Advent Devotions • December 7-11

ADVENT DEVOTIONS CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

DECEMBER 7 - DECEMBER 11, 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 7 “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Mark 13:24-27 (NIV)

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he Gospel of Mark addresses a central theme of Advent: the expectation of Jesus Christ’s second coming and the end of days, which many early Christians believed was imminent. In the thirteenth chapter, Jesus assures us that he has not departed forever, rather, his coming again is to be as expected just as we expect the sunrise each morning.

Since, unlike the dawn, no one knows the day or hour of its happening, it is Jesus’ focus upon the event itself which stands out. The vagueness of not knowing when is more than offset by the definiteness of knowing whether. This sense of certainty not only liberates us from dwelling on when Christ will come again, it allows us to concentrate on “the now” – in particular, the way in which we, as Christians, are to live in this world. Remember the horizon… but live properly in the present and the horizon will take care of itself.

It is through our life in the present – with the knowledge of Christ’s ultimate return – that Mark’s apocalyptic vision becomes surprisingly comforting. Amidst all the predictions of upheaval and despair, of tribulation and triumph, there is a calm certainty that we are never alone and that the manner in which we live does matter.

That Christ will come again is not just an end-of-times message to be simultaneously welcomed and feared. It is a knowledge born of faith which enables us to live with confidence in the present – an understanding built on belief which reminds us that Christ’s second coming is also liberation here and now.

— Ken Carlson Jr.

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TUESDAY • DECEMBER 8 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8:22-25 (NIV)

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hat a challenging year 2020 has been! With all that has occurred in our world, our nation, and our personal lives, we may be feeling weary. As Paul so vividly describes in this passage, it seems as if all of creation is “groaning”, and perhaps we are also “groaning inwardly” and longing for a different reality. We long for community, for peace, for reconciliation, for joy. In short, we long for the Kingdom of God to be fully realized.

The season of Advent is a time to give voice to our longing. As we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ, we acknowledge the brokenness in our world and in our lives. All is not as it should be. God invites us to offer our sorrows, our confessions, our pain, and our longing to God in prayer.

As we give voice to our longing, Advent reminds us that we are grounded in the promise of hope. The One for whom we are preparing has redeemed all of creation.

The love, joy, and peace of Christ that we remember in Advent will have the final word. We can hope and look forward to the time when our longing will be fulfilled in the full realization of the Kingdom of God. Because Christ has already come, however, we can also experience a taste of this Kingdom in our lives today. There are opportunities to experience and share hope, joy, love, and peace today, even in the midst of our longing.

As we journey in Advent, what are the things for which you long? How can the hope of Christ impact your daily life? What are specific ways that you have experienced the love, joy, and peace of Christ this week? How have you shared this hope, love, peace, and joy with those around you?

— Susannah Pittman

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WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 9 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)

Seeing the Light This Advent

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e all have experienced darkness during this time of COVID. We have all been touched in some way: by illness, loss of loved ones, loss of income, the inability to worship together in person or changes to our day-to-day mobility.

It’s unusual for there to be worldwide shared loss, but all have been affected by our current situation.

Even during these dark days, we all continue to receive the light of Christ. More time with loved ones, a Zoom call with extended family, reconnecting with long lost friends, Sunday School and Church, the relentless efforts of our front-line healthcare workers and individual and collective sharing with a community in need are all Christ’s light in our world.

Isaiah’s words, written in approximately 700 BC, remind us that Christ has always been the light that guides us in darkness. During difficult times, we all need to be reminded sometimes that Christ has never left our side.

This Advent, let us thank our Lord for these COVID gifts and for his faithfulness to us in the best and worst of times. In addition, let us all recommit to follow that light and share it with all in our world.

Merry Christmas!

— Tom Lawson

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THURSDAY • DECEMBER 10 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Then [King] Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 2:1-12 (selected verses)

Christmas in Haiti

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ong ago, my Christmas gift was a brief journey to Haiti. Each of us in my traveling group was following a star. Our bus drove through city streets at night until we were stopped and surrounded by uniformed soldiers pointing guns. Foreigners were forbidden in that part of the city. We sought to bring gifts, but the soldiers had stopped us. We left and went by another route. The new hospital we visited was already full of infants with tuberculosis, children malnourished with matchstick arms and bloated bellies, helpless and hopeless. We came as foreigners hoping to bring gifts to those in need: medicine, the skills of doctors and nurses, gifts of love and life and hope for these children of Haiti.

That year, I experienced Epiphany through the presence of a little girl who clung to me, starved for nourishment of body and spirit. Emmanuel appeared to me in Max, the child who had recovered from malnutrition so severe that his spine had been bent almost in a circle.

Max hugged me tight and then stood straight, proud and filled with hope; a Christmas miracle of love, the work of the Holy Spirit through the care of foreigners, responding to God’s call.

The Christ Child looked at me that year through the eyes of a nameless baby, abandoned, left at the orphanage. The Christ Child called to me through the cries of the children, abandoned and left behind because there was not enough milk. For them, there was no room in the inn.

We went to Haiti bearing gifts. We returned having received the greatest gift of all, the true gift of Christmas, the Christ Child, himself. My offering – myself, seeking to serve the Christ Child, wherever He is to be found, wherever I am called to serve Him. Precious Jesus, loving God, teach us to see the spark of your presence in each of your children. Lead us to share love, given freely by You, that they, too, may experience your promise of abundant life, secure in the experience and knowledge of your love.

— Sue Northcraft

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FRIDAY • DECEMBER 11

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am sitting in an emergency room at 10:30pm waiting to hear why my husband’s blood pressure is: 208 over 120. My husband, John, is the love of my life and when your beloved casually says to you, “I think I need to go to the hospital,” you sober up quickly. Just two hours before, we were celebrating our best friends’ 25th wedding anniversary and while I enjoy the grape, my husband is a coffee drinker, so his declaration came out of left field for me. John is my rock. I truly believe God sent John to me to be my partner in life. He is everything that is good about us.

I do not want him to be in pain and I most definitely am not ready to be single again.

So, I sit in an emergency room waiting and praying. Suddenly the words to the song “Breath of Heaven” come to me: “I am waiting in a silent prayer. I am frightened by the load I bear. In a world as cold as stone, must I walk this path alone? Be with me now. Be with me now.

Breath of heaven hold me together. Be forever near me breath of heaven. Breath of heaven lighten my darkness, pour over me your holiness for You are holy, breath of heaven.”

A peace comes over me and know I am not alone. John and I are not alone. God holds us in His hands. God comforted me with the right words at the right time.

A trip to the emergency room is not an uncommon thing in 2020. COVID-19 has changed our world and we are surrounded by friends and strangers who are frightened by the load they bear. Many are now left to walk this path alone. We have been forced to expect the unexpected. This Christmas season has us trying to celebrate in our normal, joyful ways: presents, decorations, parties, smiling faces in the midst of a pandemic. It is like trying to force a square peg in a round hole. However, when we take the time to be still in our Father, God, we feel the Breath of Heaven warm us and give us strength. We are reminded that we are not alone.

— Michelle Higgins

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