Advent Devotionals
Fourth Week of Advent, 2011
The United Church of Granville
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Dwight Davidson
“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth—do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” - Isaiah 43:18-19
How wonderful it would be if we had eyes to see the “new thing” God is creating. I sometimes think that the
environment we live in numbs us to the possibilities lying before us of physical, political, emotional and spiritual
vitality—of “rivers in the desert.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King wrote, “everyone seems to crave the anesthetizing security of being identified with the
majority… everybody passionately seeks to be ‘well-adjusted.’ Human salvation, [though,] lies in the hands of the
creatively maladjusted…We are called to be people of conviction, not of conformity; of moral nobility, not social
responsibility.”
Surely we need to be “wise as serpents”—knowing this world as it is. But it may not be in our interest to be
adjusted to this world. We need the courage to remain maladjusted to these “old things.” For new things are on the
way—indeed, they’re already breaking through. “Do you not perceive it?”
Monday, December 19, 2011
Jeff Reiswig
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and God will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not,
be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.” - Daniel 3:16-18.
What a great Old Testament Bible story about the three lads taking on Nebuchadnezzar and the fiery furnace.
Now, I believe there are causes worth dying for, but is this one of them? Old king Nebie had just cranked that
furnace up seven times hotter than he had for all the others. I’d be thinking, “Oh, what’s the harm in giving a little
shout of praise to a golden image?” I wouldn’t even have to mean it, but not Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They have faith and courage I can only dream about. I admire that.
Dear God, help us sustain the faith and courage needed to meet our own fiery challenges.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Doris Jane Conway
“In anguish, I cried to you, YHWH,
and you answered me with freedom.
Because YHWH is with me, I am not afraid-what can anyone do to me?” - Psalm 118:5 – 6, from The Inclusive Bible
(Pastor’s Note: “YHWH” is a transliteration, from the Hebrew, of God’s unpronounceable name)
Sounds like one of Dwight’s Dec. 10th sermon points. So why is freedom so difficult to truly receive? Because
we then are responsible. Because it moves us beyond ourselves. Because it means we are able to live outside our
comfort zone? Comfort and security seems quite important as we get older. Why should we let that go?
Because I am beloved by YHWH, I am free, as I choose, from all self-made and culturally-conveyed
expectations. I can act beyond fear. What does this have to do with courage?
Mark Nepo, a poet/writer colleague of Parker Palmer, has given me many insights into courage in his book,
Facing the Lion, Being the Lion--Finding Inner Courage Where it Lives. “The central goal of inner courage is to bear our
humanness and integrate our experience so that we might strengthen the bond between living things . . . .” So what
does courage have to say to us in these urgent times? How do we en-courage each other to engage in the difficult
tasks which need to be faced?
Nepo’s interpretation of Jacob wrestling with the angel is comforting to me: “if you can descend to your rockbottom, no matter what brings you there, you will find God’s river.”
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Jack Shuler
John 14:27--Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled,
and do not let them be afraid.
A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sister Helen Prejean (of Dead Man Walking fame) at a rainsoaked execution vigil at the State Prison in Lucasville. That day a 66 year-old paranoid schizophrenic who had
committed a horrible crime was executed by the state of Ohio, by us. There was nothing redeeming about the whole
scene--there was no light, save for Sister Prejean.
Sister Prejean has advocated for the rights of victim's families and of death row inmates for over 30 years. As we
spoke and she told me about what actually happens when someone is executed, I could only think to myself, "This
woman is at peace." She has witnessed a number of executions, been the object of much vitriol, spent countless
hours in prisons, and despite all that she has seen, she keeps going. It takes a lot of courage to move forward in a
world that is so often troubling, but it helps when your courage comes from a place of love.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Janet Greene
“Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that
your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” - I Corinthians 15:58 (King James Version)
“Be Ye Steadfast.” What an admonition. Combine it with “Love One Another,” and you’ve got a formula for life,
because if you try to follow the latter, you are certainly going to need the former. We grow weary of trying to do
the right thing and all the work that that involves, but this little verse can sustain us, just as it has sustained
generations before us.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Russ Adams
“…for this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not
give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” - II Timothy 1:7
Choosing life by golden-rules is rarely easy. Still, only golden-ruled living on a mass scale has the ability to achieve
the power, love and self-discipline needed to create what the children of the future need most, our first sustainable
civilization on earth.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
“Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.” - from Isaiah 35
Joan Novak
Advent symbolizes our profound hope that God’s redemptive love will transform the present world. We
celebrate Advent best by mustering up the courage to strengthen our “weak hands,” firm up our “feeble knees” so
we can support how God’s new reality is emerging despite our fearful hearts.
Compassionate justice-building requires courage. Misunderstandings, rejections, and sufferings often occur
when our attempts to foster God’s intent for the creation puts us at odds with the old reality. We are tempted to
give up and accept the present state as inevitable.
Courage is also required because we must act in spite of our fallibility. Our analysis could be wrong; we could be
misinterpreting God’s activities; our tactics could be counter-productive. Theologian Paul Tillich saw doubt as a
necessary part of a healthy faith since finite minds can never fully understand God. However, life would be easier
if we could convince ourselves that we are right, if we could believe with certainty that “God is on our side,” if we
could become “true believers.” According to Tillich, those who lack the courage to accept their limitations have to
work hard to repress their doubts. These people can lash out against those who raise the doubts that they are trying
so hard to repress; in other words, these people are at risk of becoming fanatics.
Rather than counting on our own abilities, Isaiah tells us to put our confidence in God’s compassion, even
though God remains a mystery beyond human comprehension. That can give us the courage to defy social pressure
without denying our limitations.