The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9
Advent Posts
Hope
The Bible project folks have done a nice job with this word study on hope. What I think is most catching is the difference between optimism and hope. Sometimes hope and optimism are confused with each other, but optimism is about choosing to see, in any situation, how circumstances could work out for the best. Biblical hope isn’t focused on circumstances. In fact, hopeful people in the Bible often recognize there’s no evidence things will get better, but you choose hope anyway.
Biblical hope, they say, isn’t optimism based on the odds. It’s a choice to wait for God to bring about a future that’s as surprising as a crucified man rising from the dead. Christian hope looks back to the risen Jesus in order to look forward, and so we wait. And that’s what the biblical words for hope are all about.
Adapted from the Bible Project
This is one of my all time favourite songs and you should listen to it on repeat all day. I loved it lots when I thought the chorus said, “I belong in the kingdom come” -a nice biblical sounding phrase that made me think about how even if things are tough, God’s kingdom will be nice one day. But. I loved it even more when I realized Old Man Luedeke was actually singing, “I’ll belong when the kingdom come”. To hear that longing for belonging as we are, and that deep hope in something more than just another kingdom. To remember that belonging won’t be based on work or productivity but in something other. That wilderness and defeat and unfair weather are real and also, there’s that baby born in Bethlehem and that will change what it means to belong.
Blessing of Hope
So may we know
the hope
that is not just
for someday
but for this day—
here, now,
in this moment
that opens to us:
hope not made
of wishes
but of substance,
hope made of sinew
and muscle
and bone,
hope that has breath
and a beating heart,
hope that will not
keep quiet
and be polite,
hope that knows
how to holler
when it is called for,
hope that knows
how to sing
when there seems
little cause,
hope that raises us
from the dead—
not someday
but this day,
every day,
again and
again and
again.
—Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow
Eternal God, you are lovingly leading us into the season of Advent, a season filled with a life-giving kind of waiting: an expectant, audacious, hope-filled waiting that looks forward to the coming of the one who brings love, joy, justice, peace and the promise of life with God forever. As we turn our hearts and minds to waiting for Jesus, fill us with confidence in all your Advent promises. This we pray in the name of Jesus, the coming Emmanuel, God with us.
Advent Calendar – by Rowan Williams
He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to the bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.
He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.
He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.
He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.
Excitement builds as Christmas approaches.
Advent is the season of anticipating and preparing for the gift of Christmas, the miracle of God with us.
How do we prepare our hearts, homes and lives to receive Jesus? What are the changes we hope for as the Creator becomes part of the creation?
To help us in our prayer thought Advent there will be poems, prayers and songs posted here.