Advent Devotionals

Do Not Be Afraid

Posted on by Betsy

When is the last time you were deeply, mindlessly, overwhelmingly afraid? Not just a little frightened, like when a mouse darts across the floor, or a cockroach hands you the sugar packet when you open the cabinet, or your teenager asks for the car keys, but truly afraid?

Facing a life crisis such as a car accident, eviction, the sudden death of a spouse, a gun pointing at you, surgery….these moments can usher you right into cold, hard fear. Your body takes over and adrenaline pumps so hard through your system you that can’t breathe or even think straight.

Have you ever noticed that just about every time an angel appears in the scriptures, one of the first things they say is “do not be afraid,” and for good reason. The sudden appearance of a fiery, hovering, light-beams-for-eyes creature would be terrifying. That is often the response they received…even Mary was greatly troubled.

Luke 1. (English Standard Version)

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Do not be afraid of what is about to be asked of you.

Do not be afraid of this journey I am sending you on.

Do not be afraid of leaving your home and your family.

Do not be afraid to do God’s bidding.

Just go, and do not be afraid.

 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

What is God asking you to do right now that has you fearful? Is he calling you to go somewhere, leave your comfort zone, start or end something, let go of habits that are dragging you down, end a toxic relationship, or in some way do his terrifying bidding?

Do not be afraid. You, too, have found favor with God. He will be with you wherever you go.

Wherever You Go by Jackie Ruskowski

We Are the Church

Posted on by Betsy

Where is the strangest place you have attended church since March? A parking lot? A ball field? Your car? The front lawn of the church? Your living room?

As strange as these last few months have been for us, we have nothing on God’s people in King David’s time. They wandered the wilderness for years, obediently following the Ark of the Covenant as it traveled throughout the Promised Land in a movable tent. That tent was their church.

But after David had made himself comfy and cozy in his brand new palace, he remembered that God had no home. He began to think about that.

(Hmmm. Were David’s priorities in the right order?)

2 Samuel (Contemporary English Version)

7 King David moved into his new palace, and the Lord let his kingdom be at peace. 2 Then one day, as David was talking with Nathan the prophet, David said, “Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest has to stay in a tent.”

3 Nathan replied, “The Lord is with you, so do what you want!”

Sometimes even well-meaning friends give you the wrong advice. God set Nathan straight.

4 That night, the Lord told Nathan 5 to go to David and give him this message:

David, you are my servant, so listen to what I say. Why should you build a temple for me? 6 I didn’t live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don’t live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them. 7 I chose leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?

8 David, this is what I, the Lord All-Powerful, say to you. I brought you in from the fields where you took care of sheep, and I made you the leader of my people. 9 Wherever you went, I helped you and destroyed your enemies right in front of your eyes. I have made you one of the most famous people in the world.

10 I have given my people Israel a land of their own where they can live in peace, and they won’t have to tremble with fear any more. Evil nations won’t bother them, as they did 11 when I let judges rule my people. And I have kept your enemies from attacking you.

God is so much more than a building. He is greater than four walls and a roof. The trouble with buildings is that they need constant repair, and sometimes donors end up worshipping the structure more than the Lord. Think I’m exaggerating? Look around. How many little brass people-plaques do you have in your sanctuary?

God’s “building” was going to be so much greater. He looked at David and decided to build a lineage that would run straight to Jesus. And Jesus would come to build a church of love, compassion, justice, hope, and peace.

Now I promise that you and your descendants will be kings.

I write this today to offer you a message of comfort. You may not be able to be in your “building” on Christmas Eve. You may not be in a sanctuary for many more months to come. But if we’ve learned one thing from this pandemic, it is that God is wherever his people are. That is the whole point of Christmas. The incarnation was about God coming to us to inhabit our world, our lives, our hearts, and our hopes and dreams for the future.

Christmas is all about God WITH us…Emmanuel.

Come, Lord Jesus! Come.

Sunset Church by Karen Warlitner

In Your Midst

Posted on by Betsy

I was stuck at a tire repair shop this week, waiting for a leaky tire to be diagnosed. Alas, the leak was too great and a new tire had to be purchased. While I waited, I stumbled upon The Great British Baking Show’s holiday episode. What joy! Four former contestants returned to compete in three Christmas-themed baking challenges.

One contest was to make holiday cake pops. This peaked my non-baker’s interest, as I have always wondered how they are made. Do they use a special ball-shaped form? A muffin pan made of perfect spheres? Do they bake cake into thick squares and then sculpt them into neat balls and stick a lollipop stick in the bottom?

Well I was stunned. None of these methods are how you make a cake pop. Lo and behold, you bake a regular pan or sheet cake and then MASH IT UP when the cake is cool. Then you take the mashed-up cake and mix it with…wait for it…buttercream frosting. Then you scoop it into your buttered hands, shape it into lollipop-sized balls, shove a stick in the bottom, and frost.

Who knew??

The things you learn at the tire shop.

Today’s passage from John 1 is a little like me watching how cake pops are made.

What exactly are we looking at? What weird mashup of things has created what we are seeing? The people were confused. They saw a man named John who was baptizing people, so they assumed him to be the messiah. Little did they know what was really going on.

John 1 (The Message)

19-20 When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn’t evade the question. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?”

“I am not.”

“The Prophet?”

“No.”

22 Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.”

23 “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.”

24-25 Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”

26-27 John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.”

A person you don’t recognize has come to save you. He is in your midst.

Did you ever stop to think that you encountered Jesus in someone, but didn’t recognize him? Did a loving pastor, grandparent, teacher, youth worker, friend, parent, stranger, etc. show you a moment of unexpected grace, startling unconditional love, or unwarranted mercy in such a way that later you recognized that they were being Jesus to you in that moment?

A cake pop isn’t really a round ball of cake. John isn’t really the messiah. That person wasn’t really Jesus. But when you had that moment with them, you were ushered into the Light.

Go and be someone’s unexpected light today.

Nobody Really Knows What’s Inside by Gail Driver

A Harvest of Joy

Posted on by Betsy

Many mornings when I sit down to write, I find myself wanting to post just the scripture without anything else. Scripture is always able to speak for itself. No intricate intro, no presentation of a personal thought to lead you into the passage, no Bible history to set the table…just the scripture without comment, so it can marinate in your heart.

Today is one of those days. Psalm 126 speaks of a harvest of JOY. It needs no packaging or special set-up. It is a song of ascents that will help your spirit ascend:

Psalm 126 (New Revised Standard Version)

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoiced.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves.

This is what I will sing when it’s all over. The pandemic, the poverty, the injustice, the oppression of people of color, the hatred, the fear and rejection of those who are “different,”the division…this is the song we will sing when those things have come to pass. We will come home with shouts of joy.

So let us begin to sing it today, in anticipation of all these things being accomplished. The Lord HAS done great things for us, and he is restoring us, even in this moment.

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel!

With Shouts of Joy by Michelle Robertson

Restoring the Desert Places

Posted on by Betsy

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind;

These beautiful words from the traditional German carol “Lo, How a Rose ‘Ere Blooming” set the stage for the Old Testament prophecies that take us straight to the manger. Jesse’s lineage was indeed sung of men of old, recounting the family line from Ruth and Boaz to Jesse, then to King David, and finally to Jesus. And so this “rose” is firmly established as Israelite royalty….of a kind.

It was Isaiah who foretold it. We pause the beautiful hymn at just this spot to consider this: what exactly did Isaiah foretell about the Messiah? Would he be a conquering hero who would deliver his nation from the grip of Roman tyranny? Would he establish his rightful throne and rule with power and might? What did God anoint the Messiah to do when he came to reign?

Isaiah 61 (Common English Bible)

The Lord God’s spirit is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me
    to bring good news to the poor,
    to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim release for captives,
        and liberation for prisoners,

It must have been startling to the original hearers of this passage to see their anticipated anointed-one described in such a way. He will come to speak to the poor? Tend to the broken-hearted? Liberate the captives?

Where are the royal power and might here?

2     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
        and a day of vindication for our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
3     to provide for Zion’s mourners,
    to give them a crown in place of ashes,
    oil of joy in place of mourning,
    a mantle of praise in place of discouragement.

Isaiah continues to paint a very different picture of what the Savior will be like. This description was not in keeping with Israel’s expectations. And yet, Jesus looked just like this. Jesus came to comfort those who mourn. He came to uplift the discouraged and vindicate God. Those who wore the sackcloth and ashes would be rebuilt…from the inside out.

They will be called Oaks of Righteousness,
    planted by the Lord to glorify himself.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
    they will restore formerly deserted places;
    they will renew ruined cities,
    places deserted in generations past.

The promise that the formerly deserted places would be restored really alludes to spiritual landscapes rather than physical ones, wouldn’t you agree? Jesus came to renew people with justice, peace, unity, and goodwill. The deserts he came to fill were the empty hearts, the cold attitudes, the lack of humanity, and the absence of compassion that were prevalent in his time…and in ours.

Oh, how we need him now!

In Luke 4, we see that this passage from Isaiah is the very one that Jesus quoted in his first sermon. That day, he stood up in the temple and read it aloud. He closed the scroll and said, “Today, these words are fulfilled in your hearing.“

May these words be fulfilled in our hearing as well.

This Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

Lo, How a Rose by Jan Wilson

For All the Marys

Posted on by Betsy

My appreciation for Mary grows every Christmas. Imagine an unwed teenager willingly giving birth to the Son of God…it is nothing short of incredible. Granted, once the miraculous conception occurred she had little choice but to go through with it, but still….

It is Mary’s attitude that I most admire. Her sense of servanthood was extraordinary. Mary’s ability to accept what God asked her to do is well beyond anything that any of us has been tasked with as followers. Think about the hardest thing you have ever had to endure. Scandal? Mary was immersed in one. Rejection? Mary experienced that. Financial insecurity? Covered. Homelessness? Did that, got the I Went to Bethlehem And All I Got Was this Lousy T-Shirt to show for it.

Lose a child? Again, yes.

But let’s go back to a happier moment. In Luke 1, we see Mary’s response to the news that she was going to bear the Son of God. Here is her response, known as The Magnificat:

Luke 1 ( New Revised Standard Version)

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.

The essence of pure joy that flows from these words is something we should bottle up so we can dab it on our wrists in frantic moments. If only we could distill this rejoicing! We could breathe it in when we receive startling, life-changing, impossible-to-accept news.

Mary continues her song, expounding on the glory of God. Her words show a deep and intimate knowledge of who God is. This tells us that Mary was a woman of the word before she became the mother of the Word.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.

In Mary’s mind, this news is an answer to Israel’s prayer. Many of her kin would not receive it with the same joy, but Mary knew.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

As we meditate on her response today, think about your own relationship with God. Do you know him as well as Mary did? Can you recount his marvelous deeds in your life? Are you willing to lay down your future to be obedient to whatever he calls you to do?

In a world full of Housewives, self-centered leaders, and shallow people, be a Mary.

Follow Her Light by Becky Strickland

A Thrill of Hope

Posted on by Betsy

This is the time of pre-Christmas festivities when we all hunker down to watch our favorite Christmas movies. The weather is less favorable to outdoor activity, we are enjoying the beauty of our brightly decorated homes, and everyone longs for the nostalgia that these movies bring.

Whether you are an Elf/Grinch fan or lean toward the old black and white classics like Miracle on 34th Street, all of these movies have one thing in common…hope.

Hope for a better tomorrow.

Hope in humanity.

Hope in a future that is less complicated than the present.

Hope that we will get it right this year and turn our hearts toward the good things, the righteous things, the important things….the things that last.

Even the ubiquitous Hallmark Christmas movies echo these articulations of hope…albeit in the same story format. There is a girl (often played by a forgotten actress from the ‘90’s) who is recently widowed, separated, or divorced. Looking for a fresh start, she leaves the big city/corporate job and moves to a town with a name that sounds like the latest version of a Bath and Body Works lotion followed by the word Springs, Glen, Falls, or Woods. (“Welcome to Mistletoe Kiss Falls!”) There she meets an incredibly good-looking single man. Both of them are wearing sweaters. One of them hates Christmas. There is a business/community fair/school that has a crisis, and the girl and the guy come together to solve it, and eventually fall in love. (Don’t hate me! You know it’s true!)

We just can’t resist a good story about hope.

Psalm 85 is a psalm of hope, and it does not disappoint. It begins with a re-telling of God’s redeeming of Israel in the past, and points to the hope of salvation in the future.

Psalm 85 (New Revised Standard Version)

Lord, you were favorable to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you pardoned all their sin.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people,
    to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.

Watch what the psalmist does next. The interactions between steadfast love and faithfulness, and righteousness and peace are portrayed as beautiful meetings between two love interests:

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
    righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
    and righteousness will look down from the sky.

Even Hallmark would approve of this plot line.

Then comes the hope:
12 The Lord will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
    and will make a path for his steps.

Friends, the Lord WILL give what is good. He is giving it even as we speak. In the midst of a pandemic, hope arrives in the form of vaccines that will be available in no time. In the midst of a pandemic, we have learned the importance of family time and real connections. In the midst of a pandemic, we have learned to hope again.

When God’s people turn to him and follow his steps toward righteousness, hope reigns. What do you need to do today to correct your steps? Where are you wandering off God’s path? Where do you need hope?

Return to God in a spirit of faithfulness and he will meet you there with his steadfast love. Surely his salvation is at hand when you fear him…turn to him with all your heart.

Morning Hope by Anne Pokorny

Prepare the Way

Posted on by Betsy

Our adventure toward the manger continues today with a look at the very first chapter of Mark. Mark is accepted as the first Gospel that was written, so it will be interesting to look at the first words of the first words. What was important? How shall we start this story? Every journey begins with a first step and every story begins with a first word. What did Mark think would be the most important way to start the good news of Jesus Christ?

He begins with Isaiah, and then quickly pivots to John the Baptist.

Mark 1 (Common English Bible)

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, 2 happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:

Look, I am sending my messenger before you.
He will prepare your way,
3 a voice shouting in the wilderness:
        “Prepare the way for the Lord;
        make his paths straight.”

This is a convincing and deliberate way to speak to the Jews of the time. Mark begins by presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of a well-known prophecy. Every hearer would have known Isaiah’s foretelling of the promised Messiah. Mark connects the preparation that Isaiah laid with John the Baptist’s call to prepare. This is to demonstrate that Jesus is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah.

John’s preaching

4 John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. 

Here we find the instructions for how to prepare to receive the Messiah. Change your heart. Change your life. Ask God to forgive your sins.

Sounds a little like Lent, doesn’t it?

But what better way could we possibly prepare ourselves for the incoming and indwelling of God-made-flesh?

5 Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. 

OK, so John was a little strange in his appearance and habits. But the spotlight was never supposed to be on him. His announcement is loud and clear: there is one coming after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

7 He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals.8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

This might be a good day to put down the tinsel, set aside the wrapping paper, and really be about our Father’s work. It was his will to send Jesus so that we might be cleansed of our sins and saved.

How are you preparing? Have you stopped your Christmas preparations long enough to do some Advent soul-searching?

Today is the day. Ask God to come into your heart and take inventory. And be ready for a baptism of confession, repentance, forgiveness, and change.

Come, Holy Spirit! Make us ready.

Preparing by Jennifer Thompson

Good Tidings

Posted on by Betsy

Can you remember a time in your life when you had really, really, REALLY good news to share? I can remember racing home to my college dorm the night I got engaged. I couldn’t wait to tell my parents…they were the first call I made. Then ran up and down the halls and told my dorm-mates. Finally I settled down in my room and called my friends from high school, my grandparents, my sister, and my cousins. I spent a few hours sharing my good tidings. I couldn’t help myself!

Today we finish the passage in Isaiah that we began yesterday. In this section, we read of the good tidings of God’s return to redeem Jerusalem:

Isaiah 40 (New Revised Standard Version)

9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

Here we see a sign of what the Messiah will look like. Good news! He comes with might to save his people, and tends to them like a caring shepherd:

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

We tell this story over and over. Every Advent brings us back to these same good tidings. Why do we keep repeating the same story?

Paul R. Abernathy, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., puts it like this:

“We do not recount the record of our redemption simply to recall ancient biblical texts. No. We retell the story so that it takes deeper root in us. We retell the story so that we become the story, the church seasons becoming active verbs in our lives.

We retell the story so that we always ‘advent,’ being alert to the coming of Jesus to us.
We retell the story so that we always ‘christmas,’ being animated by the birth of Jesus in us.
We retell the story so that we always ‘epiphany,’ being awake to the revelation of Jesus in us for the world.
We retell the story so that we always ‘lent,’ being aligned to the death of Jesus for us in our dying to sin.
We retell the story so that we always ‘easter,’ being alive to the resurrection of Jesus for us and in us.
We retell the story so that we always ‘pentecost,’ being afire with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

Advent, then, is more than a mere revival of a repetitious cycle. Advent signals the renewal of a spiritual journey that wends its way to the very gate of glory of heavenly Jerusalem, the eternal city of God.”
(“When Will It End?” The African American Pulpit 1 [Fall 1998], 6.)

May you ‘advent’ and be alert to God-With-Us in new ways this year. Go and shout the good tidings of Christ’s birth from your own mountaintop! And may the story take deep root in you until you BECOME the story.

Go, and tell.

A High Mountain in Germany by Jessica Spiegelblatt

Comfort

Posted on by Betsy

My best friend’s husband has just been released from ICU. He was diagnosed with COVID 19 and is slowly recovering. There are health issues remaining, and the long-term picture is unknown. How I long to comfort them!

A colleague from my last church is in the same situation. He has been sick for a month. What words of comfort can we give him?

Close to 1.5 million people have died worldwide, millions are infected, schools are struggling with remote learning, businesses are failing, families are separated, and the future, while hopeful, is still unknown.

We all long for comfort in this season. Where can we find hope?

In the book of Isaiah, we find the incredibly beautiful words of comfort that we need right now. The nation of Israel was living in isolation. A virus of extreme apostasy had infected the people, leaving them weak and vulnerable enough to be captured by the Babylonians. They became long haulers who were scattered about in foreign lands.

They needed a Savior.

Isaiah 40 (New Revised Standard Version)

Comfort, O comfort my people,
    says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that she has served her term,
    that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

But then God declared that their term of isolation had ended. God would bring not only comfort, but redemption.

3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.

Where in your life are you lacking comfort? Aside from the pandemic, where are you crying out for redemption? Are there addictions, relationships, economic realities, or sinful behaviors that are making you cry out for relief? Where do you need to be healed?

These words are for YOU. God is preparing a way in your wilderness. He is flattening all the obstacles that are blocking your path. He is raising up a valley of help and resources to meet your situation. He is leveling your playing field.

What are you to do? Look. Follow. Be obedient to the changes that he is requiring. Listen to his words and HEED them. Only then will the glory of his redemption be revealed in your life.

5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all people shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The mouth of the Lord has spoken! His words bring comfort. Open your ears and listen.

The Glory of the Lord is Revealed by Michelle Robertson