Joy and Gladness

Advent Day 9

Second Monday in Advent

December 5, 2011

Reading: Isaiah 35:8–10 (NRSV)

⁸ A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. ⁹ No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. ¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Theme: Joy and Gladness

Reflection:

You know Lord, I really need to hear those words: “they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” This is a promise from God that has real traction for me. As a congregation we have said good-by to many treasured members, friends and family members this year. Many of us have experienced deep grief personally, or watched and waited with friends going through this cycle. It is only through deep trust in the Lord and strong faith in God’s promises that we can let grief and sorrow do their work, knowing that joy and gladness will ultimately follow.

The Advent season with its symbols of light and hope are a testimony to everlasting promises that God gives of joy and gladness. God does not promise that we will never experience grief and sorrow. God only promises that God will be here with us as we suffer, and God promises that joy and gladness will return. God promises the light of Christ to you.

In this Advent season, we look with joy to the birth of Christ. All of us love to celebrate the birth of the baby. With Mary, we gaze with amazement at her tiny baby, and wonder what life will bring for him. Of course, we don’t have to do much wondering, because unlike Mary, we know the end of his story. Even as we celebrate his birth, we know that this baby’s life on earth will end in sorrow.

However, just as certainly, we know that sorrow will not have the last word. The God who promises joy and gladness, also shows us this joy in the resurrection of his son. The God who brings the baby to earth with much joy, also raises him from the dead, accompanied by joy, gladness and much amazement.

God has shown us that death, grief and sorrow do not win. We have been baptized into Jesus’ death, but we have also been baptized into his new life. Joy and gladness will have the last word. May that everlasting joy permeate these Advent and Christmas seasons for you.

Prayer: God of joy and gladness, may your promises be our beacon in this Advent season. May we hear and trust in your words that promise joy and gladness, with sorrow and sighing fleeing away. Amen

Lent Day 23: April 4

This morning we welcome guest blogger Dan Affeldt who helps us to see how reconciliation and forgiveness are possible when we are focused on Christ.

Lenten Reflection for Day 23

Date: Monday April 4, 2011

Author: Dan Affeldt

Bible Passage:

1 Peter 3:8–9 (NRSV)

⁸ Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. ⁹ Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.

Reflection:

This passage from Peter captures for me the essence of how we are offered the opportunity to experience the profound joy that comes from God’s love made manifest in the sacrifice of Jesus. Forgiveness that is ours from Christ is also ours to share with others if we keep our hearts focused on Christ and our actions guided by that focus. Anger, hurt, resentment, alienation, fear, spitefulness, envy, and greed inevitably bring pain, separation, loneliness and even despair. And this befalls us if we are the target of or we are the source of the evil or abuse.

But surely joy can be ours if we, through Christ, but offer forgiveness, seek forgiveness, and are reconciled both with God and those who harm us or we have harmed in any way that might separate us from the other, from our own faith, and thus from God.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

Prayer:

Dear, dear Lord, help me this day and every day stay close to you in all that I do and say. Let the Grace you paid so dearly for, but offer us so freely, if we but accept it be my strength and continuing blessing. Keep fresh in my being how the criminal crucified next to you had only turn to you and asked to be remembered in your Kingdom for your Grace to bring him peace and even joy in the midst of such fear. Amen

Devotion for the Saturday of the Third Week in Advent

Theme for the week: Joy

Devotion for the saturday of the third Week in Advent (Day 21)

Reading: Philippians 4:4–7 (NRSV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

REFLECTION:

On this last Saturday in Advent, which is also the last Saturday before Christmas, what are you feeling? Do you have a sense of Advent delight? Are you feeling happiness because the coming of the baby in the manger is near? Is the growing light of the Advent wreath, signifying the growing strength of Light in the world giving you an unquenchable joy? Is the peace that is Christ giving you a sense of calm? May it be so for you!!

OR…is the annual Christmas frenzy wearing you down? Are you feeling heart palpitations because there are more items on your to do list than you have energy to do, or because you have more commitments than there are minutes in the day between now and Christmas morning? Are you moving so fast that perhaps you really don’t have time to even take a deep breath, much less read this devotion?

OR…is the melancholy of Christmas past weighing you down? Are you lonely because you have outlived many of your friends and family? Are you mourning someone who is no longer in this life, or missing someone whom you will not see this holiday season? Are you worried about a child, friend or other relative far away, perhaps serving our country in a troubled place in the world? Are you filled with fear because someone you love has taken a wrong turn in his or her life? Are you filled with anguish over a broken relationship?

Is there any stress, worry, grief or loneliness that is keeping you from feeling pure joy at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? Rather than trying to give you any “computer distance” pastoral counseling, I suggest you re-read the passage from Philippians. Focus particularly on verse 6: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Take a few minutes this morning and pour out your heart to God. Listen for God’s “pastoral counseling.”

PRAYER:

My prayer for you this morning, is that you will be able to open your heart, mind, body and soul to God, handing over to God anything that is weighing you down or stressing you out. May God hear your prayers. May God give your comfort and counsel. May God give you the peace that only God can give. Amen

Devotion for the Friday of the Third Week in Advent

Theme for the week: Joy

Devotion for the Friday of the third Week in Advent (Day 20)

Reading: Matthew 28:1–10 (NRSV)

¹ After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” ⁸ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

REFLECTION:

I have to admit, I am using this text only because I committed to reflect on the texts that are part of the devotions in the Advent devotional book “I Wonder as I Wander.” Personally I find using last supper and resurrection texts in the Advent season to be so out of sync with the church year, that I find it hard “to go there.”

But given this text, in this time, what does this passage have to say to our work of Advent waiting, and the joy that awaits us. There is waiting, fear and joy in this text. Waiting and joy are both characteristic of Advent, and Advent has a bit of fear as well. (Just ask Mary, the Mother of Jesus what she felt when the angel showed up to inform her that she was to be a mother!)

In this Easter text, clearly Mary Magdalene and the other Mary have been waiting. Jesus was buried at the start of the Sabbath on Friday night. They were not permitted to do any burial rites on the Sabbath, and when the Sabbath ended after dark on Saturday night, I imagine that they might have been too afraid to go to the tomb in the dark. Imagine that waiting! Their teacher and hero had just died at terrible death and had been buried, and they couldn’t even go to the tomb over the Sabbath. They had that long day of waiting and wondering of what had happened to Jesus in death. A day of waiting and mourning, filled with fear. Were they to be next? Would the authorities come after Jesus’ followers. If they were killed also, what would happen to their families? Now that Jesus was gone, what were they going to do with their lives? The meaning of life had seemed to evaporate with Jesus’ death.

The Marys were in a time of waiting—waiting without being clear as to what the end would be. We have lots of examples of this uncertain waiting in our lives. Just ask anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, but has to wait a month to see the doctor. In contrast, the Advent kind of waiting is a waiting which looks ahead with more joy than the waiting the Marys experienced during that long Sabbath, or which we experience as we await what we think will be bad news.

Then there is the trip, on that first Easter, to the tomb, which turned out to be empty. First the fear! It is kind of ironic that the angel says to the women, “Do not be afraid.” Angels always say that when your first impulse is either to melt in fear or take off running. These are the same words that the angel said to both Joseph and Mary. Of course the women at the tomb were afraid. The tomb was empty. Either Jesus’ body had been stolen, or something had happened that defied human reason. And now they were seeing an angel, and they were not supposed to be afraid. Not likely! Although “Fear NOT” is a powerful command, it is not one that is easy to follow. Sometimes we just have to flow with the fear to work through it.

After the women at the tomb experience fear, they also experience joy. Joy at finding out that Jesus has defied death and evil and risen from the dead. Theirs was a joy that transcends human reason. The Easter message, “He is Risen!” brings us a joy that is both unexpected and defies reason.

Our Advent joy also transcends human reason. There is joy at the birth of baby, joy that a Savior has been born, even if he doesn’t look like what we expect a Messiah to look like. There is joy at all the mystery surrounding this birth, and there is joy that Mary, Jesus’ mother can only ponder in her heart. The Christmas birth brings us joy because it is so unexpected.

What joy have you experienced recently? Is it a joy that you expected? Is this joy mixed with any other emotion?

PRAYER: Pray that joy may rise out of the fear and waiting in your life.

Devotion for the Thursday of the Third Week in Advent

Theme for the week: Joy

Devotion for the thursday of the third Week in Advent (Day 19)

Reading: John 15:7–11 (NRSV)

⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

REFLECTION:

“Your joy may be complete.” Jesus is speaking these words to the disciples in the context of his last supper with them. He has already washed their feet, served them a meal and now is beginning to prepare them for life without him. Jesus is giving to the disciples his own joy so that their joy may be whole and complete. Jesus is giving them the inner peace, serenity, fear of the Lord and focus that leads to complete joy. Jesus wants them to be able to accomplish their work joyfully, without fear, worry or concern. Jesus is giving them this joy as a kind of inoculation against what he knows they are going to face. In a very short while, they are going to be leaderless and in mourning. Jesus wants the disciples’ inner joy to protect them against the inevitable mourning and possible despair they will face.

Is your own joy complete? Is it whole and holy? If not, in what part of your life is your joy incomplete? What is stopping your joy from being complete? Jesus promises that we will abide in his love. Abiding in his love is like setting up a home with Jesus’ love spread over us like a tent.

What does knowing and feeling surrounded by Jesus’ complete love do for your sense of joy? What incompleteness do you want to share with Jesus? In describing this incompleteness to Jesus in prayer, try to visualize what it would look like if your joy were completed. Visualize Jesus love coming to you and filling out this incomplete place in your life. As Jesus’ has commanded, ask him for what it is that you need to feel complete joy.

PRAYER: Pray that you and those you love may always abide in Jesus’ love, feeling Jesus’ love spread over your entire life. Pray that Jesus’ love may heal and fill those incomplete spots where joy is blocked. Pray for all those who are lonely, in despair, unable to pray, or have no one to pray for them. Pray that Jesus may bring joy into their lives. Amen

Devotion for the Wednesday of the Third Week in Advent

Theme for the week: Joy

Devotion for the Wednesday of the third Week in Advent (Day 18)

Reading: Jeremiah 15:15–21 (NRSV)

¹⁵ O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors. In your forbearance do not take me away; know that on your account I suffer insult. ¹⁶ Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. ¹⁷ I did not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; under the weight of your hand I sat alone, for you had filled me with indignation. ¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them. ²⁰ And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord. ²¹ I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

REFLECTION:

“Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.”

What images come to your mind when you think of the Word of God? Do you think of comfort, sustenance, judgment, promise, fear, or all of the above? Would you use the word ‘joy’, as the prophet Jeremiah does, when he describes what God’s Word means to him?

God’s Word can act on us in many ways. In fact the same Biblical passage can affect us in different ways on different days in our lives. One of the blessings of God’s Word is that is that it acts on us, in the ways that we need at a particular point in time. God’s Word does sometimes challenge us, particularly when we are feeling complacent. We can also be comforted by God’s Word, at a time when perhaps we feel that there is no hope. In the psalms we certainly find words of comfort for difficult times in our lives. There are also times when God’s Word does judge or convict us, when we need to be brought face to face with things that we have done wrong. There are other times when we are in dire need of strength or uplifting. At these times, God’s Word comforts us and saves us.

Martin Luther wrote that all of the Bible consists of God’s Law and God’s Promise or Gospel. The Law convicts us and kills the sinner within us, driving us to need the Gospel. Just when we are feeling terribly convicted, we are driven to the comfort of the Gospel, which brings us back to life again. When the Gospel acts on us, we are filled with joy—the joy of the knowledge that God has forgiven us and saved us, even when we have done nothing to deserve God’s forgiveness.

In this passage, Jeremiah can depend on God’s promise that God will deliver him out of the hand of the wicked. No wonder Jeremiah can speak of the joy of God’s Word—a joy in the promise God has made to keep him from slipping into the grasp of the ruthless.

When have you experienced joy from the way that God’s Gospel or Promise has acted on your life? Has God ever pulled you out of the grasp of evil? What Bible story or quote most means joy to you?

PRAYER:

Pray that you might experience God’s Law showing you when you are going in the wrong direction. Pray that you might feel yourself being driven to need the comfort of the Gospel or God’s Promise. Pray that the joy of Gospel might permeate your life. Amen

Devotion for the Tuesday of the Third Week in Advent

Theme for the week: Joy

Devotion for the tuesday of third the Week in Advent (Day 17)

Reading: Proverbs 10:27–32 (NRSV)

²⁷The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

²⁸The hope of the righteous ends in gladness, but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.

²⁹The way of the Lord is a stronghold for the upright, but destruction for evildoers.

³⁰The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not remain in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

REFLECTION:

How does the fear of the Lord prolong life? The fear of the Lord does not imply a terror, but rather respect and awe. Have you ever known someone who lives what we might call a God-fearing life? A person like this typically lives a prayer-filled life and knows how to call on God. Someone living a God-fearing life tries to live life in a way that best fulfills God’s expectations as he or she understands them. A God-fearer also knows that as a human he or she will never be able to fully measure up to God’s standards and will inevitably have to fall back on God’s grace.

Someone who is comfortable in prayer, easily able to call on God, and living a life directed by God is someone who is usually living a serene life. Such serenity is often characterized by generosity and is accompanied by a sense of living into God’s abundance, rather than stressing about getting the latest and best things.

The serenity and the sense of living into God’s abundance means a lower stress lifestyle. Current medical practice encourages people to reduce the tension in their lives in order to reduce the incidence of diseases induced or aggravated by stress. Living a prayer-filled life, coupled with contentment and an awe of the Lord will most likely mean a higher quality, joyful life. The lower stress associated with this lifestyle may also lead to an increase in length of a person’s life.

PRAYER:

Pray that God may help you to learn to love and fear the Lord. Pray that your fear of the Lord will lead to a prayer filled life and a sense of abundance, contentment, and joy.

Devotion for the Monday of the Third Week in Advent

Theme for the week: joy

Devotion for the monday of the third Week in Advent (Day 16)

Reading: Psalm 30:1–5 (NRSV)

¹I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

²O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

³O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

⁵For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

REFLECTION:

“Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Have you ever had the experience of worrying and stressing about something at night? Worries and dreaded things seem to take on superhuman proportions at night. Bad stuff seems to weigh more heavily at night and there often seem to be no solutions. Tears that start in the evening often seem to continue long into the night. Loneliness and grief seem to be more powerful at night.

Likewise on a sunny morning, worries seem much more manageable. Some of the stresses seem to evaporate in the daylight and sunshine. It is so much easier to be joyful on a sunny morning than on a rainy night. A summer sunrise gives the whole world a new start, a fresh slate on which God can write new design.

God gives each us a new day and a new start each morning. God’s anger does not last, and neither should our anger, stress, or tears. Let God’s favor help you to start each day anew. Martin Luther wrote how each morning, a new you rises from the waters of baptism--renewed and forgiven. When you wake up and wash your face, remember with joy that you have been baptized and forgiven.

PRAYER:

Gracious God, help me to have joyous mornings and fresh starts. Help me to remember that I have been washed clean in the waters of baptism. Help my relationships with others to have fresh starts each new day. Amen

Devotion for the Sunday of the Third Week in Advent

Greetings Blog Community,

I am posting the devotion for Sunday a bit early. We are expecting bad weather in northern New England tomorrow. I may have to head out to church early, so I am getting a head start on tomorrow's work! For all of you dealing with bad weather, may God keep you safe, warm and dry.

Theme for the week: joy

Devotion for the sunday of the third Week in Advent (Day 15)

Reading: Luke 2:8–15 (NRSV)

⁸ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

REFLECTION: At this point in Advent, at the beginning of the third week, we are poised to hear Good News and to be joyful. It may seem to be rushing the season a bit, to have a devotion that includes the heart of the Christmas message, but it is certainly a joyful message. I have often wondered how the shepherds felt when the angel appeared to them. Sitting out in their fields, on a hill outside of Bethlehem under a star studded sky, the appearance of an angel was probably the last thing they expected.

When she says to them that she brings message of great joy, particularly great joy for all the people, what went through their heads. Did they feel elated? Did joy run through their bodies? Did they think, “What kind of joy could an angel bring to shepherds like us—our lives are the same no matter what happens?”

How does the Good News of a Messiah bring joy to you? How would your life be different if the Messiah had never been born, or if you had never heard of the birth of Jesus?

PRAYER: Pray that I might feel in my soul and body how the news of a Messiah is joyful Good News for me. Amen