ACTION IN ADVENT
Sunday’s sermon focused on Isaiah 61. Please give it a read if you haven’t yet (I’ll wait).
Isaiah 61 beautifully summarizes the Good News we are invited into. Remember: these are action words, actions God has, is, and will do. We get to announce what God is up to—
Bring good news to the oppressed
Bind up the brokenhearted
Liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners
Comfort and provide for all who mourn
Not only do we (those filled with the Holy Spirit) get to proclaim and announce what God is up to—we are invited into this sacred work. To come alongside God as people who do all these things.
What do your Advent preparations look like this year? I have to confess. Mine are falling apart. We set up our advent wreath (a beautiful bowl filled with aquarium rocks and five candles) but it annoys me. Traditionally we use blue candles and one white (Christ) candle. In an effort to avoid going to the store (pandemic, you know) we used what we had—five WHITE candles. This is not the tradition. I unboxed our 9 year old artificial Christmas tree and started “fluffing” out the wiry branches and several of them started breaking off. It looks terrible. And the one exterior decoration we put up each year is a wreath from our realtor and guess what? The hook that sticks to our door to hold the wreath up keeps falling off.
If you are painfully aware that Christmas this year is going to be different than all years’ past, if you feel like you’re failing as a parent trying to provide the “perfect Christmas” for your kids, if nothing you’ve tried brings back some of the past joy and merriment, I need you to hear this:
God already came to be with us in Jesus Christ and God isn’t going to take that back because my candles are white, wreath sits on the ground, tree is falling apart, cookies are store bought or burnt, or because I can’t gather with a large family group this Christmas. God’s presence, grace, and mercy does not depend on us and our traditions a single bit. In fact, God didn’t ask me to hang a wreath or light candles or put up a Christmas tree.
Instead, being fully aware of God’s presence already near and working through us, God asks us to prepare for Christmas a bit differently this year: be good news to the oppressed/captive/prisoner, lift up the brokenhearted, and comfort and provide for those who mourn. Not candles or trees. Concrete action to bring good news to our friends and neighbors in need.
It’s a GOOD thing if Christmas looks different this year. In fact, our neighbors in need are depending on it.
In Christ,
PB