Weary yet hopeful - December 6, 2024
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 16, 17; PM Psalm 22; Isa. 3:8-15; 1 Thess. 4:1-12; Luke 20:41-21:4
For this season of preparation, Kate Bowler has released an Advent daily devotional called “The Weary World Rejoices”. The title tickled my memory and stirred a tune that would play in our house when I was a kid this time of year. Bing Crosby’s recording of “O Holy Night” was included in an album of Christmas standards. It is in his timbre that I hear the lyrics:
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
What a weary world we find ourselves in. You and I can each name where fear, tension, loss, chaos, and war touch our lives. We yearn for restoration and healing in our hearts and in spaces torn by violence and angst. And we are not alone. People across time have echoed similar prayers and looked with hope to God. The prophet Jeremiah tells us, “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.” (33:14-16)
In the gospel according to Luke, we read the nativity story of the good promise of hope to come in a newborn baby who is to be named Jesus. In Bowler’s Advent series, she brings readers through a reflection upon the good promises of truth, compassion, restoration, and justice – grounded in the life and ministry of Jesus. And those qualities did not end at the death of the Messiah; in resurrection hope, truth, compassion, restoration, and justice bubble up in our lives, as we inch our way into the “days that are coming.” The promise of the return of Jesus is not yet completed…and so we are in the middle-time. Holding on to hope is hard when the waiting feels interminable.
And so, we lift our voices in honest prayer. We name the truth that we are both hopeful and weary. And we look for the new and glorious morn that is promised to break forth. Let us fall on our knees and listen for the angelic voices calling us to not be afraid, for nothing is impossible with God.
In Advent hope,
Katherine+
Questions for Self-Reflection and Daily Challenge:
This is the day in the church when Saint Nicholas of Myra is remembered. Take a moment to read more about his ministry and legacy. While we see the influence of St. Nick blend into our cultural presence of Santa Claus, may the faithfulness of the real Nicholas inspire you to stay compassionate and connected to those in need, for paying attention to the least of these is at the heart of Christian love.