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ADVENT MEDITATIONS 2016

Providence Baptist Church Hendersonville, North Carolina

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ADVENT

O holy child of Bethlehem,

Descend on us we pray;

Cast out our sin and enter in,

Be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels

The great glad tidings tell:

O come to us, Abide with us,

Our Lord Emmanuel.

8th Century Advent Hymn

Advent—Beginning of the Church Year Charles Myers

May 15, 206, Pentecost Sunday—a red-letter day in the Christian Year—was Pastor Julie’s Sunday. She said that Pentecost was the only time that clergy got to wear red. She left us with the admonition to let the colors of red, green, purple and white shape our sense of the seasons of the Church Year. She called them “The Colors of the Holy Spirit.” “If you see these colors around you,” she said, “the are signs of God.”

Pastor Julie also said that until she saw the sun set behind Pisgah and Cold Mountains with its reds, pinks and purple, she didn’t know what Katharine Lee Bates meant by the phrase “purple mountain majesties” (“America the Beautiful”).

She closed by telling about a white squirrel that descended a tree in her yard to nest in a branch; she said it was a sign of the Holy Spirit! She ended by promising that if she saw a white squirrel in Texas, she would come back to North Carolina!

The color for Advent and Lent is purple, Julie’s favorite color. Our paraments, cloths used on the altar, pulpit and communion table, are purple, but they have nothing to do with sunsets, unless we hope for a sunset on sin.

Advent is about a sunrise when Christ wins against all His foes.

White is for Christmas, Easter and other special days such as All Saints Sunday. Green is for Epiphany and Ordinary Time after Pentecost. Red is for Pentecost and other special days like Reformation Sunday and civil holidays, such as Veterans Day, if we observe them on a Sunday. And we use Black on Good Friday.

We as a church have been observing the green season of Ordinary time following Pentecost. Ordinary Time is the long season in which we emphasize spiritual growth in Christ. Green is an appropriate sign of growth and life. The major theme of the season is preparation and anticipation of the Kingdom of God. Gospel readings are about our Lord’s last journey toward Jerusalem where His followers hoped that He would be welcomed as King of the Jews. The season concludes with Christ the King Sunday, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Spiritually we have been traveling with Jesus toward Jerusalem. Now with Advent, we begin the journey again with Jesus as He, Mary and Joseph travel back to Bethlehem. Advent is the royal beginning of a new Church Year.

Advent: Purple and Gold Charles Myers

The colors purple and gold have long been associated with royalty. We use purple during the season of Advent to signify that Jesus came first as the King of the Jews. Spiritually we emphasize a giving up and making room for the coming of King Jesus. As Christians, we live in anticipation of the triumph of the Rule of God. In that we do not yet see God’s rule triumphant, we say it is “coming.” The word “advent” means “coming.” By thinking purple at Ad- vent, we prepare our minds and hearts for a look back at the first coming of Christ to King David’s royal city of Bethlehem, and a look forward to a time when Christ comes in victory and with judgment to turn over the Kingdom to his Father God. (1 Corinthians 15:24)

Gold is a sign of royalty, too. Embroidered on our purple paraments are emblems of a golden crown surmounting a highly ornamental golden cross. These are not mere decorations. The purpose of our paraments and emblems is to emphasize, first, the qualities of Christ. The crown of gold is a sign of the kingship of Jesus Christ, the Ruler of the Kingdom of His Father, God. The golden cross portrays the glorified cross of John’s Gospel (John 12: 23, 32 “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” NKJV) By his regal death on an old rugged cross, and resurrection on Sunday morning, Jesus transformed an instrument of torture and death into “the church sign” of healing and victory for all.

Secondly, since St. Paul in his letters calls all believers “saints,” the crown and cross represent every Christian’s reign with Christ and the crosses we carry for Him. Jesus promised to the church in Smyna (Revelation 2:10) “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.” The Bible promises other rewards to those who “overcome” persecution. The Beatitudes, as found in Matthew 5:12 and Luke 6:22, state, “Rejoice...for great is your reward in heaven.” An oldmotto of Western North Carolina has been, “Give us men (and women) to match our mountains.” I hear Jesus say to us, “Believe in me and I will match you with your royal calling to kingdom living.” Purple is an appropriate color for calling attention to the royal story of, and high calling of Jesus.

First Sunday of Advent, November 27

No Peace James Garrison

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22

Today there seems to be little peace. Hunger for power, control, status, recognition, and money seems to keep our world in continual fight or flight mode. The quest for power seems unending. This quest pits person against person, nation against nation, culture against culture, and on and on.

Since the beginning,

God has been continually drawing us to himself. He revealed himself to us through the words of the prophets. He reveals himself to us in the daily miracles of life…the smile of a new baby, the blue of the sky, the lilt of a song, the warm hug of a friend.

Since the beginning, we humans have had a hard time understanding God’s intention for us. We strive then falter. No peace.

God came to earth in his son Jesus Christ. He was fully human and fully God. He lived out God’s intention for us. He gave himself up to death on our behalf. He rose again and walked on earth to prove to us that he was God and that He intends for us to know his great love. We believe, yet we falter. No peace.

Monday, November 28

Gentle Witness Jane Gurley

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22

Today there seems to be little peace. Hunger for power, control, status, recognition, and money seems to keep our world in continual fight or flight mode. The quest for power seems unending. This quest pits person against person, nation against nation, culture against culture, and on and on.

Since the beginning, God has been continually drawing us to himself. He revealed himself to us through the words of the prophets. He reveals himself to us in the daily miracles of life…the smile of a new baby, the blue of the sky, the lilt of a song, the warm hug of a friend.

Since the beginning, we humans have had a hard time understanding God’s intention for us. We strive then falter. No peace.

God came to earth in his son Jesus Christ. He was fully human and fully God. He lived out God’s intention for us. He gave himself up to death on our behalf. He rose again and walked on earth to prove to us that he was God and that He intends for us to know his great love. We believe, yet we falter. No peace.

When Jesus was on earth he promised us that his Father would send the Comforter…his spirit to live among us…a promise that came true! We are taught that there are real fruits of God’s Holy Spirit. We say that we believe in the Triune God. If that is true, then we must believe that the fruits of spirit are ours to have and ours to share. That should give us peace. That should help us make peace.

Prayer: Father, as we go through this Advent season, may we trust your promises. May we open ourselves to your Holy Spirit, and the fruits of the spirit. May we open ourselves to your peace. May we share your love and make peace.

Tuesday,November 29

Unknowing Gifts Ardie Gallant

How often have our minds told us that we have nothing of value to give? We see ourselves as not particularly talented or special or worthy or . . . yet Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the least —the child, the poor, the outcast, the prisoner, the neighbor—is of much value. (Matthew 25:40) What we offer, what we give, matters.

A Christmas that stands out in my memory followed a hard year. Daddy was trying to build a business. Money was tight. My parents were practical and Christmas gifts were normally things we needed (yes, even the proverbial underwear) and one thing we desired/needed, like the set of luggage the year I graduated from high school.

This year not even those things were possible, so we decided to exchange items we already had that would mean something to the receiver. It’s what I gave that year that I remember, not what I received. I wrote out a promise to write to my mother every week. It may have been inspired by the fact that when we left home for parochial boarding school. Every week brought a letter from Mama. My simple gift continued for many, many years through college, marriage, children, ups and downs. I was not required to write home, but it was something I could do. I had learned to appreciate the heart of home I received, and returning that gift came easily.

I love giving and receiving cards. When I began learning calligraphy in the mid-1970’s one of the suggestions for practicing was to address correspondence in whatever hand you happened to be working on at the time. Although I received comments on my handmade cards, more often I was told that they kept the envelopes—their name beautifully written.

We never know how our simplest gestures will affect others.

Wednesday, November 30

“The lack of mystery in our modern life is our downfall and our poverty.

A human life is worth as much as the respect it holds for the mystery. We retain the child in us to the extent that we honor the mystery.

Therefore, children have open, wide-awake eyes, because they know that they are surrounded by the mystery.

They are not yet finished with this world; they still don’t know how to struggle along

and avoid the mystery, as we do. We destroy the mystery because we sense that

here we reach the boundary of our being, because we want to be lord over everything

and have it at our disposal, and that’s just what we cannot do with the mystery….

Living without mystery means knowing nothing of the mystery of our own life,

nothing of the mystery of another person, nothing of the mystery of the world;

it means passing over our own hidden qualities and those of others and the world.

It means remaining on the surface, taking the world seriously only to the extent that it can be calculated and exploited,

and not going beyond the world of calculation and exploitation. Living without mystery means

not seeing the crucial processes of life at all and even denying them.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas

Thursday, December 1

Cycle Annette Hudson

Winter to spring, summer to fall

marking the passage of time where we are

conceived and born, mature and flourish

then pass on.

The cycle continues.

The Baby is expected.

The Baby is born.

He grows and flourishes just like us.

He channels and teaches God’s very Kingdom

before His body passes on

at the hands of those who did

not understand and were afraid.


We are part of it.

How have we changed?

Who have we lost? Who have we gained?

How was relationship to the Divine rearranged?


Christ will come as a baby.

Christ has come.

Reflections...

Friday, December 2

Journal, draw, sing, make a collage, listen to someone who needs to talk, hug a lonely soul, make a special meal and share it—whatever way you express yourself best, use this space to do that, or to record what you did.

Saturday, December 3

Invited Kathleen Lambert

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

Who worshiped or was called to worship at the birth of Christ? Who saw the star, the angels, the rent in the cosmos?

The Bible says two groups of people were invited. There were the wise men, the seekers who with open minds actively looked and searched, those in positions of authority humble enough in themselves to know that they did not have the answers. They were also willing to risk, able to live with discomfort and possible ridicule, willing to make a journey, willing to worship something/someone greater than themselves. To them, the way was shown; to them the honor of giving and gaining was bestowed. They were enlightened, truly, not merely by star.

There were the shepherds, the ones who lived without special distinction whose task it was to care for a flock. We are all called to be shepherds of a sort, whether through parenthood, volunteerism, or profession. We are, at times, all called to nurture in compassion. The shepherds were out in the silence where they could hear the angels, out in the dark where they could see the glory of the light. There were humble enough to see what was before their eyes—able to perceive and willing to accept the invitation.

We all have the capacity to pass from this man-made society of materialism into the Kingdom of God. It is here on earth, so says our savior.

But we don’t make this transition through an active movement of our own. It comes when we open ourselves and allow ourselves to feel God’s touch in our lives:

¬ Angels singing and dancing in the dark in proclamation of the Kingdom,

¬ God’s finger inscribing the tablets of covenant for the Kingdom,

¬ Our hearts generously warmed by the grace of god,

¬ Love that allows a connection that was always meant to be between us,

¬ God at work for us.

May he work through us.

Heavenly Father, grant us the humility to witness the celebrations around us. Give us the spontaneity and the fortitude to accept your invitations to witness.

Guide our lives that we are, in everything we do, witnesses to your kingdom. Amen

?

HOPE

Second SUNDAY OF ADVENT, December 4

Making Room By Pastor Michelle McClendon

My office has always been a sanctuary for me, full of huge bookshelves over-flowing with favorite books and resource materials, gifts and knick knacks that only have meaning only for me, pictures, prints, plaques, awards and diplomas, my collection of chalices—a cherished collection of meaningful objects that hold good memories and reminders of God’s advents in my life over time and provide me with the tools I need to do my work as effectively as I can. When I left First Baptist Greenville in 2013, all of that changed. I packed up these contents of identity, memory, meaning, and purpose in about 50 boxes and stored them in various nooks and crannies of my house. I felt lost without my “comfort stuff.”

In 2014, I was given a huge gift by a dear friend, Deb Richardson-Moore, pastor of Triune Mercy Center in Greenville. The gift was in the form of an office located up the street from Triune Mercy Center in what they called “The Beach House.” The owner had loaned this space to Triune indefinitely, to use for meetings, small retreats, support groups, etc, at no charge to the church, so Triune didn’t charge folks to use it. When I shared with Deb that I needed a space to call my own in which I could have access to my books, she offered me the office in the Beach House in exchange for managing it for them. So from 2014 until the summer of 2016, I used that space—that sanctuary—free of charge.

This summer I learned that the beach house apartment was needed by the owner for another purpose, and that I would have to vacate my office by mid-August. This coincided with the need for my younger son to move back home for a year as he applied for grad schools and worked to save money for that. So… we were suddenly faced with the need to make room in an already full house, not only for my huge collection of books, but also for a son who had collected his own household items while living away for a year.

I spent much of July making room… opening boxes I had not opened since they were packed in July of 2013; winnowing through 30+ years of files of retreats I had planned, employee evaluations I had received or written for others, boxes and boxes of more books than I needed, pictures and mementos—evidence of all the years of ministry. I faced limited space, time and energy to get it all done. Meanwhile Bryce was walking in the door with carloads and vanloads of his own stuff to find a place for.

Making room became the McClendon household’s summer task. As I opened box after box and sifted through the contents, I smiled and wept, remembered and relived, all the while reflecting on things I had learned, things I wished I had done differently, things I wanted to keep doing that I had forgotten I once did. I was forced to let go of many things I had held onto that no longer fit who I am now or the place and role in which I find myself. I had to sift and winnow and grieve and reclaim. We had to give furniture away, rearrange what was left, buy a few new bookshelves, but we got it done. And made it all work, and somehow felt lighter in the process. For the first time in my life, I now have my books in the same place where I do most of my intensive studying for sermons and teaching. That’s a new reality that I have grown quickly to relish!

Advent is, for me, the season for me of making room—winnowing my internal soul space to prepare for new insights from God, reclaiming the presence and power of God’s spirit that I have packed away in some attic of my heart waiting to be rediscovered, remembering the way God has “advent-ed” in surprising and meaningful ways in the past, opening myself to new paths down which I am being called to follow Jesus in the days ahead.

Advent for me is about making room—letting go, giving away, reclaiming, looking at old things through new eyes, figuring out what furniture needs to move where in order for the things worth keeping to remain. So many good things can happen when we open the old boxes of our lives, sift, winnow, remember, shed tears of joy and smile at things we had long forgotten were part of us. As we do this slow work, space grows, our eyes are open to the way something new might emerge or fit, and our spirits expand and become more able to hold the new things that are growing inside of us as we let go of the things we no longer really need. The work can be hard and sometimes painful, but it is oh so good to clean out and make room for whatever God wants to grow inside you.

My prayer this Advent season for myself and for our church is that we open ourselves to the task of making room for the surprises of God ahead of us, surprises of peace, hope, love and joy… surprises of presence, power, and new paths.

Luke 1:35-38 KJV

Monday, December 5

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

And the angel departed from her.

May that be our prayer in this time of waiting and preparation.

Tuesday, December 6

Advent Waiting Myrtis Capps

There have been many waiting periods in my life and those times are not easy for me. I love action. But in those waiting periods, the first major one in 1961-62. My mother told me that when I came home from work it was as if a black cloud enveloped me. She did not know what was wrong, but I did. You see, I was adamant in that I did not want to go where I thought God wanted me to go! But on February 3, 1962, I woke up with a new purpose, I was tired of fighting! And I finally said,

“OK, God you win.”

There have been other times of waiting, but I have never had a black cloud envelope me during those times. I was marching to a different drummer and had complete faith that God would lead, that I would, to the best of my ability, follow what I felt God wanted me to do. While I was not always thrilled over what was happening to me in trying to know God’s will for me, I was reminded that through the dark times of our lives–God is and He is in control.

Wednesday, December 7

The Birth of Hope Ele Peterson

At this time of year we await the birth of our Savior. It’s a joyous time and we find ourselves easily getting caught up in the excitement of the secular vision with parties, gifts, decorations, music, etc. There is also a wonderful sense of peace and wonder as our church family prepares the traditional, familiar retelling of this period of waiting.

Remembering the anticipation of the birth of my first child with the baby showers, the welcoming gifts, the joy of preparing the crib with a decorative mobile and bedding, listening to the lullabies while shopping in the baby department, looking at music boxes and just sitting in a rocker dreaming of the future. My hope for the future.

Through subsequent years of preparing for Christmas through both the children’s Christmas parties and the adult ones. The joy of shopping for the perfect gift for treasured family and friends. Listening to and singing the Messiah but also en- joying some of the contemporary music. Combining the old and the new with a rekindled sense of waiting for hope to be reborn.

Learning that Christmas isn’t a happy, joyous time for everyone was a brutal blow to my positive thoughts. When my soul mate breathed his last the day before Christmas eve I experienced a new bittersweet revelation that it could, indeed be a time of great pain and sadness. Slowly, over time the peaceful joy of knowing that he is now present with the only hope of (yours and) my salvation gives me a new kind of hope.

Praising, celebrating this vision of hope is indeed a necessary component in our faith journey. Throughout the year our experiences bridge the span from our ignorance to our knowing. God is good. God loved me so much he allowed my sins to die on the cross with His Son, Jesus. Anticipating the birth of hope refills my tank. As I look to another year of joys and sorrows knowing that my God is sufficient fills me with hope.

This is truly exciting!


Her Greatest Gift Julie Merritt Lee

I imagine that the gestation period for Mary wasn’t easy. Every day, as her belly began to swell, she must have wondered if there was another way. She must have wondered if she could hack it as a parent, especially for this child. But, I believe, at multiple times in her pregnancy, Mary came back to the words that she spoke to the angel: “Here am I, your servant. Let it be with me according to your word.” She must have reconnected to her calling and trusted that she was not the one bringing this miracle to pass.

The beautiful thing is the baby was growing inside her, despite her doubts, despite any efforts or lack of effort on her part. Interesting. It’s as if we don’t actually do any of the growing part. It’s not like the fetus says, “Can you give me a hand here? I’m trying to get these parts together.” The baby grows by God’s power.

Mary couldn’t create this baby herself, limb by limb. But the greatest gift she gave was her womb and her faith.

That’s all God required. God did the rest.

Sometimes I look down at Sophie and Sage and am amazed at their little bodies who came out so complete and whole, and I did very little to grow them inside of me--I just provided the space (although when it was time for “eviction,” I was less gracious about providing that space.)

I am more and more convinced that what God wants most from me and all of us is to do less, accept more, and trust that the womb is enough. Maybe the greatest thing I “give” God is when I actually take in and receive and grow all that God has given me.

I want this Advent to be marked by simplicity, the simplicity of being a womb for God. If I actually surrender, who knows what might grow.

Friday, December 9

Reflections…



Mary Gail Coulter

During Advent we often wander through the lives of participants in the early preparation for the birth of our Lord. Preeminent among them is Mary. In Luke 1:30-56 and chapter 2 we are inspired by her.

*Upon the appearance of the Messenger in Luke 2 Mary was perplexed and pondered what this would mean. She was thoughtful (29).

* The Messenger (angel) from God tells her that she is favored by God (30). *Upon the announcement of the birth promise, Mary questions the Messenger: “How can this be?” She is questioning (34).

*“Let it be with me, according to your word” is her determined affirmation of obedience to God (38).

*As she speaks to Elizabeth we hear, “And blessed is she who believed…”(45). * Then she worships God: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my soul rejoices in God my Savior.” (46)

*She sought fellowship as she journeyed to visit her cousin, Elizabeth (39-40).

* In chapter 2:22-51 we see that she observed Jewish law and piety. Meaningful avenues of preparing for the celebration of the coming of God as an infant: Being thoughtful, contemplative; sensing we are favored by God; asking questions of God; obeying God; believing that God would do what the Messenger said; worshiping and adoring God; seeking fellowship to share stories of God-with-us; and observing the rule of God in our lives.

“Gentle Mary, Meek and Mild” is a bold, strong teacher and example for our Advent journey to Bethlehem.

Lo

ve

Third SUNDAY OF ADVENT, December 11

Remember Leilani Robinson

On an average evening I lay upon a mattress after slamming a dose of heroine mixed with cocaine. The usual ear ringing, blocking out all other sound, heart racing, a flood of relief that one might confuse with perfect peace. Only this time is different. Instead of finding my safe place, hovering out of body, floating; Instead of complete ecstasy touching and tingling each individual cell of my body; Instead of instant clarity and a fall into freedom, my heart just pounds harder and faster. My chest so heavy. A cold sweat, lasting and thick, unlike the normal hot flashes of perspiration, an ice cold that makes my limbs begin to disappear from the toes and finger tips to the groin and armpits. Panic. Darkness closes in like a ghostly spot light, enveloping my peripheral vision, moving from the outside and working its way in until nothing remains. The color fades from my face, eyes turn up, lips turn purple, Quiet. Darkness. Loss of time. No more breath. Then Gasping… Lights on. Time continues… One year passes.

Alone, weeping, things change but nothing seems to get better. The

end feels even closer now than it did a year ago on that day. Why? I don’t know. I am scared. “God please, Remember me when I die.” A prayer. Sleep. Wake. The same. Sleep. Wake. The same. Sleep. Startled Awake! A Voice. From the upper left hand of the ceiling??? From inside my head??? From God! “I REMEMBER YOU NOW!” Firm. A statement. Clear. An answer to my plea. Now what?! More tears. On my knees. More prayers. The Bibles. The churches. Time continues… One year passes.

A man lying in a hospital bed. Alzheimer’s. Then a stroke. The husband of a friend. A friend who met me in a grocery store, welcomed me into her home, prayed with me, read Bible with me. Ate with me. Met my family. 80 years old. Time to go. Time to die. His right hand that I hold is gnarled and clenched and twisted. I cry. My God what do I pray? It is his time to go home. What do I pray? I ask God to relieve him of the pain in his trembling hand. It is unknown to me if it hurts, but it looks like it does. Time continues…One month passes.

Asleep. Dreaming. It is him. Smiling. I never knew him when he could smile, or eat, or walk without help. I never heard him speak except in mumbles. The dream is bright white but he is outlined in blue. I see him far off at first and coming toward me, closer and larger, until he is face to face with me. He simply holds up his right hand and moves it slowly in a jazz hand motion and says to me, “Look at my hand, it is all better.” I am shaken awake. The light has been turned on in the basement area I rent in Rockford, Illinois. The family I live with is telling me there is a phone call for me. I arise. Go upstairs to the phone. It is my friend in Tucson, Arizona. Her reason for calling is to tell me that her husband died last night. Time continues…

“Be ye mindful always of his covenant;

the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.” 1 Chronicles 16:15

These are brief, snap shots of very true events in my life. They may not seem like a celebration of Advent but they are. These are times when my God showed up in a very real way for me. When I celebrate the birth of Him, His command to Love, His desire to be Baptized, His willingness to be Sacrificed, His Resurrection, His Promise to come back, these are the images of my life that flood my heart with Faith and Hope and Joy.

I Remember Him.

I think we need a new word

— “comjoyment” —

as a companion to “compassion”

to remind us that our greatest gift

to the world

may be in sharing what gives us the greatest joy.

Sam Keen

Monday, December 12

God’s Greatest Gift Layne Smith

Several years ago, I found some Christmas decorations that I thought would be appropriate for our house. I realized that I was on dangerous ground. I asked the sales clerk, If I get this home and my wife looks at me and says, “What were you thinking?...’” Before I could finish my sentence, she said, Yes, you can bring it back. The next day found me taking it back for a refund. Have you ever opened a gift only to think, What was she thinking?

Sometimes we think that the toughest job we face is to find the perfect gift to give. In reality perhaps the most difficult part is the receiving. It takes a great deal to be a person who is able to receive Christmas gifts in just the right way.

Several years ago in an essay in a Land’s End catalog, Garrison Keillor wrote, A Christmas gift represents somebody’s theory of who you are, or who they wish you were. What if you see yourself as a suave dude and a swift intellect and then one year your wife, your wife, gives you a pair of singing undershorts that perform “O Tannenbaum” when you sit down and a battery-powered coin bank in which a little farmer picks up the coin in his pitchfork and hoists it into the silo? That’s when you go through a sort of identity crisis.

The first Christmas gift wasn’t seen by everyone as great and good. He ends up, not welcome at all, on a cross.

In a world that worships power, success, prestige, and raw force, we get a vulnerable baby. When he grows up, he becomes even less of what we want. We reject the gift and nail it to a cross. Still, though, this loving God keeps on giving.

So we celebrate the birth of this child, a Savior, whose name is Jesus, God’s greatest gift, the one we didn’t desire, but the one who is a sign of God’s great desire for us.

Come Lord Jesus.

Surprise us with the gifts that you have for us. Help us to accept them and you.

Tuesday, December 13

Reminder Karen L. Jackson

Fatigue, illness,

shortened days,

waves of loneliness.

Deep need

for human form

to fill the void.

Such longing

is Advent’s gift—

a gentle tap

on the shoulder

meant to turn life around,

bring us back to You.

Christmas!

Wednesday, December 14

‘Tis the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial fire of charity in the heart.

List three simple hospitality events you can kindle this season:

1.

2.

3.


“The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before…

What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you.

And you begin to grasp what it was you missed, like Moses in the cleft of the rock,

watching God’s [back] fade in the distance.

So stay. Sit.

Linger. Tarry.

Ponder. Wait.

Behold. Wonder.

There will be time enough for running. For rushing.

For worrying. For pushing.

For now, stay. Wait.

Something is on the horizon.”

Jan L. Richardson, Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas

“You keep us waiting. You, the God of all time, want us to wait.

For the right time in which to discover Who we are, where we are to go,

Who will be with us, and what we must do. So thank you … for the waiting time.”

John Bell, quoted in The Westminster Collection of Christian Prayers,

compiled by Dorothy M. Stewart

Friday, December 16

Reflections…



God loves the lowly…. God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings.

God marches right in.

He chooses people as his instruments

and performs his wonders

where one would least expect them.

God is near to lowliness;

he loves the lost,

the neglected,

the unseemly,

the excluded,

the weak

and broken.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas

Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 18

Take Joy Anne Green

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:10b

Most parents want the very best for their children – at first blush a laudable desire. In practice, however, we humans can make pretty poor decisions on what is worthy of passing on to our offspring. Some provide fine educations while feeding junk food. Others may encourage athletic accomplishments but neglect making sure that their children are completing their homework and doing assigned reading. Still others have great ambitions for success in business and spend no time modeling good citizenship and character. One mother in the sixteenth century recognized that the most valuable assets her children needed were not things she could give them but were things that she could inspire them to appreciate and appropriate themselves. For Christmas, she penned these inspiring words, a legacy not only to her children but also to us.

I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much, that while I cannot give, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven. No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant. Take Peace. The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy. Take Joy. And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

-Fra Giovanni, A.D. 1513 Our Lord and our God – We know the good news of joy – and even so, we once again await with anticipation the celebration. We know your gifts – Heaven – Peace – Joy – are ours to take – and even so, we are full of excitement to hear again the story of your Greatest Gift – the Savior. May the story, may the Gift, infuse our lives and actions during this season and evermore. Amen.

Monday, December 19

Life, Interrupted James Garrison

As a hospital chaplain, my day is full of interruptions. Whatever I plan is contingent on the demands of the cell phone or beeper. When the beeper or phone rings, I know that someone’s life has not gone as they planned.

Beep, beep... “A patient has died, and the family is crying at the bedside. Please come.”

Beep, beep... “A patient just got a diagnosis of cancer that’s inoperable. They are the primary caregiver for their aging parent. We need you now.”

Ring, ring... “A patient is being flown in from a motorcycle crash on the Dragon’s Tail. They’ll be here in fifteen minutes. It’s bad, chaplain...”

God is there, even in the interruptions. The Gospel accounts surrounding the coming of the Christ Child show life full of divine interruptions. Zechariah was serving at the Temple, doing his usual priestly duties, when an angel appeared with the announcement of a son to be born to him and to Elizabeth. That baby would be named John, and would be known as “the Baptizer,” preparing the way for the Messiah, Jesus. Zechariah was so stunned by this news that he could not speak until after the baby was born.

Mary was a poor girl, barely a teenager, and newly engaged, when an angel appeared to her to announce that she would give birth to a Son who would “save his people from their sins.” Her humble response, recorded in Luke 1:46-59 as the Magnificat, shows her willingness to cooperate with God in redeeming the world, even though she could not imagine then all the pain and joy that would be involved.

The shepherds, outcast from the community because of their job (and probably their smell!), were tending their flocks outside Bethlehem when an angel announced the birth of a Savior. They dropped what they were doing to pay homage at the crude manger to the baby and his frightened teenage parents.

Do not be surprised if our plans are interrupted this Advent season. Life happens, in spite of our plans. Someone once said that the best way to make God laugh is to tell God what your plans are! Keep alert this Advent for the “divine interruptions” of our plans, which will lead us out of our routines and into joy, hope, peace, and love. We may even hear peals of heavenly laughter as we go!

Tuesday, December 20

Cycle Annette Hudson

Winter to spring, summer to fall

marking the passage of time where we are

conceived and born, mature and flourish

then pass on.


The Baby is expected.

The Baby is born.

He grows and flourishes just like us.

He channels and teaches God’s very Kingdom

before His body passes on

at the hands of those who did

not understand and were afraid.


We are part of it.

How have we changed?

Who have we lost? Who have we gained?

How was relationship to the Divine rearranged?


Christ will come as a baby.

Christ has come.

Christ is coming again.

We make room for joy and peace, hope and love.

Christ is reborn and so are we.

Wednesday,December 21

Ardie Gallant


Light Kathleen Lambert

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. John 3:19

A flame

is lit and Angels sing.

Light cuts the darkness and God’s world is revealed in

glory. Flare, then flicker, then steady burn.

Shine.

The trick is to remember your purpose, to know that you are the wick and the wax, and that God is the light.

The trick is to stand and shine in the midst of the storm.

The trick is to stay aflame even when others want to extinguish your light.

The trick is to know that you are on fire and to thank God for it.

Reflections…

Friday, December 23



It Came Upon a Midnight Clear Glenda Tapper

A layer of fresh snow crunched underfoot and icy air was invigorating as I stepped forward to receive my candle. In the quiet darkness of this New England Christmas eve, the soft candlelight began spreading over the faces of the congregation as we sang “It came upon a midnight clear…..” With only a starry heaven above, one could nearly see the “angels bending near the earth”! Such was my tradition for decades while I lived in Lancaster, Massachusetts. The writer, Edmund Hamilton Sears, had pastored a Unitarian congregation in this community in 1849. After seven years of hard work and in a deep depression , he returned to Wayland, Massachusetts. During this time he modified a poem he had written, “Calm on a Listening Ear”, to this well known hymn. Europe was dealing with a revolution, the U.S. was at war with Mexico, Reverend Sears was preaching against the evils of slavery, stating “when the human and Divine law are in conflict it was the duty of all to obey the latter”.

Recently I discovered that “I Wonder as I Wander” was inspired by an interaction John Jacob Niles had in Murphy, NC. in July of 1933 when attending a fund-raising event for evangelicals run out of town by the police.

Niles wrote, “A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. She began to sing. Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins.... But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing. She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song.”

Per Wikipedia, “The girl, named Annie Morgan, repeated the fragment seven times in exchange for a quarter per performance, and Niles left with “three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material—and a magnificent idea.” This folk hymn was presented to the public for the first time at the John C.Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC in December of 1933. John Ja- cob Niles is considered the “Dean of American Balladeers”, having important influence on the American Folk Music Revival of the 1950’s.

There’s something wonderful about knowing there have been so many others singing carols while both struggling in their current political environment and amazed by the great mystery of an infant Savior. While the music of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” transports me to a specific time and place, you may have a Christmas favorite that does the same for you! May the music, words, and even the history of Christmas carols speak to you in a special way this year.

The fullness of joy is to behold God

in everything.

Julian of Norwich

“Into this world, this demented inn in which there is absolutely no room for him at all,

Christ comes uninvited.” Thomas Merton

Thank You . . .

to each of you who shared to make this Advent devotional

not only possible, but rich with the heart

of our community.

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