Category: Advent 2020 (Page 1 of 7)

Light your candle every time you pray in Advent. You may need to get more candles. That would be great. This common practice will unite us in the darkening days. Shine your light on social media using  #HowWeHope as often as you need to feel the connection. You are not alone. The Lord is near. We are near.

Today’s Bible reading

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.—Luke 2:19-20

More thoughts for meditation

Mary ponders and the shepherds praise. They receive this good news and have different ways of approaching it. Mary knows she has delivered this good news to the world; she may be pondering what that means for her, for her child, for her family. She knows how consequential his life will be, and she sang about it right before, but it may still be daunting and worth pondering in our hearts even.

The shepherds have a different approach! They praise and glorify the Lord. What they were expecting for so long, as a people, has arrived. The shepherds embody a lament that Jesus sees and will offer hope to. The shepherds are also representative of a people who is awaiting freedom, and they are in the fortunate position of know about their own captivity. The best news is that this good news isn’t just for the descendants of Abraham, but for all of us! (Jesus will go on to say we are all heirs of Abraham.)

Suggestions for action

Tonight, we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Enter into the time in praise and in pondering. We have reason to reflect and rejoice. What we’ve been hoping for will have arrived. What we’ve been lamenting will be lightened. The darkness is over, the light has arrived. Join us for worship tonight for our 10:45 p.m. candlelight vigil.

Light your candle every time you pray in Advent. You may need to get more candles. That would be great. This common practice will unite us in the darkening days. Shine your light on social media using  #HowWeHope as often as you need to feel the connection. You are not alone. The Lord is near. We are near.

Today’s Bible reading

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.—Luke 2:15-18

More thoughts for meditation

The angels commission the shepherds to share the good news across the countryside. Their job now is to declare the good news, the one that resulted in an eruption of worship, the one that uplifted them, to everyone else. This is good news for all the people. They confirm what the angels tell them and then they keep doing their mission. They “made known” what they had heard about this child and what they witnessed. Something new is happening in Israel, something new is happening in the world, and everyone needs to hear about it. The dawn here. The light is coming. Our captivity in darkness is almost over.

Suggestions for action

Sharing the good news of the birth of Jesus is what the shepherds are commissioned to it. All who believe this good news is for all the people might join them. Let’s keep sharing the good news today. Jesus is going to be born, and the whole world will turn around. One way you can practically do this, share the link to our Christmas Eve candlelight vigil tomorrow. This year really is like no other and the world needs some good news. We will share that good news tomorrow night.

Light your candle every time you pray in Advent. You may need to get more candles. That would be great. This common practice will unite us in the darkening days. Shine your light on social media using  #HowWeHope as often as you need to feel the connection. You are not alone. The Lord is near. We are near.

Today’s Bible reading

“This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”—Luke 2:12-14

More thoughts for meditation

Even the multitude of the heavenly host are expecting this announcement. Just as the angel delivers the message that this savior, born in the city of David, they erupt in worship. The whole world is getting the good news and this announcement is even excited for the angels, the ones who dwell “in the realms of endless day.” The day they’ve been waiting for arrives and they are ready to worship. God Almighty is now God-With-Us. The one in the highest heaven has now entered the world through a child wrapped in bands of cloth. This dramatic contrast, the “Light of light descendeth” to offer peace on the ones his favor rests. And the whole sky erupts in worship. The shepherds may have no idea what they are walking into, but the angels know and are declaring it.

Suggestions for action

Worship is an act of freedom, a release from our lamentation, and an expression of the promise that’s coming, a reflection on the promise of joy that awaits. Worshiping now helps us hope, helps us wait. So today, engage in an act of worship. Maybe it’s joining the lamentations on racism tonight (Zoom link here), which is an act of worship onto itself. Maybe it’s spinning this Audio Arts record designed for Advent.

Light your candle every time you pray in Advent. You may need to get more candles. That would be great. This common practice will unite us in the darkening days. Shine your light on social media using  #HowWeHope as often as you need to feel the connection. You are not alone. The Lord is near. We are near.

Today’s Bible reading

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.—Luke 2:10-11

More thoughts for meditation

They are reassured to not fear because this is the announcement they’ve been waiting for comes. The angel-filled sky, intimidating for any observer, brings “good news of great joy for all the people.” The shepherds need good news. They are under an Empire, in captivity, without a place to call home. Their national spirit is destroyed, they are impoverished, and they are ignored. They need good news for all the people. They need a savior. The “city of David” is getting their Messiah.

The angels are bringing explicitly familiar language to the shepherds. Despite the good news being for all the people, the angels deliver to the shepherds, to curb their fear, in language they understand. They are meeting the Messiah they have longed for; He is much more than that, but he is also that.

Suggestions for action

From what do you need to be saved? For most of us, a savior being born in the city of David doesn’t mean much. For the shepherds that meant that the savior promised to them by the prophets had arrived. This Savior, that’s offering good news to all the people, offers good news to you specifically. Just as he met these shepherds, immediately in their context, he meets us in our own humanity too and saves us from what we need to be saved from. That’s how we hope.