Advent 2014

o Belmont University

Advent Devotional Guide 2014

o

Advent 2014 I am pleased to present the 11th annual Advent Guide for the Belmont University community. As our world, the university and the people who comprise the university change, we are even more aware of the need for the coming Christ in the lives of people here and everywhere.

Advent is that season of waiting that carefully and purposefully helps us to realign our priorities and to glimpse, anew, our place before God. We hope more people and more churches may have access to this guide and we hope it helps prepare each of us for Christmas.

Advent reminds us of the once and future visit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the Christ come to all of us this Christmas! May these devotionals help prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus!

This guide has instructions for daily devotions during this season. You are encouraged to read scripture, the brief devotion, and pray each day as you prepare your heart for Christmas.

I am grateful to the students, staff and faculty who have contributed to the guide. I offer my gratitude to Thomas Burns, the Provost of Belmont University, for his support of this project. I also especially thank Debbie Jacobs, Assistant to the Dean for the College of Theology and Christian Ministry. She has crafted this document out of her love for the students, this fine university and for Christ. There are no words to thank her adequately for her service and commitment throughout the entire year.

May each day reflecting upon God’s Word and upon the words of these writers lead each of us through Advent and to the coming of Christ!

Blessings,

Dr. Darrell Gwaltney Dean, College of Theology and Christian Ministry

Guide to Daily Prayer Opening Prayer Comfort, comfort your people, O God! Speak peace to your people.

Comfort those who sit in darkness and mourn, Forgive us our sins and end the conflict in our lives.

Confession of Sin eflect quietly before God asking for forgiveness for R all those things done and left undone that are unpleasing to God. Remember, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1.9

Scripture Lessons

Read the Psalms for the day.

Read the Old Testament passage for the day.

Read the Gospel passage for the day.

Read the Epistle passage for the day.

Prayers The following is a suggested guide for prayer during Advent. ray for all Christians around the world and especially P for those who endure persecution for their faith.

Pray for our nation and all those in authority. ray that Christ’s peace may cover the world. Pray for P the end of conflict and war and the triumph of truth and justice. ray for all those who engage in the educational ministry P of the Church and especially for Belmont University.

Pray for those who suffer and grieve.

As a closing prayer, read the words to O Come, O Come, Emmanuel appointed for the week.

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o Week One O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appears

o

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Sunday, November 30  Psalms 111, 112, 113, 146, 147  Isaiah 1.1-9  Matthew 25.1-13  2 Peter 3.1-10 Today, the first Sunday of Advent, we begin anew the journey of the church year. We may not pass “Go” and collect our two hundred dollars, but then again we are not playing Monopoly. We are living monotheism. Life finds meaning in relationship to God and to God’s glorious creation. We are not trying to bankrupt others so that we can win the game. We are learning to live under this biblical mandate: justice is the assurance for all persons of equal access to the goodness of God’s creation.

For me, the biggest takeaway from our gospel reading is this: Just be awake! Not only does this apply to eschatology, this applies to life generally. We can sleep our way through life, remaining unaware of what really matters. In our negligence and indifference, we can become corrupt and corrupting. The alternative is to wake up and affirm the values of God’s reign. As we enter the season of Advent today, we remember that Advent is a time of waiting and watching for the surprising work of God manifest in the Incarnation.

Athanasius, a great monk and theologian of antiquity, said, “God became human so that we might become divine.” Advent reminds us to awaken to live out the image of God in our daily lives. As we begin the new church year on this first Sunday of Advent, perhaps the greatest practical value of our gospel parable is to remind us that life is not about business as usual. The stakes are high. What are you going to do with this one and only beautiful life you have?

God, awaken my spirit to live out the values of your kingdom here and now. Amen.

Marty Bell Professor of Religion

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Monday, December 1  Psalms 1, 2, 3, 4, 7  Isaiah 1.10-20  Luke 20.1-8  1 Thessalonians 1.1-10 There is a present on the table. And it is for you. It is wrapped in the most beautiful gold and cream layered tapestry imaginable. It is adorned with a satin bow sitting atop proud and bold. It catches your eye each time you walk past this exquisite package. The box is so beautiful, you hesitate to open it, yet something deep within tells you, not only that you should, but in fact, you must. With pure joy and excitement, you embrace the gift. You gently set the bow aside for future admiration and use. While carefully undoing the tape as not to disturb its contents or creative wrap, you begin to see and to admire the box with a top underneath. Oh, the joy of a gift. You did not ask for it. You did not expect it. And to some extent, you may not feel you deserve it, yet you do. This sacrificial offering is free to everyone who will believe to receive the gift of peace. You lift the lid from this precious expression of sacrifice and hospitality, and in sheer awe tears roll down your face as you see a simple piece of paper with the word “peace” written on it.

Jesus Christ, whose birth we as believers honor, recognize, celebrate and cherish, gives us peace daily. In addition to many other gifts, he left the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the source for spiritual wisdom. We must lift the top off of the box in order to rest in it. In Psalm 1, we clearly see another choice to be made. We must use our gifts to make good decisions. We should listen to wise counsel and avoid sitting in the same situations we know are wrong. We can choose to be a witness or choose to be one who says, “What had happened was.”

As we embrace the love, joy and excitement of this season, we must leverage our spiritual wisdom and peace to delight in and meditate on God’s word each and every day. We will reap the benefits.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

(Psalm 1.3) Do not hate; celebrate, for unto us is given a Savior which is the Christ the Lord. Now that wisdom is simply divine.

How will you use your gift, spiritually speaking, of course?

Sybril Bennett Professor of Journalism

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Tuesday, December 2  Psalms 5, 6, 10, 11  Isaiah 1.21-31  Luke 20.9-18  1 Thessalonians 2.1-12 Every arrival is preceded by a departure. Every turning-toward includes a turning-away. Every affirmation (“I choose this”) includes a negation (“but not that”).

Today’s passage from Isaiah paints a stark picture of a desolate city.

The prophet looks around at the corruption, selfishness and greed of Jerusalem, and for just that reason, eagerly longs for that day “afterward” when Jerusalem “will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.” Here, dissatisfaction with the current situation prompts an eager longing for God’s new work. The prophet’s yearning is a leaning-toward and therefore also, necessarily, a leaning-away.

We encounter something of this same duality in today’s reading from Luke, but here the image is inverted. (Jesus is gesturing back to the early chapters of Isaiah, especially the “Song of the Vineyard” in Isaiah chapter 5). The farmers in this parable do everything in their power, even to the point of murder, to keep things as they are. Isaiah is appalled by his surroundings and awaits the arrival of God’s new work. The farmers in Jesus’ parable on the other hand are pleased enough with how things are. They certainly are not eager for the arrival of their master or any of his representatives. Likewise, the “builders” to whom Jesus alludes are quite happy to proceed with their building, without the cornerstone provided by God. As sobering as Isaiah’s dissatisfaction is, the contentment in Luke is far more troubling and dangerous. Only those who are sick seek out healing. Only those who are dissatisfied with the current rulers welcome the arrival of a new king.

At Advent we eagerly wait for the coming of Jesus Christ, and the kingdom he announces. But this “eager expectation,” this turning toward, also includes a dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs, a turning away. As the Apostle Paul observes, “Who hopes for what they already have?” (Romans 8.24) One way we welcome our new King is by turning away from all the false powers and rulers that would assert themselves in His place.

And—to turn things the other way around—our Advent joy is not a season of turning a blind eye to the world’s suffering, as if we were simply deciding to switch the channel from CNN to Christmas specials for a few weeks, or stringing up Christmas lights to make the world seem a little less dark. The darkness does not compete with but fuels our Advent joy. We turn away, and—whole-heartedly, joyfully, expectantly—turn toward our coming King.

Steve Guthrie Associate Professor of Theology/Religion and the Arts

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Wednesday, December 3  Psalms 12, 13, 14, 119.1-24  Isaiah 2.1-11  Luke 20.19-26  1 Thessalonians 2.13-20 Who do you look like in your family? Are you more like your father and your father’s family? Perhaps it is your height or your hair. Are you more like your mother and your mother’s family? Perhaps it is your eyes or your smile. We all have family traits. Hold that thought!

Most of you are very familiar with our Gospel text for today. It is the story of the scribes and chief priests trying to trap Jesus by asking Him about paying taxes. They ask Jesus if it is against the law for them to pay taxes to the emperor. Jesus answers them in a way that overturns the question. Jesus asks them for the coin with which they will pay the taxes. He sees the image of the emperor and his title on the coin. In the words of the old King James version, He says, “Render to Caesar the things which be Caesar’s and render to God the things which be God’s.”

It is not too hard to figure out what it might mean to “render to Caesar the things which be Caesar’s.” Christians have interpreted this to mean it is OK to pay taxes, even to a corrupt government. This is usually where the interpretation ends.

Giving to God the things which are God’s is a little more difficult. It is usually taken as a general exhortation, and perhaps even a mysterious religious statement that confuses the scribes and chief priests and keeps Jesus from being trapped. The clue to this mystery is in the question He asks about the coin. Jesus says, “Whose image and superscription does it bear?”

“Image.” Where do we find that language in the Bible? We find it in Genesis 1 where we are created in the image of God. Remember now the question about family traits. Who do we look like, not just on the outside, but on the inside? We look like God! We are the image of God, and God is inscribed within us. When Caesar is paid taxes, he might get some coins with tiny, pitiful images of himself.

He may think he’s getting a treasure, but the real treasure is us! And the scribes and the chief priests were so amazed at this idea that they became silent.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

Ann Coble Lecturer in Religion

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Thursday, December 4  Psalms 18.1-20, 18.21-50  Isaiah 2.12-22  Luke 20.27-40  1 Thessalonians 3.1-13 A perpetual critique of religion repeated for millennia is God is merely a projection of the human imagination, that God is simply a human being writ large. Writing in the 6th century BCE, the Greek philosopher Xenophanes asserts that if lions and cattle and horses had hands to create depictions of the gods, then we would see that they would imagine the gods as being shaped like lions or cattle or horses.

When I go into Christian houses of worship here in the States, I am always fascinated by the images of Jesus that I see. In predominantly white churches, I have seen pictures of Jesus that make him look more like a member of 1970s era Swedish pop group Abba than a Palestinian Jewish carpenter from the first century. When I have worshipped with friends in predominantly African-American churches, the images of Jesus in these spaces have often given him more of an African appearance, and at the Asian-American congregations where I have worshipped, the images of Jesus often give him more of an Asian appearance.

In the Psalms reading from today (18.25-27), we feel tension about the ways that we view God. The Psalmist says, “With the loyal you show yourself loyal; with the blameless you show yourself blameless; with the pure you show yourself pure;” which sounds great so far, but then we hear this, “and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.” Whoa, what happens here? Perhaps we read the answer in the very next verse, “For you deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.”

This God that the Psalmist writes about identifies himself with us when our hearts are turned towards him in humility, and this God identifies himself against the arrogant, against the crooked, with the oppressed.

This is not simply God as a human writ large; rather, this is a God with a moral center that is at odds with injustice, at odds with cultures where the image of God in humans is being effaced.

In this season of Advent, we live in hopeful expectation. We turn our hearts towards a God that is not content simply to have us know that we are made in his image. Rather, this God chooses to reveal himself in Jesus Christ, God in the image of ourselves, not so that we might remake God as we see fit, but rather to show us how, in being like God, we become more fully human.

Donovan McAbee Assistant Professor of Religion and the Arts

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Friday, December 5  Psalms 16, 17, 22  Isaiah 3.8-15  Luke 20.41-21.4  1 Thessalonians 4.1-12 You make known to me the path of life; you fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

(Psalm 16.11) In the shadow of Advent is Lent. Psalm 22’s cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are the words of the crucified Christ.

The prophet Isaiah and Paul in his letter captured as 1 Thessalonians admonish us for our propensity and attraction to sinful ways. This is the Lenten message reminding us of the need for vigilance and atonement for our failings. Isaiah 3.15 addresses our sinful experience with this question, “What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” The key here is the imagery of the crushing and grinding—appropriate agrarian economic language about both the weight of sin and the implied transformation of that which is crushed and ground into something newly transformed and purposed to sustain us as “the apple of God’s eye.”

In Luke 21, we read of two dispositions regarding tithes to the Treasury.

Jesus sees the rich people paying their debts, easily from their coffers, while the widow, who follows the same laws, gives more with her “two very small copper coins.” This is the debt she owes based on her station in life; she puts in all she has. She accepts her path, she does her duty and she is rewarded in God’s eyes for giving more than she can really afford. This is what we are asked to do­—to give all we have without complaining or making a great show.

There are always enemies at the gates of the faithful. In Luke 20, they are the “teachers of the law” (20.46) who showcase themselves for all the people to see and “devour widows’ houses” in their desire for fame; in 1 Thessalonians, the enemies of our bodies are our bodies; and in the Psalms, David speaks of the “callous” and “arrogant” who want to destroy him (Psalm 17.19).

We want to be a gift worthy of the Gift we have received knowing we are indebted to God for our very being. While we wait for the greatest gift, seeing God face to face, we can bring others to Christ through the example of the dutiful widow, and keep ourselves pleasing offerings to God by our charity, humility and quietude of mind and body (1 Thess. 4.12).

Beverly Schneller Associate Provost for Academic Affairs

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Saturday, December 6  Psalms 20, 21.1-7, 110.1-7, 116, 117  Isaiah 4.2-6  Luke 21.5-19  1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 Advent, waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ, is a time of speeding up and slowing down. I did not grasp this until coming to Belmont.

There is the current chaos of finals, ensemble performances and any number of other loose ends, then the sudden decrease of routine activities upon returning home for break. Somehow, unbelievably, this is all the same season of anticipating God becoming man. Tense and distracted with too much information on too many topics, it is hard to focus on anything but the next cup of coffee or wink of sleep.

Anything beyond this can seem pretty far off. But might this be the time we most need the assurance of His coming?

“Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling,” (Psalm 116.7-8, KJV). Jesus the Messiah came when God’s people had nearly lost hope. Suffering under Roman conquest, they did not recognize a Savior from a greater and far more powerful enemy, the same oppression from which He also saves us. He has defeated the power of sin through His death and Resurrection.

“The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul,” (Psalm 116.3-4, KJV). Advent is the coming of Emmanuel, of God with us. This is just as true when our minds, bodies and spirits are fatigued. His presence is with us now just as it will be when we go on break to rest. One day we shall see Him, coming again in glory to this earth. We may trust Him as Jerusalem did.

“In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 4.23, KJV). I pray the presence of Emmanuel, God with us, be with you throughout this Holy Advent season.

Brooke Pernice Junior, Religion and the Arts

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o Week Two O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer Our spirits by thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

o

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Sunday, December 7  Psalms 114, 115, 148, 149, 150  Isaiah 5.1-7  Luke 7.28-35  2 Peter 3.11-18 We played the pipes for you and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges and you wouldn’t cry.

(Luke 7:32) John the Baptist was a child of the desert. Scripture clothes him in the hair of a camel. He was the adversary of “too much”: noise, food, entertainment, piety, mind-numbing comfort. He was not a Puritan who feared that someone, somewhere was having fun. He stood in the “tradition of the wilderness” that valued simplicity. He suspected all things institutional because he knew they squeezed something precious out of individuals. Like a prophet, his life was a walking symbol so he came “not eating bread, nor drinking wine.”

John carried a perpetual sadness because he felt the plight of those crushed by systems and circumstances. Scripture praises his negativity because he knew that all of our ego-monuments lasted no longer than the shifting sands of his desert.

Jesus, on the other hand, was a child of a small village. He lived close to individuals. Beneath all of our forms of brokenness, he saw the hidden wholeness that holds us and he called that the reign of God. He even saw grace in a dead sparrow by the side of the road. Jesus came “eating and drinking.” He affirmed life in this world. He saw goodness in small pleasures. He felt the healing warmth in meals with untouchables, the sacrament of love when a man and a woman decide to make a life together. He saw the reign of God in these small things.

In his memoir Telling Secrets, Frederick Buechner says even after the suicide of his father and the awful anorexia of his adolescent daughter and the terrible self-absorption of his beautiful mother, he realized all of us have a sacred commission to be happy, to breathe deeply and to know the holiness of taking that breath.

John the Baptist knew God in abstinence and isolation and the dissolution of all things false. Jesus knew God in shared experiences of laughter and meals and persons walking into their futures with a second chance.

For these reasons we instinctively respond to Christmas. Mary, Joseph, the child, the shepherds and the Magi imply community and searching, and a star of guidance and the promise that God is with us in ridiculously ordinary settings.

Ben Curtis Professor of Religion

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Monday, December 8  Psalms 9, 15, 25  Isaiah 5.8-12  Luke 21.20-28  1 Thessalonians 5.1-11 The anticipation of Christmas creates a range of emotions. For some the season brings a sense of excitement and plans to celebrate with family and friends. For others the season is contemplative, filled with melancholy longing for Christmases past when life seemed simpler, the days seemed more meaningful and loved ones were present who since have passed. The season of Advent marks a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus, a time of reflection upon the first Christmas while looking forward with a sense of wonder to the hope to be experienced in a promised return.

I recall so many Christmases with my brother and sisters sharing in the many holiday preparations. Certainly the question of what to give one another became an early preoccupation. Listening weeks in advance became an art in hopes that a casual conversation might reveal a wish, or a clue to the “perfect gift.” I thought, “To find the gift of all gifts for each one, now that’s Christmas.” I soon realized that even with the best intentions, the “perfect gift” could never be discovered under a tree.

For me the gifts of Christmas begin with Advent and the preparation, the anticipation of the coming of the Christ. So how do we prepare for the coming if there is no space in our life? The day-to-day realities compete for our time and leave little room to sense the presence of God. Isaiah long ago warned the Israelites to be careful as to choices and commitments. The woe statements or warnings ring true. The words, “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land…” speak of misplaced priorities.

In the futility of transitory pursuits, we are lured into chasing dreams that consume our lives so much that there is no space to receive Christ when He comes.

Wherever you are today, whether you are looking forward with anticipation or looking back wrapped in a Christmas memory, consider creating space once more for the Holy Child, a space that is open, one that is tender, one that says, “Come Lord Jesus.”

Scott Allen Lecturer in Religion

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Tuesday, December 9  Psalms 26, 28, 36, 39  Isaiah 5.13-17, 24-25  Luke 21.29-38  1 Thessalonians 5.12-28 Today’s Gospel text comes from the final public teachings of Jesus, right before he was arrested. As we anticipate the celebration of Jesus’ birth, it can be odd to think about the words on his lips right before he died. Especially because, well, they are not very happy words, are they? The theme of this second week of Advent is joy, but here in Luke 21, we start with the story of a destitute widow abandoned by the leaders of the day (Luke 20.47), who offers her last two pennies to God. This act of defiant devotion is one of the catalysts for Jesus’ final, apocalyptic sermon. Most of his words outline the signs that will come in the last days, and then he finishes up with our passage, a little parable about being aware of the world around us, even down to the fig tree and when it will sprout its summer leaves (21.29-30). It is Jesus’ plea to us to always pay attention to where God is working in the world, so that we might know when the kingdom of God is near (21.31).

Especially at this point in the semester, it is way too easy to get distracted by “the worries of this world” (21.34) and to forget about anything else. There are papers and tests and travel plans and family concerns and gifts to buy and a million other things. But God is really asking us to sit for a minute, and notice the leaves on the fig tree, or maybe more accurately here in Nashville, the last dried brown oak leaves, or the first frost, or the candles on the Advent wreath.

Even more importantly, God wants us to pay attention to the real markers of the season, where the kingdom of heaven that Jesus showed us is becoming a reality in our world. Where do you sense hope, joy, peace and love this Advent?

I hear joy in the peal of my son’s laughter as he plays peek-a-boo or learns a new word. I see love in the camaraderie between a bunch of teenagers sharing chili and a football game with a group of homeless men who have come in out of the cold for the night. I can begin to sense a chance for peace when I see Christians and Muslims standing together against violence in any form or fashion. I taste hope for resurrection, unity and justice for all in the bread and wine of communion, at the table of Jesus, who chose servanthood and humility over power and glory when he came to us as a vulnerable child, the Son of God becoming the Son of Humanity.

How about you?

Amanda Miller Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies

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Wednesday, December 10  Psalms 38, 119.25-48  Isaiah 6.1-13  John 7.53-8.11  2 Thessalonians 1.1-12 The Psalm readings for today are difficult; difficult in that the suffering of the writer is palpable. The anguish and the pain reside alongside the longing and the hope. There is no attempt by the writer to hide the reality of the struggle, and no holding back of an aching desire— the Psalmist feels it, bone deep.

I am grateful for the honesty of the Psalms. Grateful for the model it provides as it speaks freely and openly of the Psalmist’s own reality, coming at the truth of the daily struggle in a no-holds-barred confrontation with the Divine. Frankly, it is both comforting and uncomfortable for the honesty that confronts the often one-sided thinking that we cannot be—should not be—this openly honest with God, and at the same time uncomfortable with the brute vulnerability that lies open on the page.

As we journey through Advent, we find ourselves walking through a familiar story—one that may be so familiar that we may tend not to pay attention to it. Then there is the all too familiar story of our own lives playing out in front of our eyes. That Advent comes at the end of the year is, to me, a beautiful juxtaposition: our calendar year coming to a close, while the Advent story simultaneously births a new story into being.

I would venture to say I am not the only one who sees the coming of the end of the year as opportunity to reflect on—as the Liturgy reminds us—“things done and things left undone.” And I sense too that I am not alone in sitting with a sense of the Psalmist’s grief that leaves me “bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning,” particularly for those things left undone.

Then Christ comes alongside my mourning, my reflection, my bowing down, and draws with his finger in the ground of my life some new picture of what is possible, a new picture of what is being birthed out of my struggle and my grief. He stands to throw no stones, and, I hear in his saying, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone,” that he includes me, too, asking me not to throw stones even at myself, as I’m sometimes prone to do in my grief or shame.

So today I join the Psalmist in the truth of my own life that includes the suffering and the anguish alongside my longing and hope, praying: “Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.” Amen and Amen.

Dane Anthony Lecturer in Religion

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Thursday, December 11  Psalms 37.1-18, 37.19-42  Isaiah 7.1-9  Luke 22.1-13  2 Thessalonians 2.1-12 As a child I never remember hearing the word “Advent.” In fact, my first remembrance of celebrating Advent was when I was about 30 years old. Advent gave new meaning to preparation for the coming of Christ.

We are well into the season of Advent, and there is still much that needs to be done. There are cards to write, presents to buy and wrap, people to see, parties to attend, the tree to trim, stockings to hang, church services to attend, food to make, and so much more. All of these elements of the Christmas season are important. They are all about preparation. Preparation is evident in the Bible. The Hebrews made preparations for the Passover as they were about to be set free from their enslavement. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells his disciples to “‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’…

So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal” (Luke 22.8; 13, NRSV).

As we celebrate Advent, we are preparing for the birth of the Savior.

Our preparations are more than just activities. We are preparing our hearts to experience the tremendous mystery of Emmanuel—God with us. If we are not intentional about taking time to reflect on the meaning of Advent, then we have truly missed the most important preparation of all. This week of Advent celebrates the joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.

What can we do to prepare for the joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus? Is there someone you have encountered who needs to know the joy of a relationship with Christ? Go share the love of Christ in tangible ways. Is there someone with whom you need reconciliation?

Go and be reconciled. Do you need to spend time pondering the gift of salvation provided through Christ? Go and spend time in prayer and reading scripture.

Our preparations for Advent bring anticipation. If you have ever been around children at Christmas time, you know that it is very hard for them to wait for Christmas. I well remember my own desires for Christmas Day (and the presents) to come quickly! We would do well as we prepare for Christ’s coming to remember the words of the Psalmist “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…”

(Psalm 37.7, NRSV).

Martha Minardi Assistant Professor, Adult Degree Programs

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Friday, December 12  Psalms 31, 35  Isaiah 7.10-25  Luke 22.14-30  2 Thessalonians 2.13-3.5 As I write these words it is October, and we are in the midst of midterms, and December—and Christmas—still feel a long way off. The peace and joy that we often associate with the Christmas season is currently being trumped by the rigor and grind of papers, exams, grading and doing hard work. We long for what is to come, but we dare not get too far ahead of ourselves, because there is still a half semester’s worth of work in front of us.

In many ways this snapshot of midterms speaks to a larger reality that we feel much of the year—we are aware of the hope and promises of God, but they often feel distant and just out of reach. Even during the Christmas season we can find ourselves experiencing conflicting feelings of joy and struggle, peace and turmoil. We sense in our heart of hearts that there is much to be thankful for, including the reminder that Christ broke into the world to set things right. Yet, there are a number of factors and realities that make up any given moment, in any given day, that can cause us to feel hurt, or overwhelmed, or even defeated.

These feelings are not new or unique to this moment in time. The scriptures for today echo similar struggles between the reality of the author and what they hoped for in God. Struggle and strife, we therefore understand, are a part of living in a broken world.

And yet these authors recognize that brokenness was not the end of the story, and collectively spoke of a reason to hope that we today might too easily, or too often, lose sight of in the midst of our own struggles—God promises to set things right. God knows our situation and does not leave us to go through it alone. He walks with us. He gives us strength. He renews our spirit. And he will give us what we need for each day.

So then, brothers (and sisters), stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

(2 Thes. 2.15-17) Guy Chmieleski University Minister

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Saturday, December 13  Psalms 32, 42, 43  Isaiah 8.1-15  Luke 22.33-38  2 Thessalonians 3.6-18 We cannot help but be filled with joy when we know that in a few weeks, we will celebrate our savior stepping into our world. However, it is hard to escape that even in this joy, there is the reality that we are broken people.

The scripture out of Luke today is a story that is not usually associated in our minds with Christmas. It takes place right before Jesus is taken away to be tried and crucified. Peter says he will follow Jesus to prison or even to death, but Jesus responds, telling him that before the rooster crows Peter will deny that he knows Jesus three times.

Is there any joy in this story? We know how the rest of Peter’s story goes. Later in the story he three times denies knowing Jesus, the rooster crows and he looks over at Jesus who is staring at him. I cannot imagine the amounts of guilt and shame Peter would have felt in this moment as he runs out weeping bitterly.

When I read this story, I see myself in it. I always want to be the one to say that I will never forsake or deny my faith, but time and time again I fail. A thick smog of guilt and shame drapes over me. It is easier to hide my failures than to ever speak of them. How embarrassing it is to let down the one you love the most.

And right here is when we find the comforting words of Psalm 32.

David says that the Lord has forgiven transgression and covered sin.

He counts no iniquity against us. Isn’t that incredible! This psalm is not only speaking of the forgiveness of sin, but the admittance of it.

When we acknowledge our sin to God, look him straight in the eye as vulnerable children in need of grace, we are able to receive the incredible joy of forgiveness that only He can give. We ought to not keep our secrets in the dark out of fear of exposing them, but rather take them to Jesus and experience the joy of being free of them. For when we confess, we are forgiven.

In this time of waiting for the Lord, let us readily confess our shortcomings to God and to one another, remembering that we are all flawed human beings who are in desperate need of our coming Savior!

Jordan Collins Senior, Christian Leadership

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o Week Three O come, thou Wisdom from on high, And order all things, far and nigh; To us the path of knowledge show, And cause us in her ways to go.

o

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Sunday, December 14  Psalms 63.1-8, 98, 103  AIsaiah 13.6-13  John 3.22-30  Hebrews 12.18-29 At the West household, the official countdown until Christmas begins on Black Friday and the anticipation gains momentum with each passing day. Whether it is the thought of loved ones returning home, the many family gatherings that we will attend, revisiting old traditions or celebrating new ones, I am reminded that Jesus Christ, the Hope of Glory, is the reason that we have the privilege of sharing our love with others during this wonderful time of the year.

We know that Christmas comes at the same time each year but when will Christ come again? The scripture tells us that no one knows the hour of his return. Not even the angels who announced His birth know when He will return. With this in mind I want to bring God glory and honor with each day with which He blesses me on this earth.

Ultimately it is not the gifts, the delicious meals that will be prepared, the family and great friends that we will visit that define Christmas.

But it is what this day signifies in the life of a believer—the blessed hope that we have been granted because of His coming. It is fun and exciting to prepare for the season but it is even more exciting to live out our purpose each day as we await His return.

Just as I anticipate this joyous time of the year I also anticipate Christ’s return and I am often reminded of His coming in my daily walk with Him. I seek His presence in my relationships, vocation, and the everyday moments of life. As Psalms 63.2 states, “So I look for you in the Holy place to see your power and your glory.” In essence every place that I tread is Holy because Jesus Christ, the Hope of Glory, dwells in me. It is in these moments that I experience His manifestation in my life and Christmas becomes a regular occurrence.

To God Be the Glory!

Susan West Vice President and Chief of Staff

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Monday, December 15  Psalms 41, 44, 52  Isaiah 8.16-9.1  Luke 22.39-53  2 Peter 1.1-11 In all you do, pray. When I was little, I had this idea that Christmas time meant we were entering into a solid thirty days of unbreakable bliss. Everyone was happy, nothing was wrong, everything was okay.

As we get older we tend to see the realities of life that just don’t care if it’s the most wonderful time of the year or not. Christmas all of a sudden becomes a time of just getting through to the new year. We don’t want to spend time with that family member, we don’t want to remember that person we lost, we don’t want to have to split our time between mom’s and dad’s house, and we most certainly don’t want to focus on how tight money is right now. Through all the gifts, we lose sight of the ultimate gift that was given, Christ. He seems to hit the back burner until we need him again.

In every moment, pray. When Jesus was about to be crucified, he went to the garden to pray (Luke 22.40-42). In his time of need, he turned to God just as we need to when those realities start hitting us. Especially during the Christmas season, we need to remember that no matter what else is happening in our lives, we have a Savior that laid down his life for our sake. Pray. Thank God for what he has done and ask him for His will to be made clear shadowing away any plan that we may have for ourselves.

No matter what, pray. If we bring Christmas back to a time of worship and thankfulness for the faith that we can have in the gift of Jesus Christ, then we will be able to put into perspective everything that keeps us from focusing on Him. In 2 Peter 1, we see just what we should focus on in order to support our faith through goodness, knowledge, selfcontrol, endurance, godliness, mutual affection and love.

No matter what your circumstance, take time to pray with those around you, for those you love, for those you have animosity toward, for the situations you are unsure about. Take time to ask the Father that His will be done. Take time to invest in your faith. It is through the offering of these things in prayer that we can realign ourselves to the true gift that we receive during Christmas and just how we can allow that to spill over into our lives, circumstances and relationships.

Brianna Fischette Junior, Religious Studies

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Tuesday, December 16  Psalms 45, 47, 48  Isaiah 9.1-7  Luke 22.54-69  2 Peter 1.12-21 At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

(Luke 22.60-62) Boo Radley’s story in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is one that haunts emotions and disturbs one’s faith in humanity. While the story of Tom Robinson, murdered by a racist, brings out the extremes in one’s sense of justice, Boo’s story leaves us numb. Perhaps it is because his story reveals the childish nature—but all too adult reality—of fear. One of many character stories in this beautiful novel, it is one of a reclusive man with a hard childhood. He is depicted by children, including 8-year-old Scout and her 13-year-old brother Jem, as a monster. His true identity is never known and he is deeply misunderstood by Scout and all the other children. Yet, at the end of the novel Scout and Jem receive a surprising gift: he saves their lives from the knife of the racist.

In the story, Scout walks Boo back to his house the night he saves them, her preconceptions jolted. She considers how she had denied his humanity just as the racist had denied that of Tom Robinson.

She says: I entered the Radley front gate for the second time in my life. Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch. His fingers found the front doorknob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, went inside and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again.

Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.

Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.

Each time I read these words, or hear them in Horton Foote’s adaption for the 1962 film, I think of Peter and Jesus. I try to put myself in Peter’s shoes. And despite my protests, I can do it so easily. Come Emmanuel.

Andy Watts Associate Professor of Religion

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Wednesday, December 17  Psalms 49, 119.49-72  Isaiah 9.8-17  Mark 1.1-8  2 Peter 2.1-10a During Advent, the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke are the stars of the show. You get angels and Wise Men and Mary, Joseph and the baby, lying in a manger. It is unbeatable stuff. But poor Mark and his Gospel are not paid much attention. Mark’s Gospel opens with some verses from the Old Testament, followed by the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, screaming in the wilderness about repentance. This is not what we want at Christmastime.

But it may be just what we need. Mark is making clear in his own way that Jesus is not just a God-Man parachuting in from above to rescue sinners one by one. Instead, Mark underscores the fact that Jesus is coming in fulfillment of the hopes and dreams of Israel for a king who will take his rightful place as ruler of all nations and of each heart. Verse 1 states that what we are about to read is “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Anointed One…” This sounds bland enough, until we remember that the term “good news” [evangelion] was already in use by the Roman emperor to describe what he supposedly brought to the world. The term “Anointed One” means little to us, but it meant a lot to Herod Antipas, who was already the reigning “Anointed One” in Israel! King Jesus comes as a threat to the military, political, economic and religious establishment. Herod knew this, and was glad to have John the Baptist’s head cut off, and later to see Jesus put to death after three short years of stirring up the rabble.

Jesus evoked such violent opposition because his claims on our loyalty and our lives are without limit. Jesus did not come to take part in our lives, he came to take over. What John the Baptist announced was not the coming of another prophet, but the entrance of God himself into the world: “Prepare the way for the Lord!” writes Isaiah, and that word translated “Lord” is actually the proper name of God. The entrance of Jesus into the world means big trouble is coming; earthly trouble for Jesus and his faithful followers, but eternal trouble for those who dare oppose the good news of the true Anointed One. As Bob Dylan sang, “Of every earthly plan that be known to man he is unconcerned; he’s got plans of his own to set up his throne…” May we be found to be his faithful worshippers and obedient servants.

Todd Lake Vice President for Spiritual Development

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Thursday, December 18  Psalms 33, 50  Isaiah 9.18-10.4  Matthew 3.1-12  2 Peter 2.10b-16 “The Lord’s terrifying kindness has come to me.”

The poet Mary Oliver begins her poem “The Soul at Last” with these words. This sentence strikes me as encapsulating some of the themes of today’s texts.

These biblical passages pose difficult questions and offer hard answers.

The psalmist asks us to consider what makes an acceptable sacrifice, and John the Baptist, in the text from Matthew, calls his listeners to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near. Throughout these verses, there also clearly lurks the theme of God’s anger and God’s willingness to destroy.

If we fail to stay on the straight road, then we are like animals, born to be caught and killed. The winnowing fork and the axe of the Almighty are waiting, and the tree that fails to bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. God’s anger does not go away, and those who fail to repent are heading for a bad end.

We should be uncomfortable, even afraid. The psalmist instructs the reader to be fearful and to be in awe of God. But, do we really need to be afraid of the messages in these ancient passages? Do we need to be afraid of the wrath of God that the verses portray?

The wrath of God appears to be reserved for the worst of us, those false teachers and prophets, those Pharisees and Sadducees. It is not for us. Well, hopefully it is not for us. Right? These passages challenge us, they are disquieting and they should speak to us.

Especially during Advent as we await the joy of Christmas, we focus on the God who loves us enough to be with us in Jesus the Christ. We think of the infant sent to save. These texts, however, also present us with other characteristics of the God who is with us, and they remind us that God requires something from us.

We are required to repent. We are required to bear good fruit, fruit that is worthy of repentance. These passages remind us that what we do matters. It is an ancient idea that both Mary Oliver and the psalmist are pointing to through their writings. Stand in awe. Be afraid. In Judaism, the calendar includes Days of Awe during which teshuva, or repentance, is practiced. It is an idea that is helpful for Christians to consider during Advent as well. Rejoice as you remember the wonder of Incarnation. Be grateful that the overwhelming and unimaginable kindness of God has come to us in the form of Jesus the Christ child, and also, do not forget to be in awe and to repent. Our God requires this of us.

Sally Holt Professor of Religion

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Friday, December 19  Psalms 40, 51, 54  Isaiah 10.5-19  Matthew 11.2-15  2 Peter 2.17-22 For many of us, mention of John the Baptist will evoke images of a man donned in camel hair, eating locusts and honey, and challenging onlookers in a fiery fashion to repent and mean it. As the Baptizer tells it, those who mean to seek forgiveness but remain alarmingly uninterested in bearing fruit, that sure sign of true repentance, had best stay home, because the axe is about to be laid at the root of fruitless trees.

Without losing the pinch of John’s prophetic summons, we are invited to imagine John from another angle—More welcoming? More like one of us?—in today’s readings as we see him sitting in prison, now made to wonder what it was his own voice-in-the-wilderness fuss was all about if it is really the case, as it indeed appears to be, that he is fated to die there. Drawing on the imagery of hope and a new day on the way in the psalms by which his own thinking, like Jesus’, was in a deep sense instructed, what is he to make now of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness which, it had been alleged, was to keep people like John somehow safe and secure forever (40.11).

He had told “the glad news of deliverance” and, in exemplary prophetic fashion, he had not restrained his lips (40.9), and now… in spite of whatever it was John had personally seen and believed concerning Jesus (A voice from the sky? The Spirit descending like a dove? The conviction that John himself was not even worthy to handle his footwear?), Matthew’s Gospel gives us an imprisoned man left to wonder if he got it all wrong. Maybe the anointed one who will bring God’s righteous reign is supposed to show up later. John sends his followers to ask Jesus if this might be the case.

At least a little bit cryptically, Jesus tells them to tell John what they see and hear: “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk . . . lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them… Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me” (11.4-6). It appears the work of not being offended by the quiet revolution of God’s coming and the way it does not bring down the prospering wicked just yet is never done. Does his candid confession of honest doubt as he approached his dreaded finish line mean that John the Baptist was something less than a faithful prophet of the kingdom to come? Not at all. And blessed are we as we allow our preferred paradigms for God’s goodness to come crumbling down one more time.

David Dark Assistant Professor of Religion and the Arts

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Saturday, December 20  Psalms 55, 138, 139.1-17  Isaiah 10.20-27  Luke 3.1-9  Jude 17-25 Oh Lord, You created my innermost self.

(Psalm 139) Take this moment today to withdraw, even if only for twenty precious minutes, away from the noise and frantic movement of the “last-minute,” whether it be last-minute shopping, packing, or that final work project.

It can wait; you can wait.

As Americans, we demand expediency. Do it well and do it fast! Why? Because time is short, and we have things to do and new horizons to uncover. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger thought that as human beings we find ourselves perpetually thrown into a world of possibilities that await our investment. The human being is an ever-open and unfinished project until the moment of our death. It is no surprise that Heidegger commends that we cultivate lives of anxious concern for the self we have yet to become. At both the cultural and existential level, this may explain why we find ourselves so often exhausted and anxious down to the marrow of our bones.

In Psalm 139, David invites us into a more intimate and wonderful horizon for life. From the womb, from the beginning of your life and throughout all your life-journeys, God is the One who is closer to you than you are to yourself. In the midst of your insecurities and the insecurities of this life, as you search your mind and heart for the right words and paths by which to move in this world, wait and be at peace! For within you, there is One who knows and intimately understands the paths of your life and the desires of your hearts. He is Emmanuel, the God who is with us, wherever we go, whether our life should bring us before the light and joy that descends from the heavens or the darkness and despair that rises up from the grave. God is there with you!

Take a moment to wait and breathe in the very breath of God, the Spirit that surrounds you today and everyday. As you breathe, allow the words of David to sweep across your lips: “you created my inmost self; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” As it was at the beginning, so it is today in this moment of your life. God is at work in you, His most wonderful creation, bestowing upon you the gift of life out of the innermost abundance of His own Life.

Manuel Cruz Assistant Professor of Theology

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o Week Four O come, Desire of nations, bind All peoples in one heart and mind; Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease; Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.

o

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Sunday, December 21  Psalms 8, 24, 29, 84  Isaiah 42.12  John 3.16-21  Ephesians 6.10-20 As the growing darkness of autumn and winter settle in to the shortest days of the year, pondering what the Gospel writer John is saying about darkness and light can be exceedingly clear or mistakenly rigid.

When I think of Christmas, anticipation and many favorite things settle into my mind. But when I think of Advent, there is as much unsettling as there is expectancy. Our study of texts gathered to move us toward preparedness for Jesus has become an important turning point in the year’s work of spiritual rhythms and practices. But each year, the texts which greet us as we read scripture toward Christmas prod us to look again, think again, let go again.

Advent is the season of anticipating the coming of the Lord. More than the celebration of Jesus’ birth, this is the acknowledgement that God has been coming to the whole world and that God’s coming always surprises and rearranges. At Christmas we remember something that happened thousands of years ago. In Advent we prepare for the God who comes to us now.

Some of today’s verses are familiar passages cast a bit differently when read in Advent. There is a lesson to be learned from pondering darkness and light. We are living at a time when when the “either/ or” of most things is pointed at and emphasized. John 3 is often used to point the reader to see those who believe and those who do not believe. Look behind that and you find the God who is always reaching to make whole, the God who is reconciling all things, the whole cosmos, which God loved so much he sent his Son. When it comes to darkness and light these short winter days and long dark nights beckon some reflection. The darkness of winter nights is not the darkness we are to resist. John is telling us to resist the darkness in us that tries to hide who we are, what we are capable of, good and bad. Those who love God in response to God’s love for them are drawn into the open, wanting to please God, setting aside the fear of being exposed as flawed and welcoming the one who makes all things new.

Judy Skeen Professor of Religion

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Monday, December 22  Psalms 61, 62, 112, 115  Isaiah 11.1-9  John 5.30-47  Revelation 20.1-10 In the text from the Gospel of John we find Jesus in an extended theological debate. He has been going on for so long, that it is difficult to remember the original dispute to which he is responding.

The opponents of Jesus objected to the crippled man Jesus healed carrying his mat on the Sabbath and, apparently, to Jesus healing him on the Sabbath. Jewish tradition allows for exceptions to Sabbath observance when issues of preserving life are involved, so it is difficult to understand their objection, and we do not hear it in the opponents’ own words. By the time Jesus’ response reaches 5.30, the issue has become whether the work of Jesus is the work of God. The dispute within the life of Jesus has become an occasion for an extended discussion between the author of John and his audience. What is the nature of divine work in the world and who gets to do it?

The question is at least as urgent in our own day when religious traditions are in conflict, and questions of authority swirl around us.

The length and complexity of Jesus’ soliloquy here would indicate this is a question we must subject to rigorous examination. Several situations of conflict within religious institutions have arisen in the news recently in which the behavior of one of the parties looks and sounds like intimidation or bullying. The stated goals of these persons may seem good, but it is difficult to consider their means of achieving their goals as life-giving. Instead, they leave a wake of broken and hurting people in their path. The world and the church march on through another advent season, but who will do the work of looking around to find the wounded they have left behind them?

Psalms 112 opens with this verse: Praise the LORD! Happy are those who fear the LORD, who greatly delight in his commandments.

It continues in 112.7: They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD. Enforcement, intimidation and bullying, even when done for the cause of religion, are acts of fear and insecurity. They bring harm rather than the fullness of life with which Jesus comes into the world.

Mark McEntire Professor of Biblical Studies

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Tuesday, December 23  Psalms 66, 67, 116, 117  Isaiah 11.10-16  Luke 1.5-25  Revelation 20.11-21.8 You will become mute, unable to speak.

Elizabeth conceived . . . she remained in silence.

(Luke 1.5-25) The Gospel reading provides an interesting story-line. Herod, who represents threat and uncertainty, is in the background. Zechariah and Elizabeth are an elderly couple who stand in the line of Israel’s best—he is a priest and she is devout. They carry a shame and disappointment because they are barren, a circumstance that bodes the disfavor of God. When “chosen by lot,” Zechariah goes into the inner sanctum of the temple to burn incense. While there, the angel Gabriel appears and announces Elizabeth will bear a special son, John the Baptist.

Zechariah doubts and is stricken with silence. The crowd perceives Zechariah has had an encounter with God but he cannot talk about it. Elizabeth conceives and goes into seclusion. The entire episode creates expectancy and waiting.

Here are some spiritual lessons for the contemporary reader. God has been at work in human history for a long time and our personal story takes place in the context of a larger story. We often find ourselves in circumstances of “barrenness,” feeling helpless. God breaks in at just the right time, and we wonder: was that God or my imagination? Our words get in the way—we need to be reduced to silence so that our very life becomes a sign.

Zechariah means “God remembers.” That is our hope in the birth of the Christ child. We are not forgotten.

Ben Curtis Professor of Religion

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Wednesday, December 24  Psalms 45, 46, 89.1-29  Isaiah 35.1-10  Luke 1.67-80  Revelation 22.12-17 If your family is anything like mine, then you hit the ground running the day after Thanksgiving. The Christmas season has thus officially begun and the local radio station has the around-the-clock Christmas music on to prove it. Black Friday sales only last so long and each year, the Christmas card list grows with new connections! It is an exciting time of year, and the rush of what’s coming practically steals away December.

And then we get here, to this day, the one before the day we have been looking and working towards, the one that we convince ourselves demands the unending preparations and our busiest efforts.

Psalm 46.10 tells us, “Be still and know that I am God.” It is an oftquoted piece of Scripture, and at its best, it sounds so ideal. Stillness is something of a commodity these days. In the twenty-first century, in a society more connected, more hectic, and more active than ever, it is hard to get it right when the world is telling you to do anything but be still.

In the Hebrew, “be still” (raphah) can also be translated to mean something like “sink down” or “let it drop.” In a season where it seems like we are only allowed to pick up more and more responsibility, letting anything drop or sink sounds a little bit irresponsible.

Our arms are as full as ever in the Christmas season. They are full of expectations, to-do lists, well-intentioned ideas and gifts for all.

Our homes are filled with decorations, family, presents, food—all incredible blessings from the One whom they all flow. But the psalmist says, “be still and [then] know that He is God,” as though the knowing is contingent on the being still.

As we sit here now, the day before our Savior’s birth, might it be time to sink down and let it drop, knowing that in so doing, we may fully acknowledge who God is?

I wonder sometimes if that which we hold closest during the holiday season is keeping us from knowing He is God. What might you have to drop to know that He is God? An expectation, the perceived need that we are supposed to do more, make more, be more? What might you have to let go of to understand His sovereignty, grace and lordship over your life?

Be still, let it drop, and come and see what the Lord has done. The Lord Almighty is now with us. May we let down our guards, our defenses, our demanding to-dos, and come before the Lord to see what He has done. I do not think we will want to miss it.

Kelsey King Senior, Religion and the Arts

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Thursday, December 25  Psalms 42, 85, 110.1-5, 132  Zechariah 2.10-13  John 3.31-36  1 John 4.7-16 The day of his birth was an ordinary day or so it surely seemed to everyone but Mary and Joseph. They had been in on what God was doing from the very beginning. They knew this child was exceptional.

Of course, every parent sees his or her child as exceptional. All of our children are amazing in our eyes and even when we hold them as infants we dream of them hitting home runs or scoring goals in soccer or singing a solo on some renowned stage.

I often wonder what Joseph thought when he held the baby Jesus in his arms for the very first time. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Joseph knew Mary was pregnant and was prepared to “dismiss her quietly” since he knew the child could not be his (Matt. 1.19-20).

An angel appeared, though, and said, “This child comes from the Holy Spirit and he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1.21).

Joseph stuck around and then one day found himself holding this holy child. What was going through his mind?

Joseph is seldom more than a stock character in all our Christmas dramas and he never plays a large role in the story of Jesus. There was this moment though when he alone held the baby for the first time.

I remember that moment with each of my children and the profound sense of responsibility it carried with it each time. I knew I was responsible for the well being of each of my children and they depended upon me.

John 3.31-36 reminds us that Jesus is one “who comes from heaven.”

He is “above all” (v. 31). He “testifies to what he has seen and heard” (v. 32). He “speaks the words of God and gives the Spirit without measure” (v. 34). He is the one “the Father loves and has placed all things in his hands” (v. 35). He is the one who gives “eternal life” (v. 36).

There was this moment when Joseph held the baby Jesus and I like to believe he knew this holy child “came down from heaven” and would one day “save his people from their sins.”

He held the salvation of the world in his hands on that ordinary day when Jesus was born. He held heaven in his arms and then gave the holy child to the world.

Merry Christmas!

Darrell Gwaltney Dean, College of Theology and Christian Ministry

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College of Theology and Christian Ministry Vision

The College of Theology and Christian Ministry seeks to be a premier academic community that nurtures a living faith in God, reflects critically on its discipline, develops skills for Christian ministry, and distinguishes itself through its emphases on contemplative spirituality and social justice.

Purpose

The purpose of the College of Theology and Christian Ministry is to provide student-centered, academically challenging religion classes to the diverse student body of Belmont University and to provide a foundation of religious studies for students preparing for congregational ministry and advanced theological studies.

Goals

1. To provide all Belmont students with a solid foundation in biblical and theological studies.

2. To teach courses for religion majors and minors in the following areas: biblical languages, biblical studies, religion and society, theological and historical studies, practical studies, seminars and special studies. To offer professional education courses in practical ministry.

3. To offer continuing education opportunities to ministers and laity.

4. To integrate contemplative spirituality and social justice into the curricular and co-curricular program.

Faculty and Staff Dr. Marty Bell, Church History Dr. Robert Byrd, Greek & New Testament (Emeritus) Dr. Manuel Cruz, Theology Dr. Ben Curtis, Pastoral Care & Spiritual Formation Dr. David Dark, Religion and the Arts Dr. Steve Guthrie, Theology & Religion and the Arts Dr. Darrell Gwaltney, Dean Dr. Sally Holt, Christian Ethics Ms. Debbie Jacobs, Assistant to the Dean Dr. Donovan McAbee, Religion and the Arts Dr. Mark McEntire, Hebrew & Old Testament Dr. Amanda Miller, Greek & New Testament Dr. Steven Simpler, Theology Dr. Judy Skeen, Biblical Studies & Spiritual Formation Dr. Andy Watts, Christian Ethics

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Belmont at a Glance

Belmont University is a student-centered Christian community providing an academically challenging education that empowers men and women of diverse backgrounds to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith.

Ranked No. 5 in the Regional Universities South category and named for the seventh consecutive year as one of the top “Up-and-Comer” universities by U.S. News & World Report, Belmont University consists of approximately 7,300 students who come from every state and more than 25 countries. Committed to being a leader among teaching universities, Belmont brings together the best of liberal arts and professional education in a Christian community of learning and service.

The University’s purpose is to help students explore their passions and develop their talents to meet the world’s needs. With more than 80 areas of undergraduate study, 22 master’s programs and five doctoral degrees, there is no limit to the ways Belmont University can expand an individual’s horizon. For more information, visit belmont.edu.

Accreditation

Belmont University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404.679.4500 for questions about the accreditation of Belmont University.

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1900 Belmont Boulevard Nashville, TN 37212 www.BELMONT.edu

Belmont University is a Christian community. The university faculty, administration and staff uphold Jesus as the Christ and as the measure for all things. As a community seeking to uphold Christian standards of morality, ethics and conduct, Belmont University holds high expectations of each person who chooses to join the community. Belmont University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, military service or sexual orientation. Inquiries or complaints concerning the application of these policies to students should be directed to the Dean of Students, Beaman Student Life Center Suite 200, 1900 Belmont Blvd., Nashville, TN 37212, deanofstudents@belmont.edu or 615.460.6407.

CTCM-14281