PBPC Advent Devotional, Week 1 - Hope
Intro
"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Those words are so familiar that we sometimes forget their depth and majesty. The eternal and pre-eternal, the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Creator and Lord of the cosmos chose to self-limit in order to fit into a human body like us and live among us, joining our social bubble so that we could become family with him.
That's an amazing mystery. We are humbled, and grateful, and moved to worship. We celebrate it especially at Christmas. But centuries ago, the church realized that this was such a great mystery that, in fact, people needed preparation to enter into it fully. So, the church set aside the four weeks before Christmas as Advent, just such a time of preparation.
This eventful 2020 has served up the novel coronavirus with its movement, socializing and lifestyle restrictions and its numerous new normalized practices; economic devastation; street protests; heat waves; drought and raging wildfires with resultant smoky air in the west and sequential hurricanes in the south; political divisiveness and animosity. In our own congregation we have lost members to residential moves and deaths, yet also tried to celebrate new babies we cannot see or hold and a wedding we could not attend. We feel stressed, cooped up, lonely, moody, wary, if not outright fearful. Our world seems topsy turvy, unprecedented in our lifetimes. But God knew all this was coming. He is still in control and is working in and through these times. And now our annual celebration of his coming to earth is upon us. We may not be able to spend time with friends or family except digitally, or distantly and masked. But God is calling us to himself ever more closely.
This year, as you prepare for Christmas, we hope you will carve out some time each day. Spend some moments with God; read and meditate on his word; speak with and listen to him in prayer. And we pray that this devotional guide will serve as a useful starting point for your time.
As you begin each day, take a moment to reflect that you are in God's space. Of course he is with you! Ask him to open your heart and mind to notice and hear his Spirit. Read the day's short passage twice, maybe even aloud. Notice what story element, idea, verse, phrase or even single word grabs your attention. Jot it down. Reflect on it for a minute and ask God what he wants to say to you in it. After you have spent a few minutes with the passage on your own, move on to the other reflections and questions written for that day.
As you conclude your God-time, take a moment and click on the link to the Christmas carol for the week. Enjoy it. And let it be your worship and thanksgiving.
We pray God will meet us afresh in this Advent season, reminding us of his love and renewing our love for him. We pray that he will reveal all over again the mystery of his coming.
Week One – Hope
Hope means we know something good and wonderful is coming but it is not here yet. Long before Jesus came, the Hebrew prophets told the people he was coming. They had to wait and wait. But God was faithful and kept his promise.
Monday
Jeremiah 33:14-16
14 'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 'In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.' (NIV)
The prophet Jeremiah lived and worked about 600 years before Jesus was born. During his life, he saw the Babylonians capture Jerusalem and take its leadership into exile, destroying the nation. Yet, in those darkest times, he spoke these words of hope and promise for a savior who would come. At the time of Jesus, the people were still holding onto that hope, trusting God and longing and waiting for its fulfillment.
Do you have a longing for which you have prayed for months, even years? Write it down. How is your hope and trust in God?
Daily Practice
Pray for that desire today. Ask God to renew your hope for the answer. Thank him for his answer, even now.
Tuesday
Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations. (NRSV)
King David started life as a common shepherd boy, the youngest of eight sons in his family, a life that was full of turns of fortune. He worked as a servant in the king's court. He was a militant who was pursued and persecuted by his king who wanted him dead. Even as king himself, he had his good days and his mess ups. But he knew God and was always honest to God. David wrote this psalm which affirms his faith that God is faithful and good. What God promises, he does. It took 600 years, but God did send the savior he promised to Jeremiah.
Think of three answers to prayer you have seen from God. Write them down. Thank God for them. Reflect on God's love for you, that he hears and answers your prayers.
Daily Practice
Find a stone. Hold it. Turn it in your hand. Notice how solid and unchangeable it is. This stone is like God's faithfulness to fulfill his promises. Put the stone in your pocket or beside your bed for this Advent season. Every time you see or feel your stone, recall God's faithfulness for all generations
Wednesday
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. (NRSV)
During Advent we remember that God came to earth in Jesus and we celebrate that. But we also remember his promise that he will come again on 'the day of the Lord.' Because we trust his faithfulness to keep his promises, we trust this promise too. As Paul says here, it is as inevitable as a woman giving birth after her labor pains start. This gives us hope that God is working his purpose out, even when our vision gets foggy.
How do you feel about the imminence of 'the day of the Lord'? Do you anticipate it with eagerness or dread? Is there anything you want or need to do to get ready?
Daily Practice
Pray the Lord's Prayer. 'Thy kingdom come; thy will be done.'
Thursday
Revelation 21:1-5
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." (NRSV)
John describes the coming of the King to earth on the day of the Lord as like a Bridegroom coming to collect his bride. A time of great joy and celebration. And the Bridegroom will 'make all things new.'
Let your imagination dream about what a completely 'new' earth, renewed as the kingdom of God, might be like. What goodness and beauty continue? What grief and pain are gone?
Daily Practice
Dig out some pictures of a wedding you attended, maybe your own, maybe another's. Recall the joy. Reflect on how God's love for you has the intensity of a newlywed's. Thank God that you are a member of his wedding party.
Friday
Isaiah 40:3-5
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.
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." (NRSV)
God sent John the Baptist to prepare the first century Jews for the ministry of Jesus. He knew Jesus' message would require a radical change of worldview. Quoting Isaiah, his words sound like the massive earth movers that build an interstate highway. John called people to repent, that is to notice the direction they were heading and make a u-turn, to redirect themselves toward God.
As you reflect on your own life, what earth needs to be moved to make the highway for the Lord? What paths need to be made straight? What valley needs to be filled or raised up? What mountain or hill needs to be made low? What uneven, rough place needs to be made level, plain? Let your imagination run and visualize Jesus in a hard hat seated in a massive vehicle, helping to move your earth. Climb up in the seat beside him and tackle the work together.
Daily Practice
Go outside and pick up a handful of dirt. Let it fall slowly from your hand. Thank God that Jesus has leveled your dirt and made it into a superhighway straight to him.
Saturday
1 Peter 3:15
15 In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (NIV)
What is your hope? What good things do you expect from God? Maybe think near term and long term, personal and global, practical and spiritual. What gives you confidence these are not just pie-in-the-sky dreams, but actual, future eventualities?
Daily Practice
Get out your Advent stone and hold it. Turn it over in your palm. Remember an answer to prayer you have received. Thank God for his faithfulness to his promises. Is there someone with whom you can share your experience of answered prayer?