Introduction
Advent 3
Advent 4
Nativity of the Lord - Proper 1
Second Sunday after Christmas Day
First Sunday of Advent
December 1, 2019
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Exegetical Missional Insights
Isaiah 2:1-5
The prophet Isaiah allows the reader to have a vision of hope for the day that "the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it." This reference is to the blessing that will eventually come from the establishment of the Lord's House. In this establishment, God will allow Jerusalem to become secure, firm, and lasting. This hope is given to the people of Judah at a time when the kingdom had fallen away from the Lord and had entered into a situation of imminent demise. In the days to come, there will be no darkness in the land, and the threat of war, capture, famine, or sickness will be no more. The time will come when even the weapons created to kill, still, and destroy will be turned into plowshares and pruning hooks - the time when the light will never be able to be put out or covered up.
Romans 13:11-14
In this passage, Paul gives us some of his most easily remembered and well-known sayings: night versus day, darkness versus light, honor, and virtue versus debauchery and licentiousness. These contracts allow the readers of this letter to see the undeniable choice of the new life that is offered in Christ's salvation and in the old life of sin, darkness, and death that must be left behind. Paul is calling this community to allow their salvation to be actualized in the way they live here and now. This ability of this transformed life is only made possible by their new lord and master, God the Father, through the life and light of Christ the Son, and by the power to live with virtue and honor by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 24:36-44
The text is concerned with two ages, the present age, and the new age. The present age is consumed by evil, sin, injustice, war, sickness, and the presence of Satin. While the new age will be a time that has the complete rule of God and the angels where acts of authentic worship, forgiveness, mutual support, health, blessing between nature and humankind, and eternal life will be manifest. This new age will come unexpectedly, so the people of God must be ready. If we have no way of knowing when this new age and second coming will occur, we do not have the luxury to wait, but we must be prepared at all times.
God's Mission in the Text
Time and time again, God has invited humanity to live into what it is to be fully human. Unfortunately, throughout history, God's people have repeatedly turned away from God. Ellen Davis states there is a cyclical pattern where "1) God Creates by initiating a new relational reality, 2) Humans cause a rupture in the relational reality that God has established, 3) Divine judgment and suffering of humans and nonhumans ensue, and 4) God takes a new initiative toward humans creating new kinds of through which a degree of the original harmony may be restored to the world".1
In these three texts, we can see this pattern and warnings as God's desire to create and be in relationship with humanity, yet, too often, humans have deserted these relationships with God and slipped into sin. Nevertheless, God continues to move with restorative power to reconcile the relationships. These efforts, from God, to restore and reconcile all of humanity, comes to a head when God comes in the form of Jesus of Nazareth to be the ultimate Messiah and Savior of all people.
This is the time that God has been preparing for to restore all things that have fallen into sin, death, darkness, and evil. The time when the old earth will pass away and everything contrary to God's life and light with it and the new creations of heaven and earth shall be established forever.
Missional Connections for Our Context
As the culture of today continues to engage in eclectic pluralism, we must take these warnings very seriously. The church continues to struggle with either being in the world too much or not enough and has lost its grasp of the grand narrative of scripture that is there to illumine the present in such a way that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. God is calling the church today to continue to run its race through all of the success, growth, and fruitful times, but even more so in the times of decay, struggle, and death. As the North American church seems to be drowning in the cultural milieu, the church must continue to run the race, proclaiming the gospel, setting people's hearts on fire for God, and creating disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This advent season is a time to remember the time is coming when the darkness of the world will disappear in the marvelous light of Christ Jesus.
Biographical Summary
Rev. Kaury C. Edwards serves as the lead pastor of Wesleyan Heights United Methodist Church within the Kentucky Annual Conference. In 2013, he received a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, and in 2016, he received a Master of Theology in World Missions and Evangelism with a specialization in missional theology and desecularization from Asbury Theological Seminary. He is currently a Doctor of Ministry Candidate at Duke University and focusing his research on leadership innovation, John Wesley studies, and Design Thinking.
1 Ellen F. Davis, Opening Israel's Scriptures (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019), 19.
Second Sunday of Advent
December 8, 2019
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
The scriptures this morning proclaim the advent themes of hope and peace and give wonderful pictures of God's intention for God's creation. This points to the good yet sometimes difficult news we proclaim as we are called to participate in God's mission for our world.
Exegetical Missional Insights
Isaiah proclaims the coming of a Messiah in the line of King David - from the root of Jesse - who will be strong in the Spirit of God. The idea of Jesse brackets this passage which is full of images of righteousness, wisdom and a strong walk with God. The latter half of the passage contains some of the most beloved images from Isaiah - a world where the conflicts of nature shall cease and where the carnivores of the world can live without killing. Where the power of snakes, their venom, no longer threatens human kind, represented by their children. All of this peace of Christ will be ushered in by the coming figure who will reconcile humankind and in fact, all nations, to God his wisdom his righteousness. Note there is also a note of the Word of God "striking" and "killing" the wicked, although specifically on behalf of the poor and the meek.
Paul picks up some of the images from Isaiah and calls on the people to live in peace with one another. Specifically, he calls on them with the help of the Holy Spirit and the example of Christ to model God's peace so that the "gentiles" might join in that peace and the hope given by God through Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist in the Gospel of Matthew also stands in the tradition of Isaiah. Like Isaiah, his very life points the way to God and prepares the way for Jesus - wearing "clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey." And his ministry is enormously successful as people come to him from the city and the whole region to repent and seal their repentance; that is, turn to God, and symbolize this turn with baptism in water. In fact, John is successful despite his sometimes-difficult message. He calls out those with power who have come from the city, suspecting that their repentance is not real but for show. He proclaims that the test of their faith will be to do justice and practice mercy and if not, they will be destroyed by God's wrath, echoing the destruction spoken of by Isaiah.
God's Mission in the Text
As God's people, we are called to a mission to proclaim words of peace and hope through knowledge of God's goodness and faith in God's good intention for all creation Specifically our call is to see and help the weak and the marginalized for there can be no peace without first justice. Notably, God's peace is not without its cost. Those with power who abuse that power, who practice evil and who oppress their sisters and brothers, will bear the cost of that evil. Hence the tough language in Isaiah and John. Our call is to prepare hearts and minds for the Christ, as Isaiah and his community did. As John did in the wilderness. Our call is to proclaim the need for true repentance and to baptize the nations into Jesus Christ and a vision of righteousness grounded in hope and living in harmony. We can demonstrate this harmony by the fruits of caring for the poor and the weak with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Missional Connection to Our Context
We live in a world suffused with violence. People are killed just because of the color of their skin. Wars and rumors of wars abound, in Africa and Asia and other places. Whole groups of people are forced from their homes in places like Myanmar and Syria. Because we live with so much violence, we sometimes confuse the absence of violence with peace. But God's peace is different. As we learn from Isaiah and Matthew, God's peace is an upsetting of the natural order for something that is different.
We can participate in the upsetting of the natural order by the fruits of our lives. We can call out the rich and the powerful as John the Baptist does. But perhaps it is not necessary, and it is certainly not sufficient, to simply decry the state of the world. We can bring harmony and upset the order of things by reaching out to and lifting up the poor, the meek, the powerless, the disenfranchised. As Paul suggests and John preaches, it is our living in harmony and the fruits of our actions to bring justice and mercy that foreshadow Isaiah's vision and God's ultimate peace. And in this we have the strong example of Jesus Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to the God of hope and peace.
Nativity of the Lord - Proper I
December 24 & 25, 2019
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)
Exegetical Missional Insights
Isaiah 9:2-7
Isaiah 9 presents a changing world. The light shines into darkness (v. 2). The underclasses finally feel relief as the oppressive leadership loses its power (v. 4). And the tearful reminders of war and loss are obliterated (v. 5). Verse 6 claims that this new order rests on the shoulders of a child who would become king. The hope contained in this passage rests in knowing that peace, justice, and righteousness characterize God's reign. Peace transforms the tools of war because they are no longer needed. Justice provides for the common folk and protects them from the abuse of power. Righteousness rightly orders relationships of all kinds: between God and humanity, person to person, between humanity and nature, and between societies and individuals.
Titus 2:11-14
Jesus appears and shatters any monopoly on salvation. The grace of God brings "salvation to all" (v. 11). These verses unsettle the reader who assumes they know who is inside or outside of God's saving power. Grace also serves another purpose; it is the force that disciplines life on earth. In light of experiencing the powerful grace of God, people reject ungodly lives (v. 12) and live well as they wait for their hopes to be fulfilled when Jesus appears again (v. 13). Salvation centers on God's expansive grace. This grace extends to all and transforms the desires and lives of those it touches.
Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)
Luke places the story of Jesus' birth in context. Joseph takes his pregnant fiancé to be registered in accordance with the political powers of the time (vv. 1 & 5). This fragile budding family has nowhere to stay because the city itself is overcrowded. Modern readings of this story assume Joseph and Mary were mistreated, yet the social-political setting of the text explains the holy family suffered merely because the city lacked enough resources to care for all its inhabitants and visitors. This was the scene for the birth of the new king ("Messiah," v. 12, NRSV). Mary delivered her firstborn son - his birth order provides an indicator of Jesus' right to inherit the throne - underneath the backdrop of Emperor Augustus' rule (v. 7).
Verses 8 through 18 shift the focus away from the holy family to the other actors in the narrative. This passage announces the birth of the savior yet emphasizes the perspective of humble shepherds as they hear "great news of great joy for all people" (v. 10.) Then a "heavenly host" joins the angel to praise God and declare peace for all God favors (v. 14). What a proclamation this must have been! A message of a new king, a message of peace for God's beloved. And the first people to receive and then have the privilege of spreading this good news are peasants (vv. 15-17). What kind of king is this? Luke provides two ways to respond to this good news: the way of the shepherds was to investigate and see if it really was true and then tell everyone how God promised and delivered; and the way of Mary who deeply reflected on the gravity of it all (v. 19).
God's Mission in the Text
The Nativity of the Lord spurs hope. To hope means to anticipate (expect, look for) God to establish a new reality. Anticipation requires action. We live, act and operate in ways that demonstrate we believe God's words are true and coming to pass. People of faith not only wait for God's mission to be accomplished, but they also participate in the mission. Hope fosters a life of acting alongside God's promises.
Isaiah, Titus, and Luke each present readers with trustworthy and dependable promises from God. Titus and Luke reveal that salvation extends to all people. God's mission consists of breaking into painful realities and establishing a new kind of rule. Isaiah encourages the underdogs of society that the coming Messiah will overthrow the status quo. Readers hope for the day when they are no longer tied up and weighed them down. Faithful people participate in this coming reality by undoing the knots they have placed around others within their sphere of influence. The Titus text offers democratizing salvation which all can access. Just after stating that slaves obey their masters (vv. 9-10), Paul declares the grace of God has appeared and salvation reaches all. Read these words subversively, what effect does an all-saving grace have on oppressive relationships? God's mission destabilizes human claims to power not rooted in liberation. Finally, Luke narrates the most paradoxical of royal births. God's mission delivers a king born into a society that could not even make room for him. God's mission brought the good news of great joy to all. God demonstrated the validity of this good news being for "all" by presenting the message to peasants. Peasants inspired enough to share this news and later privileged enough to have their stories recorded and shared for centuries.
Here lies our hope. In a faithful God whose grace extends to all.
Missional Connections for Our Context
This Christmas season how can we live our hope? The Nativity of the Lord challenges us to consider our present reality in light of the coming reality God desires for all. Luke 2 examines the Christmas story from the perspective of the shepherds - common, everyday folk. In our families, churches, and communities, who are the "shepherds?" Who among us works tireless, late nights in obscurity, and could benefit from hearing about God's glorious reality breaking into their life? Hope and mission meet through our actions. This Christmas, how will we participate in God's reality of grace, salvation, joy, peace, justice, and righteous relationships?
Biographical Summary
Shari C. Madkins resides in metro-Atlanta. As an ordained Baptist minister, Shari served in local and foreign missions and youth ministry. Shari obtained her Master of Divinity from Emory University's Candler School of Theology. Currently, Shari is a doctoral candidate concentrating in Ethics and Society in Emory's Graduate Division of Religion.
Second Sunday after Christmas Day
January 5, 2020
Jeremiah 31:7-14 or Sirach 24:1-12
Psalm 147:12-20 or Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:(1-9), 10-18
Exegetical Missional Insights
Jeremiah 31:7-14
In verse 9 God declares himself to have become "a father to Israel" and that Ephraim is his "firstborn," in a foreshadowing of what was to come in Jesus at his advent. Further, we get a glimpse of what it means to walk with God as his child, that we will be consoled, enabled, and refreshed. Living in a world with "God with us" is like water provided to a garden.
Sirach 24:1-12
Wisdom, as feminine aspect of Spirit and Christ, affirms both Wisdom's origin within God, and Wisdom's being sent by God to his chosen people. In this we can see both Spirit and Christ as aspects of God that are sent from God to dwell amongst His people, that are "God with us."
Psalm 147:12-20
Again, we learn what it means that God is father to his people. Here the list of what it means to have "God with us" includes deliverance, protection, blessings, peace, and abundance.
Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
Wisdom is portrayed here again as a feminine aspect of "God with us," God who travels with and leads God's people.
Ephesians 1:3-14
The twin themes of redemption and inheritance are interwoven in this passage. We are chosen to be recipients of the redemption that makes our adoption and inheritance possible.
John 1:(1-9), 10-18
In this passage inheritance is again referenced as we are given the "power to become children of God." But another key word here is "grace," which is used four times in verses 14 through 17. In contrast to law, Jesus has brought us God's grace.
God's Mission in the Text
The Old Testament scriptures this week share the theme of what it means to be Israel, to be God's chosen people, when God gathers the remnant to Himself. These are joyful, comforting messages of lavish love. God will go fetch the lost and bring them home. He will include those who are no longer whole, those who are damaged as a result of living in this fallen world. He will include the vulnerable, even the pregnant women and children.
The passages in this week's lectionary exemplify what God's mission is really all about; he desires a close loving relationship with his children. God's desire is for us to be in close relationship with him, so that by his grace, he can bless us and care for us. And since we are such faithless creatures, who are so easily lost along the way, God sent us a light to show us the way. God became "God with us."
Missional Connections for our Context
Now that Advent is past, the waiting for God's revelation of himself is over, everything has changed. The incarnation has occurred. Christ is born, and it is time to ponder the significance of this. What does it mean to us now that Advent has occurred, now that the incarnate baby is a week old, now that "God with us" Emmanuel is not just a proclamation but a permanent reality? How does this change what it means to be God's chosen people?
God made promises to his people, promises of blessings, and God's people attempted to comprehend the form that God's blessings would take. The Old Testament passages talk about protection, sufficient food, comfort, and God's control over the elements. And while these are indeed blessings from God, these are not the totality of what it means to be part of Ephraim, the firstborn of God (Jer. 31:9). To be God's child means to be subject to his grace, even "grace upon grace" (John 1:16). We are forgiven and redeemed by the grace that is lavished upon us (Eph. 1:8), that we may live for "the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:12, 1:14).
"To all who received him" (John 1:12), this is the missional cry of God. God's grace is not extended due to family line, having the right DNA, the right color of skin, the right country of origin, the right abilities. God's grace is for all who accept that God is with us, that he became incarnate in the babe Jesus.
In some circles we hear talk about "family of origin" in contrast to "family of choice." The idea is that while we have no control over where or how we are born, we do have options about with whom we choose to associate ourselves. So while Israel had a "family of origin" relationship with God, through Jesus we are given a "family of choice" option to align ourselves with God. The problem is that not all "families of origin," do a good job of teaching us what it means to have a loving parent relationship. Thus, if God is our parent, but our experience of a parent is someone who is cold, or self-centered, or abusive, or controlling, or demanding, we are likely to project that understanding onto God. But God loves us too much to leave us in such a dark and lonely place. God sent us an example, in flesh and blood, of what parent-child relationship could and should be, in Jesus.
God reached out to us when we could not comprehend his loving will for us, contextualized himself by incarnating in Jesus, so that we could see, hear, and experience God's love for us. Now we are to emulate him and reach out, to be Jesus for those who do not know him, and help them to see, hear, and experience God's love for them. While this may indeed involve travelling to the ends of the earth, the usual understanding of what a missionary does, such is not always the case. Reaching the person next door, or the person sleeping on our curb, is also part of God's mission. God gathers his children from near as well as far!
Biographical Summary
Dr. Linda Lee Smith Barkman earned a PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary, with a focus on Intercultural Communication, and is also under care toward ordination with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). As an educator, writer, and advocate, her heart ministry is providing voice to the marginalized, particularly women in difficult circumstances, and most especially to incarcerated women and to indigenous women in the barrios of Tijuana, Mexico. Dr. Barkman was herself incarcerated in a California prison for thirty years.
