Advent

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

The second major section of Isaiah tells the people to prepare for the com ing of their God by removing any obstacle that might prevent God’s approach or obstruct the view of God’s glory that onlookers might enjoy. A second directive is given to people living within the broken and desolate city of Jerusalem. They too are to be heralds of good news, announcing that the mighty, victorious God is coming to them. In both cases, the people are directed to act out their release even before they have tangible evidence of it, suggesting that future events are being accomplished in the present. The people’s faith in this prophetic word is itself the strongest evidence of their deliverance.

The author of Second Peter insists that despite the long delay, the Day of the Lord will indeed come. Its timing, like that of a thief in the night, is unpredict able. Therefore, the Christians should not grow weary of waiting, nor should they become careless. As God has been patient in the face of their sinfulness, so they must be patient in the face of God’s apparent delay. The author of the letter then employs apocalyptic imagery to describe the dissolution of everything, both the heavens and the earth. Finally, behavior that suits one who stands in anticipation of the salvation that is to come is addressed briefly but succinctly.

Mark’s Gospel points to the new beginning of God’s manifestation to all. He interweaves the words of the prophets Malachi (3:1, 23) and Isaiah (40:3; cf. Exodus 23:20). By using these two references to identify John the Baptist, he identifies the prophetic authority of the man whose austere life and exacting message may have appeared too demanding to be accepted by some. John got the attention of the crowds, but he quickly deflected it from himself, pointing instead to Jesus, the long-awaited one. John’s appearance, his message, and his baptism all announced that the reign of God was about to appear.

Jan 29 2025

Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones

Are you a watcher? Some are people watchers. I remember a former teacher of mine saying how he liked to sit by the window in a restaurant or, if the day was nice, on a park bench, and just watch people go by. It served as a reminder of God’s infinite imagination in creating us. Or, perhaps you are a clock-watcher, checking your watch frequently, even searching to find a clock whenever you enter an unfamiliar place. Clock-watchers tend to be on time and are especially appreciated when running meetings.

Advent calls us to be watchers, but neither of clocks nor of people merely passing by. We are called to be watchers for the Lord’s return. Now this might not seem as interesting as watching people, or as practical as watching the clock, or even as likely to get results, but its importance is on a deeper level. We are called to take seriously Jesus’ promise that he will return and that we are to live now in light of that return, that is, to live in the light this promise offers us for our lives.

As we watch for the Lord’s return in glory, we might catch glimpses of him more frequently here and now because he returns more often than we might suspect, but we miss it because we are not watching for it. So when we hear Jesus commanding his disciples, “Be watchful! Be alert!” this holds for us today—and tomorrow.

Consider/Discuss

Are you a watcher? Of what?
In your watching, have you had any experiences of kairos time, those moments of grace when you felt the presence of God, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit?
Can you become more watchful and grow into a deeper confidence that the Lord will return?

Responding to the Word

Make us a watchful people, Lord, living in such a way that we keep one eye watching for your return, while we meet the challenges of the present. Let us not grow discouraged or fearful that you will not return. Help us recognize how you come even now in your word and in the sacraments. Amen.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

The first reading consists of a communal lament and a prayer that recounts events in the history of Israel. The people are in a desperate situation, unable to help themselves, in need of someone who can rescue them from their plight. They feel abandoned even by their ancestors, and so they cry out to God. Attention then shifts from their distress to the mighty works of God. Those who seemed to be the least deserving of divine kindness hope that God, who worked wonders in the past, will work wonders now on their behalf.

Paul is grateful for blessings granted in the past to the Corinthians. He reminds them that these blessings came from God through Christ. This may indicate that the Corinthians have developed a certain smugness about their abilities. Paul then moves to the point of the passage, namely, the community’s waiting for the revelation of the Lord. The Christians are living in the “time between.” Christ has already been born, died, and raised from the dead. They now live in anticipation of his return. At issue are the manner of their lifestyle and the character of their commitment during this “time between.”

A thrice-repeated command—“Watch!”—surrounds a parable that emphasizes the need to be ready at all times, because Christians do not know when the Lord will return. The Greek word for “time” (kairos) refers to a special time, a decisive moment, more than mere chronological or sequential time (chronos). The short parable brings this point home. Like the servants in the parable, the Christians are instructed to be prepared at all times. The coming of the householder will be sudden and unscheduled, a kairos moment. Life between the times will go on as usual. There are responsibilities that must be carried out. However, life must still be lived with the realization that this is a time of vigilance. “Watch!”

Jan 24 2025

Nothing Is Impossible for God!

If you surveyed the people in Henry Ford’s day about what they hoped for in transportation, they would have said, “Breed a faster horse.” If you surveyed the Jews before the time of Jesus about what they wanted in a Messiah, they would have said, “A powerful king to drive out the Romans.”

Yet the future doesn’t always arise directly from the paths of the past. The Ruler of the universe seems to delight in making sudden turns, knocking human expectations sideways. The shepherd boy David is the smallest among his tall and handsome brothers, yet he is the one whose house is to last forever. An obscure girl in the hillbilly region of Galilee says yes to God, and a baby as tiny as a pinhead grows in her womb as the Savior of the world. How can this be?

The angel Gabriel says, “Nothing will be impossible for God.” Hear that again: Nothing will be impossible for God. Nothing. What if you and I gave our total yes to that statement? What if that conviction sank into our core? “Nothing is impossible for God!” There would be no region of our existence that the grace of Christ could not redeem. We would not limp through life with limited expectations. We would never stop seeking for the surprises of the Spirit. If nothing were impossible for God, we would never give up! We would not lose hope in people or institutions. We would never give up on ourselves or our circumstances. Even when things got hard, we would not quit. We would march forth with courage, believing that nothing is impossible for God.

As Christmas preparations intensify, can we do that? Holy Spirit, make sure our conviction that nothing, nothing, nothing is impossible for God!

Consider/Discuss

Is there someone whom you feel like giving up on? Circumstances that cause you to feel despair? What institutions feel hopeless? If nothing is impossible for God, how might you flip that perception around to see it in a new way?
When has the Spirit done the unexpected in the history of your life? What difference did that make? Share that story of God’s unexpected grace with someone this Christmas.

Living and Praying with the Word

Holy Spirit, you are the source of courage. The early Christians trained for martyrdom by repeating, “Nothing is impossible for God!” In these few days left before Christmas, strengthen us for all that we have to do, holding fast to that belief in the miraculous. The Son is coming. All will be well. Glory to God in the Highest!

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

In the time of David, it was customary for a king to honor his patron god by building a temple, thus David’s resolve to build a “house” for the God who gave him his throne. But the God of Israel does not want things done the usual way and instead promises to build for David an everlasting “house,” or dynasty. This passage, then, is the founding story of the Davidic dynasty, the chosen monarchy of the God of Israel. Although the monarchy came to an end four hundred years later at the time of the Exile, this promise remained “on the books,” and was revived many years later in conjunction with the rise of Jewish messianic expectations under the Greeks and Romans.

Paul ends his Letter to the Romans with a doxology to the faithful, righteous God who has made possible justification and salvation for all in Christ. Throughout the letter Paul has proclaimed and explained “his” gospel, which is the proclamation of Jesus Christ himself. In Christ has been revealed the “mystery kept secret for long ages,” namely that the promises made to Israel long ago would also be made available to “all nations” through the “obedience of faith,” that is, belief and trust in God’s justifying action in Christ. It is for this reason that this eternally faithful and wise God should be given praise through that same Christ.

Gabriel has come to Mary to announce that a long-standing, slowly unfolding divine plan for the whole world is reaching its climax. References to David point toward the divine election of the Davidic monarchy and God’s promise to uphold it “forever,” a promise on pause since the Exile, but now revealed to come to pass in the Son to be born to Mary. Naturally enough she is bewildered, unable to fathom how this is possible. Gabriel’s explanation, along with his announcement that the aged and barren Elizabeth will also give birth, drives home a key point of all the scriptures, which is that “nothing will be impossible for God.”