Second Sunday of Advent - A
Wayne Brouwer
What difference does my life make for others around me? What difference does anyone’s life make? It’s always a question related to parenting. Parents make choices which affect the manner in which their children form their identities. Harry Chapin put it well in his song “Cat’s in the Cradle.” When he was a young father he was too busy making a living to be bothered by his son. But when he was finally old enough to enjoy time with the family, his son had learned to be too busy for him!
Of course, the other side of the story is just as true. Maurice Boyd remembers one incident that sealed the impact of his father on his life forever. His father worked in a shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the Depression work dried up. Times were tough, and for three years his father...
Of course, the other side of the story is just as true. Maurice Boyd remembers one incident that sealed the impact of his father on his life forever. His father worked in a shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the Depression work dried up. Times were tough, and for three years his father...
Cathy Venkatesh
In the Book of Common Prayer, the collect for Advent 2 reads: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. This prayer aptly describes the themes in our lessons today. Give heed to the prophets and repent. Through repentance we are prepared to greet Jesus, judge and savior, with joy.
But the prophets are tricky. Their messages are of comfort and joy, yes, but also of fire and destruction. The prophets preach comfort to those already destroyed, destruction to those too caught up in their own selves to see the injustices they live. How we preach these passages will depend in...
But the prophets are tricky. Their messages are of comfort and joy, yes, but also of fire and destruction. The prophets preach comfort to those already destroyed, destruction to those too caught up in their own selves to see the injustices they live. How we preach these passages will depend in...
Alone for his first cruise ship voyage, a young man felt a stranger among crowds of aging
patrons. But one youngish woman kept sidling up to him in the most unlikely of spots.
She seemed to recognize him, at least by the knowing look in her eyes. Finally, he
apologized for not having a clue who she was.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to stare at you, but you look so much like my first husband."
Taken aback, he stammered a halting condolence, and asked hesitantly what had happened to her husband. "Oh," she replied cheerfully, "I haven't been married ... yet!"
That is hope and expectation! Such we need in these days of northern hemisphere winter. And such Advent brings to us in the visions of Isaiah, the exhortations of Paul, and the...
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to stare at you, but you look so much like my first husband."
Taken aback, he stammered a halting condolence, and asked hesitantly what had happened to her husband. "Oh," she replied cheerfully, "I haven't been married ... yet!"
That is hope and expectation! Such we need in these days of northern hemisphere winter. And such Advent brings to us in the visions of Isaiah, the exhortations of Paul, and the...
Peter Nichols' most recent book, A Voyage For Madmen, traces the journeys of nine men who, in 1968, entered a race to be the first to sail solo, nonstop around the world. Of the nine a few had extensive sailing experience -- a couple of them had practically no sailing experience. One of the nine, Donald Crowhurst, mortgaged everything he owned to prepare for the race, but soon after setting out realized that he did not have the "stuff" or the boat to make the journey.
The pericopes for this Sunday challenge us to think about the difficult theological tension between the kingdom that has already arrived and the kingdom that is yet to come. As we examine the three pericopes for this Sunday we see even in their content the paradox of the kingdom. It is a matter of anticipation as well as a matter of celebration because in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the new time -- God's new day -- has indeed begun; its dawn has started. What we wait for is "high noon."
The classic movie by that title indicates that the morning can be filled with tension and trouble. Not only do external forces present the threat, but the threat expected at noon must be faced with little help from people normally trustworthy. While we must be careful against...
The classic movie by that title indicates that the morning can be filled with tension and trouble. Not only do external forces present the threat, but the threat expected at noon must be faced with little help from people normally trustworthy. While we must be careful against...
David Kalas
Broadly speaking, we human beings turn to two solutions to try to make things better. Whether it is an organization, a family, a church, or a nation, there is always room for improvement, always some yearning for things to be even better than they are. And we generally seek those improvements by trying to find either the right system or the right person.
Revolutions are usually about trying to find the right system. Elections are about trying to find the right person. And human beings seem to have an endless reservoir of optimism when it comes to new systems and new leaders.
That said, every human experiment thus far has failed. No doubt some systems are night-and-day better than others. Likewise with different human leaders. But we haven’t come up with a perfect...
Revolutions are usually about trying to find the right system. Elections are about trying to find the right person. And human beings seem to have an endless reservoir of optimism when it comes to new systems and new leaders.
That said, every human experiment thus far has failed. No doubt some systems are night-and-day better than others. Likewise with different human leaders. But we haven’t come up with a perfect...
Wayne Brouwer
There is a powerful scene in Herman Melville’s great epic, Moby Dick, where Captain Ahab stands peg-legged on the deck of the Pequod during a violent storm (chapter 119). His obsession with the White Whale has carried the craft and crew to exotic and frightening locales, and now it seems as if divine providence might be unleashing furious anger against this ill-fated quest. But Ahab is a fighter, and with clenched fists, amid the lightning bolts and against the raging thunder he yells a taunt at the Creator who chastens his cause: “I now know thee, thou clear spirit, and I now know that thy right worship is defiance.”
Wayne Brouwer
Schuyler Rhodes
What difference does my life make for others around me? That question is addressed in three related ways in our texts for today. Isaiah raised the emblem of the Servant of Yahweh as representative for what life is supposed to be, even in the middle of a chaotic and cruel world. Paul mirrors that reflection as he announces the fulfillment of Isaiah's vision in the coming of Jesus and the expansion of its redemptive effects beyond the Jewish community to the Gentile world as well. And Matthew takes us back to John's announcements of the Messiah's arrival that brought the breeze of the Peaceable Kingdom into our nostrils for the first time.
What difference does anyone's life make? It's always a question related to parenting. Parents make choices that affect the manner in which...
What difference does anyone's life make? It's always a question related to parenting. Parents make choices that affect the manner in which...
During my growing up years we had no family automobile. My father walked to work and home again. During World War II his routine at the local milk plant was somewhat irregular. As children we tried to guess when he would come. If we were wrong, we didn't worry. He always came.
If it had been a good day, if I had tended to my duties, if I had gotten along reasonably well with my brother and six sisters, I looked forward to his coming. In fact, one of my fondest childhood memories is of running to meet him, grasping his strong, calloused hand, and skipping happily at his side for the last block of his walk home.
On the other hand, if it had been a bad day, if I had neglected my responsibilities, if I had fought with my brother and sisters, if I had a poor report...
If it had been a good day, if I had tended to my duties, if I had gotten along reasonably well with my brother and six sisters, I looked forward to his coming. In fact, one of my fondest childhood memories is of running to meet him, grasping his strong, calloused hand, and skipping happily at his side for the last block of his walk home.
On the other hand, if it had been a bad day, if I had neglected my responsibilities, if I had fought with my brother and sisters, if I had a poor report...
(A)
" 'Comfort, comfort my people,' says your God. 'Speak tenderly ...' " or "speak to the heart of" the people of Jerusalem who have been in bondage yet again. Instead of the slavery in Egypt, though, this time it is Babylonia which has held the exiles. But God, who is consistent in his actions, will once more release the prisoners, not from physical bondage only but from spiritual bondage as well. Second Isaiah is commissioned to tell them that their sins are forgiven. Suffering has refined them, their hearts are prepared, and now they sorely need comfort and hope. While we shall never be exiled from our homeland for unfaithfulness to God, certainly all have experienced trials and temptations which have the power to cause our faith to falter, exiling us from God. Belief in...
" 'Comfort, comfort my people,' says your God. 'Speak tenderly ...' " or "speak to the heart of" the people of Jerusalem who have been in bondage yet again. Instead of the slavery in Egypt, though, this time it is Babylonia which has held the exiles. But God, who is consistent in his actions, will once more release the prisoners, not from physical bondage only but from spiritual bondage as well. Second Isaiah is commissioned to tell them that their sins are forgiven. Suffering has refined them, their hearts are prepared, and now they sorely need comfort and hope. While we shall never be exiled from our homeland for unfaithfulness to God, certainly all have experienced trials and temptations which have the power to cause our faith to falter, exiling us from God. Belief in...
David Kalas
In the United States just now, we're in the period between the election and the inauguration of the president. In our system, by the time they are inaugurated, our leaders are fairly familiar faces. Months of primaries and campaigning, debates and speeches, and conventions and commercials, all contribute to a fairly high degree of familiarity. We may wonder what kind of president someone will be, but we have certainly heard many promises, and we have had plenty of opportunities to get to know the candidate.
We experience a sense of newness when a president is inaugurated, but we do not experience a sense of permanence. We have seen other presidents before, and we will see still other, different presidents after. A given administration is, by design, a short-term thing.
We experience a sense of newness when a president is inaugurated, but we do not experience a sense of permanence. We have seen other presidents before, and we will see still other, different presidents after. A given administration is, by design, a short-term thing.
The world and the church approach the "Mass of Christ" with a different pace, and "atmospheres" that are worlds apart. Out in the "highways and byways" tinsel and "sparkly" are everywhere, in the churches the color of the paraments and stoles is a somber violet, or in some places, blue. Through the stores and on the airwaves carols and pop tunes are up-beat, aimed at getting the spirits festive, and the pocketbooks and wallets are open.
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