Today is the first Sunday in Advent, and we slide into this season of waiting and preparation. Advent seems rather counter-cultural in many ways - our sanctuary is decked not in red and green but rather blue and white.
Rather than the cheery carols that jingle out from the radio, our hymns are darker, slower, more contemplative.
The stable is empty, the tree isn't lit, and the readings we will hear over the next few weeks make no mention of baby Jesus, or a stable filled with animals, or three wise ones, or shepherds, or anything we've come to associate with Christmas.
For some of us, this juxtaposition is jarring. Perhaps your tree is up at home, the Christmas carols are playing full-blast from the radio, the shopping is done, the baking supplies are laid out, and you are filled with the cheer and joy of the season. Wonderful! I'm glad you're feeling joyful.
For others of us, though, I wonder if this seemingly out-of-place Advent time is a welcome reprieve from Christmas bells, happy carols, and the strain of a forced smile. Perhaps while everyone is bustling from party to party you'd rather curl up in a ball and cry as you think about the person who will be missing from your celebrations and traditions this year. Perhaps on December 2 you're already exhausted and overwhelmed by the mountain of preparation that is yet to come. If so, Advent is especially for you.
In Advent, God speaks promise, hope, peace, love, and joy into times and places and people weighed down by longing, despair, and hopelessness.
In Advent, our waiting for the inbreaking of God's coming kingdom is bolstered by the reminder that God has already come into our shadowy, broken, despairing world as a tiny baby on the first Christmas so long ago. We are asked to trust God's promises because of our long memory of God's faithfulness in the past.
God's promises for the future are the theme of today's first reading from Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the people who are in exile. They are a people who know deeply a sense of longing, despair, and anguish. They've seen their livelihoods, homes, and Temple destroyed. They've left the only home they've ever known to be shipped off to Babylon with its strange customs and foreign gods.
In the midst of that separation and upheaval, God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah. God has not forgotten the promise! “The days are surely coming,” the prophet relays. The people can look at their surroundings and see quite easily that the days in which this promise will be fulfilled have not yet arrived. But they are surely coming!
“In those days and at that time,” God says, “I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, who shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.”
There is not much about the people’s current situation that feels like justice, righteousness, or safety. But in these words spoken through the prophet, the people are reminded of God’s intentions for them and for their future. In these words spoken through the prophet, the people are reminded that they have not been abandoned or forgotten by God.
As we enter into the season of Advent, the promise of God’s presence and care is for you, too. If it seems like everything in your life is in upheaval, know that God’s justice, righteousness, and safety are for you. If you are feeling anxious, confused, or lost, know that God has not abandoned or forgotten you.
If you are grieving or feeling hopeless and full of despair because of the death of a loved one, or the death of a beloved pet, or an unexpected diagnosis, or a broken relationship, know that even when things seem the darkest, the days are surely coming when the smallest glimmer of brightness will reach you and the weight you carry will ease, ever-so-slightly.
Christmas can be so hard. Perhaps your family relationships aren’t what you wish them to be. Perhaps someone important will be missing from the table this year. Perhaps you don’t have the time, or money, or energy available to make Christmas the way you’d like it. Perhaps things happening in the world around us seem too heavy and overwhelming. This grief and longing is real. Advent allows us the space we need to settle into the darkness and the quiet and wait.
As we wait for a glimmer of brightness to find us, we tell one another stories of the times and ways God has shown up in the past. As we wait, we point to the places God is showing up among us now. As we wait, we look to those who wait alongside us for companionship and reassurance.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made. The days are surely coming when death will be no more, when mourning and crying and pain will be no more. The days are surely coming when all walls and divisions and things that separate us from God and one another will be no more. The days are surely coming when all people will be drawn close to God. The days are surely coming when we will see God face to face.
But for now, we wait. We wait, and hope, filled with eager longing and clinging tightly to God’s promises. We wait, and hope, strengthened and nourished by Jesus’ body and blood given for us. We wait, and hope, trusting God’s promise that the days are surely coming when life and wholeness, justice and righteousness will fill the whole earth. Amen.
Rather than the cheery carols that jingle out from the radio, our hymns are darker, slower, more contemplative.
The stable is empty, the tree isn't lit, and the readings we will hear over the next few weeks make no mention of baby Jesus, or a stable filled with animals, or three wise ones, or shepherds, or anything we've come to associate with Christmas.
For some of us, this juxtaposition is jarring. Perhaps your tree is up at home, the Christmas carols are playing full-blast from the radio, the shopping is done, the baking supplies are laid out, and you are filled with the cheer and joy of the season. Wonderful! I'm glad you're feeling joyful.
For others of us, though, I wonder if this seemingly out-of-place Advent time is a welcome reprieve from Christmas bells, happy carols, and the strain of a forced smile. Perhaps while everyone is bustling from party to party you'd rather curl up in a ball and cry as you think about the person who will be missing from your celebrations and traditions this year. Perhaps on December 2 you're already exhausted and overwhelmed by the mountain of preparation that is yet to come. If so, Advent is especially for you.
In Advent, God speaks promise, hope, peace, love, and joy into times and places and people weighed down by longing, despair, and hopelessness.
In Advent, our waiting for the inbreaking of God's coming kingdom is bolstered by the reminder that God has already come into our shadowy, broken, despairing world as a tiny baby on the first Christmas so long ago. We are asked to trust God's promises because of our long memory of God's faithfulness in the past.
God's promises for the future are the theme of today's first reading from Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the people who are in exile. They are a people who know deeply a sense of longing, despair, and anguish. They've seen their livelihoods, homes, and Temple destroyed. They've left the only home they've ever known to be shipped off to Babylon with its strange customs and foreign gods.
In the midst of that separation and upheaval, God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah. God has not forgotten the promise! “The days are surely coming,” the prophet relays. The people can look at their surroundings and see quite easily that the days in which this promise will be fulfilled have not yet arrived. But they are surely coming!
“In those days and at that time,” God says, “I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, who shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.”
There is not much about the people’s current situation that feels like justice, righteousness, or safety. But in these words spoken through the prophet, the people are reminded of God’s intentions for them and for their future. In these words spoken through the prophet, the people are reminded that they have not been abandoned or forgotten by God.
As we enter into the season of Advent, the promise of God’s presence and care is for you, too. If it seems like everything in your life is in upheaval, know that God’s justice, righteousness, and safety are for you. If you are feeling anxious, confused, or lost, know that God has not abandoned or forgotten you.
If you are grieving or feeling hopeless and full of despair because of the death of a loved one, or the death of a beloved pet, or an unexpected diagnosis, or a broken relationship, know that even when things seem the darkest, the days are surely coming when the smallest glimmer of brightness will reach you and the weight you carry will ease, ever-so-slightly.
Christmas can be so hard. Perhaps your family relationships aren’t what you wish them to be. Perhaps someone important will be missing from the table this year. Perhaps you don’t have the time, or money, or energy available to make Christmas the way you’d like it. Perhaps things happening in the world around us seem too heavy and overwhelming. This grief and longing is real. Advent allows us the space we need to settle into the darkness and the quiet and wait.
As we wait for a glimmer of brightness to find us, we tell one another stories of the times and ways God has shown up in the past. As we wait, we point to the places God is showing up among us now. As we wait, we look to those who wait alongside us for companionship and reassurance.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made. The days are surely coming when death will be no more, when mourning and crying and pain will be no more. The days are surely coming when all walls and divisions and things that separate us from God and one another will be no more. The days are surely coming when all people will be drawn close to God. The days are surely coming when we will see God face to face.
But for now, we wait. We wait, and hope, filled with eager longing and clinging tightly to God’s promises. We wait, and hope, strengthened and nourished by Jesus’ body and blood given for us. We wait, and hope, trusting God’s promise that the days are surely coming when life and wholeness, justice and righteousness will fill the whole earth. Amen.
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