In the Bleak Midwinter — Carols of Advent Hope

  • November 30, 2022
  • /
  • Jon Polk

Scripture Focus: Hebrews 11:1, 39-40
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Revelation 21:1, 3-4
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Reflection: In the Bleak Midwinter — Carols of Advent Hope
By Jon Polk

Despite the lack of any biblical or historical evidence for the actual date of Jesus’ birth, Christmas has been celebrated on December 25th since the 3rd century. However, the mention of shepherds tending flocks in the Nativity story instead suggests a spring date likely for the birth of Jesus.

Nonetheless, Christmas is tightly identified with the winter season, which may explain why the pensive “In the Bleak Midwinter” is one of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, 
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; 
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, 
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

While the seasonal details may not be entirely accurate, the poetic implications are clear. The world into which Christ was born is cold, harsh, and dreary, beset by sin and indifference. Into that landscape, our hope, the Messiah, was born.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed 
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

The text was written by English poet Christina Rossetti, daughter of Italian parents and member of an artistic family. Her father was a Dante scholar and taught Italian at King’s College. Her brothers were influential in the development of the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite art movement.

Originally titled, “A Christmas Carol,” Rossetti’s poem was published in the January 1872 edition of the American journal, Scribner’s Monthly. Music was added to the hymn in 1906, twelve years after her death, by composer Gustav Holst.

Christina encountered her share of suffering in her lifetime. As a pre-teen, her father had a serious health breakdown causing him to retire from work. She lived with an autoimmune disorder that affected her thyroid. In 1893, she was diagnosed with breast cancer which took her life a year later.

Unhindered by her own misfortunes, Rossetti was extremely committed to her faith. She spent her time ministering to former prostitutes and using her gift of writing to bring attention to pressing issues of the day, including slavery and the exploitation of young women. 

It is no surprise, then, that the final verse of her solemn Christmas hymn contemplates not what Christ has done for us, but rather, what we can do for him.

What can I give him, poor as I am? 
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 
Yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

If you are weary from living in a dark and cold world, if you are struggling with adversity or hardship, be reminded to hold on to your faith and hope in the Christ who has broken into our lives in the midst of our bleakest midwinters.

Listen: In the Bleak Midwinter by Kevin Max
Read: Lyrics from Hymnary.org

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
With my whole heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commandments. — Psalm 119.10

Today’s Readings
Esther 1 (Listen 4:14)
Hebrews 11 (Listen 6:22)

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Read more about This We Proclaim
The ancient church did not fix the celebration of Advent around the winter solstice because of history, but because of pedagogy.

This We Proclaim — Hope of Advent

Ache for Renewal

  • December 30, 2021
  • /
  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Revelation 21.5, 6
“I am making everything new!…It is done.”

From John: Little did we know how much we would need renewal from Christ at the end of 2019… This re-edited devotional is a vital reminder that spiritual renewal is powered by Christ and our surrender to him, not our own willpower and work.

Reflection: Ache for Renewal
By John Tillman

We have a constant, longing ache for renewal right down in our souls where we sense Eden’s loss. In Epiphany, we can find the blossoming, the revealing, the renewal that we long for.

This ache is magnified during the days surrounding New Year celebrations. Despite the depth of the ache in our souls, the renewals that we focus on are typically shallow and self-improvement-driven.

We want to change our diets.
We want to change our jobs. (or maybe just our boss…)
We want to lose weight. 
We want to gain knowledge or skills.
We want to stop a bad habit. 
We want to start a good habit.

It is good for us to work better, live better, grow in knowledge, grow in health, take a new career direction, or upgrade the food we eat. Even these surface-level changes typically improve not just ourselves, but the world around us.

We may smile more. We may feel better. We may be better able to live as loving revelations of Christ. But there is also a danger of merely enacting a secular (and selfish) ritual of self-improvement. 

In Christ’s description of exorcism, the ousted demon finds the person he just left clean and empty with plenty of room for even worse spiritual corruption. If we do not deal with the demons at the root of our discontent, then we will only sweep out of our homes last years’ messes, to make room for new and worse in the coming year. The last state of our souls is worse than the first. (Matthew 12.43-45; Luke 11.24-26)

Christ declared to John, “I am making all things new,” then later, “It is done.” It is Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12.2). Christ declared his suffering finished on the cross (John 19.30), and he will eventually declare his renewal of the Earth finished. 

The end of the Earth will be, rather than complete destruction, complete reconstruction. The world and everything in it, including us, will be renewed.

So rather than attempt to sweep our own house clean and empty, may we invite Jesus into our mess (Revelation 3.20), and let him do renewing, revealing work within and through us. He has work of renewal for us to join him in now. And he who begins a good work in us will see it through to completion (Philippians 1.6). When he is finished, we will have revealed Him to the world.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Bow down your ear, O Lord, and answer me…
Keep watch over my life, for I am faithful. — Psalm 86.1-2

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

Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 35 (Listen – 5:25) 
Revelation 21 (Listen – 4:34)

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Read more about We Need Renewal :: Worldwide Prayer
Visit the world again and again with awakenings by your Spirit that will sweep humanity into your Kingdom and bring greater justice and mercy into our homes, communities, and nations.

We Need Renewal :: Worldwide Prayer

Ache for Renewal :: Epiphany

  • December 30, 2019
  • /
  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Revelation 21.5, 6
“I am making everything new!…It is done.”

Reflection: Ache for Renewal :: Epiphany
By John Tillman

We have a constant, longing ache for renewal right down in our souls where we sense Eden’s loss. In Epiphany we can find the blossoming, the revealing, the renewal that we long for.

This ache is magnified during the days surrounding New Year celebrations. Despite the depth of the ache in our souls, the renewals that we focus on are typically shallow and self-improvement-driven.

We want to change our diets.
We want to change our jobs. (or maybe just our boss…)
We want to lose weight. 
We want to gain knowledge or skills.
We want to stop a bad habit. 
We want to start a good habit.

It is good for us to work better, live better, grow in knowledge, grow in health, take a new career direction, or upgrade the food we eat. Even these surface-level changes typically improve not just ourselves, but the world around us.

We may smile more. We may feel better. We may be better able to live as loving revelations of Christ. But there is also a danger of merely enacting a secular (and selfish) ritual of self-improvement. 

In Christ’s description of exorcism, the ousted demon finds the person he just left clean and empty with plenty of room for even worse spiritual corruption. If we do not deal with the demons at the root of our discontent, then we will only sweep out of our homes last years’ messes, to make room for new and worse in the coming year.  The last state of our souls is worse than the first.

Christ declared to John, “I am making all things new,” then later, “It is done.” It is Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Christ declared his suffering finished on the cross, and he will eventually declare his renewal of the Earth finished. 

The end of the Earth will be, rather than complete destruction, complete reconstruction. The world and everything in it, including us, will be renewed.

So rather than attempt to sweep our own house clean and empty, may we instead invite Jesus into our mess, and let him do the renewing, revealing work within and through us. He has work of renewal for us to join him in now. And he who begins a good work in us, will see it through to completion. When he is finished, we will have revealed Him to the world.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. — Psalm 85.9

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

Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 35 (Listen -5:25) 
Revelation 21 (Listen -4:34)

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Please visit the world again and again with awakenings by your Spirit that will sweep humanity into your Kingdom and bring greater justice and mercy into our homes, communities, and nations.

We Need Renewal :: Worldwide Prayer

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