the 1st Sunday of Advent
the PRAYER …
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. By your merciful protection awaken us to the threatening dangers of our sins, and keep us blameless until the coming of your new day, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
the READING …
[Jesus said:] “In those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”
the DEVOTION …
One good thing’s come out of this pandemic … congregations everywhere are, now, online! Even Lutheran ones! Facebook! YouTube! Zoom! And it gives us a chance to see what’s going on in other places! Like Sunday evening, I listened to a sermon from a congregation across the country. It was based on the gospel reading. Mark 13. 24-37. But it wasn’t quite what I’d expected. It was dark. Ominous. Full of warnings and threats. The gist of the message … judgment is real! The preacher didn’t go quite as far as saying we were sinners in the hands of an angry god. But he came close. And it made me go back and reread the passage …
Sure, there was surprise. The unexpected. But you know, there was not one word of judgement anywhere! Jesus’ message was, “It’s time!” He was telling the people, “This is it! What you’ve been looking for! What you’ve been waiting for!” The kingdom and the power serves one purpose … to gather up everyone, everything, that had been scattered! Scattered to the four corners! To the four winds! We think it’s judgment! We may, even, hope it’s judgment! But it’s not! It’s Springtime! It’s Resurrection! It’s Easter! It’s promise! It’s life! And the judgment? Well, the judgment – bottom-line – has nothing to do with it!