This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Advent. Elizabeth’s joy at her own pregnancy after so many years of barrenness is overshadowed by the joy at Mary’s visit – or rather that the unborn Lord would honor her with his presence. How wonderful it would be if we had that same attitude concerning the presence of our Lord in our gathering together, and in the Word, and in the Supper: “Blessed be God who has come to us this day.” I think that too often we think of worship as our good deed of bringing ourselves to God, when, in fact, it is a time and place where God comes to us. Continue reading →

The Season of Advent offers us readings that begin with apocalyptic scenes of Jesus’ prediction of the coming destruction of the Temple and the signs of “end times.” It is a gospel taken from Holy Week and seemed a bit out of place in Advent. But one message of the readings was “pay attention” for the signs of a promised age to come. The Season of Advent is a season in preparation of the “three comings of Christ” – in history past with his birth in Bethlehem, in history future at his second coming, and in the present at our reception of Him into our hearts. The gospels for Advent have moved us from the promise of a Messiah to the herald’s ministry of announcing his arrival via John the Baptist in the readings from the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of Advent. We then come to the 4th Sunday of Advent in lectionary cycle C. Continue reading →