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While We Wait an Advent Devotional by and for the People of Grace Church

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While We Wait an Advent Devotional by and for the People of Grace Church While We Wait An Advent Devotional by and for the People of Grace Church Saralyn Temple, Editor While We Wait An Advent Devotional by and for the People of Grace Church Saralyn Temple, Editor December 2019 Introduction Advent is a season of waiting that, according to Fleming Rutledge, “most closely mirrors the daily lives of Christian and of the church.” It is during Advent that we stop to acknowledge that things are not the way they are supposed to be and to stare into the face of who we are: sinful people in need of saving, and this we cannot do for ourselves. We are in desperate need of a Savior. Yes, Advent is a season of waiting, and not just for Christmas Day. We are living in the in-between times. As our Methodist Communion liturgy exclaims: “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.” Or, as other traditions put it: “Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.” We are living in the now and the not yet. The Kingdom of God has come, but we are still waiting for its fullness when Christ returns. Traditionally, the focus during the season of Advent was not the first coming of Christ at his birth, but his second coming on the final day of the Lord. We live daily in the tension that this world is broken, it is full of suffering and pain, and yet future glory is coming. How do we remember the first waiting and coming of the babe in the manger who would die to set us free as well as live in joyful and obedient anticipation that he will return to set all things right? So this Advent, will you pause to remember the anxiety and longings of the people of God as they awaited the coming of their Messiah who was born to a virgin over two-thousand years ago? Will you let your heart yearn for the return of the same Messiah? And will you enter into Christmas with joy and thanksgiving that He who promised is faithful? "What other time or season can or will the Church ever have but that of Advent?" ~Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics From the Editor Many thanks go to the incredibly talented and brave souls here at Grace Church. It has been an awesome privileged to learn from them as I put this little book together. Each writer was given the daily Scripture to read and was asked to write on their own relationship with God and how he’s spoken to them through the passage and the assigned topic. They did a great job! A huge debt is owed to Rev. Fleming Rutledge for spawning this brainchild. Her book Advent: The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ has helped me to understand the season in a richer way and introduced me to many of the quotes you’ll find in the text. The beautiful photographs are gifts from talented artist who share their art through Pixabay and Unsplash. To get the most out of this devotional, take time to read the daily Scripture, the day's essay, and prayerfully reflect on what God's saying to you through it all. Each week begins with a song, quote, or prayer from other wonderful sources on Advent. If this devotional has you longing for more, be sure to look them up! I've created a couple Spotify playlists to add to your experience called "Advent: A Season of Waiting" and "A Different Christmas." These can be found by searching for "graceeast" on the Spotify app and locating them in the Public Playlists. Thanks for picking up While We Wait: And Advent Devotional by and for the People of Grace Church. I pray it will lead you to a closer walk with the Savior throughout this Advent, Christmas, and into the new year. ~Saralyn Daily Scripture Reading December 1 Light-Darkness December 2 Isaiah 9:2-7; Matthew 4:16 December 3 John 11-14 December 4 John 3:16-21 December 5 John 8:12; 1 Peter 2:9-11 December 6 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 December 7 Romans 13:11-12 December 8 Waiting-Journeying December 9 Isaiah 64:1-9 December 10 Psalm 80 December 11 Isaiah 25:6-9 December 12 Luke 2:25-32 December 13 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 December 14 Romans 8:18-29 December 15 Joy-Sorrow December 16 Psalm 30 December 17 Luke 2:10-14 December 18 Luke 4:14-21 December 19 Isaiah 53 December 20 Romans 5:1-11 December 21 Zephaniah 3:14-17 December 22 Arriving-Hoping December 23 Galatians 4:4-6 December 24 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 December 25 Revelation 22:1-5 ADVENT WEEK 1 Light/Darkness "Where is God when it is dark? The church proclaims that he never hides himself to no purpose. Somewhere, somehow, in spite of all appearances, his vindication awaits the proper moment. At the heart of the Advent season is the proclamation that God did not remain where he was, high above the misery of his creation, but came down, incognito, into the midst of it...To each and all we bring this announcement: God will come, and his justice will prevail, and he will destroy evil and pain in all its forms, once and forever. To be a Christian is to live in expectation of that fulfillment. The life of the church, lived in solidarity with those in darkness, carries with it the embodiment of a certainty: when he comes again, it will be the God of mercy and no one else, and it will be morning." ~Rev. Fleming Rutledge, "The God Who Hides Himself" FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT LIGHT/DARKNESS For the light beyond the darkness, When the reign of sin is done. When the storm has ceased its raging, And the haven has been won. For the joy beyond the sorrow, Joy of the eternal year. For the resurrection splendor, She is waiting, waiting here! Morn of morns, it comes at last, All the gloom of ages past. For the day of days the brightest, She is waiting, waiting here! “Until the Daybreak,” Indelible Grace Music Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ~Collect for the 1st Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer FIRST MONDAY OF ADVENT LIGHT/DARKNESS "the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” MATTHEW 4:16 I sit here tonight thinking of all the pain and heartache around me. Working in the church office, I help arrange food basket pick-ups for folks that can’t quite make ends meet this month and answer the phone when folks in crisis call. I hear from people on Sunday morning as they bring their burdens from the week with them to worship. I listen to my kids’ concerns about friends and my husband’s worries about his students. Then, I look ahead to Christmas and the stress that goes into the world’s version of celebration. I think of all the expectations that come with all of the parties and gatherings: the food preparations, the gift giving, the family interactions. All the stressors of everyday life compacted into a few short weeks during a season where we’re expected to be happy and carefree. I just want to shout, “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be!” Jesus didn’t come to make your burdens heavier. He didn’t come to add more stress to an already stressful life. He came to shine a light “for those who live in a land of deep darkness.” He came to lift our heavy burdens. He came to be our Prince of Peace. However, his kingdom is only just begun. We’re in the in-between stage where we are living into a future that will come into its fullness once Jesus returns. The good news is: we don’t have to wait for the Prince of Peace to return to have that peace. As Christians, we’re to be “little Christs” in the world. We’re to be the light in the land of deep darkness. We’re to lift each other’s burdens. MONICA LEBSACK FIRST TUESDAY OF ADVENT LIGHT/DARKNESS "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” JOHN 1:5 December 1971 was a month of big changes in my life that have affected me through these many years. Early in the month on a Friday, I celebrated my 18th birthday with a small gathering of my close friends. My Mom and Dad had gone on a cruise that didn't have them returning home until Sunday. That left little time with them as I was scheduled to be at the Armed Forces Induction Center in Detroit on Monday morning to go into the Navy. I was full of optimism and thought I knew exactly what to expect from the “New Navy” the recruiter had told me about, despite what my Navy veteran Dad, brother, and brother-in-law had tried to tell me.
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