Advent Meditations 2017 by Saint Michael and All Angels

Advent Meditations 2017

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (1806 - 1858) The Annunciation Paper, watercolor, white, 1850 26x39 cm The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia

Table of Contents

Rectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Introduction

December 3 (1st Sunday in Advent) 6 December 4

December 5

December 6 (Feast of St. Nicholas)

December 7

December 8

December 9

December 10 (2nd Sunday in Advent)

December 11

December 12

December 13

December 14

December 15

December 16

December 17 (3rd Sunday in Advent

December 18

December 19

December 20

December 21

December 22

December 23

December 24 (4th Sunday in Advent / Christmas Eve)

December 25 (Christmas Day)

Advent Meditations 2017 Year 2 from the Book of Common Prayer Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary

Christmas is very near and as we anticipate the great celebration, the joys of the holiday season are all around us. As Episcopalians we live in this beautiful season of Advent, anticipating the joy of Christmas, and you are invited to prepare with our Saint Michael family! Our Christian journey tells us that we may travel through dark places during our lives but our stories do not end in darkness. The hope of Christ moves us from the dark places to the light. We are children of God, born with hope inside us. The promise God makes through Christ is that we can be transformed into the people God dreams us to be, and this transformation happens when we commit to one another in communities of faith like Saint Michael. Together, and with Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s help, we make the great promise of hope a reality. Our witness bears the hopefulness of Christ into a world that too often forgets that hope is real. As we prepare our hearts and minds for the joy of Christmas Day, I pray renewed strength and energy upon each one of us, that our passion will spread and inspire our world. May this Advent season plant a new hope inside each of you as we walk this journey together! Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata Rector

December 3

1st Sunday in Advent

Eric Liles

Isaiah 64:1-9 | Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 | 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 | Mark 13:24-37 Advent is the most important time of year for me. It offers a new beginning: a chance to reflect upon the past year, make adjustments to my faith practices, and to take on a seasonal spiritual discipline. This first Sunday of Advent we are met with stark and pertinent readings. We cry out for God because of our pain and discomfort in this broken and confusing world and we are reminded that our pain and discomfort come because we have sought our own human ways instead of God’s ways. The book of Isaiah reminds us of the disastrous effects of separating ourselves from God. “There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:7-8). It is a challenge to my ego to be reminded that I am a creature: made, sustained, redeemed without my control, without my initiative. As a creature, I lack the power to do these things. I am absolutely dependent upon the living God. The Psalmist cries out, “Stir up your might and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved” (Psalm 80:3). I hear in these words an echo of the Aaronic blessing, “The LORD bless you and keep you: The LORD lift his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Numbers 6:22-27). We are all in need of God’s restoration. We need our lives to be restored into proper intimate relationship with God. We need our world to be restored to its proper place as God’s good creation. We cannot do these things on our own. We need God to save us. Advent is the time we prepare for the coming of Christ into our lives. Of course, Christ is already in our lives, but I find that during Advent each year, if I allow, Christ shows up in new and surprising ways. We know that Christ will come again, but we know not when. Our charge is to keep alert, to be prepared for the master’s return. This season of Advent is our annual reminder to do just so. To set before ourselves what is truly important in God’s kingdom, to prepare, to make room in our hearts, and to greet the King upon his return. “Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” BCP 211

December 4

Charles Groves

Amos 2:6-16 | Psalm 1, 2, 3 | 2 Peter 1:1-11 | Matthew 21:1-11 Are you nearsighted? Me too. A lot of us are. Especially nearsighted spiritually. This seems to be the kind of nearsightedness the apostle Peter speaks of in verse 9 of the first chapter of his letter of 2 Peter when he says, “Anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind....” (2 Peter 1:9) Lacks what things? Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, mutual affection, and love. (2 Peter 1:5-6) What can I do about this? Remind myself of the truths stated earlier in this passage that: God’s power has given me everything needed for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) God has given us great, precious promises. Here are some of them: I came for you to have life fully. (John 10:10) I will never leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) I am always with you. (Matthew 28:20) There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) According to Peter, I should make every effort to add to my faith the attributes of goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, and love. (2 Peter 1:5) Result? I will not be ineffective as a Christian. Nor apparently any longer spiritually nearsighted. (2 Peter 1:8)

December 5

Terry Demler

Amos 3:1-11 | Psalm 5, 6 | 2 Peter 1:12-21 | Matthew 21:12-22 “Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you.” (2 Peter 1:12). We can all relate to Peter as we spend a good deal of our time reminding ourselves and families of things every day. Pick up your clothes, do your homework, pick up bread on the way home, get the clothes at the cleaners, write that note, send a card, start the washer, etc. Our phones buzz to remind us about meetings and events, people to meet and schedules to keep. But Peter is reminding us that he was an eye witness to the transfiguration of Christ. That he heard the voice of God coming from heaven saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”. Jesus was appointed by God as the Messiah and Peter, a witness, wants to refresh our memory. Remind us that these words are true, that the prophetic message was confirmed. For me, it is a beautiful message to be reminded of daily. Of all the things that are on my mind the love I have for God and the love I receive from God should be at the top of my daily reminder list. But how do I help to remind others? A text? An e-mail? A phone call? A conversation? I would say yes to all of these! We have so many opportunities each day to share the love we receive from Jesus. The embrace we share with family and friends, the smile in our eyes for a stranger, the words of comfort given to a soul in need. Not just an automatic “how are you?” but a “how are you?” that we really mean. A “how are you?” that we stop and wait for a response to. A “how are you?” that shares the love of Christ and the truth of His caring for all of his children. “I think it right, as long as I am in this body to refresh your memory”. (2 Peter 1:13). “And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things”. (2 Peter 1:15). May we all refresh our reminder lists.

December 6 Feast of St. Nicholas

Rich Towers

Amos 3:12-4:5 | Psalm 119:1-24 | 2 Peter 3:1-10 | Matthew 21:23-32 “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15 Saint Nicholas visited my church the Fourth Sunday of Advent in 1997! I was working at a church in a farming town and we decided to have a Christmas party for the children of migrant workers who were still in town after the harvest. We decided that it would be wonderful if Saint Nick would visit and give gifts to the all the children in attendance. To my chagrin, Saint Nicholas arrived early and while Eucharist was being distributed. He slipped in the main door of the church but it was hard to go unnoticed because the doors of the nave opened right on to the street and in upstate New York winter had already arrived. The jolly fellow brought a rush of cold air in with him as he tried to sit inconspicuously in the last pew. Most were unable to resist looking back at the very late arrival. As soon as the children realized who had entered they began whispering excitedly, “Santa Claus! He is here! At our church!” Not wanting to seem impious, the visitor came forward to altar rail to receive communion! He was the very last person to receive communion and he had to stand all alone as he waited for a spot at the communion rail to clear. All alone, and all eyes on him, Saint Nicholas, Fourth Century Bishop of Myra, came forward and received communion on bended knee. While the whole congregation got a kick out of that, I cringed a little for fear we had mixed our messages. But as I think back on that moment, I have to look at it in another light. Instead of mixing metaphors, we got everything in order. Even great Saint Nicholas bowed before God in prayer and received the Blessed Sacrament. Many stories of his kindness, courage, and healing having been preserved. Saint Nicholas has long been a patron to those who sometimes feel helpless, like children, sailors, and even merchants. Helplessness can overwhelm us. Admitting our vulnerability and asking for God’s strength is a very important step in our spiritual maturity. Feeling helpless is part of being a human being, we cannot always control what happens to us and we are all bound by the two great mysteries of birth and death. Christians wait expectantly for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus and we take a moment to reflect that God showed God’s love through a helpless baby born to a scared family who likely had little money. Their deep trust in God was a response to helplessness that we would do well to imitate.

December 7

Sallie Plummer

Amos 4:6-13 | Psalm 18:1-20 | 2 Peter 3:11-18 | Matthew 21:33-46

In this frenetic time of holiday preparation, we can all too easily lose touch with the true importance of Advent. If we allow ourselves to turn inward away from all the material trappings that all too quickly dominate our thoughts during this season, there is the opportunity to envision our lives as Christians and what those promises are that lie ahead. We celebrate the Christ who became man and his lessons for what our lives can and should be. Opening our hearts to the Hope for what is to come is Christ’s gift to us, and to embrace that gives us His vision for our future and the guarantee of His Second Coming. Building community as Christians and in turn strengthening our Church Foundation fulfills the promise of His presence. In the words of Thomas Merton: “What is uncertain is not the coming of Christ, but our own reception of Him, our own response to Him, our own readiness and capacity to go forth and meet him.” The last two years have been a lesson in what happens when life gets in the way and how to hold onto Faith in the darkest of times. In a four-month period, my husband, Brown, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and my son, JD, sustained a traumatic brain injury as the result of a medical error. The weeks and months that followed have been and continue to be lessons in patience, tenacity, forgiveness, frustration, and acceptance of what I could not control. Brown’s death and JD’s brain injury, while heartbreaking, have afforded me a strengthening of Faith. Christ did not allow these sorrows to happen but he has walked and continues to walk each step of this journey with me. It was and is the gift of my community of loving family, friends and mighty prayer warriors who have kept me in the light. Most importantly, knowing Christ’s presence has given me the rest I needed and the strength to meet each day with Hope for what is to come. The reality is He is always present and that is the most precious of gifts. Christ is nigh and I give thanks!

December 8

Eric Conner

Amos 5:1-17 | Psalm 16, 17 | Jude 1-16 | Matthew 22:1-14 “For many are called, but few are chosen”. This Gospel excerpt is familiar to many of us as is the parable encapsulated in it. One interpretation of the parable is that God bestowed on the Jews distinguished honor (by providing for them a “hospitable table”), but they continued to reject the honor bestowed upon them. When invited, they found earthly reasons to reject the invitation and tend to their own desires. Since the original ones, called the Jews, are not receptive, God expands the invitation to the Gentiles (those “in the streets”). The custom in ancient times was to provide a festive garment, which was to be worn to honor the host. I do not know if those who don’t “wear the wedding robe” are those lacking faith or those not exhibiting a holy life. I see the man not wearing the garment as today’s hypocrite, who attends church or professes to be a faithful Christian, but only under their own terms, unwilling to receive salvation without satisfying their own conditions. Other examples, are highlighted in the readings, where those who were handed virtue and gifts did not use them righteously. This includes the Israelites led out of the wilderness, the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah, Korah’s rebellion against Moses and Aaron, or Cain! I am certainly ready to be called, but am I ready to be chosen? Many times, I find myself too busy with earthly endeavors to even attend the banquet. Then, when I do attend, I am not humble enough to receive the gifts I have been given. I think it is only in those moments of humility that I truly experience God’s grace. When I listen, when I am prayerfully ready to receive, when I have emptied myself of those earthly treasures that don’t matter, then I am closer to being chosen. As I enter this Advent season, I want to be more acutely aware of what it means to be chosen, and more succinctly, what is required to be chosen. May the blessings of the season be an inspiration to all of us!

December 9

Nancy Somodevilla

Amos 5:18-27 | Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14) | Jude 17-25 | Matthew 22:15-22

I wonder when my time comes to meet with God face to face what I most want to ask about all the mysteries of this life on Earth. More importantly, I wonder what would God want to ask me about my time here on this beautiful planet and my time with my family and friends. I think God might want to know whether I did those things I was supposed to do but I think that God would really want to know, Did you celebrate and enjoy every day that you were there? What was the most beautiful place you ever saw? What made you have to sit down and laugh? What and who inspired you most? Whose life did you make better and who made your life better? How many times did you say I love you and give someone a hug? Did you know that when terrible things happened that I was with you? The readings for today are difficult in that they challenge our motives for our actions. Amos warns about formality and overt displays of religiosity just to attract attention or thinking that we can earn God’s favor or control God’s actions. The psalms celebrate our actions on behalf of God in the world. It goes on to state, “you gladden Him with the joy of presence.” One hopes that God is pleased with His people and that by our actions and words we show God’s love and presence in the world. Matthew calls us to give to the government and worldly powers what is expected and more importantly to give to God what is God’s. This calls us to give our entire selves to God as a gift. Finally, Jude explains the duties of love and tells us to “keep yourselves within the love of God.” Advent is the season the church celebrates the gift of God coming to us in the birth of the baby Jesus. God so loved us that he sent his Son to live among us and to be fully human and fully divine. God acted first in love and grace. We are called to be children of God in the world and to act on that grace. We are called to show forth God’s love every day and in every action we undertake. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, noted theologian, speaks of costly grace. We cannot merely claim that God saves us by grace, which God does. We can grab that grace, accept it and celebrate it by showing it to the world by what we say and by how we act. Frederick Buechner speaks of grace in his book, Wishful Thinking. Grace is something you can never get but only be given…A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace…The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can separate us. There’s only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it.

December 10 2nd Sunday in Advent

Lisa Flores Musser

Isaiah 40:1-11 | Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 | 2 Peter 3:8-15a | Mark 1:1-8

A voice cries out:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 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. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” These words from the Prophet Isaiah announce that the exile of God’s people in Babylon is over. For us, these words remind us that we are all wilderness people and it is our responsibility to make space and get the obstacles out of the way for God to come to us. I would bet that we have all had a wilderness moment or two in our lives. These wilderness moments happen when we are lost, hopeless, and/or fearful and are symbolic of the inhospitable terrain of much of human life. And yet, it is the wilderness moment that deepens our faith and calls us to a life that is renewed. As a young adult in my 20s, I experienced a time of isolation. Looking back, I see it was young women trying to figure out egos and feelings, but in that moment, it was true wilderness for me. I was isolated because I spoke the truth. In John 8:32, Jesus says, “and the truth will make you free.” There was nothing freeing about this time. If anything, I felt like a prisoner to the loneliness and isolation that I was cast into. There was lots of soul searching. There were tears of lament and crying out, “Why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut?” But you see, the thing about keeping your mouth shut, it doesn’t work. Just as the Old Testament prophets spoke the truth, we must speak our truth as well. When we do just that, the obstacles, the walls, the barriers that block our path to God crumble and we are present to God’s glory in our lives. I told the truth to my friends and I was cast out. I told the truth to myself and God provided a path to a greater truth – love of myself and new life. As we continue our Advent journey, may those of you that are in the midst of the wilderness know that you are not alone. Truth-telling is part of the Christian life. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is really hard, but if we can be truthful with ourselves and God, then it is only a matter of time before God’s glory is revealed to us.

December 11

Mark Demler

Amos 7:1-9 | Psalm 25 | Revelation 1:1-8 | Matthew 22:23-33

“You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.” Jesus, ever the teacher, began an answer to the Sadducees in this way according to Matthew. As I reflect on my own spiritual journey, the truth of this statement resonates loudly. We are, however, extremely fortunate here at Saint Michael and All Angels to be provided with plentiful resources to constantly build our knowledge and witness the power of God. Sermon series, formation classes, EfM, and bible classes are just a sampling of the many ways we are encouraged to build our understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Not only are we provided the opportunity to learn, but we are also asked to integrate these learnings into our daily lives as Christians. Routinely asked of us, is to be an evangelist. I must admit that this is a difficult task. Feeling like I am just beginning to understand my own religious path, it is uncomfortable to reach out to others to walk this path with me. Being bold and inviting, however, seems to be the message spoken to me as I read the lessons for today. In Revelation 1:3, we are introduced to the first of seven beatitudes: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophesy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it; for the time is near.” It is not enough just to believe, but we should lead by example. As we learn from our teachers we should spread that learning through outreach to others. This seems particularly appropriate in this season of Advent. Revelation 1:8 says, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” These words are inspiring as we prepare for the coming of Jesus. Is there a better way to live out these teachings than to invite others to join us? We are blessed with the resources we have at Saint Michael and All Angels, let’s share them!

December 12

Mary Ann Webster

Amos 7:10-17, 24-25 | Psalm 26, 28 | Revelation 1:9-16 | Matthew 22:34-46 Prophecy and Law are familiar to the Jewish audience of the author of Matthew whose purpose was to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. Prophecy is before us often in this season. We hear it early in Matthew as Elizabeth speaks prophetically when the child in her womb, John the Baptist, as we come to know him, leaps within her as she greets Mary by proclaiming the child in Mary’s womb as her Lord. We will hear prophecy again in the latter part of today’s reading from Matthew ~ this time from David as Jesus questions the Pharisees about who is the Messiah. But before Jesus turns the questioning on them, we see the Pharisees give one more try at besting Jesus. After hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees when they had asked about the resurrection - using the example of a brother having to marry the wife of a deceased brother ending with their suppositions completely refuted when Jesus says, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). The Pharisees began by inquiring which commandment was the greatest. Matthew’s audience was grounded in the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, so this seems like a subject they would have avoided. Perhaps they were thinking Jesus would pick one from the Ten Commandments, and then they would give the great Aha! and quote back to him the Commandment around which Jewish life and liturgy is based. Their attempt at tricking him did not go well. And thus in Matthew 22:34-40 we have Jesus laying down the priority for loving God and neighbor on which would hang all the Law and the Prophets. The prophecy of David is used in Jesus’ line of questioning to the Pharisees. “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” Matthew 22:42. So quoting from Psalm 110:1, Jesus adeptly cites David’s prophecy and they test him no more. What does this have to teach us today? I would invite you to join with me in asking these questions: What do you think about the Messiah, the Christ? Where do you encounter Christ? Is it only through Scripture, or are you encountering the living Christ still? Gracious God, the Giver of Life, give us new ways to acknowledge you as our Lord. Pierce us with new understandings of your Word. Give us an inquisitive mind in seeking to know you better and to recognize you as you would have us see you. Ground us in you as we daily live. We ask this in your Holy and Blessed Name. Amen.

December 13

Elizabeth Lang

Amos 8:1-14 | Psalm 38 | Revelation 1:17-2:7 | Matthew 23:1-12

The time is surely coming says the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing of the words of the LORD. Amos 8:11 Once upon a time, I had a dream. The dream revealed a crowd of people wearing beigelike, colorless clothing. A tan cloud like a windless sandstorm engulfed them and obscured their vision. (This cloud was the opposite of the one guiding the people of God in Exodus; instead of guiding, it obscured the way.) These people could not see their neighbors or a neighbor’s need. Although the crowd moved, the people were sleepwalking. This group was lost. I grieved for them; they were numb and barely alive. I felt compassion for them, my neighbors. How could they be awakened? The Sunday after my dream, Andy McCarthy preached on Amos and his vision of the famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Then I realized that my dream showed a people so blind that they could not hear the word of God or notice its power to give life. Another story: I was working at Sewanee with Christian educators. These were professionals – priests and laity. We were interpreting the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-20) and wondered whether our intellect blocked insight into the parable. We decided to act out the parable silently, imaginatively, and physically. I was a farmer scattering seed extravagantly everywhere. A “bird” approached flapping his arms. I held out my hand filled with seeds, and he flew past. After the exercise, I asked him why he passed by without eating. He said that he was too hungry to stop and eat. I wonder how many people are so frantic that they cannot feed on the word of God for which they hunger. These two incidents and Amos leave me wondering: How do we reach people who hunger for spiritual nourishment but who are too busy to stop and eat? How do we awaken to our own and our neighbors’ need for the word of God? Savior God, whose word created life and was spoken by Your prophets, open our hearts to our hunger for You, open our eyes to see our neighbor’s need, open our ears to hear Your words, and open our hands to receive You. Amen

December 14

Byrd Teague

Amos 9:1-10 | Psalm 37:1-18 | Revelation 2:8-17 | Matthew 23:13-26 The readings for today all concern resisting temptation and sin in order to do God’s works. In Amos 9:1-10 God tells his people to shake the columns of the temples, until the walls tremble in order to kill all the sinners. He wants to seek the sinners out and destroy them. When the stragglers are killed by his sword, he promises the believers new growth and good life with abundance. Matthew 23:13-26 speaks to the Pharisees and hypocrites, whom he calls blind fools. When they shut the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven to others, they don’t go in themselves. When you swear by the altar, you swear by God’s throne and by God, who sits on the throne. The hypocrites might tithe a small amount but ignore the more important aspects of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. They might clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is full of hypocrisy, and lawlessness. Revelations 2:8-17 tells us to shed our sins and be forgiven. You will receive manna from heaven and a white stone engraved with a new name understood only by you. All of these readings call for purity of spirit and abandonment of sin and hypocrisy. We should strive to do good works, and all will be good in our lives. This all sounds easy but should be an ongoing goal for all.

December 15

Ross Badgett

Haggai 1:1-15 | Psalm 31 | Revelation 2:18-29 | Matthew 23:27-39

My Bible Study recently finished a book called Making Sense of the Bible by a prominent Methodist pastor named Adam Hamilton. I found it very helpful because it tackles difficult questions about the Bible, including some I’ve spent years wrestling with. It’s not an exegesis per se, so much as an exploration of the circumstances surrounding Biblical writings, how the Bible came to be, and how we as modern Christians can frame our reading of these ancient texts using all of the knowledge at our disposal. I’ve always had difficulty wrapping my head around Revelation, and Making Sense of the Bible helped me greatly in understanding its purpose and the author’s ultimate goals. Contextually, we know that Revelation’s author was partially foretelling the downfall of the Roman Empire. The author’s concern is, as Hamilton puts it, “… to encourage and challenge first-century Christians living in what is now Turkey to stop conforming to the culture around them, and to avoid anything that smacked of the worship of Rome, its emperor, and its Gods.” To get everyone’s attention, the author adopted an apocalyptic writing style, quite familiar to Christians and Jews in his era. Today’s passage is addressed to one of the seven churches in modern day Turkey named in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation. The author is partially complimentary about their efforts building the Christian church in Thyatira, but they have a problem: Jezebel. She is leading the people astray into idolatry (via eating food sacrificed to pagan gods) and sexual immorality. Other than sharing a name with the Jezebel married to King Ahab in I and II Kings, we know nothing about Thyatira’s Jezebel. Is she a person, a faction, or perhaps a metaphorical representation of something else? Certainly her name is metaphorical - the Jezebel of I and II Kings took advantage of Ahab’s weakness to lead the Israelites astray in a manner similar to what Thyatira is experiencing. Maybe Jezebel is some sort of Roman entity. Whoever or whatever Jezebel might be, her distraction is preventing the church in Thyatira from truly worshipping God as they have been called to do. Their growth is stunted because they are spending so much of their time yielding to temptation. We might not have personal problems quite like what Thyatira was experiencing, but we certainly have a slew of demands on our time during a season as busy as Advent. It can be hard to strike a balance at all, and the temptation to allow the season to sweep us up (that is, not be intentional with our time) is strong. But the other overall message of Revelation, as described by Hamilton in Making Sense of the Bible, is a hopeful one: “… even if the decision [to conform to Roman norms] were costly, they would be okay in the end, for Rome would be defeated and God’s kingdom would prevail.” We’re all human, so we’re exceedingly unlikely to get through this season without yielding to some of the temptations we face. But when we celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas, we’re reminded that God’s kingdom will prevail anyway, and God’s grace is offered to us despite our choices to follow temptation. Thanks be to God! 18

December 16

Greg Pickens

Haggai 2:1-19 | Psalm 30, 32 | Revelation 3:1-6 | Matthew 24:1-14 The Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. This collect is one of my favorites because it invites us to contemplate the consonance of the words “greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer”. To be sure, the many faith traditions of Christianity engage these words with an array of theologies tailored to their members. However, all believers are called to remember that God the Father sent the prophets of the Old Testament as well as God the Son to break the power of sin in our lives and prepare us for the full inauguration of the Kingdom. This brings us back to our collect and its peculiar use of “greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer”. Some Scriptures indicate the next coming of Jesus will inspire something like the old definition of “fear”, meaning a dread and reverence for God. Take some time now and read John 14:1-10, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:4, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7, and Luke 21:25-28. From these verses, the witness is that Jesus will return for us; the witness also informs us that the second coming will fill us with fear and awe. Greet with joy? It appears like it will not be a comfortable time to live through. This vision of the second coming can be hard for people to stomach: lightning, tumult, the loss of things familiar, and the return of Lord Himself. I can’t imagine many people actually thirsting to be in the middle of that. One way to honor our sacred writings and still have our sights set on heaven is to create an icon of the scriptural image of Jesus’ return. As an icon, we may acknowledge the reality of the events of Jesus’ return but also see through them to what is on the other side. Using Jesus’ return as an icon helps me to greet the descriptions of that time with actual joy. That the Second Coming will fill me with dread and reverence for God strikes me as good and true; and whatever my experience of it, I am preparing to make it into that place where I may sing my alleluias to the One on the throne of heaven and earth with Christ as my Savior. Find some time today and contemplate the Second Coming. It holds a preeminent place in our creedal faith; even so be assured that we, as believers, may greet His coming with joy as long as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is our advocate and guide.

December 17 3rd Sunday in Advent

Bob Johnston

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 | Psalm 126 | 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 | John 1:6-8,19-28

The season of Advent seeks to prepare us to fully remember God taking on flesh in the Incarnation and to have us reflect on Jesus’ coming again in glory in the fullness of time. As such, we may not explicitly reflect much on the Holy Spirit. Today, however, our readings take us in that direction. The Holy Spirit is vital and marks out the direction of ministry. In Isaiah, we hear that the Spirit of the Lord is upon the writer because the writer has been anointed to do certain things— things we know are at the heart of God’s Kingdom. Indeed, as Jesus’ public ministry begins, he returns in the power of the Spirit from his time in the desert and reads this very passage from Isaiah in the synagogue and says it has been fulfilled in their hearing. Luke 4:16-21. Isaiah’s prophetic words are in many respects Jesus’ mission statement. As Christ followers, we too lean into this mission given to Isaiah by the Holy Spirit and embraced by Jesus. We see the Holy Spirit’s leading throughout the approach of the birth of the Christ child. In this regard, in our Gospel reading, we encounter John the Baptist as a prophetic voice in the wilderness. We are mindful that he represents a prophetic voice functioning as Elijah calling people to prepare because something new is happening. His prophetic voice again raises the link of the prophetic with the movement of the Holy Spirit as we see throughout the pages of Scripture. John the Baptist is undoubtedly sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in his work of preparing the way. The Holy Spirit speaks through him and is involved in every aspect of Jesus’ coming and taking on human flesh. So too the Holy Spirit is involved in every aspect of ministry in the world as we head towards the second coming. In continuity with these activities, the Holy Spirit also impacts each of us in living out our Christian life. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers ministry, brings gifts, guides, and convicts. While clearly important, the Holy Spirit’s movement in us is not fully automatic. Our second reading includes St. Paul telling the Thessalonians not to quench the Spirit. Apparently, one can quench or tamp down the work of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. Our time of reflection in Advent includes not merely identifying the work of the Holy Spirit but holding ourselves open as vessels to allow God’s life-changing, love-filled ministry to work in and through us.

December 18

Celise Stephenson

Zechariah 1:7-17 | Psalm 41, 52 | Revelation 3:7-13 | Matthew 24:15-31 “There is nothing as dreamy and poetic, nothing as radical, subversive, and psychedelic, as mathematics.” –Paul Lockhart When I was a child, my father re-shingled a portion of our roof which had been damaged by wind, rain, pine needles and pecans. He borrowed a scaffold, set ropes around the trees on either side over the roof, and attached a rope to a belt around his waist. After a good number of shingles had been hammered in place, and before my brother was commended for his good help and set free, I had climbed the scaffold. My father, with sweat running down his temples and into his eyebrows, allowed me up on the roof. He told me to pull the ring from the silver case he held in his hand and to walk carefully to the opposite edge. A blue string uncoiled from the case and followed me to the edge. I measured as he instructed and, with the string taut, we snapped it against the last laid row of new shingles. It left a perfectly straight blue line, which was our guideline for the new row of shingles. It was a strange color of blue, matching nothing in my 64-crayon set. It was no color of eyes, or clothes, or sky. It was made to wash away a private measuring. If I were a subatomic particle of a chalk line on a roof, and I looked around for company, I might find an eternity of space between myself and a like neighbor. I might conclude that I, as He of Whose Image and Likeness I Am, own all of eternity and infinitude and am co-Creator of all measuring lines which have no beginning and no end. I am neither here nor there, but stretch from one end of the heavens to the other. If I were a girl on a roof in my own private Jerusalem, I might remember, in my old age, that particular color of blue and the smell of chalk on my fingers and my father’s weary brow and the sun bursting with vigor on the roof beams, when we lived in radical beauty, under mercy and perfection, set like shingles at the measuring line.

December 19

Richard Kilgore

Zechariah 2:1-13 | Psalm 45 | Revelation 3:14-22 | Matthew 24:32-44

For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17 Pretty strong words. The author of Revelation is writing to the church at Laodicea. His letters are all carefully tailored to the Christian community he is addressing, and Laodicea is an affluent community. A complacently affluent one. Human nature and the need for an illusion of self-sufficiency and distance from a sense of needing God seems to persist over the centuries. Perhaps even further back, when we were first emerging and developing oral language, we squatted around the night’s fire, content with the day’s kill and full bellies, glowing with our prosperity and proudly recounting our skill during the hunt. What more could we need? I know your works. You are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3: 15 - 16 Harsh! Is this all the writer has to offer the Laodiceans? Of course not. The confrontation is balanced with love, comfort, and invitation. An expectation of action, and the embracing of the repentant community. Then this question: Does the writer speak to us, also? Are there days, weeks, months, years when I am neither hot nor cold? Only lukewarm? Much too pleased with myself? Do I work, consciously or not, to maintain a distance from God, from any reliance or dependency on God? I certainly have the opportunities. Take health and medicine, for example. When our ancestors prayed, “If I should die before I wake….” Dying before waking was a real possibility – at any age. Likewise praying for “our daily bread”. With the truly wonderful advances in medical technology and treatment and the continual lengthening of the lifespan, it is easy to leave our relationship with God out of the picture in our day to day thinking about our health and the health of our families, as well as when a threat to health confronts us. That is, unless we have nurtured that relationship as a part of our daily lives. Perhaps in prayer, discussion, and action, we can find ways even in our hurried lives, to grow our relationship with God, the Christ, and this his community. For me, bible study with others and regular contemplative prayer allow me space and time for me to allow a sense of the presence of God personally in my life and in this my community. When I am absent, or absent myself, from either of these or weekly worship, I can tell the difference. The difference is not small. Your path may be different, of course. In what ways, can we engage God and this community, his church on Douglas Avenue? Lord, let us be more aware of your presence in our lives. Let us find a way to be independent, achieving and prosperous without being smug, without denying you. Let us not be lukewarm. Amen. 22

December 20

Anna Paccone

Zechariah 3:1-10 | Psalm 119:49-72 | Revelation 4:1-8 | Matthew 24:45-51 In today’s Gospel reading and the portion of Psalm 119, I am reminded that I am expected to be obedient to God’s will. Those who know me will not be surprised when I say that the word obedience causes me to bristle just a bit. I never liked being told what I had to do. Then I discovered Joan Chittister’s explanation and realized that obedience to Gods will is freeing. She has described obedience as “sensitivity to the impulses of grace in our lives”. Chittister suggests that when we talk about obedience to God we are talking about a vow “to obey the word of God in our life, to understand that there is something other than ourselves that should be directing” what we do with our lives. That there is a God and it is not us. When I truly accepted this it was a WOW moment for me. If I listen for God’s guidance and follow his lead I don’t have to be “in control” of everything. The three parables in Matthew 24 tell us to always be alert and ready for the coming of Christ. In the parable of the Faithful or Unfaithful Servant, Jesus tells us to do the right thing even when we think no one is looking and to expect no reward. In this way, we prepare ourselves to meet Christ. I can’t be “good” tomorrow or next week to make up for those times I am mean or spiteful today. During Advent as I prepare for the birth of Jesus, it is a perfect time to regularly find a quiet spot to be still, to listen and to be sensitive to those impulses of grace that wash over us daily. Today I will listen for God’s guidance and direction for my life and then take action. “Lord Christ, grant me the ability to go with you and withdraw from the sometimes feverish and confusing world which seems so often to surround me. Grant me to make of you my companion, that with you I may find that peace and clarity which can so easily elude me.“ - Mark Anschutz

December 21

Rene Somodevilla

Job 42:1-6 | Psalm 23, 121 | Isaiah 43:8-13 | John 14:1-7

On this nineteenth day of the Season of Advent, the annual season of preparation, Christmas music, and store displays have been present with us for more than a month. The secular world poses many seductive lures to distract us from the main point of this time of the year, which is to be prepared to receive the Christ Child on Christmas Day. I know that I get distracted by all these presentations of a season yet to come. In five more days, God invades our world as a newborn with the message of Peace, Goodwill, and Love. Things that our credit cards cannot buy and our positions cannot obtain. These are the gifts that the Christ Child brings to us. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gospel reading, Jesus is bringing comfort to His disciples when they ask about his departure. After the Last Supper, Jesus reassures those around Him that He is going to prepare a place where they will be received and will know the Father. We have spent time, money, and effort getting our homes ready for the Christmas season with a tree, ornaments, bows, yard decorations, and hundreds of lights to mention a few things we have done. Last Sunday our family gathered to dress our tree and to have supper together. A lot of work and effort goes into getting our homes ready, not to say anything about shopping!! All this poses the following question: How am I preparing my spirit for this miracle? It is my prayer that during this Holy Season of Advent, we take the time and effort getting our spiritual homes ready to receive the Christ Child. Our Heavenly Father, in you we live, move and have our being. In this season of preparation, may your Holy Spirit guide our hearts and our minds that we may receive your Son with excitement, and a commitment to follow Him always. Amen.

December 22

Bill Murray

Zechariah 7:8-8:8 | Psalm 40, 54 | Revelation 5:6-14 | Matthew 25:14-30 Advent is supposed to be that time when we wait for the birth of the Christ child. While the world is singing carols, shopping, wishing each other well, and trying to engage God, the church has been moved often into the awkward position of Grinch or Scrooge- we say “wait.” Except that is not the purpose of Advent. We are called to think on God’s presence with us even as we prepare for Christ’s return. It is a time to reflect on the deep mysteries of the season- NOT ignore them or shush the wonder of the moment. I am simply drawn every year to the moment when God chooses to be born among poor, marginal folks in a forgotten corner of an empire. Specifically, I want to go to the manger and see the infant Christ, the incarnate God. I want to marvel at the creator of all in the form of a vulnerable, human infant. This moment is stark, amazing, and deeply theological. In the form of a child, God needs. Despite all of the theological trouble this can bring, we are presented with the very practical reality that as an infant incarnate in this world, God needs care, food, support, protection, and love. In this humble beginning, Jesus quite literally requires all that any infant requires. So, God transforms the lives of May and Joseph like billions before and since. Wisely, God calls professional caretakers, the shepherds, to come and share in this moment where a very human family is born. If we are followers of this God, then Christ presents us with a powerful image. Here is an example of God vulnerable. We come seeking answers and find that if God can be weak and in need, then so can we. Of course, the reality is that we are always in deep and lasting need. While God chooses to come in humility, we live in constant want. Realizing this need, opening ourselves to this humility allows God to transform us, to shift our focus from ourselves to others, and to provide God with that opening in our hearts. Strangely, we can find that being broken, wounded, scared, fearful, worried, stressed, and harried allows God into our lives and very existence. We can realize that we are needy, vulnerable creatures who cry out like an infant for care, for hope, for love. We seek a shepherd to keep us from danger and protect us in a deep and starry night. We long for a divine Father to love us beyond all reason. Yet, when we go to the manger, we discover that Christ is there wanting the very same from us. There is a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes crying out to us to provide nourishment, protection, hope, and love. If we are paying attention and truly preparing for Christ, then we are drawn outside of ourselves and utterly transformed by a God strong enough to be vulnerable, willing to be the very least in creation. We learn that there is hope in reaching out in love.

December 23

Lauren Wainwright

Zechariah 8:9-17 | Psalm 55 | Revelation 6:1-17 | Matthew 25:31-46

Are you a sheep or a goat? Today’s lesson from Matthew seems almost a combination of part parable and part apocalyptic reading. In this passage, we find Jesus separating those on his right hand (sheep) for the kingdom of God and those on his left hand (goats) for the fires below. Why the comparison of sheep and goats? Let’s look at what we know about sheep and goats. Sheep are gentle, quiet, and easily led animals. Goats, on the other hand, are pushy, self-sufficient, and headstrong. It is the sheep that acted charitably, giving food, drink, and clothing to the needy. The goats showed no mercy. Similarly, we all know of other Bible passages that speak of sheep. In the Parable of the Good Shepherd, we are the sheep and look to Jesus as our shepherd to lead us down the right path. Through stories like this and others, we know that we as sheep will love God’s people. As followers of Christ, we are asked to treat others with kindness, serving them as if they were serving Christ Himself. So what of the goats? In his book, Love Wins, Rob Bell says that “Often the people most concerned about others going to hell when they die seem less concerned with the hells on earth right now, while the people most concerned with the hells on earth right now seem the least concerned about hell after death.” But in this passage, we discover that Jesus sees how we live our lives now as being connected to our eternal life. When we choose to do charitable acts, do we do them for the right reasons or for the wrong reasons? Do we hope to receive accolades or do we honestly serve from our hearts? Also, we often look at this passage and think about ourselves as the people who are helping and serving others. But, we could also read this story and think of ourselves as the people who need help. Because sometimes, we do need help. Have you ever been hungry or thirsty or felt alone in a new place? “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Dare to be that stranger and remember how it feels to be new and alone. Consequently, welcome those around you and reach out to your neighbors. Take care of those whom you meet but also remember it’s okay to need help sometimes too.

December 24

4th Sunday in Advent / Christmas Eve

Mary Lessmann

Isaiah 9:2-7 | Psalm 96 | Titus 2:11-14 | Luke 2:1-20 This past summer I had some friends over to watch the total solar eclipse. As you know, we in Dallas weren’t in the path of totality, but we had the weather channel on and it was covering all the areas of totality in the country. As full coverage was due to make landfall in Oregon, we were surprised that it continued to be a full, sunny day there. The weather channel reporter was chatting away in clear view in the final seconds as the moon approached full coverage of the sun. And then – BAM! – Total darkness. The screen went black, and we entered the first period of total darkness that would play across the country for the next 90 minutes. Our passage from Isaiah begins, “The people who walked in darkness…those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” Whether we look at the situation that Isaiah is speaking into or the situation that Jesus enters into, the people are indeed living in great darkness. In Isaiah’s time, it was the threat of the Assyrians who had already taken out their neighbors. In Jesus’ time, it was Israel’s occupation by Rome. God’s people had fallen on hard times. They were being subjugated by others, unable to chart their own course, and it had been a long time since they had heard a word from God. Into this, Isaiah reminds us of God’s promise. “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us…His authority shall grow continually and there shall be endless peace.” God has not abandoned us to our situation. We may know darkness – not just the darkness of the world but the darkness of our own lives. We may know the darkness of fear or loneliness or illness. But God is persistent in his efforts to bring us into the light. He tells us, “You have felt separated from me, that I have been distant, but that is no more. I come to you as a babe, as a child. I come into your situation as one of you, and I will never leave you alone.” We have made our Advent journey through the darkness toward the light – and we have arrived. Like Mary, let us ponder in our hearts the joy of knowing our darkness has been pierced by the light and warmth and hope of new life, and the promise of God’s presence among us. 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.

December 25 Christmas Day

Chris Girata

Isaiah 52:7-10 | Psalm 98 | Hebrews 1:1-4 | John 1:1-14

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. – John 1:6-8 One morning, in the midst of World War II, a small boy named Alex came across a motorcycle wreck. Alex was from a poor village on the island of Crete, so the wreck intrigued him deeply. The motorcycle had belonged to German soldiers. He saw pieces of broken mirrors from the motorcycle lying on the ground. He tried to put them back together but wasn’t able to, so he took the largest piece and scratched it against a stone until its edges were smoothed and the mirror was round. Alex was fascinated by the way he could use the mirror to shine light into holes and crevices. It became like a game for him, trying to find the smallest, darkest places and trying to reflect light into them. As he grew, he kept that mirror with him and, over time, it came to symbolize something very important: It became a metaphor for what he was called to do with his life. In a very simple way, Alex stumbled upon a profound truth of our lives as Christ followers. We are all like pieces of one immense mirror, sacred little pieces that have the capacity to shine light into the darkest places in the world. Today we celebrate the moment when the Light of the World came to live with us. On Christmas Day, Jesus was born in the humblest way, brought into this world quietly so that the light could grow. Today, as we surround ourselves with those we love, and the memories of those we love and see no longer, we are invited to imagine how we might use our own lives to shine the light of Christ into our world. It is no secret that our world seems to be covered in darkness, with terrible news occupying our minds nearly every day. Yet we are not the kind of people who succumb to fear. We are the kind of people who see the opportunity of Christ in our future. What has happened in the past is in the past, today, we are called to testify to the light, to bear witness to the hopefulness of Christ! This year, as we consider resolutions to help us live better, consider a resolution that centers your soul on the light of Christ and on the ways in which you can reflect that light. How can you resolve to live more generously, more graciously, and with more love this year? You are not alone in your discipleship. God travels each step with you, and you travel with your Saint Michael family. May we all seize this new year and claim our piece of God’s kingdom here on earth, shining the light of Christ in our world as a beacon of holy hope!

Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church 8011 Douglas Avenue Dallas, Texas 75225