Links for today’s readings:
Dec 9 Read: 2 Chronicles 9 Listen: (5:07) Read: Psalms 117-118 Listen: (2:52)
Scripture Focus: Psalm 118:17-18
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
Reflection: Peace and Second Chances – Peace of Advent
By Erin Newton
Since Advent falls at the end of our calendar year, it can be a time of reflection and anticipation. What went well this year? What went wrong? Cherished memories can also be accompanied by moments we’d rather throw away. The days wind down, and in the long night of winter we remember “what the Lord has done.” Sometimes with a sigh of relief that we are still here, a second chance at life.
I would never limit God in the number of chances he gives us. He is an infinitely merciful God. But since our language has already enshrined the phrase “second chance”—I will use the phrase with the caveat that “second” to God is likely a number with an asterisk (*to the infinite degree).
As God’s people waited for the coming of Messiah, they were already accustomed to the “second chances” given by God. They had their frequent rituals of sacrifices and feasts. They had been exiled and scattered but then returned and rebuilt the temple. They knew what it meant to be “chastened severely.”
True, some people literally did die in those moments of warfare. Their tragic ending probably damped the community’s hope for the peace that the prophets heralded over and over. But on a wider scope, God did not sever his relationship with his people. He did not abandon them to “death.”
When God incarnated himself and dwelt among us, he made his promise of eternal communion something tangible. Jesus’s presence was a testimony to his faithfulness to us. He wasn’t going anywhere, even when things got hard (and even if his people were responsible for such hardships).
The peace of Advent shows us the persistent nature of God’s commitment to us. He laid aside the comforts of heaven to tread our scarred and blemished Earth. He had never given up on us, despite our many wayward paths. The peace of Advent is a commitment beyond our weakness and mercy beyond our deservedness.
In this week, let the peace of Advent guide your reflections on the year. Praise him, you are still here. “I did not die but lived.” Proclaim what he has done, to a friend, on social media, to your children, in a poem, or on a slip of paper that you tuck into a book to be found again some serendipitous day.
The peace of Advent ensures our “second chances” again and again.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
…when God restores the fortunes of his people Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad. — Psalm 53.6b
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
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