Advent Devotional - Day 13

I wait for the Lord … in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning. (Psalm 130:5-6)

During Advent, we anticipate the long awaited, Redeemer, Deliverer to be born. We long for his appearance as watchmen wait for the morning. Morning brings new beginnings - opportunities for change, to choose better, to plant a seed that will live on into eternity if we choose well. We also wait for another coming, another promise fulfilled, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when the God of new beginnings will wipe every tear from our eyes and joy unspeakable will be our song. With him comes unfailing love and lasting redemption. What will we do with the gift, God’s precious gift of divinity wrapped in human form? Will we hoard the gift or share it so others may taste its goodness too?

Lord, inspire with us while we wait for Jesus. Amen.

Jane Johnson is pastor of Ft. Burd Calvin (Brownsville) Presbyterian Churches.

Advent Devotional - First Sunday in Advent

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?  (Psalm 24:3)

Advent to most people is an odd and strange season. Society has jumped into “Christmas.” Movies, songs and sales often begin in October! Advent is about the coming(s) of God. Preparing may be fun; waiting is hard. Thus Advent is an awkward advent-ure.

It seems odd to focus on Psalms for this devotional. Psalm 24 was used by the Church on Palm Sundays or Ascension Days to echo David’s bringing the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. Here is high liturgy/pageantry! In Scotland verses 7-10 are set to the regal tune of St. George’s, Edinburgh and sung at the Lord’s Supper. Our hymnals have ignored this powerful tune.

Thanks, God, for giving us, in Jesus, clean hands and a pure heart so that we always enter worship as already redeemed.

Jim Farrer is honorably retired.

Advent Devotional - Day 3

Isaiah 25:8:  The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his peoples disgrace from all the earth.

Revelation 21:4:  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

How can we possibly hope in times such as these when we are surrounded by hatred and violence? We can look at the big picture. Written centuries apart, these two passages offer the same promises: God’s presence with His people and the end of pain and death. It’s difficult to hold on to those promises in these terrible times, but we can. We can because of Jesus. This Christmas, more than ever, we need to remember that He was sent into the world to overcome evil, and He did. Therein lays our hope, not in what the world is doing but in what God has done in Jesus Christ. We usually think of Advent as a time of waiting, but maybe this year our waiting should be active. Maybe this year we should make ourselves available to God, asking Him to use us to act out His Love because Love is stronger than death; and so, no matter what the circumstances around us, we have reason to hope.

Rev. Sue Currie, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Belle Vernon