The Third Sunday of Advent
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"You have turned my wailing into dancing; you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy." -Psalm 30:12
Prayer
God of hope,
who brought hope into the world,
dwell in the hopeless spaces between us.
God of love,
who came as love in our world,
dwell in the loveless place around us.
God of peace,
who's will for all is peace within and without, dwell in the peace-starved spaces about us.
God of hope, love, and peace, come among us once more. Amen.
Reflection
In 1719, during a time of upheaval, division, and fear, poet and theologian Isaac Watts penned the words of the now famous hymn Joy to the World. The hymn was originally not written for Christmas but rather as a reminder that at Jesus' second coming the world would be united as one. His hymn was a reminder to the people around him that even in the face of division, uncertainty, and fear, God was still in charge.
Right now our nation, our neighborhoods, and the church are filled with fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the future. But Jesus' advent reminds us that we are not called to succumb to fear, we are called to live the Good News. We are called to do something with our piece of Christ.
Following Jesus means that we go out into the world. Following Jesus means that we take our light of faith into the places of greatest need. It means that there is no place, no person, no cause, no community so downtrodden, forgotten, depraved, or rejected by this world that we cannot seek and serve Christ in them. Following Jesus means that we must be willing to discover Christ already at work and present in the places of greatest need.
We are called to be peddlers of hope, ambassadors of love, and carriers of joy. In our work of following Jesus, we are called to not say so much about Jesus as to show Jesus.
The work that we had to do yesterday: to minister to the hurting, hungry, marginalized, broken, terrified, and disenfranchised, along with the healed, hopeful, joyful, and loved; and to share the loving, liberating, life-giving way of Jesus, is still the work we have to do today and tomorrow. The work of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, and burying the dead has been and still must be our calling and our cause.
We gather together each Sunday to give thanks for God's love for the world - the whole world - Republicans, Democrats, rich, poor, women, men, young, old, gay, straight, bi, trans, queer, persons of all races, cultures, and ethnicities. God loves us all. And we are united not by gender or race, orientation or economic status, political affiliation or cultural expression, but rather by faith - faith that God created all things and people, sustains all things and people, and will redeem all things and people, because of God's overwhelming love.
Jesus coming into our world to redeem and release us all from the many prisons of our own creating is a cause for joy; joy that simply shines in the knowledge of being deeply and truly loved. We have work to do and little time to do it.
"Joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing." -Sir Isaac Watts
Action
Write a joy note. Take some time to write a note to someone who brought you joy. Give thanks for the way they were a messenger of God's presence.
Tags: Advent 2023