Advent Meditation – Morning of Dec. 24th

Advent Meditation by Michelle Jackson 

Wednesday, Christmas Eve Morning, December 24, 2008

Luke 1:67-80

 

Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
   Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
      he came and set his people free.
   He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives,
      and in the very house of David his servant,
   Just as he promised long ago
      through the preaching of his holy prophets:
   Deliverance from our enemies
      and every hateful hand;
   Mercy to our fathers,
      as he remembers to do what he said he’d do,
   What he swore to our father Abraham—
      a clean rescue from the enemy camp,
   So we can worship him without a care in the world,
      made holy before him as long as we live.

   And you, my child, “Prophet of the Highest,”
      will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways,
   Present the offer of salvation to his people,
      the forgiveness of their sins.
   Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,
      God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,
   Shining on those in the darkness,
      those sitting in the shadow of death,
   Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
      down the path of peace.

 

The child grew up, healthy and spirited. He lived out in the desert until the day he made his prophetic debut in Israel.

+ + + + +

  

Advent is a season of waiting and preparation. We prepare the Christmas
tree and gifts, we prepare the special food for the feasts, we bake
cookies and pies , the choirs prepare special music, children make lists
of toys they want. We prepare and we wait.

The Jews had been waiting for the Messiah for generations. Hundreds of
years before Jesus was born, Isaiah declared, “Behold, your God will
come…he will come and save you.” Around the general time of Jesus birth,
several men had laid claim to the title of Messiah or had been declared
such by their followers, only to fail ultimately. Still the Jews waited
for the Messiah.

Zechariah and Elisabeth had been waiting so long for a baby that
they had given up. Elisabeth was too old. The time had passed. When the
angel came to Zechariah to announce that they would, at long last, have
a baby boy, Zechariah didn’t really believe it and for his honest
disbelief was struck dumb, until the birth of the boy. Zechariah spent
all of Elisabeth’s pregnancy silent, his lips sealed. At last the boy
was born and named John, not after his father. At his naming,
Zechariah’s tongue was loosed and he proclaimed great praise to God. We
know that John grew to be the one who announced the Messiah’s immanence.
This time the wait would be short. John came into the world to be
witness to the Christ and to help people prepare for his coming.

But tonight, we remember Mary waiting to find a place to stay in a
strange town, waiting for labor to start, waiting to see this miracle
baby but dreading the process of separation that birth entails. For nine
months Jesus was safe within her, but the time was coming for her to
give him to the world. The time for waiting was finished.

+ + + + +

 Wait for Zachary
To come out of the tent,
Wait for John to
Be born.
Wait for Joseph
To hear the angel,
Wait for the dream
To be dreamed.

Wait for Caesar
To call the census,
Wait for the time
To move.
Wait in the village,
A star shines bright,
Wait in the streets
For a room.
 

Wait in the stable,
Mary’s time closes in,
Wait in the shadows
For Christ.
Wise men search,
God calls them nigh,
With gifts he gives
Them to give.
Wait for the Lord,
His Truth to appear,
Wait in the darkness
For light.

 

Michelle Jackson, ObJN

Advent Meditation – Dec. 23rd

Advent Meditation by Bill Simmons

 

 

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

 

Psalm 66:20

 

Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love for me!

 

+ + + + +

 

 

Today can be the peak of the “Holiday Frenzy”.  We are running out of time to get all of the tasks on our list completed. Gifts to be wrapped, food to be cooked, cleaning, packing, travel and many other last minute things to do; sometimes it does not seem we can do enough. 

 

It can also be a day that we realize we won’t be seeing those loved ones who have left us.  It may be the dear cousin we just lost this fall, our grandmother who died when we were a child, or our parent who made this time of year a special one for us.  Family and friends help make this a special time of year when we have time to spend with them.

 

Today, if we stop and spend a few minutes in prayer, we can enjoy all the same blessings the psalmist received.  God does truly listen, whether we cry aloud or silently ponder our concerns.  It does not matter if our needs are small or almost unbearable.  His love is steadfast!  God does not reject our prayers!  In fact, he anticipated our needs by sending his son for our redemption.  Let us make a joyful noise, rejoicing in his Glory!

 

Bill Simmons

Advent Meditation Dec. 22nd

Advent Meditation by John Ochoa

 

 

 

 

Monday, December 22, 2008

 

Psalm 121

 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

 

+ + + + +

 

 

Psalm 121:  The religious poetry of ancient Judaism assures us that the Lord keeps watch over us always.

 

The author of Psalm 121, perhaps following a most difficult time in his or her life, pauses to look back at the storm that has passed, and looks ahead to a new horizon of peace and calm, only to ask:  How did I get through this?  In my pain and isolation where did my support come from?  The writer looks again to the horizon and realizes that the Lord has been present always: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  Or as I first heard these words from my father: “Mi ayuda proviene del Senor, creador del cielo y de la tierra.” 

 

Having experienced pain and loss, and fully realizing that the Lord was present always to help and support, the author of the Psalm proceeds to share with others who may be lonely or in pain that they are not alone in their distress, that the Lord is by thier side to share their grief, to hold them close when their world falls apart, to dry their tears – to be the good shepherd all of their days.

 

Sometimes, the individual who has most recently experienced pain or loss is in the best position, even in their grief, to reach out to a family member, neighbor or stranger to provide comfort and assurance – to be with them if only for a moment – to listen before thinking we know best what they should do to overcome their grief or loss, and then to share with them how the Lord watches over us now and forevermore: desde ahora y para siempre.

 

John Ochoa

Advent Meditation – Dec. 21st

Advent Meditation by Anonymous

 Sunday, December 21, 2008

 

Luke 1:26-38

 

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.  And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

 And the angel said unto her, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Then said Mary unto the angel, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”

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.  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. For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

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

And the angel departed from her.

+ + + + +

 

The road seemed endless that winter night as she drove home from college.  It had been a typical day of 3 hour long classes, a study group and checking in with the holiday festival theater group she would be working with leading up to the Christmas break. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But her mind was not on classes and festivities.  No, she was still debating with herself what she should do with the unborn child she just learned she was carrying.  She had been telling herself this was not what she thought it was for the past 5 weeks, but the medical tests confirmed it. She was sure they had been so careful and responsible with each other for the past two months of the affair.  Also, thoughts of how to tell the father, who was older than her, about this and what she wanted.  What did she want?  To interrupt her college experience to have a child with all that that would entail? To get married, or at least live with the father and begin a life of family and long term relationship?  To not get married, but also not involve the father either; just live as a single mom? How to support herself and the child? What will her parents think or how will they react? Her thoughts of fitting in with friends and peer groups also crowded her mind because she would be giving up so much of her young adult life if she had a child.  

 

The affair started so effortlessly: a social dance, having fun with him, he was so sure of himself and also was a professional who was gainfully employed and could afford to treat her to nights out in the city nearby to their rural town. Yes he was older, wiser and presented a diversion from her student lifestyle. She had found him much more interesting than the guys her own age.  He didn’t press her for her time or fail to show up when he said he would or even forget the smallest of things that she liked.  Crossing over into a more full relationship with him occurred so easily for her she didn’t give it a second thought. 

 

But now, she has reached his house because she wants to tell him first.  The familiar light on the porch and the front room lamps are lit. She knows already as she slowly trudges up the walkway what she is going to do.  She wonders what he will say or want from her but knows in the same instant she isn’t going to be able to commit to anything right now…. or possibly ever.   The door is opening before she reaches it and the affection and welcome she is so familiar with awaits her and her decision.  Her life is at a crossroads and she knows by the look on his face that he knows what she has just decided since she had told him that she had something important to talk with him about tonight,,, as the snow softly begins to fall. 

 

 

 

 

 

Anonymous

Advent Meditation – Dec. 20th

Advent Meditation by Sue Clark

Saturday, December 20, 2008

 

Psalm 139

 

Search me O God and know my heart. Test me and know my (anxious) thoughts.

 

+ + + + +

 

We are living in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty.  The very economic and social fabric of our life is being shaken.  Many of us are gripped by anxieties and fears.

 

Advent is the season of anticipation and hope.  While many of us, me included, are worried about how to fulfill everyone’s expectations of Christmas we forget about the true meaning of Christmas. 

 

Christmas is possibility in the midst of impossibility. Christmas is Hope that can be held in a mother’s arms – a hope that springs from an impossible beginning – a manger. This possibility is symbolized by the birth of a helpless infant, whose name is Emmanuel – “God is with us”.  We wait for the One who will forever change the world and humanity forever.

 

The truth is this:  that God knows us and all our thoughts.  But for now we wait.  We live in hope knowing that God is coming anew to be with us.  That is meaning of Advent. 

 

 

Sue Clark

 

 

Advent Meditation – Dec. 19th

Advent Meditation by Anonymous

Friday, December 19, 2008

 

 

Psalms 40:17

 

As for me, I am poor and needy; but the Lord takes thought for me. Thou art my help and my deliverer; do not tarry, O my God!

 

+ + + + +

 

“O my God!” is a common-place phrase these days….you hear it all the time. Every time someone gets a make-over on HGTV they scream, “O my God!” Winners and losers alike casually call on God’s name.

 

 

But I understand being poor and needy…..and I have called out from the depths of my heart, “O my God!, here I am again and I need your help!” God, of course always answers. At one particularly low point in my life, he answered by sending our parish priest. She came with reassurance of God’s love and forgiveness, and His ever present help in time of need. This was not just some elusive aura of well-being in the midst of difficulty. This was a real live human being who was willing to put herself out to bring me the good news of God’s love. And not just once.

 

Now I pray, “God, make me open to the painful needs of others. Make me aware of the opportunities in my everyday life to be the one who is there, sharing God’s love. God, use me to do your work in the world!”

 

 

In my desolate darkness God inclined his ear to me and drew me up. He heard my cry. Then, just like King David, God drew me up out of my miry pit and set my feet on a rock.

 

 

King David writes “Blessed is the person who makes the Lord his trust.” I thank God for His truth. I thank God for that second chance in life so I can proclaim His Glory forever. I thank God for His Faithfulness!

 

 

 

 

Anonymous

 

Advent Meditation – Dec. 18th

Advent Meditation by Kate Sigford

 

 

Tuesday, December 18, 2008

 

 

 

Matthew 3:3

 

This is the one [John the Baptist] of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:  “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ’

 

+ + + + +

 

            I think I heard my first retail Christmas carols before Halloween this year.  I know I saw the first Macy’s Christmas displays in early October.  Christmas seems to start earlier each year and get fancier.  December to-do lists include decorating, cleaning, shopping, inviting guests, and cooking, doing everything in a way that would make Martha Stewart proud.  Somehow our self-worth seems to be directly tied to our ability to produce a seven course Christmas dinner.

 

            The story of John the Baptist reminds us that there is spiritual work to do before we get to Christmas.  Many people were baptized by John the Baptist, but he told each of them that the true baptizer was Jesus and urged them to repent and prepare for Jesus’ coming.  The season of Advent gives us a time to prepare ourselves for Jesus by making sure there is room for him in our hearts.  Spend some time on internal housekeeping and clear a space for Jesus in your heart.

 

 

 

 

Kate Sigford

Advent Meditation – Dec. 17th

Advent Meditation by Dorothy Malcolm

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

 

 

 

Psalm 119: 49, 50

 

 

Remember what you said to me, your servant –

  I hang on to these words for dear life!

These words hold me up in bad times;

  Yes, your promises rejuvenate me.

 

 

 

As I read all the verses for today – both those from the New Testament and those from the Old Testament – they seem to be focused on the negatives – the people don’t follow God’s will, and God punishes them in drastic ways, even as he saves a few – false teachers lead the people astray, and God punishes them in devastating ways – people foolishly count on riches to assure them of the best life, when the riches don’t guarantee a good life nor do they keep people from dying and losing everything. What frightening visions of God and what we can expect!

 

Even more, who of us has not had those times of struggle – or loss – or even despair – in some part of our lives – when we wonder where God has gone – when at the very least we are convinced that God has forgotten us. For whatever reason, we lose our connection to God’s love. It all sounds so hopeless!

 

And then – finally – in the midst of all the bad times, we remember God’s promise to us: God will always be with us – and then we begin to feel a glimmer of hope in the midst of our distress. We remember that when we hold on for dear life – when we seek and accept God’s love and reassurance – God will hold us steady and guide us in those dark times of our lives – and sometimes in most unexpected ways. We know again that the one thing we can always count on – even in the darkest of times when the struggle doesn’t end – and no matter what the outcome – God will keep that promise to always be with us in every circumstance of our life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothy Malcolm

 

 

Advent Meditation – Dec. 16th

Advent Meditation by Libby Kovacs

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

 

Isaiah 9:2 

 

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.

 

+ + + + +

 

From the beginning of time people have experienced times of darkness followed by periods of light and joy.  Isaiah tells us:  “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.” (Isaiah 9:3)

 

As I read this passage, I thought, “How odd that Isaiah uses the farmer who harvests and the one who plunders as examples of rejoicing.  Why would he do that?”  Then, Isaiah continued, “For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors you have broken…”  That sounds familiar; the same theme occurs in Compline (Book of Common Prayer, pg. 131/Matthew 11:28-30):  “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

Isaiah and Jesus use the same symbols (burdens and yoke) to describe God bringing His people out of the darkness and into the light.  What a paradoxical message!  Life is difficult and brings darkness to the righteous and unrighteous at the same time.  No, they all suffer, but the ones who will see light and rejoice will be those who have faith, love, and trust in the Lord.  He will bring them peace and rest and joy into their lives.

 

Darkness is a part of life’s journey, just as is the light.  This idea reflects the paradox of crisis that everyone experiences at some point in time.  Crises mean both opportunity and danger.  The normal developmental crises that everyone goes through are first and foremost, birth and, ultimately, death.  Going through labor is one of the most painful experiences that a woman can go through, and yet it is also an occasion for happiness and rejoicing.  Death is normal – it happens to all – and also is painful for it means a great loss for the person dying and the survivors; yet, with normal grieving and mourning, peace can be achieved.

 

Other “normal” crises are:  starting school which may be difficult for both parent and child; adolescence is normal and difficult; graduation, you adults leaving home for the first time, getting married, getting promoted and/or losing one’s job, home; moving to a different part of the country.  All of these experiences require that we deal with painful feelings – which are normal – making adjustments and adaptations that are not easy or fun.

 

Then there are catastrophic illnesses and accidents, disasters of fire and floods, the traumas of dysfunctional families, and the wounds of wars that are not “normal” and require long periods of recovery and healing.  The one certainty in all of these events that happen to us and to many, many others is that God is with us in our tragic times and in our daily lives, just as we were promised by Isaiah and other prophets, and by Jesus who is called, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father (and Mother) and Prince of Peace.

 

Libby Kovacs

Advent Meditations – Dec. 15th

Advent Meditation by Patricia Heinicke

Monday, December 15, 2008

 

Isaiah 8:16-9:1

 

Gather up the testimony,
   preserve the teaching for my followers,
While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,
   while I wait and hope for him.
I stand my ground and hope,
   I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,
Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   who makes his home in Mount Zion.

When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers.
   Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
   get in touch with the dead?”
Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”
   People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
   they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
   cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
   up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
   They end up in the dark with nothing.

 

Isaiah 9

A Child Has Been Born—for Us!

 

But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious— the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.

 

+ + + + +

 

 

 

Isaiah is a disturbing read. One can try to avoid this by focusing on the Suffering Servant portion, or the beauty of the language, or the theme of idolatry, or a gazillion other things. But still, you can’t ignore the violence. Taken as a whole, it’s like a David Lynch screenplay directed by Quentin Tarantino.

 

One after another, the prophet says, cities and nations will be brought into ruin and then restored, all as part of God’s design. Isaiah’s God seems a divine maniac, whose super-sized thirst for a vaguely defined justice produces a seemingly random, spiraling pattern of punishment and restoration. Both are founded on violence, which Isaiah describes in graphic detail. In one moment God rants about laying waste and despoiling, and in the next he assures his people that “in quietness and trust shall be your strength.”

 

 I’m not sure what to make of this God. Perhaps Isaiah’s portrait is simply a way to explain the vicissitudes of life, the horribly literal contrast between peace and wartime, feast and famine, health and epidemic, safety and life-threatening danger. Or perhaps this is not only the God who was there at the moment of Jesus’ birth but the God Jesus cried out to on the cross, the God whose terrible presence was felt when the temple curtain was torn and darkness came over the land.

 

Understandably, people in Isaiah’s time wondered how to read this God’s will so that they could live in the shadow of his good side. “You can’t,” says Isaiah in today’s reading. “The testimony is sealed.” We cannot read the future–not in the I Ching, not in weather forecasts, not in economic indicators. Not even, perhaps, in the scriptures. The Lord is hiding.

 

That leaves us face to face with the aweful unknown.

 

How do we respond?

 

Well, we can sink into a debilitating fear of the Hellmaw, the inevitability of suffering and death, the possibility of financial ruin (bread lines, hopelessness, war at our doorsteps).

 

Or we might expect the Good Thing and thereby hope to nurture its probability.

 

But sometimes I think that such an either/or choice leaves us at the mercy of our psyches: if we are melancholic we take the first route; if we are natural optimists or have benefitted from years of therapy, we take the second.

 

Fortunately, Isaiah suggests a third way: a stark openness to the ineffability of the God we cannot describe or predict. With an attitude of habitual vulnerability to the divine mystery we can acknowledge that, yes, disaster is around the corner, and yes, peace and prosperity are there, too. Of both we are assured, and so from both we can be free. We can let them go, released from regrets about and pride in our past and from fears about and hopes for our future. This discipline is never finished, never exhausted, because it leaves us more open to the present, to what lies in front of us now, and the now is always new.

 

“Turn away from mortals,” Isaiah says in chapter 2, “who have only breath in their nostrils, for of what account are they?” Or, as T.S. Eliot put it, more gently, “Teach us to care and not to care. Teach us to sit still.” I’m going to try and sit with this God for now, while I await the babe who makes sense of it all.

 

  

Patricia Heinicke