ADVENT 2019 The Season of Advent What is Advent? Advent means “arrival.” It is when the church celebrates the arrival of Christ coming into the world, of God coming into our midst. During the four weeks of Advent, the church prepares to celebrate again the mystery of our God-made-flesh. We wait with intention, remembering the deep longing of the prophets, and tapping into that longing again: we are a people who need a Savior. Our world needs saving. In Advent, we don’t simply commemorate the nativity of the Lord; we watch with hope for Christ’s return and for the full realization of God’s vision for the world—a vision of justice with peace, a vision of joy and love. Dietrich Boenhoeffer said that Advent could be compared to “a prision cell, in which one waits and hopes and does various unessential things....but is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside.” Advent is a declaration of dependence; we are a people who wait for God’s action, wait for God’s vision of a healed world to unfold. But there is a sense in which God is also waiting for us. This year, Idlewild’s Advent theme is “What Can’t Wait.” What can’t wait? The filling of untamed tummies? The prevention of violence? The healing of disease? Advent rightly reminds us of our fierce dependence on God, but it also anticipates the coming of Christ, in whose freedom we find the power to act boldly. In these pages, you will find a reflection and a prayer for each day written by a member of our faith community. These reflections are based on the daily Advent readings found in the lectionary. My hope is that this devotional will help you savor this season, reflecting on the longing that infuses our world and whetting your appetite to receive the Christ-child with renewed joy. May God’s hope, peace, joy, and love be with you this Advent season. The Rev. Sara B. Dorrien-Christians Advent 2019 Cover & Weekly graphics: © a sanctified art | sanctifiedart.org Scripture: New Revised Standard Version The First Week of Advent SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1 Read: Isaiah 2:1–5 "Come...let us walk in the light of the Lord.” How appropriate it is we celebrate the birth of Christ in the dead of winter, when the days are shortest and nights the longest. For at a basic level, we hunger and long for the light to come and stay. We long for it in a basic human sense. We long for it in a deeper spiritual sense. We long for the light for our souls. Advent means expectation: "He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” How we hope for that day when God's great and wonderful peace is over everyone and everywhere. That great picture of the New Creation described in Revelation is the City of God on earth, when: The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face... There will be no more night...the Lord God will give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever" (Rev 22:3-5). I know part of my discipleship as one of God's people is to be a person of peace—peace, well-being, SHALOM, for all. My expectation centers around the one promised in this same book of Isaiah as the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6). We must pray and work for peace in every corner of my life, too. “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.” Our Lord Jesus appeared upon the earth as a teacher. From those at the Sermon on the Mount to those who listened to him in the Temple—the "mountain of the Lord"—Jesus taught us "his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” If I hunger for the deeper meaning of Advent, surely, I must devote myself to knowing his word and harken to his teaching. "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on the rock," (Mt 7:24). What a wonderful thing it is—to know and be told what our Lord wants—and enables—us to do. "In the last days, the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” Where can I, we—and everyone—look in complete hope and expectation as said here? Where is the mountain of God raised over all for us? Is it not Mt. Calvary? Was/Is it not that hill outside Jerusalem's walls where the one born in a manger concluded his human life hanging on a cross for us all—and for all to see and believe? I think of Jesus' words, "And when I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself," (Jn 12:12). What happened on the mountain that makes all the difference! Advent reminds me of all that our Lord Jesus came to do and accomplish for us—and to make us into the joyous people of God. "Come! Live in the Light! Shine with the joy and the love of the Lord! We are called to be light for the kingdom, to live in the freedom, of the city of God." Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray to be as you said to the disciples: "You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14). I cannot do this without you. I cannot do this without the one You promised would come to make it so. Help me, I pray, and help me help others. May I live out the Advent hope every day. or Jesus' sake, Amen. Jim McClanahan is a retired minister in Presbytery of the Mid-South, having served several churches and professor of Bible and Religion at King College. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2 Read: Romans 6:1–11 When I read this passage, I find myself caught somewhere between hope and cynicism. There’s hope in the claim that we are now “dead to sin” and “alive to God in Jesus Christ.” Being under the grace of Christ means we have a new life that is guided by the Holy Spirit, and this allows us to walk in the “newness of life.” But when I read Paul’s words, I also find myself leaning towards cynicism. When I look at the world, and when I look at myself, I would not describe either as “dead to sin.” I see sin at work in a powerful way, creating division, inequality, greed, arrogance, and enmity. It is clear that sin has not disappeared and certainly has not in my own life. As someone who claims Christ as my savior and is so in love with the idea of grace that I got it tattooed on my wrist, I too struggle to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance rather than that of capitalism and consumerism. I’ve been procrastinating working on this devotional by scrolling through pages of cute winter boots that I certainly do not need, knowing all the while that my money could be used for much more worthwhile causes. So, what do we do with this? What do we make of this tension between the human propensity for sin and the claim that in Christ we have died to sin? I think the only way I can reconcile these competing truths is to believe that living in grace is not a static event; it is fluid, and it is relational. It requires us to remember our baptism again and again and again. In Christ, we are constantly dying to the ego and being reborn into new life rooted in God’s grace. Every Sunday in the prayer of confession, we recognize this truth about our individual and collective selves, proclaiming that sin does not and will not have the final word. Prayer: God of grace, as we await the birth of Christ this Advent season, help us to remember that we are not beholden to sin. Help us to continually remember who we are and whose we are. May our time of waiting not be idle, but may it be one of active engagement with you and our neighbors, living as your children and cultivating your kingdom. Amen. Elizabeth H. Doolin serves as the Director of Young Adult Ministry at Idlewild Presbyterian Church and as the UKirk Campus Minister for Rhodes College and the University of Memphis. She has served in these roles since June of 2018. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3 Read: Psalm 124 When reading Psalm 124, we are reminded of God’s presence with the Israelites. God’s chosen people haven’t had an easy life—they are met time and time again by adversity, but God does not leave them by the wayside, forgotten at the hands of an enemy or a catastrophe. The Lord is on their side, defending and rescuing them from certain doom, allowing them to escape. We find David praising the name of the Lord in this passage, worshipping God by reminding us that God is always by our side. Never did God leave the Israelites, and never does God leave us.