The Hopes and Dreams of All the Years...

 

Part of the wonder of the night Christ was born is the possibility of the meeting of worlds, the coming together of time. We sing, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Though we live so long after those events in Bethlehem, tonight we find ourselves at the manger. In our mind’s eye, we imagine the holy family in the stable, the mother tired, but radiant; the breath of the animals visible in the cold night air. We hear the lowing of the cattle and the rustle of straw. But most of all, we gaze in wonder at the baby, this long-expected child.

What would we say if we were there? Read Amy Richter's "What would we say?"

Joseph ... What Good Men Do

 Scripture: Isaiah 7:10-16  • Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19  •Romans 1:1-7  •  Matthew 1:18-25

As we await the birth of the Christ Child this Advent, we read Matthews account of Joseph's dream. Think of what Joseph must have been thinking and going through when learning that his betrothed was carrying a child not his own - especially at that time and place.

What did Joseph do? Look at what it takes to be able to do what he did. It is hard to put ourselves in another time, another culture, and we know "the rest of the story." What do you think you would have done? Consider The Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt's "Just What a Dad Does," and The Very Rev. Samuel G. Candler's "Believe in the Dreams of the Person You Love," and The Rt. Rev. Frank Logue's "Participating in God's Plan. "

May God protect you and yours, and give us what we need to have faith, trust and to believe as we celebrate the coming of the Lord.

* All Sunday School Lessons may be viewed at http://chuckriffee.blogspot.com/?m=1

When Expectations Are Not Met

 

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10  •Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55  •  James 5:7-10 

•  Matthew 11:2-11

What do you think when your idea of what God’s will is, or what should happen does not happen – when your expectations are not met? This week, while in prison, John the Baptist sends a messenger to Jesus to ask if he is the “one who is to come, or should we look for someone else.” As The Rev. Danae Ashley says in “The Unexpected” “We put a lot of hope in people, and when the circumstances do not measure up to our expectations, we need help in grieving the loss of those hopes. Navigating the loss of the goals we have for ourselves, our children, and especially our God, can rock the foundation of our beliefs about the world and our place in it.” She gives a beautiful example of how parents, who planned, with great hopes and joy, the birth of a child, dealt with the child being born disabled, and the new joys and hopes they were given, and nurtured. Read Ven. Irene Egmalis-Maliaman's Expectations .

How can we have hope and experience joy when things don’t work out the way we want, what we dreamed of? The answer may not be what we expect, or want, but maybe the Advent miracle is to turn our eyes from ourselves to what God is doing.  As the prophet Isaiah said, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"

What do we hope for? What are our expectations?  May we open our eyes to receive the hope and joy of the gifts of God when we let go of our expectations. We are not alone. John the Baptizer asks, "Are you the One?." May we look for, know, and receive the presence of God in our lives. Only then can we experience the joy which comes in the morning - in new beginnings.

Prepare, Make Straight The Way Of The Lord

 Scripture:

Isaiah 11:1-10  • 

 

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19  • 

 

Romans 15:4-13  • 

 

Matthew 3:1-12

The second week of Advent we always meet up with John the Baptizer in the wilderness. Some authors have noted we can't get to Jesus without going through John. We encounter him wearing the skin of a camel, eating locusts and honey, like Elijah. A firebrand, who calls Pharisees and Sadducees who have come to hear him, a brood of vipers, and calls for repentance. Like the apocalyptic vision Jesus gave us last week, we hear ominous words about gathering wheat and burning the chaff by someone greater than him, who, unlike John, will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire instead of water.

What do we make of the first two Sundays of Advent with images of wilderness, darkness, winnowing, fire, and light? Why do we get these passages in Advent? Is there more than apparent gloom and doom? A new light is coming into the world. A new hope, as we wait and prepare, the apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Rome. Read The Rev. Marcea Paul's "Repent, Live Into God’s Dream," and Debie Thomas' "The Voice of One Crying," for thoughts on how to prepare and make straight the way of the Lord.

Advent Begins - Are We Alert, Ready? For What?

Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-5  •  Psalm 122  •  Romans 13:11-14  •  Matthew 24:36-44

We begin the new Lectionary Year A with the first Sunday of Advent, a time of waiting and preparation, a time of expectancy for the light which breaks through the darkness, a time of hope for the kind of peace which turns spears into plowshares, and swords into pruning hooks.  In  "Why Advent Is The Hardest Time For Faithful Christians" The Rev. Canon Catherine A. Caimano discusses what we must take off to put on the armor of light mentioned in Paul's letter to the church in Rome.

In " Like a Thief," Debie Thomas explores what Jesus means when he says we must be alert and awake for the life giving birth and coming of the Son of Man.  What is coming for us? What is life giving? What is not? 

Tired of all the talking heads giving us their  opinions and predictions, telling us what to think? What should we be doing now and for our future? Read Amy Frykholm's "Our Hidden Future - The First Sunday In Advent."

Christ the King - A King Like No Other

 Scripture: Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Luke 1:68-79  •  Psalm 46  •  Colossians 1:11-20  •  Luke 23:33-43

This Sunday we celebrate Christ the King Sunday as we close Lectionary Year C and enter the Advent season in Lectionary A. What images come to mind when you think of "King of Kings?" Luke's gospel depicts Christ the King like no other. A king who is mocked, forgives those who are crucifying him, and receives a thief on another cross into paradise. Unlike any concept of royalty ever formulated.

What kind of King is Jesus? What does this mean for us? Read Debie Thomas' "A King Like No Other." Think about this as we enter the season of Advent.

When Temples Fall

 Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25 and Isaiah 12  •  Malachi 4:1-2a and Psalm 98

  •  2 Thessalonians 3:6-13  • Luke 21:5-19

This week as we hear Jesus tell us about the destruction of the temple, and what many have called the "end times," we learn to not invest ourselves, our lives, our hopes and dreams in transient things, but in that which endures, and lasts forever - even when and as "temples fall."

The passage from Isaiah tells of the creation of a new heaven and new earth. When no longer shall the sound of weeping be heard, or the cry of distress. When infants shall live longer than a few days, and the young shall live out a lifetime. When people will no longer labor in vain, but enjoy their work, and children will no longer be born only to face calamity.

These passages are truly apocalyptic, which means a "revealing" in Greek. They are not just about the end times. Why does Jesus tell his disciples, who are admiring the splendor and grandeur of the temple, that no stone will be left standing? In what, or whom, do we place, or misplace, our hopes, dreams, and aspirations? In what, or whom, have we given up, or  resigned ourselves into a malaise or cynicism? How can we realize what Jesus is telling us? What questions should we be asking?

Read Debie Thomas' "By Your Endurance," and Janet Hunt's "New Heavens, New Earth...", The Rev. Dr. Marshall Jolly's "Apocalypse! "