ADVENT WEEK TWO: PEACE

December 8 Rev. Mike Miller

When Mountains Crumble in Advent

Isaiah 54:1-17

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast

love shall not depart from you and my covenant of peace shall not be re-

moved, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

Advent is a time when we are to prepare our hearts to celebrate the coming

of the Christ child. But sometimes in the middle of the busyness of our prepa-

rations for Christmas services and celebrations, the uncertainty we see in

the world, and even sorrow that can surface during this season, Isaiah 54:10

offers a grounding truth: God’s love is unshakable and no matter how busy or

uncertain or sorrowful we are, God’s love will always surround us.

Mountains and hills are some of the most stable features in nature and can

represent the unshakable parts in our lives. Yet even if they were to crumble,

God assures us that this divine love will not. Unfortunately we know that the

seemingly unshakable parts of life can be easily disrupted. Relationships may

fail, health may falter, finances can collapse, but in all of these moments, God

speaks a profound truth: God’s love for each of us remains unshaken.

Isaiah 54:10 is a powerful promise for those who feel as though their world is

falling apart, especially during the holiday season. When we feel like our life is

in a season of chaos or grief, this verse becomes an anchor. It shifts our focus

from what is shaking around us to the one who remains steady. It reminds us

that even in the storm, we are not abandoned. God’s compassion is near, per-

sonal, and unrelenting.

So whether we find ourselves on a mountaintop of joy or in a valley of difficul-

ty this Advent, hear God’s words: “My love for you will not be shaken.” Let this

promise steady you. Let it soften your hurried soul and remind you that God’s

love and peace is always near. Let it draw you into the quiet awe of the sea-

son.

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ADVENT WEEK TWO: PEACE

December 7 Rev. Mike Miller

Peace in the Valley

Ezekiel 37:1-14

I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your

own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says

the Lord. Ezekiel 37:14

Advent is a season of waiting. It is a time to prepare ourselves for peace and

new life coming into a very weary world. Ezekiel 37:1–14 gives us a vivid image

that speaks powerfully to this theme of new life.

Addressing the despondent and displaced exiles in Babylon, Ezekiel speaks

of a valley of bones that are not only dead, but long past the point of life. This

imagery reflects how many people can feel during the holiday season. Cut off,

forgotten, spiritually lifeless. But Advent reminds us that God does not aban-

don God’s people in valleys alone. Instead, God sits with them in the valleys

and promises restoration and new life.

In this scripture text, God commands Ezekiel to prophesy, and as he does, the

bones come together, flesh forms, and breath enters. What once was dead

stands alive again. This breath-Spirit of God is the same Spirit that hovered

over the waters at creation, the same Spirit that filled Mary’s womb, and the

same Spirit that brought and continues to bring new life into our midst.

During Advent, we sit in the tension between the brokenness of the world and

the promises of peace, hope, joy, and love. Ezekiel 37 reminds us that God

brings life where there is death, hope where there is despair, joy where there

is sadness, and love where there is hatred.

Our Advent journey reminds us that just as Jesus once came to a weary

world, Jesus comes again and again into our lives to make everything new.

As we wait, we do not wait in fear. We wait in hope—trusting that the God who

breathes life into dry bones is still at work, even in our valleys.

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ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 6 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Daniel 3:19-30

Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and

Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in

him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather

than serve and worship any god except their own God.” Daniel 3:28

Have you ever felt like you were in a dire situation? I am not sure it gets more

dire than being thrown in a furnace so hot that even those doing the throwing

die from the heat. I know when I have been in dire situations the tendency is

to feel sorry for myself or to try and figure out how I ended up in this situation.

Rarely do I trust that all will be well given the situation I find myself in at the

time. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trust that no matter what happens,

all will be well for them.

The three of them are not letting the situation define who they are or their

outlook on life. They trust that they have been faithful to God and are not wor-

ried about the outcome of being in the furnace. In this instance God sends a

protector to be with them so that the flames do them no harm.

I am not suggesting that when we personally face a dire situation that God will

provide a solution in the way he did for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I

am suggesting that we should learn from them that hope is connected to our

ability to trust that the future will work out. If we do not have trust in God, it is

hard to have hope that something transformative can happen. Trust is needed.

Many of us face dire situations at some point in life. The question is, “Will we

be able to trust that God will be with us during our trial? Can we maintain

hope for transformation even when the furnace is hot?” When we have this

kind of hope it means that we are not stuck defining our lives by the world’s

standards. Our hope is built on things not seen.

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ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 5 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Luke 1: 26-28

And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

Luke 1:28

Many of you have probably heard or read this text several times. The angel

appears to Mary and greets her as “highly favored.” This is a strange greet-

ing given by the standards of her day since she would not fall into a category

of one typically considered favored. If you keep reading, even Mary wonders

what kind of greeting Gabriel brings.

I think that Gabriel’s choice of words is not an accident. The greeting indi-

cates being highly favored by God is not about status or economic means. It

is a greeting that lets us know God sees everyone. God saw Mary who, by the

world’s standards, did not fit how most would define someone highly favored.

If God sees Mary, then God sees us. Our hopes for the future are not wishful

thinking because God sees us. We must be cautious not to think that because

God sees us, our lives will be only wonderful. Just ask Mary!

The news that Gabriel shares later in the chapter about giving birth to Jesus

probably did not feel like she was highly favored. It likely felt like the very op-

posite, but she realizes she who is the most unexpected of all has a place in

God’s plan for the people.

I believe it is no accident that God chooses Mary. For me, it is indication that

hope is not just for those who have status and means, but for everyone.

Those who are trying to oppress others will often try to takeaway or diminish

hope. This text reminds us that we should remain hopeful because God does

see us. God highly favors those whom the world marginalizes or tries to make

invisible.

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ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 4 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Isaiah 40:9-11

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your

voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, do not

fear… Isaiah 40:9

I believe it is human nature to want to hear good news. If every day the only

thing we heard was bad news or how awful things are it would grate on us

quickly. We need to hear and experience good news so that we can have

hope for the future.

This text in Isaiah begins with the sharing of good news for Zion and Jerusa-

lem in exile under Babylonian rule. The news is so good that those who bring

it are implored to “shout it” and make sure everyone hears something wonder-

ful is happening and is going to happen.

Here is what I love about this text, it reads, “you who bring good news.” It

does not yet say what the good news is. Twice it emphasizes “you who bring

good news.” This means we are called to participate in creating hope for the

future. We must share the good news that is happening so that others can

hear it and have hope. In fact, we should be shouting the good news to make

sure everyone hears it.

Of course, if we literally shout it, people will ignore us, but the point remains

not to keep the good news quiet. I believe we are often reticent to share good

news because it can feel like bragging. The key is that the good news is not

about us, but about the way God cares for all of us. All of us!

We do indeed need to hear good news. We also need to be the purveyors of

good news. We need to give hope to others that God truly does take care of

us all. This is a message that is not shared enough in our world. This text re-

minds us that we are the ones who are called to share it.

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ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 3 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Luke 21:29-31

Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can

see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. Luke 21:29-30

Most of us have watched some version of a crime or court drama to know

that so much hinges on evidence. What is the evidence you have that my cli-

ent was at the scene of the crime? We are focused on the evidence because

it provides something tangible for us to hang our hats on when we have ques-

tions.

Another way to put it, we believe evidence can give us a degree of certainty

that without it does not exist. In this text, Jesus uses the fig tree as an exam-

ple of something tangible we can hang our hats on as evidence.

The evidence of summer coming is that the fig tree is sprouting leaves. When

the leaves start sprouting it is a sign that summer is around the corner. We

may not say it out loud, but we are often looking for evidence for the things

in which we hope. We want a tangible sign like the sprouting leaves to let us

know that it is around the corner.

Here is the thing, around the corner does not mean immediate. Jesus is

talking about the sprouting fig leaves being evidence for the reign of God be-

ing near. While it is true that the reign of God is present now, it has not been

fully realized. The evidence indicates God’s reign is among us yet it may not

be fully realized for a while.

Evidence is helpful in giving us something tangible to hold on to as we wait.

We should not mistake evidence as a sign of something happening immedi-

ately. We should take it as a sign that even as a fig tree sprouts leaves, it will

take a while for full leafing.

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ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 2 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Jeremiah 33:14-16

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I

made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Jeremiah 33:14

We all at one time or another have experienced someone promising us some-

thing and we cling to the hope that one day the promise will be fulfilled. In this

Jeremiah text, it begins with God saying, “the days are coming when I will ful-

fill my promise.”

For those who have been clinging to the hope of the promise being fulfilled

this is a welcome relief. God is going to deliver the people from exile in Baby-

lon, restore the Davidic king, and re-establish Jerusalem.

As you continue reading the text notice the details provided for how the

promise will be fulfilled. God will bring forth a sprout from David’s line that will

be good news to both Israel and Judah.

Sometimes when we are clinging to hope that a promise will be fulfilled, we

need the type of details provided in this text. Simply repeating the promise no

longer bolsters our hope. We need something more concrete to keep us mov-

ing forward so that our hope will come to fruition.

During this time of Advent consider what promises you have been making to

others. If you intend to keep these promises (hopefully you do), then what are

the details you can share so that those seeking fulfillment of the promise do

not lose hope? Keeping promises goes a long way to helping all of us to main-

tain hopeful expectations.

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ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 1 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Isaiah 2:1-5

He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-

hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn

war any more. Isaiah 2:4

Can you imagine a world where there are no wars? It does seem unimag-

inable, especially since there is always a conflict happening someplace in the

world.

In this text we read about the hope of one day the very weapons we use to do

harm to one another become instruments of provision for one another. Our

swords will till the ground, and our spears will help us to catch fish.

At first glance this seems unrealistic given what we have experienced

throughout our lives. What catches my attention is in verse three when it talks

about God teaching us God’s ways. This new reality is not something that we

can achieve ourselves but requires learning.

It involves learning, for example, a new way of being with one another that

does not move toward violence. The good news is we already have a model

for what this looks like from Jesus. The truth is it is even challenging for us as

Christians to follow Jesus’ model.

Advent is a time when we should anticipate a new reality. This reality moves

us closer toward God’s intent for instruments of destruction to become instru-

ments of provision. Our hope for this new reality as Christians should move us

to action now. We should model Jesus’ behavior as individuals and communi-

ties of faith. One day we truly will say, “we no longer are training for war.”

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ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

November 30 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

John 18:36-37

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a King. For this I was born and for this I

came into the world to testify to the truth.” John 18:37b

Jesus shares with Pilate that he was “born and came into the world… to testi-

fy to the truth.” As Christians our hope during advent is in anticipating Jesus’

reign that looks nothing like what this world has seen. Jesus’ word choice

about testifying to the truth should give us all pause.

Do we see our own missions like Jesus’ of testifying to the truth? Not the con-

venient answers being promoted by various interests around us, but the truth.

Testifying to the truth seems more challenging today because what I may see

as the obvious truth to someone else is perceived as a political agenda. This

text reminds us that hope is not a made-up belief, but is in fact predicated on

the hard work of testifying to the truth.

This requires consistently seeking the truth even when we may not like what

we learn. It means testifying to the truth which will put us at odds with others

who prefer the truth to stay hidden.

This advent season, as we anticipate the arrival of Jesus, our hope should

be predicated on testifying to the truth as Jesus did when facing Pilate. In a

world where we easily dismiss the truth or want to manipulate the truth, testi-

fying to the truth of our hope in Jesus’ reign being different from anything this

world has ever seen or experienced is a part of our calling as Christians.

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Malisa Pierce, Assistant Vice President of Advancement, at Phillips Theological Seminary welcomes listeners to the 2025 Advent Devotional.

We have hope in the unchanging, sacrificial love of God, love of each other,our congregations, and the love that fosters equality and justice in the world through the birth and life of Jesus. We hope that as you encounter these devotions you are inspired to deepen your faith and renew your hope.

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