FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

      December 2, 2018

      Read Jeremiah 33:14-16

       In those days and at that time, I will raise up a righteous branch from David’s line, who will do what is just and right in the land. —Jeremiah 33:15

      By the time Jesus was born, the Hebrew people had been waiting for their Messiah for a very long time. In 587 BCE, their community teetered on the brink of extinction after a brutal defeat by the Babylonians. Jerusalem had been reduced to rubble. The temple was a smoking pile of stones. The Babylonian victors slaughtered all the heirs to the Hebrew throne in front of the king, and then gouged out his eyes so that the death of his sons was the last thing he ever saw. Corpses littered the streets. The community was broken and the people were without hope.

      This is when Jeremiah wrote his prophecy of promise for a new future. God would bind up this community and deliver it from extinction. Crops would once again grow, people would marry and raise children, and they would joyfully bring praise offerings to God. Key to this new society would be a descendant of King David who would rule in mercy and justice. He would be known as The LORD Is Our Righteousness. This new community of God would be committed to following the ways of the Lord, both in their relationship with their neighbors and with God. They would be the kingdom of God, living on earth.

      The Hebrew people survived, grew strong and became prosperous again. But even though they had kings who were descended from David, none of those kings were righteous enough to lead the people into being a true community of God. The people continued to hope for their promised Messiah, God’s anointed one specially chosen by God, who would unify the nations and usher in God’s kingdom on earth. When this anointed one arrived, he would herald a new world order, healing the brokenness of the world and bringing peace. Especially after the Romans conquered and occupied Israel in 63 BCE, the community of Israel yearned for the one they believed would set them free from Roman rule. Occasionally rebel leaders would be proclaimed as the promised Messiah—most notably Simon of Peraea in 4 BCE—but their political rebellions were all crushed.

      God kept the promises made to the Hebrew people long ago among the ruins of Jerusalem. But instead of a powerful leader, God sent a baby born of poor, teenaged parents. Instead of an army, this Messiah had a band of indigent fishermen, tax collectors, and outcasts. Instead of expelling the Romans, he was cruelly executed with common criminals. Yet he was everything that God promised. Jesus Christ brought the hope to the world that will be the salvation of all of creation.

      Prayer

      Lord, may I know Jesus Christ’s unexpected salvation. Amen.

      Monday, December 3, 2018

      Read Matthew 1:1-17

       A record of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. —Matthew 1:1

      A friend of mine was a missionary in a South Pacific island some years ago. She introduced the indigenous people to Jesus, but they were only mildly interested—until she showed them Jesus’s genealogy. “This was a real man?” they asked in wonder. It was because she could demonstrate Jesus’s ties to his community that they understood him to be an authentic, genuine person.

      Jesus did not just wander onto the stage of human history. His history is entwined with humanity, as part of community. Each one of his recorded ancestors invoked a story that was told among his people, a rung on the ladder to salvation, and cemented Jesus’s connection with every person who heard of him. Scheming Jacob, wise Solomon, and faithful Jehoshaphat were heroes in the ancient stories of the Hebrew people. His genealogy includes kings and commoners, women and men, Jews and Gentiles, saints and sinners. He was the essence of Israel, a child of that heritage and an integral part of their society.

      Included in the list are the names of five women: Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba (listed as Uriah’s wife) Ruth, and Mary. It was unusual and even shocking to include women in an ancient genealogy, but these were all unusual women. Every one of them influenced Israel’s history in bold and unexpected ways. Perhaps their inclusion was to signal the bold and unexpected event of the life of Jesus, which their courage foretold.

      Yet the introduction to this heritage also states exactly who Jesus is—Jesus Christ, which is the Greek word for Messiah. Although this is a human genealogy, Jesus was the Son of God. But as the Messiah was prophesied to be of the Davidic line, it was crucial to show this connection. And as Abraham was the father of all Jews and the patriarch of the faith, Jesus was of course a son of Abraham. Through him, all nations would be blessed.

      Jesus Christ was born into a community of faith and rich heritage as the fulfillment of Israel’s history. Through every one of the people in Matthew’s long list, God was shaping history, guiding and molding the people and events that would lead to that glorious moment when the angels would announce, Christ the Savior is born. And behind that tiny infant in the manger was the stories of all who came before, a community of the faithful whose lives all led to that moment in time.

      Prayer

      Lord, ground me in my own faith community. Amen.

      Tuesday, December 4, 2018

      Read Luke 1:13-17

       “He will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” —Luke 1:17b

      Zechariah was an old man. He had served for many years as a priest in the temple, but today was different. He had been chosen by lot to offer the incense at the inner altar in the temple sanctuary. This was an honor that usually came only once in a lifetime, and the community was assembled to watch. He would enter the holy place alone, clean the ashes, and offer the new incense, and then bless the gathered people when he exited.

      But things did not go as planned. When he entered the holy place, the angel Gabriel was waiting for him. After calming his fears, the angel told him that Zechariah’s barren wife Elizabeth would bear a son who would be the herald for a new age in Israel. This son, John, would be a holy man who would be sent to prepare

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