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face. With the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.”

Readings for the Second Week:

“In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself.”                                                                                                                  -Mother Teresa

“It is impossible to meet God without abandon, without exposing yourself, being raw.”              –Bono

“The Good News of the gospel of grace cries out: We are all, equally, privileged but entitled beggars at the door of God’s mercy!”                     -Brennan Manning

“Confession propels the community to imagine a world beyond their current state of sinful existence. Lament that recognizes the reality of brokenness allows the community to express confession in its proper context. Confession acknowledges the need for God and opens the door for God’s intervention. Confession in lament relies on God’s work for redemption.”                           -Soong-Chan Rah

“Surrender your own poverty and acknowledge your nothingness to the Lord.  Whether you understand it or not, God loves you, is present in you, lives in you, dwells in you, calls you, saves you and offers you an understanding and compassion which are like nothing you have ever found in a book or heard in a sermon.”

                                                                                                -Thomas Merton

Prayer for the Third Week of Advent:

“Lord, our God and Father, give to many, to all, and to us as well, that we may celebrate Christmas like this: that in complete thankfulness, utter humility, and then complete joy and confidence we may come to the One whom you have sent, and in whom you yourself have come to us. Clean out the many things in us that, now that the hour has come…may, must, and will fall away from us, by virtue of your beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, entering into our midst and creating order. We thank you that you have let your light rise, that it shines in the darkness, and that the darkness will not overcome it. We thank you that you are our God, and that we may be your people. Amen.”              -Karl Barth

Dec 15: Light the pink candle of Joy or Shepherds. Read Luke 2:8-18

Christ brings remarkable joy into our everyday lives; every moment transformed by wonder!

Dec 16 Matthew 2:1-15

Dec 17 Exo 15:11-14a; John 1:35-51

Dec 18 Isaiah 61:1-7

Dec 19 Mark 1:9-11; John 15:8-17

Dec 20 Psalm 46:1-11

Dec 21 Luke 2:8-18

Hymn of Joy

Hark the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies. With the angelic host proclaim: “Christ is born in Bethlehem.” Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

Readings for the Third Week:

“Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.”                                                                               -Henri Nouwen

 “But in our waiting there always lingers a certain amount of resignation. Our fondest hopes, all that we wish for, are weakened by an inner feeling that they may not be fulfilled. We don’t want to be foolish. And it would be foolish to assume that the hopes for the future were already achieved; foolish to hold so firmly to our belief that our life would collapse if it were not to happen. Our foolish waiting would then become an agonizing waiting, an unholy selfish grabbing from one another…And we know quite well that this is not the kind of waiting that Jesus speaks of. Such waiting is not Advent waiting.”        –Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“It is my belief, that we should not be too sure of having found Christ in ourselves until we have found him also in that part of humanity that is most remote from our own.”                       -Thomas Merton

 “The kind of peace shalom represents is active and engaged…Shalom is communal, holistic and tangible. There is no private or partial shalom. The whole community must have shalom or no one has shalom…Shalom is not for the many, while a few suffer; nor is it for the few while many suffer.”                       -Randy Woodley

Prayer for the Final Days of Advent:

“Lord our God, you wanted to live not only in heaven, but also with us, here on earth; not only to be high and great, but also to be small and lowly, as we are; not only to rule, but also to serve us; not only to be God in eternity, but also to be born as a person, to live, and to die. In your dear Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, you have given us none other than yourself, that we may wholly belong to you. This affects all of us, and none of us has deserved this.  What remains for us to do but to wonder, to rejoice, to be thankful, and to hold fast to what you have done for us?”   -Karl Barth

Dec 22 Light the purple candle of Peace or Purity. Read Isaiah 11:1-12; 9:6-7

The baby who becomes a man brings his incredibly present Spirit to us; the Prince of Peace abides in us still.

Dec 23: Read Micah 5:2-5a God with us, Immanuel has come.

Christmas Eve, Dec 24: Read Luke 2:1-40, The Christ child is born

Hymn of Peace

“O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, it is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.  Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born. O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, with glowing hearts by His cradle we stand. O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming, now come the wise men from out of Orient land. The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger; in all our trials born to be our friends. He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King!  Before him lowly bend.

Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace.  Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in his name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, with all our hearts we praise His holy name. His power and glory ever more proclaim!”

Readings for the Final Week:

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”                                                                                     -Revelation 2:20

“The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue.”                                                                        -JRR Tolkien 

“Hope does not rely on human achievement or triumphalism, but instead on God’s grace…. However, the hope for restoration comes not from a distant God, but from Immanuel, ‘God is with us.’”                                                   -Soong-Chan Rah

“[In Advent waiting,] a longing emerges within us, which will not be silenced, a longing that all should be fulfilled amidst all the failures and against all the evidence, yet we protest its fulfillment all the stronger. This is a waiting within us for nothing less than that this world will be redeemed through and through—not by this or that political means, but by God. When God himself comes to, then Advent truly becomes real.”                                                                                                -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“If the perception of the human body shapes the body of the city, then the way the church understands itself as the embodiment of Christ should transform our interaction with the body of the city. Our understanding of the incarnation, therefore, takes on an added measure of importance. In the incarnation, here is the full expression of God’s active love for humanity and the act of making his dwelling among us. The incarnation, therefore, gives us the model of an active body of Christ confronting the passive body of the city…The church as the body of Christ embodies Christ in the world…The church is called to embody Christ in the city.”                                                                                                                              -Soong-Chan Rah

“Our identity rests in God’s relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.”      -Brennan Manning

 Christmas Day

Dec 25 Light the white candle of Christ.

John 14:15-20; Psalm 78:4-8

As you look to the year ahead, know that you abide in Christ, never alone.

Hymn of Birth

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and Nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.”