Soon we
will celebrate the nativity of Jesus Christ. The four week period of
preparation called Advent will come to an end. These last four weeks in the
secular world are, filled with Christmas carols, parties, gift buying, and all
other sorts of preparations for this day. However, Advent will take on a
different tone in many churches around the world. The liturgical readings will
not filled with the steady stream of new variations of “Santa Claus is coming
to town” or “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.”
Many Christian churches have readings from the Prophet Isaiah which
prophesy the coming of a Messiah. In this world of war, poverty,
joblessness, sickness, and 24-7 news reports on a host of discomforting
stories, finding a little joy in the Christian liturgy is certainly
welcome.
Christianity has generally been at odds with the world and its values. While the world has focused on the collapse of the world and global economy, the threat of a rogue nations getting and using nuclear weapons, and a creeping depression of mind and spirit, the readings from Deutero- Isaiah found in chapter 40 not only gave the Jewish people in exile hope, but they give us hope today.
Isaiah reminds us that better times are coming, maybe not in this world, but in the next. Advent is not so much about preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ as it is about his Second Coming. That is something to look forward to with an anticipation far greater than opening gifts on Christmas morning.
Is 40:1-5, 9-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
Life on this earth is tenuous at best. Every day hundreds of thousands of people die unexpectedly. As one ages, the thought of death comes up frequently. We can try to block it out, avoid discussion about it, or put it at the bottom of our “to do” list.
Technology has, in some ways, distracted us from the “simple gifts”, so the Shaker hymn goes…to which my son Matt emailed me back: “It seems to me that your use of technology is making others appreciate the ‘simple gifts’ of life.” Whatever the case, who would’ve thought, years ago when I purchased my eight K Vic 20 that I would be TALKING TO a computer, and, with minimal use of my keyboard, composing this post?
So, as we celebrate Christmas today, let us look past the fancy wrappings, tinsel, temporal gifts, and give the “simple gifts” this day, and every day… kindness, compassion, gentleness, patience, and good will. Merry Christmas!
Christianity has generally been at odds with the world and its values. While the world has focused on the collapse of the world and global economy, the threat of a rogue nations getting and using nuclear weapons, and a creeping depression of mind and spirit, the readings from Deutero- Isaiah found in chapter 40 not only gave the Jewish people in exile hope, but they give us hope today.
Isaiah reminds us that better times are coming, maybe not in this world, but in the next. Advent is not so much about preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ as it is about his Second Coming. That is something to look forward to with an anticipation far greater than opening gifts on Christmas morning.
Is 40:1-5, 9-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
Life on this earth is tenuous at best. Every day hundreds of thousands of people die unexpectedly. As one ages, the thought of death comes up frequently. We can try to block it out, avoid discussion about it, or put it at the bottom of our “to do” list.
Technology has, in some ways, distracted us from the “simple gifts”, so the Shaker hymn goes…to which my son Matt emailed me back: “It seems to me that your use of technology is making others appreciate the ‘simple gifts’ of life.” Whatever the case, who would’ve thought, years ago when I purchased my eight K Vic 20 that I would be TALKING TO a computer, and, with minimal use of my keyboard, composing this post?
So, as we celebrate Christmas today, let us look past the fancy wrappings, tinsel, temporal gifts, and give the “simple gifts” this day, and every day… kindness, compassion, gentleness, patience, and good will. Merry Christmas!
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