A Faint Glow
by Anna Murdock

Jeremiah 33:14-16 and Luke 21:25-36

We don’t live on the same calendar as the world.  Oh, is that news to
you?  We just don’t.  Where others are rushing toward Christmas much
faster than they should, counting down the days, hanging garlands and
trimming trees and spending money like there is no tomorrow, you and I
are called to an Advent waiting.  We are called to a new beginning by
our God of new beginnings.  Our calendar marks time in the steps of
our spiritual journey, not in 24-hour days.  We are asked to hear the
cries of the prophets in new ways and to listen to Jesus’ own words of
“coming in a cloud of power and glory.”  The promise of the LORD that
is found in the words of both the prophet Jeremiah and in the words of
Jesus is “Candle #1” of Advent.   It is a faint glow in the darkness
of a fallen and fearful world.

This first Sunday of Advent brings with it Scriptures of promise and
of days when the sun, the moon, the stars and the earth will be under
the greatest of distress.  False prophets (and the powers that be in
Hollywood and the literary world) attempt to pinpoint the time and
place where Jesus will come to us “in a cloud with power and great
glory.”  Put away your calculators and calendars, my friends.  Jesus
himself says that he does not know the “whens”.  Why should we spend
so much energy and money trying to know what Jesus does not know!

This morning, I am hearing steady rains and I know that this day will
be much the same as was a lot of my days last week.  Dark days, cold
steady rains, very heavy clouds.  The news of the day adds to the
bleakness.  Death and destruction.  Wars.  Natural disasters.
Children being dragged into very adult worlds.  There have been
moments when it seems that the world as we know it is crashing down
upon itself.  How dark it does seem at times.  Allow the Advent Candle
#1 to be lit.  Allow this faint glow to pierce the darkness.  Jeremiah
shouts to us, reminding us that the LORD said that “a Branch will
spring up, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land
… and it shall be called ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ “  This is
the faint glow of our first days of Advent.  This promise.  These
words ask us to look into a baby’s face in a manger in Bethlehem in a
new way.  We might see a tiny face that is illuminated with justice
and righteousness.

Oh, this rain wants to lull me back to sleep!  The darkness of the
world begs me to pull the covers back over my head.  But in the
darkness, there is a faint glow of hope that will one day illuminate
the skies.  There are words of WAKE UP and WATCH  … of BE ALERT and BE
ON GUARD!   God has promised a righteous Branch through Jeremiah’s
words.  Isaiah shouts, “Come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.”
Jesus says, “The Son of Man will come in the clouds with power and
glory.”  These are words of great hope, not fear.  These are words
that bring a flame to our first candle of Advent.  And these are words
that ask us to begin our Advent moving in and through our world as God
has called us to do … not standing immobile, constantly staring at the
star for signs, but going about the work of Jesus in this world of
ours.

Holy God, you have put promises of hope and truth on the lips of your
prophets and of your Son.  You have lit a candle in our darkness.   It
would be so easy for us to sleep through all that we see around us and
wait alone, without purpose, for your Son’s return.  But you have
asked us to step out in the darkness, to be changed in our Advent
waiting and to carry the Light of your love into the world.  Prepare
our hearts, O God, to recognize and receive this Branch of justice and
righteousness and to tell of this Good News to a world that is in
great need.     Amen.

(Comments to Anna at abmurdo@gmail.com.)
Worship Team Leader
Broad Street UMC
Statesville, NC