Advent Devotions • December 14 - December 18

ADVENT DEVOTIONS CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

DECEMBER 14 - DECEMBER 18, 2020

I truly believe this Advent will be like no other! I truly believe this Advent is exactly what we all need after the year we have experienced. It is my prayer this Advent, with its call to prepare by our listening for the voices of angels, by taking to heart the cry of one who prepares the way, and by joining in the celebration of the shepherds, we will shake free from all that has held us and open our heart for what God brings to us each and every day of our lives through the birth of this One we call the Christ Child. It is my hope that these devotions will lead you in your journey of preparation. Each Monday you will receive the readings for Monday through Friday. Then, on Saturday, I encourage you to do what will help you or your family prepare for the celebration of Christmas. Embrace something from the past that was meaningful or create something new that will enrich your lives. Allow the Spirit of this season to guide you as each of us seek to rediscover the wonder of our faith and its power to change our lives! May grace, peace and hope be yours this day and forevermore! ­— Rev. Bret Cogan

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MONDAY • DECEMBER 14

God's Tent Is Pitched with Us!

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he Deacon who served with me started planning our big Christmas Service in July. The service included the choir and an evolving Christmas Tableau including children, youth, and adults. Most of the church members were involved. Joni, a single mother, played the part of Mary and her boyfriend played the part of Joseph. Joni’s five-year old son was going to be a shepherd. What could go wrong with such a service?

The night for the service was the Third Sunday of Advent. This service was to thrust the congregation into all the appropriate Christmas feelings, including visions of sugar plums in our heads. The church sanctuary was full. Everything was going according to script. A preacher knows when the congregation is into worship, and this crowd definitely was there to worship! Joni was perfect as Mary – maternal, demure and dignified watching over the baby Jesus. When the time came for the shepherds to process and adore the Christ child, her five-year old, Jake was about halfway down the aisle when he proclaimed “his” good news to the world. “MAMA, I POOPED IN MY PANTS.” This posed an ethical dilemma unforeseen by us all. Does Mary leave the baby Jesus and come to aid this soiled shepherd? “MAMA, DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME. I POOPED IN MY PANTS.” By this time all solemnity and Christmas piety were replaced by raucous laughter from an observant congregation. Another mother rescued Jake, the soiled shepherd, and delivered Mary from her ethical dilemma. Our perfect Christmas service had been decimated by the reality of a true Christmas experience. Christmas isn’t about perfection. Christmas is about recognizing the presence of God in all the earthiness of life. In the midst of this COVID-19 Christmas may we open our eyes to the same. In John 14 it says God dwelt among us. The word used is “tabernacled” which says God pitched God’s tent among us. We experienced God tabernacling with us that evening through a small shepherd with soiled pants. May we have the same experience in all that life throws at us this season.

— Duke Ison

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TUESDAY • DECEMBER 15 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 (NIV)

Seeing the Light This Advent

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he pandemic will cause our church and community celebrations of Christmas this year to be vastly different from all others we have known. Even so, this can be a Christmas for us to remember with profound thanksgiving and joy as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, whose grace and love continue to inspire and transform us.

Ebenezer Scrooge could have celebrated Christmas throughout his adult life. Instead, his all-consuming mission to be wealthy led him to dismiss Christmas as nothing more than a day robbing him of opportunities to grow richer. Most who directly experienced Ebenezer’s disdain for Christmas disliked, feared, and pitied him.

One cold, dark, and otherwise lonely Christmas Eve, Ebenezer was visited by the spirits of Christmases past, present, and future. They showed him how his lifestyle only added to everyone’s misery including his own. Ebenezer was frightened by the realization that he could end up like Marley, his former business partner, who was bound in death by the unbreakable chains of regret he forged in life. Taking seriously the life lessons these spirits offered, Ebenezer retired his “Bah! Humbug!” attitude and vowed to keep Christmas. His transformation resulted in great joy as he began celebrating Christmas with family and friends and making generous provisions for the needs of others.

Advent invites us to examine the ways our faith in Christ brings us opportunities for great joy.

Advent encourages us to pray thankfully for God’s gifts that provide the healing, hope, and peace we all need. Advent calls us to prepare the way for the One whose coming makes every Christmas a day to remember and celebrate.

— Roland T. Barnhardt

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WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 16 ... When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Luke 1:5-25 (NIV)

What am I Waiting For?

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acharias knew more about waiting than I will probably ever know or understand.

As a member of the Abijah family of priests, Zacharias had his rhythm and routine all worked out. He was accustomed to the prayers and sacrifices that the priests conducted. But once in each priest’s lifetime, he could burn incense when he entered the temple. And today was finally Zacharias’ big day – this was the day this aged and righteous man of God had long been waiting for.

But God had something even bigger planned for Zacharias, and it started with an angel.

As soon as Zacharias lit the incense he saw the angel Gabriel standing beside the incense table. “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard.” Zacharias’ wife, Elizabeth, was barren, and both she and Zacharias were old. How long had they prayed for a child, with no pregnancy in sight? But Zacharias had also been praying for the redemption of Israel, as he lit the incense… so which of his prayers was being answered, exactly? What exactly was Zacharias waiting for?

God was about to answer both of Zacharias’ prayers in one big and beautiful, perfectly timed, about-to-happen miracle. The child they had long hoped and prayed for would happen only now -– precisely at the moment when a messenger was needed, to prepare the way for the other miracle about to happen -- the arrival of the Messiah. Elizabeth conceived after Zacharias returned home from his priestly duties, and their waiting would soon be over.

But in a final poetic twist, Zacharias was made unable to speak until his son, John, was born, because he had doubted the angel’s promise. What better way to fully prepare for the coming of a miracle, than to be solely and silently focused on the angel’s message -- and the promise it held for Zacharias, Elizabeth and all the nations?

Which brings me back to my own Advent story this year. What is it, exactly, that I am waiting for? Am I waiting for the right thing? And will I recognize – and believe it – when I see it? God, please give me eyes to look for the right thing, and faith to really see it and believe it when it happens. Amen.

— Suzanne Epemanis

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THURSDAY • DECEMBER 17

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace.

Micah 5:2-5a (NIV)

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icah’s prophetic ministry began in the southern kingdom of Judah in the eighth century before the birth of Jesus. Despite the prosperity within the kingdom in those years, there was increasing societal corruption and political tension throughout the region. Micah prophesied Jerusalem’s coming destruction and his people’s eventual exile to Babylonia. More important, however, he offered hope for their eventual restoration with the coming of a ruler who would shepherd them and not merely bring them peace, but “be our peace.”

This future ruler and source of peace was prophesied by Micah to be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, well-known then as the birthplace of their beloved King David. Wanting to be entirely specific, Micah added “Ephrathah” to Bethlehem as it was an older and cherished name for that same area. This Bethlehem “Ephrathah” was – and is - located just a few miles south of Jerusalem in Judah. Micah would not have that village mistaken for another “Bethlehem” located about a hundred miles to the north near Nazareth.

The immense and enduring worth of this passage from Micah is brought to light in Matthew 2:3-6 when King Herod asked his assembled chief priests and scribes “where the Messiah was to be born.” They replied “in Bethlehem in Judea” as was written by the prophet (Micah).

Although Bethlehem was notable as the birthplace of King David nearly three centuries before Micah’s prophesy, it had not become a prominent or influential city. This little town of Bethlehem, one of the least important in the nation of Judah, is now among the most famous on earth. This reminds us all yet again that the least shall be exalted: a familiar Biblical ending.

You’re invited to say verse four of the hymn, O Little Town of Bethlehem, as a prayer: O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel. Amen.

— Tom Hunt

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FRIDAY • DECEMBER 18 “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.… When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God…” Luke 2:25-32 (NIV)

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ethodist minister, Michael Brown, tells the story of Jim, a friend of his who works on an Ivy League campus. One day as he was rushing across campus, late to a meeting, Jim spotted Dave. Dave was a somewhat troubled young man who hung around campus and would buttonhole anyone who would spend time with him. The conversations were long and sometimes stressful. Jim spotted Dave and knew he’d never make his meeting if Dave saw him.

Jim thought, “I hope he’s not Jesus” because we all know we would stop and welcome an encounter with Christ. Jim’s heart sank with implications of his thoughts.

Our scripture reading shows a totally different mind and heart set. Simeon “was waiting for the consolation of Israel.” Are you or am I? Simeon recognized Jesus because he was looking with great anticipation. I can imagine Simeon waiting anxiously as every single child was brought into the temple. It didn’t matter where the child was from, what he or she looked like, or who their parents were. Simeon was looking for Jesus in every single child he saw.

What if we had Simeon’s heart? Rather than avoiding the stranger who does not look like us, worship like us, vote like us, is inconvenient, or who may even be from a faraway land, what if we had Simeon’s heart and were looking for Jesus in every one of our encounters? We say that we believe that everyone of us is a child of God and that Jesus died for each and every one of us. What if we made this Advent the season in which our heart changes and we actually begin to live into our beliefs? I think the angels really would sing on high.

“You will be known as one of mine by how you love one another.” Think and pray on that.

— Robert Esleeck

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