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What Scripture Reveals

Links for today’s readings:

Dec 29  Read:  2 Chronicles 34 Listen: (6:23) Read: Psalms 146-147 Listen: (3:09)

Scripture Focus: 2 Chronicles 34.14-21

14 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. 15 Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan. 16 Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him: “Your officials are doing everything that has been committed to them. 17 They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.” 18 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. 20 He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 21 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.”

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Reflection: What Scripture Reveals

By John Tillman

Truth neglected is often forgotten. Truth forgotten remains true.

Do you remember your times tables? How many digits of pi (𝜋) do you have memorized? How many United States presidents can you name? Can you recite a Shakespearean speech, or a Walt Whitman poem? How many phone numbers do you remember?

From the 1960s through the 1990s, “rote memorization” fell out of favor. Educators emphasized critical thinking and problem solving over retaining facts. Memorization was not abandoned. Facts are the building blocks of critical thinking and problem solving but memorization was de-emphasized. However, the pendulum may swing back. Memorization is making a comeback in some educational areas. 

Memorization is an Ai-proof assignment. You can’t have an Ai assistant recite the Gettysburg Address for you. And when great speeches, poems, or sections of the Constitution are memorized, more than rote words are learned. The thinking and logic sinks in.

Memorization fades without reinforcement. However, truths forgotten remain true. Six times seven remains forty-two even if we forget and Hamlet’s speech beginning, “To be or not to be,” in Act 3, Scene 1 remains a profound reflection on death, suffering, and injustice regardless of our inability to recite it from memory. (Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1)

The generations before Josiah neglected, then forgot the scripture. That didn’t stop scripture from being true or his covenant with the people from being binding. God showed mercy based on the people’s response to discovering what was forgotten. Are you discovering things in scripture? How are you responding?

Scripture doesn’t have to be lost for generations for us to discover new things every day. Like Josiah, let discoveries in scripture spur you to action. Discoveries will be sometimes joyous and sometimes convicting. Respond appropriately and experience the mercy of God.

There’s no Ai tool that can hide God’s word in your heart for you. Memorization alone cannot do it either. Scripture requires meditation, reflection, and response. When the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, it isn’t just facts or laws. (John 16.13) Truth is embodied with wisdom, application, and action. (1 John 2.3-6) This is what it means to hide God’s word in your heart.

Scripture contains commands and claims but is not primarily facts to be known or rules to enforce. Scripture’s purpose is revealing the nature of God in Jesus and conforming us to that image through the Holy Spirit.

Read, reflect, and respond to scripture to embody Jesus to those around you.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

I love you, O Lord my strength, O Lord my stronghold, my crag, and my haven.

My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation and my refuge; you are worthy of praise.

As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a shield to all who trust in him.

For who is God, but the Lord? Who is the Rock, except our God? — Psalm 18.1-2, 31-32

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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From the Manger to the Muddy Jordan

Links for today’s readings:

Dec 26   Read: 2 Chronicles 31 Listen: (4:20) Read: Psalms 142-143 Listen: (2:35)
Dec 27   Read: 2 Chronicles 32 Listen: (5:58) Read:  Psalms 144 Listen: (1:56)
Dec 28   Read: 2 Chronicles 33 Listen: (4:01) Read:  Psalms 145 Listen: (2:19)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 143:8-10

8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
    for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
    lead me on level ground.

Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Reflection: From the Manger to the Muddy Jordan

By Jon Polk

What’s next now that Jesus’ birth has been celebrated, the presents have been unwrapped, and the leftover turkey and cranberry sauce is almost all gone? How do we leave Christmas behind and move forward into a new year?

Well, what’s next in the gospels? After the birth of Jesus, the next major character introduced is John the Baptist. In Mark’s Gospel, there is no account of the Nativity at all; we jump right into John’s story from the start. 

John is an interesting character. He is identified as the messenger prophesied by Isaiah who would come to prepare the way for the Messiah, but it makes you wonder about Jesus’ PR strategy if this is the guy who is supposed to be his opening act. Living like a wild man out in the Judean wilderness, wearing some uncomfortable threads…and what about that questionable diet of insects and honey? This guy isn’t getting invited to any black-tie charity dinners at the Jerusalem Ritz-Carlton.

Yet, John’s message hit home. People flocked out to the countryside in droves to hear him preach.

John’s message was two-fold. First, he calls people to repentance for forgiveness of sins. By repentance, he doesn’t mean a polite admission of feeling sorry for our sins; he means turning our lives around, leaving our sins behind, and charting a new path. Repentance is about changing how we live in this world, treating one another with the same love and grace God extends to us.

In the second part of his message, John truly understands his place as a voice crying in the wilderness, a lowly servant. He preaches about One coming who is powerful and who will breathe life into them through the Holy Spirit. John’s role is to announce his arrival and prepare the hearts of the people to receive him. Dunking them in the muddy Jordan River is only a precursor to the real change to come when Jesus hits the scene. 

Jesus is this powerful One, but he also is a servant. He isn’t an invincible warrior who vanquishes his enemies with his sword. This powerful One will die a powerless death on a cross, reconciling us with God so that we truly can repent and be forgiven. John the Baptist is the messenger who prepares the way of the Lord and he is a model for our calling as Christians today. Our purpose, like John’s, is to share the Good News, preparing the hearts of others to receive Jesus as King.

That sounds like a good plan to take into the new year.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. — Psalm 146.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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O Holy Night — Carols of Advent Love

Links for today’s readings:

Dec 24   Read: 2 Chronicles 29 Listen: (6:49) Read: Psalms 139 Listen: (2:26)

Links for tomorrow’s readings:

Dec 25   Read: 2 Chronicles 30 Listen: (4:56) Read:  Psalms 140-141 Listen: (2:44)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 139:7-12

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Reflection: O Holy Night — Carols of Advent Love

By Jon Polk

In the small town of Roquemaure in southern France, renovations on the city parish were nearing completion. The parish priest sought out local poet and wine merchant, Placide Cappeau, with a request to compose a new song to celebrate the occasion.

Although he was apparently an irregular church attender, Cappeau agreed and while riding in a stagecoach on a business trip to Paris, he composed the poem, “Minuit, Chrétiens” (“Midnight, Christians”).

Cappeau had a connection with famous composer Adolphe Adam, who had recently completed his most well-known opera, Giselle. Adam completed music for Cappeau’s poem within a few days and the finished piece, now known as “Cantique de Noël,” debuted at a Midnight Mass in 1847.

Cappeau’s original poem eloquently captures the profound truth of the incarnation in its opening verse:

     Midnight, Christians, it’s the solemn hour,

     When God-man descended to us

     To erase the stain of original sin

     And to end the wrath of His Father.

     The entire world thrills with hope

     On this night that gives it a Savior.

Equally profound is the final stanza which describes the radical results of Christ’s salvific work:

     The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:

     The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.

     He sees a brother where there was only a slave,

     Love unites those that iron had chained.

French author and statesman Alphonse de Lamartine and others began to refer to the piece as “the religious Marseillaise” (“La Marseillaise” is the French national anthem, written in 1792 during the French Revolution).

The English version known as “O Holy Night” was translated by an American writer, John Sullivan Dwight, who discovered the song in 1855.

     O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

     it is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

     Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

     till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

Tensions were high in the years prior to the American Civil War, and Dwight, a former minister and himself an abolitionist, was moved by Cappeau’s final verse. Dwight’s translation gives us one of the most compelling lyrics in the entire corpus of Christmas carols.

     Truly He taught us to love one another;

     His law is love and His gospel is peace.

     Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,

     and in His name all oppression shall cease.

Indeed, the long-awaited coming of the Messiah brought hope to a weary world. As we continue to wait for the Second Advent of the King’s return, May we live our lives as examples of the powerful message of hope, joy, love, and peace that Jesus brings.

     A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

     for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

     Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!

     O night divine! O night when Christ was born!

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited his people, he has set them free, and he has established for us a saving power in the house of his servant David, just as he proclaimed, by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times, that he would save us from our enemies and from the hands of all those who hate us, and show faithful love to our ancestors, and so keep in mind his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant us, free from fear, to be delivered from the hands of our enemies, to serve him in holiness and uprightness in his presence, all our days.” — Luke 1.67-75

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Christmas and Kaiju — Love of Advent

“But Jesus’ second advent will be different,” someone may say. True. But even then, Jesus is not our Godzilla.

Christmas and Kaiju — Readers’ Choice
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The Sound of Glory — Love of Advent

Links for today’s readings:

Dec 23  Read: 2 Chronicles 27-28 Listen: (6:27) Read:  Psalms 137-138 Listen: (2:13)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 138:1-5

1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;

    before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

2 I will bow down toward your holy temple

    and will praise your name

    for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,

for you have so exalted your solemn decree

    that it surpasses your fame.

3 When I called, you answered me;

    you greatly emboldened me.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,

    when they hear what you have decreed.

5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord,

    for the glory of the Lord is great.

Luke 2:13-14

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Reflection: The Sound of Glory — Love of Advent

By Jon Polk

The first piece to feature the chorus in George Frideric Handel’s Messiah is the bold and declarative “And the Glory of the Lord.” Here, as he does nearly twenty times in his masterwork, Handel sets to music words from the prophecy of Isaiah, specifically from chapter 40 verse 5.

And the glory, the glory of the Lord

Shall be revealed

And all flesh shall see it together

What exactly is God’s glory? It is a difficult concept to grasp. C.S. Lewis wrestled with the idea in his book, The Weight of Glory. Lewis attempted to define glory in one of two ways, “Either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity.”

Regarding glory as fame, Lewis initially felt that fame was a shallow, selfish pursuit that seems unbecoming and out of character with the nature of God. However, upon further consideration and reflecting on the work of other theologians, Lewis reframed his understanding of fame as “good report” or “approval,” in the same manner as a parent approves of a child or an artist takes pleasure in her or his work. He writes,

For glory meant good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgment, and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.

By this definition, glory is to be of “good report” with God, to be accepted and welcomed by God, to be known by God. As Lewis concludes, this is the deepest desire of all our hearts.

Consider the angels appearing in the fields outside Bethlehem proclaiming God’s glory and peace to a handful of ordinary shepherds. Never in their wildest dreams did those herdsmen imagine that the God of their forefathers would look down on their lowly lives and embrace them, delivering to them first the greatest news in human history.

The Christ Child entering into our world is a heavenly proclamation from God, “You are loved. You are welcome. You are accepted by me.”

Isaiah’s prophecy and the rousing choral setting from Handel are truly an anthem, a declaration that God’s glory has been revealed to us and in us. God welcomes us into the family. God smiles on us as an artist admires his creation. 

May our response be that of the psalmist: to praise God with our whole heart (138:1), to sing and proclaim the goodness of God (138:5), and to find strength in God’s embrace (138:3).

And about glory as luminosity, imagine having been out in the fields with the shepherds that night…

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us.
Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. — Psalm 67.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: From Silence, Peace :: Peace of Advent

We need the silence of Advent…time to turn off the noise of our self-reliance and to sit listening for God’s words of life. 

From Silence, Peace :: Peace of Advent
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Call Him by Name — Love of Advent

Links for today’s readings:

Dec 22  Read: 2 Chronicles 26 Listen: (4:00) Read: Psalms 135-136 Listen: (5:03)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 135:13

13 Your name, Lord, endures forever,

    your renown, Lord, through all generations.

14 For the Lord will vindicate his people

    and have compassion on his servants.

Psalm 136:23-26

23 He remembered us in our low estate

    His love endures forever.

24 and freed us from our enemies.

    His love endures forever.

25 He gives food to every creature.

    His love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.

    His love endures forever.

Matthew 1:20-21

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Reflection: Call Him by Name — Love of Advent

By Jon Polk

Many of Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies have been enshrined in popular consciousness thanks to the magnificent work of George Frideric Handel. Take, for example, the names of Jesus from Isaiah 9:6 sung by the chorus in “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” from Handel’s Messiah:

…and His name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God

the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace…

Names are significant. The psalmist proclaims that God’s name and great renown will last forever, surpassing all earthly generations (135:13). In ancient Jewish thought, a name was tightly woven with the character of a person, capturing their essence, reputation and authority.

In Matthew’s Nativity account, the angel instructs Joseph to give Mary’s child the name Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins” (1:21). Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means “the Lord saves.”

Jesus, literally “the Savior,” is…

Wonderful Counselor. Jesus is a compassionate counselor to his people, healing their afflictions and listening to their broken hearts. Jesus meets our needs, gently guides our steps, and imparts divine wisdom. As the psalmist notes of God, “he remembers us in our low estate” (136:23), walking alongside us in our times of need.

Mighty God. Jesus, while completely human, is also fully God, and being fully God, he is all-powerful. Jesus comes to our rescue, protects us from harm, and in an ultimate act of power and might, lays down his own life for ours. As the psalmist states, “he frees us from our enemies” (136:24), chief of which is our enslavement to sin.

Everlasting Father. Jesus, as God, exists eternally, without restraints due to time. Jesus, as a good father, provides for us, his children, and weeps with us in our anguish and pain. Jesus’ heart beats with a fatherly love for us. As the psalmist declares, “he gives food to every creature” (136:25), demonstrating paternal care.

Prince of Peace. Jesus is heavenly royalty, but not like the brutal warlords of ancient times. Jesus’ rule over the universe brings true, lasting peace, a peace that restores the broken relationship between humanity and God. It is a peace won through the sacrifice of his own life. For this, we echo the psalmist who encourages us to “Give thanks to the God of heaven” (136:26).

Consider which name and characteristic of Jesus you need most this Advent season. Call out to him with that name in confidence. Let your spirit sing along with the jubilant choir, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given!”

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe, for you are my crag and my stronghold; for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me. — Psalm 31.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Silent Night — Carols of Advent Joy

Silent Night was born out of a period of insecurity

Silent Night — Carols of Advent Joy
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