An Advent Message

Advent begins today! The readings present us with two messages: Have hope and Prepare for God.


The first reading is about a future time of unity and peace. I can't help but feel the message is all about our country these days; there are deep divisions affecting not only the political parties, but friends and families as well. There is a deep need for healing and reconciliation. Sometimes we can’t imagine that there is any reason to have hope.

Isaiah reminds us that our God is faithful to us always and knows about the situation we are in. Our God is always moving to bring us together. What is the coming together? What might we all “stream toward” together? Isaiah says, “that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” Our only real hope of coming together is to come together in greater fidelity to our God. The closer we come to our God, the closer we will come toward each other. It will no longer be about a winning and losing – about victory over the other, by destroying the other. When this hope-filled unity comes, Isaiah says, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”


Each of us can find a desire in our hearts that sings, “Let us go rejoicing” to this kind of communion and peace. As Paul says, it is a time for us to “wake from sleep.” This is a season to “throw off” many things that are all about darkness and to “put on the armor of light,” to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”




Are we, as a country, so stuck in discouragement that we are no longer attentive to signs of hope, to graces being offered us, to any light at all? Can this Advent season be one in which we give ourselves to more opportunities for togetherness, for bridge building? Sometimes genuine healing and reconciliation in our families, our communities and in our world need serious preparation. The best way to prepare is by letting light into places of darkness.


Think about this. What nice, caring, generous things can I do that builds a bridge, without recalling a hurt or continuing my finger pointing? Is there a friend or neighbor or church community member I have recently fought with about our differing opinions about something? Could a coffee or tea together be a time to let Advent come alive by spending time saying that our relationship is more important than our differing ideas?


Advent is not about our “getting ready” to let God come to us – this season is not about saving ourselves, but recognizing God is already with us and in us. All we have to do is feel God’s presence in our hearts. This wonderful season is about recognizing our own weakness yet feeling how deeply God cares for us, even in our deepest failings. We don’t love that freely or with such depth, so we may not believe it, yet from Isaiah’s time we have been encouraged to “walk in the light of the Lord!”


As we find these ways of preparing, we can pray, with growing desire, “Come, Lord Jesus. We await your coming. Come O Lord.”

Don't Ignore the Opportunities to Show God's Mercy

Last week 2 of my superiors from work (who happen also to be my best friends) and I were at the gas station getting the company van filled up.  I was sitting in the back seat when my boss was approached by a young man and all I heard was some casual chatter.  Then he poked his head back in the car and asked “Do either of you have any extra cash to help buy this guy some gas?”  As he asked it, he had one of those looks on his face that indicated he didn’t think the kid wanted the money for gas at all.  I got out of the car, and asked the kid what pump he was at.  Then I went inside and told the clerk to please put $15 worth of gas on my card for pump #1.  I got back in the car while I waited for our car to finish filling.  My buddies—I love them both dearly—looked at me like I was unaware of what kind of a world we live in.  Trust me; I know what kind of world we are facing in these times.  It breaks my heart.  But one of my favorite bible passages to comfort me when I feel this way is Mark 2:13-17.

When reading this Gospel, I am moved by the willingness of Levi, son of Alphaeus (also known later as Matthew), leaving his post to follow Jesus.  Jesus asked him to “Follow me,” and without hesitation, Levi got up, left his position, and followed our Savior. This to me exemplifies trusting in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to take us on a journey to places we might not otherwise find ourselves.

However, this Gospel reading holds a much deeper message for me as a Christian.  Jesus dined with the tax collectors and the sinners, the lowliest of low, at a dinner. He made Himself available to go to supper with people who needed His love and forgiveness in a very desperate way. I have found life brings me many opportunities to be present for people who otherwise do not have a voice in the worldly conversations. Those people who are struggling to find joy and redemption in all the wrong places. God places us right where He wants us to be and the times He wants us to be there. To open a home up to people who otherwise would never receive an invitation to hear the good news of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, is where God can and will lead us, just as Jesus led Levi.

It is so easy to not be in those special places, to ignore those who are stricken with such shame, such hopelessness that they feel lost, and continue to make the wrong decisions, only perpetuating their misery.  Jesus wants and needs to be at the center of those who daily look for some type of hope in their existence here on earth.  Just stop for a minute, pause, look around for those opportunities.  They are there right in front of our faces, we simply don’t take the time often enough to recognize the struggles and the pain.

After the young man put the gas in his car ($15 only put about 5 gallons in his tank), he came over to shake my hand and said “God Bless you, Sir!”  THAT is why I try to help those I know I can.

For those of us who have an intimate relationship with our Savior, we are blessed beyond any human understanding.  It is the Holy Spirit that lives within each of us that increases our desire to share the good news of salvation. The ultimate physician is there for all who are sick and weary, we just need to call His name. For those who don’t have this intimate spiritual relationship, we need to share this good news of the saving grace they too can receive, if they simply call out and acknowledge Jesus as their Savior.

Imagine a world of hope this would be if each of us in our own way were to stop and help those who are sick, who struggle, and who need comfort. I believe that it is God’s intention for each of us to be a beacon of light to this lost world.  God knows what we are capable of doing; He is trusting us to be His light in this world.  Stop! Look! Feel! Pray! Care! Love! Don’t ignore those opportunities. Thank God for those opportunities. Be that one person who dines with those who need to know the Good News. Be that person who spreads the message of hope and mercy that is Jesus Christ.

Do I help everyone who asks for handouts?  I try.  But I fail miserably.  I can only hope I’m doing enough.