Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26; 2 Samuel 6:12-19; Hebrews 1:5-14

When was the last time you saw someone dancing in flesh and blood real life? David danced before the Lord and all the people, leaping to high heaven right in the middle of the road. That must have been a sight – the king doing a two-step because words just wouldn’t do.

Only children, saints, and fools have the courage for such dancing in public – what would the neighbors think it we pirouetted across the lawn when God’s grace came upon us? David’s dancing embarrassed his wife Michal; she saw only the shameless grandstanding of a man who married her for political gain. That’s no surprise: How could she see grace and joy when her whole life had been given over to the political ambitions of another? The jade green eyes of cynicism cannot recognize joy.

Advent is a time to take a new look at the past. Our eternal creator makes room for holiness in the infant Jesus. The entire universe stops to see this moment, so mysterious and unexpected. Of all the fantastic things, of all the possibilities this world contains, the joy of this birth should get us all on our feet. If you have dancing shoes, dust them off; if you don’t, your bare feet will do. Don’t worry what the others see and think. God is coming in Jesus and the world will never be the same again. Amen!

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 19, 2014.

Psalm 89:1-4, 9-16; 2 Samuel 6:1-11; Hebrews 1:1-4

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:1-3a

Why would the one who sustains all things, through whom all worlds are created, come into our world as an infant? Why come into the world as the child of a poor carpenter and a teenage mother?

Perhaps…to give us the chance to nurture holiness in this world

                                       …it was the only way to come without scaring us

                                                                                    …to know a mother’s embrace

                                                                                                              Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 18, 2014.

Psalm 125; Malachi 3:16-4:6; Mark 9: 9-13

“Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the heart of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.” Malachi 4: 5-6

“Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.” Mark 9:12-13

It didn’t look like what I thought it would – the space capsule. It was small and plain and nothing I’d want to spend time in. It looked like a good kick would end it. From a distance, through my television, it was amazing; up close in person, it was just a collection of nuts and bolts.

Why do I expect the miraculous to be overwhelmingly awesome? Super size and high volume don’t guarantee anything other than a long shadow and temporary hearing loss. So why do I expect God’s messenger to be a rock star, crowd pleaser, larger-than-life superman?

John wasn’t powerful among the religious leaders, he didn’t wear expensive clothes or dine at the finest restaurants, he had no army and no money. He just gave witness to God’s presence in this world and saw in Jesus God-With-Us. That’s more than enough: that’s a miracle.

Would I recognize John if I passed him on the street?

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 17, 2014.

Psalm 125; 2 Kings 2:9-22; Acts 3:17-4:4

Psalm 125

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, 


which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,


so the Lord surrounds his people


both now and forevermore.

The scepter of the wicked will not remain


over the land allotted to the righteous,


for then the righteous might use


their hands to do evil.

Lord, do good to those who are good,


to those who are upright in heart.

But those who turn to crooked ways


the Lord will banish with the evildoers.

Peace be on Israel!

TRUST IN GOD

                                   Love                                                                  Grace

                       pray                                 good    mercy                               Faith

              Just                                 everlasting       watchful                             safe

Follow              forgiveness                     resilient                  honest                  Patient

E  M  B  R  A  C  E

surrounded           by           His           presence      

dependable                                        fortified                                        immovable

Protected         Foundation

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 16 by Heidi, Alex, and Jonathon Marcotte, loving family, sharers of words, children of God

Psalm 125; I Kings 18:1-18; Ephesians 6:10-17

As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. Ephesians 6:15

I don’t spend much time thinking about or shopping for shoes. Altogether I have: winter boots, canvas summer sneakers and walking sneakers, black flats and boots and heels, cordovan loafers, brown leather outdoor boots, an off white pair of pumps, and blue slippers. Most were bought at LLBean or Bass Shoe Outlet. They are comfortable, last a long time, and get me out the door for any occasion or activity.

Each day, I choose my shoes to fit the weather, terrain, and expected activity – boots for snow, loafers for a day in the city, heels for dressy occasions. Choosing the right footwear makes my day easier; the wrong shoes make every part of my day more difficult, painful even. So simple a choice with such immediate consequences.

Perhaps that’s why no particular shoe is listed in the full armor of God. What makes me ready to proclaim the gospel of peace depends upon a particular situation, not just a general capability or category. I want something that gets my feet moving in the right direction, that provides traction, and keeps me from tripping over my own feet. Metaphorically flexible, with plenty of support.

I’d better make sure to take the shield of faith, too. Without that, the shoes that make me ready to proclaim the gospel may also help me run away from the place I need to proclaim it.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 15, 2014.

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Luke 1:46b-55; I Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

“WHEN IT IS DARK ENOUGH YOU CAN SEE THE STARS” –an old Persian saying

“There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. …He said, ‘I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness…”

(John 1: 6-8, 23).

Our lives begin in the dark and they’ll end in the dark. During the interim, most of us try to avoid the “dark.” We run from the darkness of conflict, fear and humiliation. We experience great pain in our lives as we lose family members or other loved ones, and it is difficult to deal with it. Change is scary and so we tend to postpone making big decisions. We know that loneliness is inevitable at some point in our lives, but usually we run away from it rather than embrace it.

Deep reflection on this passage reveals that it is in the “dark” where spiritual growth occurs. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24). Paradoxically, as we come to a place of reconciliation with that part of ourselves that does not like the dark, our true and whole spiritual self “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3) emerges. As we grow in the dark, we are able to bear witness to the light. John of the cross called it “luminous darkness.”

John O’Donohue, an Irish priest and poet, captured the idea in the following excerpt from a blessing he wrote entitled “For Light:”

Light cannot see inside things.

That is what the dark is for:

Minding the interior,

Nurturing the draw of growth

Through places where death

In its own way turns into life.

And when we come to search for God,

Let us first be robed in night.

As we live into experiences of pain, fear, disappointment and challenge, and even somehow with God’s grace learn to welcome them, we know we are in the chrysalis of the night. It is then we hear John’s voice crying in the wilderness for Christ’s coming. It is our voice, too.

Offered on December 14, 2014, by Bryan Fredrickson, contemplative thinker, lawyer, child of God.

Psalm 126; Habakkuk 3:13-19; Matthew 21:28-32

Though the fig tree does not blossom and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails and the field yields no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Habakkuk was a prophet in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BCE. It was a time of great turmoil in Jerusalem and of many great injustices in the world. In many ways like in our own world, the question arises, “Where is God’s justice?” Why do the poor suffer while the powerful go unpunished for their misdeeds? Why do bad things happen to good people? Perhaps we ask the wrong questions. Is it up to us to criticize God? Or is it possible that there is something else going on?

Perhaps we have a role in bringing God’s kingdom into our world. Over and over again, in both the Old and New Testaments, we are reminded that our God wills a world of righteousness and justice, a world with compassion for the poor and the sick, a world of peace and love. Sometimes we are depressed by what we see in the events of our time. We feel helpless to make things better. Habakkuk foresaw great troubles coming to Jerusalem in the form of warring nations. He knew that times were going to be rough. “YET I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!”

There are times in our own lives when we feel helpless. We do not have control over what is happening. Jobs are lost. Relationships fail. Illness consumes us or someone we love. YET, in all of the sadness and violence, God is beside us, loving us, guiding us, helping us. As we look back on some of the dark times in our life, so often we see God at work picking up the pieces for us and helping us get through to a brighter side of the darkness.

And there is the answer: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, with us always. In the darkness or the light, as Julian of Nowich reminds us “All shall be well.”

“Lord Jesus, let our minds rest in your Word, so that when doubt and grief would overwhelm us, faith will open our eyes to see your hand at work in our life and enable us to turn toward the future with hope and toward each other in perfect charity.” A Prayer from St. Augustine.

Offered on December 13, 2014, by Marge O’Brien, retired teacher now worshipping at St. David’s Episcopal ChurchIn North Chesterfield Virginia, steadfast pray-er, child of God.

Psalm 126; Habakkuk 3:2-6; Philippians 3:12-16

The Lord stopped and shook the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. The eternal mountains were shattered; along his ancient pathways the everlasting hills sank low. (Habakkuk 3:6)

When God comes into our lives, what happens? The Bible is full of stories about exactly that. There are burning bushes, clouds, pillars of fire, wrestling in the night, and strangers dropping by for dinner. Then there are the earth shaking, brilliant light in heaven appearances. The coming of the Lord is glorious. This is exactly what we expect: spectacular and overwhelming evidence of God’s power.

Then we get to the last line of Habakkuk’s prayer: the eternal mountains are shattered. Along his ancient pathways the everlasting hills sink low. The eternal places and roads of God are gone. We can’t find them in the rubble and there are no landmarks to guide us. We are lost.

Advent is something coming into creation that has never been – God with us in human form. No earthquakes, just angels and shepherds seeking a baby. God comes to us in this child Jesus. We see in him the way to our eternal home. Hope and glory are ours in the coming of Jesus. We live in God “because Christ Jesus has made us his own.” When we find the stable, we find God.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 12, 2014.

Psalm 27; Malachi 2:10-3:1; Luke 1:5-17

Like Mary, Elizabeth in Luke 1: 5-17 was confronted with a big surprise when she discovered at her advanced age that she was to bear a child, John the Baptist, as was Abraham’s wife Sarah who was even older when she became pregnant. So our God not only is full of surprises but apparently has a marvelous sense of humor. I tried to picture these three women in my mind and imagination receiving such news: Sarah as amused, Elizabeth as shocked and Mary as bewildered at her young age. But then, as we know, all things are possible with God – even the impossible. Wouldn’t all these women be asking themselves: “Why me?” “Why now?”

Since I couldn’t find a picture of a surprised Sarah or Elizabeth for you to study and meditate on, I am providing a copy of a painting of Mary having just received the news of her becoming the mother of God as depicted by H. O. Tanner in a painting which hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Put yourself in this scene if you can. Try to imagine what she and her older cousin might be feeling. How would you feel? Who would you tell? What would you say?

What a surprise to discover that God surprises you when you least expect it; when you expect the opposite or expect nothing at all. Just when you feel that you are unworthy, lacking, “barren” with nothing much to give, indeed, you shall give because the God of surprises always wills it for you and from you. Elizabeth will bear John who will announce Jesus to the world. Mary will bear Jesus who will announce God’s love for the universe and each of these babies will be born to women who were blessed with God’s wonderful gift of surprise. How has God surprised you?

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Offered on December 10, 2014, by Dave Fowler, counsellor, active listener, child of God.