Category: Devotions for the Church Year

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18

The apostle Paul planted a church in Thessalonica, a city of 200,000 people. His success there provoked conflict among the unbelieving Jews. They started a riot, hauled some of the members of this new church before the city authorities, and charged them with disloyalty to Caesar. Paul leaves town, so wrote this letter to them from a distant location. These instructions from verses 16 through 18 are part of a longer list of final instructions Paul gives in his effort to still pastor this church and lead them.

Even though Paul was gone, the new church still dealt with hostility. These Christians suffered persecution from the beginning for their commitment to Jesus Christ.

Imagine living in a city like that and hearing these words from Paul to rejoice always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances. Not just when the sun shone and things were going your way, but even when you were treated unfairly in the marketplace, or your respected pastor was forced to leave town, or the civil authorities gave unjust convictions for crimes to your friends and family.

Rejoice, Paul says. Give thanks in all circumstances, Paul says. But why would he tell people to act that way? Because this is God’s will for you. But doesn’t God see the torment, the injustice, and the pain? Yes, he does. When Paul writes that it’s God’s will for us to rejoice, pray, and give thanks, he’s telling us that God is interested in more than our comforts, our success, and our ability to get along with the world.

God wanted to develop in the heart and the culture of this new church a mentality of abundance. he wants them to see everything they have as a blessing, and not as something they deserve. The Thessalonian believers are invited to live in their pagan, Caesar-worshiping culture as lights that shine for Christ. Rejoicing, prayer, and gratitude create the right conditions for the holy Spirit to work. If the Thessalonian church complained instead of rejoiced, if they criticized or passed judgment instead of saying “thank you,” and if they gave God the silent treatment out of frustration over their circumstances, then the Spirit would have no place among them.

But this small group of people said, “We are going to praise God even when life gets hard. We are going to keep on praying even when the deck is stacked against us. We are going to hold onto the good, look for it in others, and then thank them when we see it.” Because of this choice the Thessalonian church made, that city began to change.

God’s will for them ultimately was to become contagious by spreading the love of Christ. They were attractive because they held the keys to freedom. they possessed the reasons for true, lasting hope. They conducted a power for life and healing that was stronger than any decree or political power associated with Caesar.

Keep practicing gratitude. It’s healthy for our own hearts and souls, and it’s healthy for our communities and for our world. When you are a person who is thankful, kind and attentive to the good around you, then you are someone that everyone wants to be with. A grateful life is attractive because that person knows they have enough. They know they have an abundant supply that never runs out. They rest confident in the Heavenly Father from whom these good gifts come.

Practicing gratitude supplies us with plenty to meet our own needs, and with plenty to give away. Gratitude and thankfulness are lovely gifts that keep on giving. This is God’s will for us–to live in his enduring love and then to give it away whenever we can. As we do this, his Holy Spirit is given the space to work among us in power and with the promise of transformation. Gratitude is healthy.

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” John 12:13

This verse comes from the scene in the New Testament where Jesus is entering the city of Jerusalem at the time of the Passover feast. Ever since Peter’s statement, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), Jesus had been talking about his death by explaining to his disciples that he must “go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Matthew 16:21). This kind of discussion filled the disciples with grief. As Mark mentions, “the disciples did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it” (Mark 9:32).

His last public miracle happened in Bethany when Lazarus died. Jesus ordered the stone rolled away, then he prayed, then he told Lazarus to come out of the grave. To the astonishment of everyone present, Lazarus appeared before them alive. Resurrected.

John tells us that “when it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts, they asked one another, ‘What do you think? Isn’t he coming at all?’ But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him” (John 11:55-57).

And now Jesus has appeared. He is riding into Jerusalem not as a military hero on a war horse, but as a man of peace on a humble donkey.

The crowd’s question is answered. Jesus has come. His raising of Lazarus from the dead was widely known. The people from Bethany who had seen it happen told other visitors to the city. Pretty soon, Jesus’ notoriety grew, and a massive crowd goes out to meet him. The energy and excitement among the people that day was so powerful that the Pharisees complained. “Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (John 12:19). They are jealous. They are disheartened by their loss of authority, and they are failing in their efforts to arrest him.

But the crowd knew Jesus was worth going after. His teaching and his miracles proved he was the Messiah. And now, entering Jerusalem in this public way, he was acting as they had always wanted him to. They were looking for a king, a savior to come. The palms they waved were a symbol of victory. “Hosanna!” they shout. “Save, I pray!” is the approximate translation. They are praising him and asking for deliverance.

The apostle John, in this moment of insight, views Jesus as entering the city on a mission of salvation. It’s a royal, triumphant mission with Jesus, the messianic king, at the forefront receiving the homage he deserves.

For Jesus, this entrance into Jerusalem has another meaning entirely. He’s coming as the prince of peace. This arrival is about more than the events of the few days involving Passover. It was about the establishment of a whole kingdom. This kingdom institutes a different kind of power from that of worldly kings who flaunt their authority and lord over their subjects. Jesus’ kind of power is that of the servant.

He modeled it for the disciples during their last supper together. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:12).

The kingdom Jesus comes to establish has its beginnings in Jerusalem, known as the City of David. King David ruled there as royalty. God promised him that he would never cease to have a descendant on the throne. As we see from the genealogy in the book of Matthew, King David is an ancestor of Jesus. His throne was in a palace. His conquests were made on the battlefield. His renown was gained through political victories. At the time of his death, his body was buried.

During Holy Week, a new kind of king has come. His throne isn’t in a man-made palace, but in heaven. He entered the city in peace and made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-7). He is a king acquainted with grief, and a man of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3). His conquests are made in human hearts, freeing us from the bondage of sin. His strength doesn’t lie in the renown of political victories, but in love. John writes about love in a different place saying, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us,” and that “now we can love because he first loved us” (I John 3:16, 4:19).

At the time of his death, his body was buried in the tomb, but it didn’t stay there. In the words of Paul, “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. He was buried, and he was raised on the third day” (I Corinthians 15:3-4). “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption” (I Corinthians 1:30).

During this Easter season, may we together shout “Hosanna! Save, we pray, our hearts from unbelief and our lives from destruction.” May we turn to the servant king who gave up everything for us and suffered in our place. May we place our trust in his resurrection. His love is stronger than death, and his kingdom is forever.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Earlier this month, we entered the season of Lent. This is the forty-day span of time leading up to Easter. The church has observed this season of fasting ever since its earliest beginning in the 300’s A.D. The fast started as only a two-day fast, taking place on Friday to commemorate Jesus’ death, and on Saturday to remember the time spent in the tomb. Over time, the fast extended to the six days prior to Easter. By the mid 300’s A.D., some churches were observing a forty-day period, inspired by Moses’ forty days with God on Mount Sinai, Elijah’s forty-day sojourn to Mount Horeb, and Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness.

The word “Lent” comes from an Old English word “lencton,” which means the lengthening of the days, like what happens in the spring when increasing hours of sunlight make the days longer. More sunlight creates the right conditions for the sprouts of the next year’s growth to appear. The change of seasons in the natural world acts as a picture to us of the promise of new life through Christ’s resurrection.

We observe Lent hopeful of God’s plan to regenerate us, and yet aware of our mortality and sinfulness. When a minister says to us on Ash Wednesday, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” those words mean that we live for a certain amount of time, and then we will die. The ashes spread on our foreheads are a symbol of this mortality, and they are a sign of our desire to be honest with God about our sin.

The season of Lent has two goals. The first one is to lament the sin that placed Jesus on the cross. The second goal is a deeper personal understanding of the work Jesus did there. By his death, forgiveness and eternal life are secured for us.

When we take the time for lament and meditation, we see meaningful outcomes. I appreciate the season of Lent as one of the most significant periods of spiritual formation of the entire year. Lent helps us to make sense of our lives. We need the sort of reflection and lament that Lent offers in order to understand the purpose behind the things that happen to us, and also to grow secure in our identities as children of God. It’s vital to the well-being of our souls to look inward and admit our areas of vulnerability. As we progress in our journey of faith, we must look outward to weigh the cost of discipleship. As we come face to face with our behavior and motivations, we repent of our wrongdoing and turn toward God.

This is ultimately what we want for our lives. Each year, as Lent recurs, we move closer to God in our relationship with him, and we get a little farther along in the sanctification process. Lent doesn’t leave us unchanged. It is a season intended for restoration and healing. The themes of Lent help us understand that we must look to God for our salvation.

God loves us and he welcomes us. Romans 5:8 highlights the truth that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This verse is from a larger passage in Romans 5 that relates to the themes of Lent because it mentions the benefits of salvation, such as the things we want to have and know will be ours through repentance. Romans 5 also mentions the things we know we need due to our sinfulness. We know that we can’t get any of them on our own and that saving help must come from somewhere outside of ourselves.

According to Romans 5, we have so many benefits given to us through faith. We have been justified. We have peace with God. He has given us the Holy Spirit and has poured out his love into our hearts. Christ died for us while we were powerless. We are saved from God’s wrath. We are reconciled and saved through the love of Christ.

Romans 5:6 says that Christ died for the ungodly. This is the point of our Lenten lament. Our sin cost Jesus his life. When we fully realize this, our hearts are touched with conviction. Then we turn away from sin and toward God.

This is as it should be. The only appropriate response to this act of love is repentance. Christ gave everything for us. We ought to choose to place him above everything and everyone else in our lives. He loves us deeply, completely, and with great passion. In Romans 5:5 it says God has poured his love into our hearts. We must keep our hearts open to him so that we have room for this love to enter us. Only with this help from God are we able to love Christ fully, in the way he deserves.

Romans 5:2 says we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Rejoicing flows out of our hope in God’s power to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. We know the glory will come someday, but it hasn’t arrived yet. We are confident enough in its arrival that we celebrate now. The work has been done in Jesus’ death and resurrection. The payment is complete. We rejoice because God’s promises stand firm.

We’ve been justified through faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. So many benefits are ours because Christ died for us, the ungodly. As you observe the season of Lent this year, may it be a time of spiritual renewal bringing about change in your heart and in your life. May you grow in your understanding of the work that Jesus has done for you. By his death, forgiveness and eternal life have been secured for you.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 tells us there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven, such as birth and death, planting and harvest, weeping and laughing, and mourning and dancing. In the same spirit, I’d like to suggest that there is also a time for giving thanks.

The actual holiday arrives late in November, at the close of the fall season. The autumn time of year follows an order much like a worship service does. The prayers and confessions, statements of faith and benedictions used in the worship service are called the liturgy. Funeral services have them. Christmas and Easter services have them, as do each weekly service throughout the year.

Liturgy is commonly referred to as a work of the people. We as worshippers engage in the songs, the prayers, and the statements of faith. We don’t sit back and watch worship being done for us. Instead, it is accessible to us and carried out by us as the gathered body of Christ.

Through our participating we proclaim the gospel as God comes to meet us and his presence stays with us. The liturgy puts words and meaning to it as well as giving a bit of structure so that the work is accomplished at the proper time. By the end of each worship service a cohesive round of story, of confession, of declaration, and of praise has happened. It flows in order and holds a place in our ongoing sanctification.

The autumn season holds many of the same elements for me as an ordered service. Many opportunities for worship crop up in the months of September through November. I’m not just talking about the weekly Sunday services, although there continues to be a number of those. What I mean are the activities that bring meaning to our lives and help us sense the presence of God, like being in nature or spending time with family.

The fall season has always begun with marching band. I marched in the band when I was in high school. So did both of my sons. Now that they are graduated and gone to college, I find that I still need to follow the bands, to watcher their progress, and to enjoy their programs.

September, the weeks of early fall, are the days of warm sunshine and low humidity. Geese start to migrate. The humming birds leave. Even the birds follow their own order in the work of migrating with the changing of the seasons. The sunflowers are still blooming, and so are the mums. If I’m lucky, one more batch of rose buds will bloom and last into October.

Then the harvest begins as soybeans are picked. Apples turn red and are gathered for sauce and pies. The hostas are transplanted. The corn dries down and is brought in from the field. Grapes, pumpkins, squash, potatoes, and the last of the tomatoes are preserved and stored in preparation for cooler months.

The leaves turn colors and fall to the ground. Rakes and winds work together to move them off the lawn and away from flower beds. In among this mix of fall activities my birthday arrives, along with the birthdays of nieces and nephews. Fathers, uncles, and brothers vacate the combine seat long enough to enjoy cake with a cup of coffee or a Sunday family gathering.

The weather turns cool and the days shorten, ushering us into the month of November. There is an order, a flow to our work, and a structure of the harvest season that lends itself to praise as we see what God does on our behalf. Bringing in a harvest is our statement of faith that the seeds planted earlier in the year would provide an abundance. Prayers and confessions arise from our hearts as we spend time with those we care about, spurring one another on to good works.

The time for giving thanks arrives as the benediction to it all. It’s the blessing we give to God out of the awareness of the blessing he gives to us. It’s important to take time to truly express our gratitude for God’s mercy and his abundant ways of taking care of us. We must be intentional about pausing to focus on God’s grace to us, even if for one day.

The verse I quoted from Psalm 107 was written to those who had been gathered from captivity. They were restored to their own land from every part of the world. the psalm uses the metaphors of travel in a wilderness, prison, sickness, and storms at sea to tell the story of everything these redeemed ones had been through.

The refrain, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love,” repeats throughout the first half of Psalm 107. Every time, it is followed by a situation too large for the people to escape by themselves. The first time, in verse 9, thirst and hunger are mentioned. God rescued them by filling them with many good things. He looked after both their physical condition and their spiritual one. While satisfying their appetites, he offers them mercy and grace, forgiveness and redemption.

In verse 16, the refrain to give thanks is followed by the statement, “He breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.” God performed the impossible for the ones he redeemed. When they couldn’t break out of a prison of sin or destruction, God delivered. When they faced obstacles, God made a way.

In verse 22, the deepest most sincerest form of gratitude is called out of them. “Tell of his works with songs of joy.” God is our Heavenly Father full of love that never runs out and will never fail. He works wonderful deeds on behalf of those who trust in him.

This season of giving thanks invites us into the flow and the order of worship. The work we do becomes the service we offer to the Lord by our faith in him, our confession of his forgiveness, and the declaration of his truth. Our ordinary lives are turned into a liturgy of meaningful occupation and awareness of God’s presence. May we not only declare our thanks for God’s unfailing love, but also live it. Tell of his works with songs of joy. Follow his order. Flow in the grace of selfless worship. Share gratitude.

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Matthew 26:38

An emotional Jesus wrestling with a horrid task is what we see in this verse from the scene that took place in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knows what is ahead of him. From the time he entered Jerusalem on the colt, he could focus on driving money changers from the temple, teaching parables, and eating meals with friends.

Those things were all behind him now. Nothing stood between him and the cross. The trial with the Sanhedrin and the confrontation with Pilate would serve to speed his journey to the instrument of execution. Jesus pleads with his Father in desperation for any other way to accomplish atonement for sin. “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me” (Matthew 26:39).

But there is no other way. Only the death of God’s Son would satisfy the immense payment for sin.

So Jesus wrestles. He knows the truth, the reason for his coming, and yet his human self is in anguish over the levels of pain he will have to endure. This is why he took Peter, James, and John with him deeper into the shadows of the garden. He needed the support of his closest friends in order to meet the assignment set before him.

Flogging, thorns, nail holes in his hands and feet, and a sword’s slash to his side; all of this in addition to the mockery and shame. Jesus understood what the following day would bring.

Here in the garden stretched the span of time between the old and the new. During his last supper with the disciples, when he broke the bread and gave thanks, Jesus said to them, “Take and eat. This is my body” (Matthew 26:26).

And then after he’d taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins? (Matthew 26:27-28).

On this day, three days before the Easter holiday, we celebrate a new commandment. The word Maundy, comes from the Latin mandatum novum, referring to the “new commandment” Jesus taught his disciples in which they were to love one another (John 13:34).

The events that unfolded throughout the day on this Thursday display to us both the love of Christ and the new commandment he has given. For Jesus, the day started with plans for a special meal with his friends, moved to a wrestle with God’s will, and ended with an arrest.

His sufferings, even in these hours before the cross, are a piece of our redemption. During that last supper, he instituted the sacrament of communion. In the garden, he submitted to God’s design for salvation, and during the arrest, he fulfilled the Scriptures that had been written about his coming.

According to this new commandment, freedom and love are ours. No longer will sin be our master, because we are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

This was the hidden victory won in Gethsemane. Because Jesus accepted the suffering and pain, we have the gift of God.

Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).

Prayer (A Collect for Maundy Thursday from the Book of Common Prayer)

Almighty Father, whose most dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, mercifully grant that we may receive it in thankful remembrance of Jesus Christ our Savior, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:5-6.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and the next day is Christmas. Colored lights hang on houses. Trees are decorated. Presents are wrapped. In my house, a lighted garland adorns the fireplace. Candles in the shades of red, green, and cream are set out. The next step in my preparations for the holiday is to set the table.

Our household of four celebrates the holiday on Christmas Eve with the opening of gifts, attending a church service (which will be on-line this year), and enjoying a feast. This means I must get busy giving attention to the food we will eat and also to the appearance of the table.

My Christmas table includes a set of china, goblets, cloth napkins, and a matching tablecloth. Candles and greenery form our centerpiece. Delicious smells of glazed ham and baked rolls complete the atmosphere. Visible from the living room is the Christmas tree with its glowing lights and sparkling ornaments. The family gathers to eat, to fellowship, and to celebrate.

I paint this picture with details from the De Bruin Christmas gathering to give us a glimpse into the gift God gives to us. Verse 5 of Psalm 23 tells us that he prepares a table for us. This imagery helps us understand God as our host. He plans ahead for our nourishment. He pays attention to details that will ensure our comfort. He fills us with good things so that we can taste and see that he is good.

Rest is found at God’s table. Satisfying communion with the Father and the Son happens around his table. Celebration of his character and his good gifts is the occasion that invites us to the table.

When we’ve settled in with God as our host and received what he wants to give us, the conflicts and hostilities of this life start to fade. Verse 5 tells us that this glorious table is set for us in the presence of our enemies.

God doesn’t wait for strife to cease or for conflicts to end before he prepares a table for us. Instead, he beckons us to come sit down with him while tensions and fights are still going on.

I find great comfort in this truth about God because, if your life happens to be like mine, the conflicts don’t ease up so that we can take a break for a day or two to have a happy celebration. Rather, they are still there in their attempts to distract or deceive, exhaust and defeat.

But God is there too. He restores, nourishes, strengthens, and tells the truth. Even while battles rage.

Are you facing down any enemies this Christmas? Are sickness or debt, depression or loneliness threatening to crowd in and rob you of a celebration? Maybe in those places of greatest fear or conflict, God is wanting to prepare a table for you.

Look for him. Expect him. Let him serve you as a waiter looks after the needs of guests. He might have some sort of mercy meant just for you hidden in his ministrations.

David certainly felt this way. While he sat at the table, God anointed him. The cup he’d been drinking from never went dry. Instead, it overflowed with joy and contentment. He is convinced that because of what he experienced at God’s table, goodness and mercy would follow him all the days of his life. This banquet laid out for him on the battlefield was a foretaste of the reality that awaited him. He will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Feasting and celebration and joy are the events of heaven. They never end. When we arrive there, we will get to participate in it. Forever.

Jesus came as a child in a manger, heralded by angels and worshiped by shepherds so that we might receive the promises of Psalm 23:5 and 6. They are ours starting today. The Christmas holiday draws us in. It is a starting point to leave behind the strain and the bondage of darkness, and to choose the lighted path of trust and rest. God is preparing a table for you in the presence of your enemies.

For nothing will be impossible with God. Luke 1:37 (NRSV)

This verse is the benediction, the blessing, the last word from the angel Gabriel on the state of things in both heaven and earth. God is all powerful, it tells us. He will bring to pass the plans he sets in motion. Mary could trust that in this moment of surprise.

We might struggle to fully believe the idea that God really is on our side, or that he is powerful enough and big enough to accomplish what looks to us to be impossible. Rejecting the truth of God’s power leaves us in a place of complete helplessness. When the day of surprising events arrives, we feel like we must rely on ourselves to solve our problems.

But Gabriel calls Mary, and he calls all of us, to a different way. We must wait on the Lord to come and to accomplish the plan he has already made. He will have the answers. He will have the strength. He will have the power to make the impossible happen.

This is called working miracles.

The statement, “For nothing will be impossible with God” comes right after the angel shared the news about Elizabeth’s pregnancy. She and her husband had lived for years with the impossibility of conceiving their own children. When Mary questions how she will conceive, the angel tells her that it will happen through the Holy Spirit, and by the same power that brought Elizabeth’s pregnancy about.

It is God’s power. It conquers the impossible. The Psalmist wrote about it when he said, “He is the God who breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron” (Psalm 107:16). The prophet Isaiah taught about this power when he said, “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. The glory of the Lord will be revealed and all people shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:4-5).

Think about Mary’s situation. A young, unmarried girl turns up pregnant. By law, the community could come out and stone her to death. She appears to have done something immoral. She would be shunned by her family. Joseph, her fiancé, would break off his engagement to her. She would have no income, no home, and no means to support herself and her child. She’d have no friends and no status. She’d live alone in poverty as an outcast. This pregnancy outside of marriage was a serious offense.

Mary knew that saying yes to God’s plan could cost her everything. And yet, the virgin birth was such an important part of Jesus’ uniqueness. His birth had to come about this way so that everyone would believe he was the Son of God.

Even though Mary understands how much God’s design will complicate her life, she says yes to it. The words she uses are, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.” By calling herself a servant, Mary takes the status of a slave, giving up all of her rights and her freedoms in exchange for God’s preferences.

She goes on and says, ‘Let it be with me according to your word.” She is willing to accept anything God wants to send her before she knows how traumatic or awful or wonderful God’s plan will be.

Mary gives us an example of faith. We say yes to God because we love him and have a relationship with him. We say yes before we know what the future holds.

Scary.

Faithfulness takes courage. It takes a willingness to go against cultural norms and expectations. Faithfulness asks of us a patient endurance of suffering. People will misunderstand you. People will ridicule you, betray you, and mistreat you.

We have to decide that God and his plans for us are worth more than acceptance or popularity.

“Let it be with me according to your word.”

Can we stand with Mary and courageously welcome into our lives circumstances that might wreck our reputations, scare away our friends, or trade security for danger?

Mary did. Because she loved God.

If you go on and read the Christmas story, you will see that Joseph didn’t abandon her. Rather, prompted by an angel’s message, he entered with Mary into the challenges and hardships of raising Jesus as his son.

God didn’t leave Mary. He was with her and he continued to grant her favor.

We can find that too. If we act in faith to do what God is telling us, and if we believe his word to us, God provides comforts and protections along the way that strengthen us and help us do what he has planned for us.

In the words of the angel, “The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid. You have found favor with God . . . for nothing will be impossible with God.”

An Advent prayer from the Book of Common Prayer

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 fo ever. Amen.

Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38 (NRSV).

These words from Mary come at the end of a startling conversation with the angel Gabriel. He appears all of a sudden sent by God to Galilee. I wonder if the angel knew he would catch this poor and unsuspecting peasant girl completely by surprise. Maybe he took pleasure in his task of delivering one of the most important messages a human being has ever received from heaven.

Mary was likely going about her daily work in the yard or barnyard of a simple home located in a nondescript village when this holy being cuts into her reality with a message that will change her life.

Here is what Gabriel says to Mary:

Favored one. You have found favor with God.

The Lord is with you.

Don’t be afraid.

You will conceive in your womb and bear a son.

You will name him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David.

He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

His kingdom will not end.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you.

The power of the Most High will overshadow you.

The child to be born will be holy.

He will be called the Son of God.

Your relative Elizabeth has conceive a son.

This is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.

Nothing will be impossible with God.

First, he tells her how God sees her. Then he shares the plan for bringing Jesus into the world. In answer to Mary’s astonishment, he tells her how this will happen, and then ends with the declaration that nothing will be impossible with God.

The New Revised Standard Version and the King James Version of the Bible uses the word impossible. The NIV translation says, “No word from God will ever fail.” Either way, the angel wants Mary to know that God can be trusted to tell the truth, and that he has the power to act on his word. The message Gabriel delivered will happen because God has ordained it.

Mary doesn’t respond like Zechariah the priest did to Gabriel’s news of John the Baptist’s birth. While Zechariah doubted if God was capable of bringing the event about, Mary only asked how. She already knew God followed through on his word. Her question wasn’t of God’s ability, but of the ways in which he would work.

This story of the dialogue between Mary and the heavenly messenger implies a relationship with God. In order to find favor with him, Mary had to first be known by him. She had to have already trusted him through tests of faith. At some point, God had proven himself faithful.

But Gabriel’s greeting of favor confirms that at some point, Mary had proven faithful as well. God knew enough about Mary’s heart to trust her response.

God couldn’t ask just anyone to be the human mother of his son. This role belonged to a woman who was devoted to God. She had to be someone who had already decided to stand with him and commit to him.

In the span of their relationship, Mary’s heart was evident to God. He knew that she had the necessary qualities to face the hardships as mother to the Son of God.

After Jesus’ birth, Mary fled with Joseph to Egypt to protect Jesus from King Herod.

She and Joseph raised Jesus according to the Law God set forth for worship.

She stood by and watched Jesus be crucified.

She shared stories about him with the gospel writers as a vital influence to the canon of the New Testament.

She was one of the people in the assembly we read about in the first chapter of Acts that started the church.

What can we learn from Mary? This passage in Luke 1 shows the interaction between Mary and God. They enjoyed a deep, committed relationship to each other. When the day came that Mary is caught off guard by troubling news, such as the angel brought her, she had the confidence in God to believe his word to her.

Do you have this kind of relationship with God?

Are you deeply committed to him?

When the day of troubling news arrives, will you be confident in God and will you believe him?

A prayer for Christmas from the Book of Common Prayer

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word. Grant that this light, kindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5

If you are feeling anything like I am this week, then the idea of launching into a holiday season seems unreal. There are so many unresolved challenges and difficulties in our world right now. A season of celebration feels inconsistent with the realities around us.

And yet, celebrate we must. The Christmas season is all about Jesus’ birth, his arrival, and his continued presence here with us. How do we move on and prepare for Christmas while still feeling stuck in the problems around us that are still waiting for answers?

This season of Advent offers the space to adjust our focus and live in hope. The word Advent derives from the Latin word Adventus, which means “coming.” It originally referred just to the coming of the feast of Christmas. But over time the season of Advent took on a double meaning. Today it refers both to the “first coming” of Jesus Christ in his birth at Christmas and to his “second coming” at the end of time. (1)

We look forward to the celebration while also keeping an eye on the horizon. Someday Jesus is coming back. His kingdom, his justice, his peace, his rule will be established. Until then, we pray so that we can stay in close relationship with him, and we live in faith focused on his word and his nature.

On the day Moses heard God say these words from Exodus three, he was leading his normal life, grazing the flock as he did on any other day. But on this day, something out of the ordinary caught his attention. He went over to check it out and discovered, as the story in Exodus tells us, “a bush that does not burn up.”

The bush may have been the only item showing evidence of flames, but the whole place was filled with God in the form of his voice, his person, and his plan. Even the ground beneath Moses’ feet may have been warm from the fire reflecting God’s glory.

God called his name.

Moses answered, “Here I am.”

Then God informed him of the reality Moses discovered. “. . . the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

In this encounter with the Lord, Moses experienced a little bit of Advent. In the midst of the ordinary day with the same common tasks that were performed the day before and needing to be done all over again tomorrow, God broke in. His shining glory turned a plain monotonous place into holy ground.

God had in mind a redemption plan for his people under oppression in Egypt. He’s getting ready to act. Moses is the first to see, the first to hear, and the one through whom God wants to work to bring this plan about.

All these years later, God still has in mind a redemption plan for his people. Each time the Advent season rolls around, we stand with Moses on holy ground. God is here. He’s getting ready to act. A savior is on his way. We listen, we prepare, and we anticipate the day when he arrives.

As we head into the weeks of December in which the world’s definition of Christmas competes with God’s, the quiet, underlying significance of Advent can help us retain peace as we stay focused on God’s voice. We prepare not only for days of celebration, but also for God’s plans to unfold in our lives. We anticipate not just the arrival of special occasions to make memories, but the reign of a King. His rule is one that will bring justice, order, and hope. The holy ground warms with the glow of his joy as his arrival draws closer.

A prayer from the Book of Common Prayer:

Holy One, whose coming we await, you invite us into the light of your presence. Illumine the dim places of our hearts. We are thirsty for your compassion. Draw near to us and fill us, that we may pour out your goodness to all who hunger. Amen.

(1) quoted from Seeking God’s Face, Praying with the Bible Through the Year, published by Faith Alive Christian Resources and the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010, 2013.

The layers in our lives right now as Americans make the thought of celebration or giving thanks seem impossible. Uncertainty and fear related to the pandemic, tensions about government imposed restrictions, and the unresolved election are leaving us feeling anxious and upset. How do we pause and give thanks while conflict swirls around us and within us?

The Pilgrims, our ancestors in the faith, give us a great example of how to do it. This week we will observe an official holiday is designated for giving thanks. Prepare your heart to express gratitude by remembering what God has done for you in the year 2020.

A day off from work, possibly a church service in the morning and a football game in the afternoon, a large mid-day meal, and time spent with family. These are the activities that define for us what a well-celebrated Thanksgiving Day looks like.

The Thanksgiving holiday we observe in the 21^st century is actually a combination of three earlier traditions. These are the New England custom of rejoicing after a successful harvest, the commemoration of the Pilgrims’ landing in Massachusetts, and religious observances involving prayer and feasting.

The first thanksgiving was decreed by Governor Bradford in 1621 to commemorate the Pilgrims’ harvest. Later George Washington proclaimed November 26, 1789, as a national day of thanksgiving, but the holiday wasn’t repeated on a national basis until Abraham Lincoln named it a national Harvest Festival on November 26, 1861. After that time, the holiday was proclaimed annually by the President and the governors of each state. Finally, in 1941, Congress passed a bill naming the fourth Thursday of each November as Thanksgiving Day. [1]

The Thanksgiving holiday is one area where our heritage as a nation and our heritage as children of God intersect. The rhythm of pause for gratitude to the Lord is built into our functioning as Americans. This pattern goes all the way back to the earliest people to settle here. They were English Puritans, reverent in their Calvinist faith, and disappointed with the Church of England because attempts at reform didn’t go far enough to model the church of the 1600’s after the ancient church as depicted in the New Testament. These plucky Pilgrims may appear a bit extreme in their radical determination to cling to their vision of a pure church. They risked prison and breaking the law in their defiance of English politics. And yet, they survived with a gentle awareness of God’s provision for them.

This excerpt from a letter written by Edward Winslow, one of the participants in the first thanksgiving, to a friend in England, reinforces their ability to see God’s providence in their experiences:

And God be praised, we had a good increase. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling so that we might rejoice together . . . These things I thought good to let you understand, that you might on our behalf give God thanks who hath dealt so favorable with us. [2]

Imagine that first year as a pilgrim to North America. Most of their colony had left England several years prior and settled in the cities of Holland where they found a nurturing place for their high ideals. But these folks were farmers, and they feared the effects the city would have on their younger generations, so sought a place where they might preserve their culture as well as their religious standards.

The journey meant risk. The arrival on the other side meant hardship since they would be landing in the winter. Half of their group died, consecrating their pious commitments with grief and sorrow. The ones that survived built a village, planted crops, and with the help of their Indian neighbors, reaped a harvest enough to sustain them through the second winter.

But before the temperatures dropped and the cold wind blew snow in from low clouds, the community at Plymouth paused, feasted, and gave thanks for God’s favorable dealings with them.

The experiences of those early settlers teach us to realize what we have. We could just as easily not have it. Health, family, and daily provisions could not be taken for granted in those early years in Plymouth. When those benefits were bestowed, the people understood what they had been given and offered thanks for them. They gave thanks while also enduring grief. There were losses, and they hurt. But the event of this first thanksgiving shows us how to thank the Lord for what we have while also grieving what we’ve lost. Even when the losses appear to outnumber the blessings, we must still choose to offer the Lord our gratitude for who he is and the work he has done.

Like the pilgrims when the seasons changed, we must welcome the seasons of growth. They are straight from the Lord and intended to make us aware of his goodness and his favor.

A traditional Thanksgiving hymn from Germany, written in the 1600’s during a time of war and suffering, helps us understand what it means to give thanks even while dealing with hardship and loss:

Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices, who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices; who from our mothers’ arms hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; and keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed, and free us from all ills in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God the father now be given, the Son and Him who reigns with Them in highest heaven—The one eternal God whom earth and heaven adore—for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Father in heaven, we give thanks for life and the experience life brings us.

We thank you for our joys, sorrows, trials, failures, and triumphs.

Above all we thank you for the hope we have in Christ,

that we shall find fulfillment in him.

We praise you for our country, its beauty, the riches it has for us,

and the gifts it showers on us.

We thank you for your peoples, the gift of languages we speak,

The variety of people we have,

The cultural heritage we cherish.

Enable us to use these things for the good of the human race and to bring glory to you.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

[1] Amazing Grace by Kenneth W. Osbeck, p. 349.

[2] The Thanksgiving Primer, a Plimouth Plantation Publication, p. 5.