Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezra 3 Listen: (3:01)

Read: Revelation 2 Listen: (4:59)

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 9.6-7

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

Reflection: Truth, Justice, and the Holidays — Peace of Advent

By Erin Newton

Peace does not come without change. If it did, it would be a false peace—a mere pacification. It’s not that we only long for the cessation of war, we want things to be made right. The peace promised through Christ is the peace of truth and justice.

Isaiah speaks of this child, Prince of Peace, who will reign forever, establishing and upholding justice and righteousness. If peace was merely stopping war, there would be no need to establish something new. Not only is the current situation of conflict and strife not good, but the system that allows and perpetuates such conflict is not good.

The prophet speaks to a community that is riddled with injustices—affliction of the weak, oppression of the poor, corruption of the greedy, and the immunity of the wicked. Peace could not come to them without the removal of their power and establishment of someone who would rule in righteousness.

How could a child be the bearer of such great change? The promised peace through justice and truth was coming, but it was beginning in infancy. Peace was going to take time.

Waiting for the peace of Advent looks very similar to how it did thousands of years ago. The part of peace that brings the removal of conflict and the establishment of justice seems to be happening slowly. And I think that’s hard to handle sometimes.

Swift justice is probably not good justice. Immediate peace is probably empty pacification.

But just as the child is promised to reign in truth and justice upon King David’s throne, his peace is promised to last forever. Peace is slow to come but eternal in its stay. That gives us some footholds of hope to cling to.

Looking at peace reveals many layers. We have seen the spiritual layer of peace as wholeness within our souls. We have seen the promise of peace that removes all conflict and strife. In many ways, we’ve been able to see these firsthand when we experience salvation and when fractured relationships are repaired.

But some peace is still yet to come. We wait for wrongs to be made right and for justice to be the law of the land. Advent is an exercise in waiting. Let us look for the peace that calls into account all that has been done wrong.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. — Matthew 5.6

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

Read more about A Time of Peace and Favor — Peace of Advent

Now the manger holds him
Now the child sleeps
The cross will one day hold him. There he will make peace.

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Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezra 1 Listen: (2:03)
Read: 3 John Listen: (1:51)

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 9.2, 6

2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Reflection: Wholeness for the Holidays — Peace of Advent

By Erin Newton

The thing about Advent is that it is just a waiting game. We know to wait with hope for Jesus’s birth. We know that we will receive love through him. We know that joy will follow this grand event. But what does the peace of Advent offer us?

What are we hoping to find in peace? The feeling of hopelessness, that’s familiar. The heartache of being unloved, we know what that’s like. The weight of sadness and lack of joy is a regular routine. What is life without peace? It is chaotic, broken, raging, tumultuous, scary, fear-driven, uncertain.

Peace is a noun and, within the original Hebrew context, it came from a verb meaning “wholeness” or “complete.” Peace also carries other connotations such as calmness or freedom from conflict. But in the most basic essence of the term—peace is that which fills all voids.

So when Isaiah proclaims the coming child who is a counselor, deity, and father—he is also a prince of wholeness.

The gift of the season is Someone who makes things whole. He mends tears. He binds wounds. He fills chasms. He makes all that is insufficient sufficient.

There is a Japanese technique for mending broken pottery—kintsugi. Many have seen the beautiful pieces that were formerly broken shards of bowls or plates, delicately repaired using golden lacquer. The gold seams not only repair that which was broken but reinvent the beauty of the vessel. The bowl, albeit beautiful as it was before it was broken, becomes an exquisite piece of artistry in kintsugi.

The peace of Advent is like these mended pots. The peace of God is a promise of mending, repairing, and completing all that was broken or lacking. But it is more than just taking the pieces of our lives and putting them back into working order. The peace of God is reinventing our lives, binding the pieces that make us who we are and then shining the golden rays of Himself amongst the pieces.

Isaiah speaks of the people walking in the darkness, living in deep darkness. But the light breaks through. The radiance of Christ, an infant born in a lowly place, illuminates all that they could not see. It is the wholeness of life and light that overcomes the darkness here.

With the Holy Spirit, we no longer lack anything. The pieces have been spiritually mended. The golden seams are already there.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

For who is God, but the Lord? Who is the Rock, except our God? — Psalm 18.32

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

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Read more about Truth and Love — Love of Advent

The love we receive and the truth we believe, are to be passed on. John testifies that joy comes from walking in love and truth in this way.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 9.12b
12 …Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Reflection: Evil, Judgment, or Discipline?
By John Tillman

Bad things were happening to Judah. Why?

Three times in this chapter, Isaiah repeats, “Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” (Isaiah 5.25; 9.12, 17, 21; 10.4) 

Sometimes “bad things” happen simply because evil exists. Stephen King, who has spent a lifetime writing about evil, put it this way in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, “The world has teeth and it can bite you with them any time it wants.”

Sometimes bad things happen as part of God’s judgment. Individuals or groups, by action or inaction, spurn God’s calls for justice, and as Johnny Cash sang, “You can run on for a long time…sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.”

Sometimes bad things happen as part of God’s discipline. Discipline is not “pleasant,” scripture says, but is not intended for harm. Where judgment destroys evil, discipline attempts to turn us from it. Discipline proves that we are loved by God and he intends good things for us.

God’s hand of blessing and protection was lifted from Judah, allowing great suffering, but no matter how bad it got, the people still wouldn’t return to God. They’d do anything other than repent. Anything other than helping the hurting. Anything other than admitting complicity in suffering. Anything other than walking humbly, loving mercy, or acting justly.

Some explain bad things happening saying, “We are being judged because of those sinners over there!” However, Israel’s prophets never say, “This drought is because of those sinful Moabites.” Judgment begins in the house of the Lord.

We need to pause and consider what kind of suffering we are enduring. Are we simply facing an evil world? Are we being judged? Are we being disciplined? Is God’s hand upraised against us?

If we are suffering for doing good, let us rejoice. (1 Peter 3.13-17) In suffering of this kind, God is our comforter and partner.

If we are suffering for resisting evil, let us endure. However, let us not turn to evil means of survival, but rather overcome evil with good.

If we are suffering for sins of commission or omission, for our apathy toward or complicity in the suffering of others, let us repent. For God longs to lead us back to himself. His raised hand of discipline will lower to wipe our tears and “there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.” (Isaiah 9.1)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me. — Psalm 69.7

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

​Today’s Readings
Isaiah  9.8-10.4 (Listen 8:50)
Psalm 105 (Listen 4:02)

Read more about Different Kind of Exile
Peter encourages his exiles not to allow the oppression and suffering they are going through to be something that crushes their faith.

Read more about The Wrong Fear
This is how people act when they are living in fear. But this is not the reverent fear of the Lord that Peter speaks of.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 9.12b
12 …Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Reflection: Evil, Judgment, or Discipline?
By John Tillman

Bad things were happening to Judah. Why?

Three times in this chapter, Isaiah repeats, “Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” (Isaiah 5.25; 9.12, 17, 21; 10.4) 

Sometimes “bad things” happen simply because evil exists. Stephen King, who has spent a lifetime writing about evil, put it this way in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, “The world has teeth and it can bite you with them any time it wants.”

Sometimes bad things happen as part of God’s judgment. Individuals or groups, by action or inaction, spurn God’s calls for justice, and as Johnny Cash sang, “You can run on for a long time…sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.”

Sometimes bad things happen as part of God’s discipline. Discipline is not “pleasant,” scripture says, but is not intended for harm. Where judgment destroys evil, discipline attempts to turn us from it. Discipline proves that we are loved by God and he intends good things for us.

God’s hand of blessing and protection was lifted from Judah, allowing great suffering, but no matter how bad it got, the people still wouldn’t return to God. They’d do anything other than repent. Anything other than helping the hurting. Anything other than admitting complicity in suffering. Anything other than walking humbly, loving mercy, or acting justly.

Some explain bad things happening saying, “We are being judged because of those sinners over there!” However, Israel’s prophets never say, “This drought is because of those sinful Moabites.” Judgment begins in the house of the Lord.

We need to pause and consider what kind of suffering we are enduring. Are we simply facing an evil world? Are we being judged? Are we being disciplined? Is God’s hand upraised against us?

If we are suffering for doing good, let us rejoice. (1 Peter 3.13-17) In suffering of this kind, God is our comforter and partner.

If we are suffering for resisting evil, let us endure. However, let us not turn to evil means of survival, but rather overcome evil with good.

If we are suffering for sins of commission or omission, for our apathy toward or complicity in the suffering of others, let us repent. For God longs to lead us back to himself. His raised hand of discipline will lower to wipe our tears and “there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.” (Isaiah 9.1)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. — Psalm 96.9

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 9.8-10.4 (Listen – 8:50)
Matthew 23 (Listen – 4:53)

Read more about Different Kind of Exile
Peter encourages his exiles not to allow the oppression and suffering they are going through to be something that crushes their faith.

Read more about The Wrong Fear
This is how people act when they are living in fear. But this is not the reverent fear of the Lord that Peter speaks of.