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December 2018

Rejoicing Always

3rd Sunday in Advent

Philippians 4:4-7

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice”

What does it look like to Rejoice in the Lord always? Does it mean being happy all the time? Does it mean ignoring the bad things in the world, turning a blind eye to suffering and misery, and pretend its not there? Sometimes it feels like that would be nice. To just live in the happy times, and to rejoice in all that God has given us.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, the theme of Rejoicing in the Lord runs throughout the lines. One can assume that the circumstances in Philippi were less than desirable. Paul warns about behavior during times of conflict, both internal and external. He is trying to get the early followers to understand that their joy is in God not in their circumstances. 

God’s desire to return the world to a place of wholeness, or Shalom, is the reason God calls us to a broken world. We live in the middle of the brokenness, but we serve a God who is not broken. In fact, we serve a risen Lord who conquered death and rose again. We know we are called to restore the brokenness around us, and we get to rejoice in the promises of the resurrection.

Restoring the broken, living in the promise. That’s something to rejoice about. 

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Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

2nd Sunday in Advent, Year C

Luke 3:1-6

If you want a great ear worm listen to Prepare ye the Way of the Lord from Godspell. Go ahead, google it. I’ll wait. Done? Ok. Its a great song, even if it just repeats the same words over and over again for 2 minutes. Any time this story of John the Baptist is told, I can’t help but sing this song.

What are we preparing for? Its the season of Advent, a season of waiting and preparation. The secular side of Advent pulls us in a million directions preparing for Christmas. There is china to pull out to reflect the season, decorations, lights to hang, and a million parties to go to.

The church side of our lives has its own pull. There might be extra services, concerts, cleaning, decorating, and its own parties to add to our advent preparation. Sometimes the preparation gets a little out of hand, doesn’t it.

We didn’t decorate this year. The tree is staying in the attic, along with the lights, ornaments, and other signs that my house would be “ready” for Christmas. We didn’t skip the decorating because I’m a grinch or anything, we just have a toddler and a new dog and I really don’t want to add “clean up the mess” to my list of things to do this month.

Not decorating has slowed things down a little bit. But It doesn’t stop the busyness of a season like this. Perhaps its time for all of us to take a moment to slow down and figure out how God is calling us to prepare the way for Jesus, in our homes, in our Churches, and in our hearts. 

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Lead Me Lord

First Sunday of Advent Year C Psalm 25:1-10

25:5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

Leadership is a funny thing. We train up our children to be leaders, but sometimes we forget that we are also called to follow. Called like the disciples were called out of their careers and families to follow a man who would turn their world upside down. But in a world focused on increasing our leadership skills, how do we learn to follow?

Listen

It may seem sort of obvious, but one way we learn to follow is we start listening. We listen to the message scripture holds for us, or the spoken word delivered on Sunday morning. We listen to the ways God has been active in the lives of those around us, so we can participate in God’s action in our world.

But this listening isn’t always the same as the way we “listen” in our every day lives. We tend to listen with the intent to respond. We need to listen and hear those around us, without injecting our own opinions and prejudices into their stories. God may be trying to lead you through the stories of others, listen.

Learn

We may think that our learning was over when we stepped out of whatever our last school was. For some of us that was somewhere in the middle of high school, for others it feels like the journey of traditional education will never end, but we are called to learn throughout our life. Don’t just listen to scripture, learn about it. Go to Bible studies, challenge things you don’t understand and do the research to back it up. Talk to people who have studied the Bible and theology and ask them for help. Always be learning so you might also follow.

Lead

Lead to follow? Ok this doesn’t make any sense, but it may be unavoidable. Everyone leads someone. Children, friends, spouses, co-workers, people in a faith community, someone may be trying to follow you or your example. So help them listen, learn and lead to also follow Jesus. Remember you lead so you can follow, not so that others can follow you.

25:9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

25:10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees

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