Musings for Advent 1

Sunday, November 27, 2011
First Sunday of Advent

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Gary lazenby

INTRODUCTION
Stir up your power, and come! The psalmist's plea in Psalm 80:2 has become familiar to us in the Advent prayers. Isaiah wants God to rip the heavens open. Both cry out for an apparently distant, angry God to show up, to save, to restore. When we hear Jesus describing the coming of the Son of Man with stars falling from heaven, it can sound dire and horrible, not like anything we would ever hope for. But when we really look at the suffering of people God loves, we can share the hope that God would tear open the heavens and come.

PRAYER OF THE DAY (ELW)

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. By your merciful protection awaken us to the threatening dangers of our sins, and keep us blameless until the coming of your new day, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

FIRST READING

Isaiah 64:1–9

This lament comes from a people who have had their hopes shattered. The visions of a rebuilt Jerusalem and a renewed people of God, spoken of in Isaiah 40–55, have not been realized. Instead, the people experience ruin, conflict, and famine. This lament calls God to account—to be the God who has brought deliverance in the past.

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence —
²as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil —
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
³When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
⁴From ages past no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who works for those who wait for him.
⁵You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed.
⁶We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
⁷There is no one who calls on your name,
or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
⁸Yet, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
⁹Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.

PSALM (ELW)

Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19

Let your face shine upon us, and we shall be saved. (Ps. 80:7)

¹Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph ^| like a flock;

shine forth, you that are enthroned up- ^| on the cherubim.

²In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, ^| and Manasseh,

stir up your strength and ^| come to help us.

³Restore ^| us, O God;

let your face shine upon us, and we ^| shall be saved.

⁴O LORD ^| God of hosts,

how long will your anger fume when your ^| people pray? R

⁵You have fed them with the ^| bread of tears;

you have given them bowls of ^| tears to drink.

⁶You have made us the derision ^| of our neighbors,

and our enemies laugh ^| us to scorn.

⁷Restore us, O ^| God of hosts;

let your face shine upon us, and we ^| shall be saved.

¹⁷Let your hand be upon the one at ^| your right hand,

the one you have made so strong ^| for yourself. R

¹⁸And so will we never turn a- ^| way from you;

give us life, that we may call up- ^| on your name.

¹⁹Restore us, O LORD ^| God of hosts;

let your face shine upon us, and we ^| shall be saved. R

SECOND READING

1 Corinthians 1:3–9

As the Christians in Corinth await the advent of Jesus, Paul reminds them how the Lord has already enriched them through spiritual gifts and will continue to strengthen them until the coming day of the Lord.

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
⁴I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind —⁶just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you — ⁷so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

GOSPEL

Mark 13:24–37

In today's reading, Jesus encourages his followers to look forward to the day when he returns in power and glory to end all suffering.

²⁴But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
²⁵and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
²⁶Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. ²⁷Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
²⁸From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. ³⁰Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
³²But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. ³⁵Therefore, keep awake — for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, ³⁶or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

Reflection

Have we lost Advent or has our society not heard about it? Advent is such an important season at Atonement, but when we leave and “re-enter” society, we are into the Christmas season!! How much are we into Advent during the week or are we part of the Christmas celebrations – buying, wrapping, decorating, baking??? Advent isn’t really about preparing for Christmas. It is about preparing for the coming of Christ. And, yes, in a few weeks Advent will shift to the coming of Christ in a manger in Bethlehem, but Advent always begins with preparing and waiting for Christ to come again.

A question that I often pose to the students in confirmation is: Would you recognize Christ when he comes again? This question goes unanswered but there is an important outcome from the conversation. We might not know His appearance, but we can be alert to his coming. Waiting. Watching. Will Christ come to you this Advent season? Keep alert.

Pray for:

· Those who do not or cannot see Christ in others.

· Those who keep Advent in their lives during the weeks leading up to

Christmas.

· The impatient ones who have difficulty waiting.

· All to keep alert!

· For the imprisoned who wait.

Quote:

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German Lutheran Pastor and Theologian) His involvement in a plot to overthrow Adolf Hitler led to his imprisonment and execution.