Devotions for the Third Week of Advent

Monday of Advent III – Prayer of the Week

Lord Jesus Christ, we implore You to hear our prayers and to lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Do you remember 12 years ago, right about this week in December? We were coming up to the winter solstice in the year 2012. There were some folks who were getting pretty worked up about the fact that a Mayan calendar stopped at that point. Did the Mayans think that the world would end on that day? Some thought so and got themselves into a lather about it. Did you wake up on the day after the solstice and breathe a sigh of relief? Or were you disappointed that the world was still chugging along?

We pray that the Lord Jesus would lighten our darkness by his visitation. I think too often we imagine that we can shed some light on the darkness of our lives. Don’t get me wrong, education, knowledge, technology, and eating right are all good things, but the light they shed is not the true light which we need. That light, which really lightens the darkness of our lives comes only from Christ. I have such a hard time discerning truth from fiction along with the rest of humanity. This pandemic has really revealed that to me. Whom can I believe anymore?

I heard a terrible story not long ago. A man brutally abused a woman, used her, and tortured her. It made me ashamed to be a human to hear that story of how one human mistreated another. As she was being interviewed, she said something truly remarkable. She said that her tormentor did not own her. He would certainly face a righteous judge in God, and that mean she could both release him and herself from the need to settle this score. She would pursue justice but did not take the responsibility for seeing that justice meted out to him. In this way he did not own her anymore, and she was free to live. She did not use the word “forgive.” I would not ask her to, but I could see that from the place where she was speaking in that interview, she might have said it. Jesus shines in the darkness.

Tuesday of Advent III - Zephaniah 3:14-20

14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

“Fear not, O Zion;

let not your hands grow weak.

17 The LORD your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.

19 Behold, at that time I will deal

with all your oppressors.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

20 At that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes,” says the LORD.

I was struck the other day that the recent school shooting was the third story on the news. Have we just gotten used to children killing each other in school so we want to hear about the latest COVID variant first? I do not know what goes into the editorial decisions about what are lead and what are second stories in network newsroom, but it seemed significant to me.

Zephaniah, a prophet we hear from twice in the 156 Sundays of the three-year lectionary series, wants us to imagine something today. God the King is in our midst, and we will never again fear evil. I am sure that sense of security feels far away from the students and their families at the school where the shooting took place. I am not sure they will ever feel safe in school. A gunman has robbed them of that. But that sense of insecurity does not only affect them. My own neighborhood has gotten a little seedy. We are more careful about locking doors these days. Turn on the news and it will something else which can make us afraid.

Is Zephaniah just out of touch? I don’t think so. In fact, I think he is right on message for Advent. His people faced a dire situation as well. The glory of Israel had long passed and now they were a much-diminished state, facing down the spear point of the mighty Babylonian empire. Things did not look good for little Judah. But Zephaniah exhorts his people to rejoice because God is at work, doing His Godly work of clearing away the enemies, establishing righteousness and calming with his love. He will bring all the oppressors to justice and His people will dwell in safety and without fear. That is faith – a confidence in something not seen. That is Advent – looking forward to what God has promised us. Your Advent joy in these dark days is a witness to that promise. Light your candles. Flick on the lights outside your house. Raise a glass of eggnog and share a bit of cheer. You are not faking it. You are counting on Him.

Wednesday of Advent III - Psalm 85

1 LORD, you were favorable to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;

you covered all their sin. Selah

3 You withdrew all your wrath;

you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6 Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,

and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

“What do you think he is going to do?” my friend asked. Several of us, we were all seniors in high school at the time, were standing around my father’s blue VW Rabbit. Our eyes were focused on the right front fender which was sporting a brand-new dent. My friend had accidently struck it.

“I know what my dad would do,” chimed in another of our group. “He would erupt, and I would be forbidden to see my friends until I was 45.” (Actually, because this is a devotion and there may be children within earshot, I won’t report his exact words describing what his father would do.)

I was upset, and initially my friend’s comment made me afraid of my father’s reaction. But then I thought about it a little more. My dad was not like that. He might be angry, but most of all I figured he would be glad no one had been hurt and he would find some way to make this right. I might have to pay for it, but it would not be cataclysmic. In fact, it was not even as bad as I feared. I think my dad remembered a few times when things like this had happened to him too.

This psalm breaks into four neat little parts.

1. The psalm starts (vss. 1-3) with the psalmist remembering how God covered the sins of the people in the past, forgiving them. He restored the land and withdrew from his hot anger.

2. The psalmist then (vss. 4-7) asks God to do that again, forgive, restore, and turn back his anger.

3. In part three (vss. 8-9), the psalmist quietly and confidently listens for God’s response.

4. In part four, he rejoices. God has answered the prayer. Love and faithfulness meet, righteousness and peace kiss. His descriptions are jubilant.

We find ourselves somewhere in this four-part cycle. It is hard to be steps two or three, asking God to forgive and awaiting his response. Are you there today? Most of us spend quite a bit of time there. But look at the beginning and the end of the psalm. God is gracious. He has done this before. He will do it again. We have a merciful God.

Thursday of Advent III – Philippians 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When you imagine God, is he happy? I realize that is a strange question. After all, one does not get divine emojis on your messaging app. If you do, I really want to talk to you. But the question is not entirely without a reason. When I used to ask this question of my students, I often heard them say that they imagined God as stern, glowering, or disappointed in them. God was not happy, but unhappy with the world. They sort of imagined that while they were going to heaven, it was not because God was happy about it. He was letting them in on a technicality. They were slipping in the back gate, almost as if they were being allowed in by a weary God resigned to their sinfulness. God was disappointed in them.

But I think God is happy. More importantly, I think He is happy with you. He is happy because Jesus has died, risen, and thereby reconciled His creation to Himself. The sin of humanity could not take God’s joy away. Being joyful or happy is a perfect state of being, and God is perfect. If God was unhappy, he would be unhappy for a reason. Something would not be good or right. That would be incomplete or imperfect. But God is God, and there is no problem or deficiency beyond His remedy. In Jesus He has remedied every problem. So, God is happy, and He is happy with you!

As I noted above, we don’t have a strong indication of God’s emotional state, if one can even say that God has an emotional state. But this odd little exercise is important because you will become like the God you worship. If you imagine him to be stern, judgmental, and disappointed in you, your worship will draw you toward being like that. You will tend toward being stern and judgmental. On the other hand, if you worship a joyful God, you too can and will have joy. Paul exhorts us to joy today. He does so because God is smiling. God is always smiling. Jesus has risen from the dead. Rejoice with God today.

Friday of Advent III – Luke 7:18-35

18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

24 When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.’

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

“What if I don’t recognize Him?” The question surprised and shocked me. I had never actually thought about it before. We were talking about the end of the world in my first parish and the little Bible study which met in people’s homes invited neighbors and friends, including some LDS neighbors and friends. We lived in Utah so you could not avoid having LDS neighbors and friends. And the LDS are very interested in the end of the world. This intense interest often led to unusual questions like this one. This was not an idle or silly question for the woman who asked it. She was honestly concerned. She thought Jesus might just show up and she might miss Him.

John, in his prison cell, having been arrested for pointing out the incestuous and adulterous marriage of the king, was wondering if he had missed the coming Messiah. He had proclaimed a Messiah whose axe was in his hand, ready to strike the root of the tree. He would baptize the people with fire. Was John wondering about the Jesus whose ministry was not so pyrotechnically inclined? Was he looking for a little more wrath of God action? We don’t know. This may also reflect John’s prophetic knowledge of his own death. Was John trying to redirect his disciples toward Jesus before his own death? Both are possible.

In any event, Jesus’ answer is very interesting. He does not point to things that look like what John had preached. He lists several good things: healing, cleansing, resurrection, and the proclamation of good news. Those are the signs that Jesus is the One, the long-anticipated Messiah.

I sometimes glibly answer the “How will I know it is Jesus” question with “He will be the guy with 10,000 angels on either side. Just count to the middle and that’s him!” But more likely he will be recognized for his healing, justice, peace, and joy. You will recognize him in that the reign he brings is so different from the power, rulers, and authorities you have ever known. In this Advent season we long for the arrival of our King and the kingdom He brings. Look at Jesus’ description of that kingdom and its King in this reading. That is how you will know Him.