Prepare
By the time you read this, we are heading toward the second Sunday of Advent.
Advent is a season for remembering the coming of Jesus two thousand years ago and at the same time looking forward to the future when God’s reign on earth will have fully arrived as the culmination of all things in Christ.
The readings for the Sundays during this season (year B of the lectionary) have nothing about the birth of the baby Jesus. However, they are invitations for us to see and experience Christmas when it actually arrives.
Advent, therefore, prepares us to experience the fulfillment of God’s gift through Jesus Christ, arrived to make all things new. Advent tunes us into the voice of the season; that is the good news we seek. The only really good news there is comes from God and God alone.
This week, we will listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah in 40:1-11, through whom God speaks tenderly a message of hope and forgiveness to God’s people who suffered much for their sins.
On the third Sunday of Advent we will hear from the gospel according to John the testimony of John the Baptist. John called people to repent and be baptized and was the only foretaste of what the One Who Comes would do.
Finally, on the fourth Sunday of Advent, we will hear from Luke a radical message to a teenage girl who is told that she will bear the Savior of the world, who will turn the world upside down to save the people and will be “God with us.”
I hope you’ll invite a friend to join us in worship for this important time in the church’s year.
Glory to God.
~ Mai
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