Welcome to our 2021 Advent Journey! This year we are making our way toward Christmas by exploring the four Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, but with a twist. This first week is not just about Hope but Hope(ful) Preparation, but before you jump in to today’s reflection, just take a moment, breathe slowly, and pray the following prayer as truthfully and earnestly as you can.
God of Hope,
We acknowledge that the Scriptures written in the former days,
were written for our instruction and so that we might have hope.
Fill us this day with all joy and peace in believing them,
that we might overflow with hope by the power of your Holy Spirit.
Amen
Daily Scripture: Luke 7:24-30 & 9:7-9
Find the above scripture in your bible and read slowly – you might want to read it out loud. You can also find it here.
Reflection
In todays first passage we have something of a commentary on Monday’s Scripture in Luke 3:1-2 where we are given a list of powerful, wealthy, and influential rulers and leaders but are then told that the Word of God did not come to any of these, but to a supposed nobody named John in the wilderness. Here Jesus speaks of such rulers as those dressed in soft robes, who put on fine clothing and live in luxurious palaces and compares them to his prophet John, who Matthew and Mark tell us wore clothing of camel’s hair and a leatherh belt and lived in the desolate places (Matt. 3:4/Mk 1:6). The verdict from heaven is that ‘among those born of women, no one is greater than John’ (7:28). Reflect on this and the challenge that it brings to how we perceive those around us. Do we see as heaven sees?
In the second passage we learn of the consequences of speaking truth to power. As a prophet, John had fulfilled his call by challenging Herod the king to live a life of righteousness and, like many prophets before him, had paid a heavy price (see also Matt. 14:1-12). To carry the word of God into the world is no laughing matter and though many prophets may be misunderstood, maligned, and mistreated, they are precious and honoured in the sight of the Lord. As Jesus said, ‘blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets’ (Luke 6:22-23).
Advent Quotes
It is when those with the power and clout and overwhelming theo-political rhetoric seem to have all the might and right on their side that the servants of the Servant testify that God’s salvation is being wrought in the world by quite another course.’
| David Tiede
‘All four New Testament Evangelists agree: there is no good news, no gospel of Jesus Christ, without John the Baptist. John’s whole life was lived with but one purpose; he was born, a man of destiny, to declare the imminent arrival of the coming Messiah’.
| Fleming Rutledge
Advent Poem: A Prophet’s Eloquence
Who will put a prophet’s eloquence into my words,
to shake from their inertia
all those who kneel before the riches of the earth
–who would like gold, money, lands, power, political life
to be their everlasting gods?
All that is going to end.
There will remain only the satisfaction of having been,
in regard to money or political life,
a person faithful to God’s will.
One must learn to manage the relative and transitory
things of earth according to his will,
not make them absolutes.
There is only one absolute:
he who awaits us
in the heaven that will not pass away.
| Oscar Romero
Caravaggio: Death of John
Advent Song: Drive out the Darkness
Closing Benediction
Be people of hope.
Let hope live in your heart and share the hope of Christ with all you meet.
Share hope by noticing someone else’s humanity.
Share hope by listening to someone’s story.
Share hope by praying for our world.
In this Advent season, we need to see, feel, and share hope.
As you go out into the wonder of God’s creations, share hope with those you meet.
Amen.
| Liturgy Link
Zoom Reflections each Mon, Wed, and Fri mornings at 7:00-7:20am
Click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84743926286
As always, we would love to hear your thoughts and reflections and so please do leave a comment in the section at the bottom of this page. Much love to you all on this Advent journey!