Daily Advent Devotional

Week Four

December 19, 2021

A Song of Love and Justice

Luke 1:46-55

“My Soul Magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor upon his servant.... He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” Luke 1:46-48, 52-53.

The Magnificat has become one of the most potent pieces of justice literature in the entirety of scripture for me. Growing up half-Roman Catholic and half-Pentecostal in rural Oklahoma, I remember hearing about Mary in very different tones depending on which side of the family we enjoyed after-church meals with. 

Today, I honor and revere her.

Not just because of the clear connection she has to the expectation we all experience in Advent. Not as a woman created in the image of a rather absurd, westernized “meek and mild” archetype. Not even as the Theotokos, or, the Mother of God. But as an exemplar of the Holy’s commitment to love and justice. 

Mary exclaims with Divine conviction that God’s eternal promise to lift the lowly, fill the hungry with good things, fulfill promises, and love with abiding presence will never falter. But it doesn’t stop there, for this only represents half of Mary’s exclamation. The powerful, the rich, the proud, and the greedy find justice in a different way within her prayer. “Meek and mild?” I think not. 

The Magnificat shakes me from my privileged torpor to remind me that I am not always to whom the prayer is meant to comfort. Mary’s song is one of both comfort and retribution. Love and justice. Renewal and doom. As I greet the Living God in Christ this Christmas, will I find comfort in Mary’s song? Will you?

May we all be shocked by Mary’s Song. May the Magnificat help us realize justice, and indeed love, this Advent.

Kyle Miller-Shawnee

Interim Director of Admissions and Student Services

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Week Three

December 18, 2021

A Roller-Coaster Season

Isaiah 66:7-11; Luke 13:31-35

The sound of an uproar from the city!...The sound of the Lord repaying his enemies what they have earned. Isaiah 66:6 (Common English Bible)

The Advent season is not for persons who want only “ups” in life. Take Lucy Van Pelt of Peanuts fame. She complained to Charlie Brown, “Why can’t my life be all ‘ups?’ If I want all ‘ups,’ why can’t I have them?...I don’t want any ‘downs!’ I just want ‘ups’ and ‘ups’ and ‘ups!’

In contrast to Lucy, we have Isaiah and Luke, two masters of sending our imaginations on fabulous ups and terrible downs. They juxtapose images worthy of a Salvador Dali painting. 

Isaiah’s author tells of Jerusalem’s post-exilic rebirth being like a woman delivering before labor begins. The returnees are newborns drinking from Jerusalem’s milk-swollen breasts. But before and after those joyous and tender images are condemnations of God’s enemies. “The sound of an uproar from the city!...The sound of the LORD repaying his enemies what they have earned.” Downs with the ups.

In Luke, friendly sometimes-sparring partners warn Jesus that Herod wants him dead. Rather than saying, “Thank you,” and taking cover, Jesus tells them he is headed for Jerusalem, the place of danger for those who speak truth laced with justice and compassion. Jerusalem here is not the loving new mother but prophet-slayer. This time, it is Jesus who would play the loving mother. He longs to gather the city’s people as a hen gathers her chicks, but no one comes.

Advent is not a time of pure joy or terror. It is a mixture of warning (the downs), the demand for change (always a gut-jerking ride), and wild promises of a more joyous future (ups!). I would sure prefer Lucy’s world, but that is not where we live, especially during Advent.

Dr. Gary Peluso-Verdend

President Emeritus and 

Executive Director of the Center for Religion in Public Life

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Week Three

December 17, 2021

Remembering and Persevering! 

Hebrews 10:32-39

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. Hebrews 10:35 (NIV)

We have heard of stories of people who have waited for loved ones to return from a journey or an assignment and what a joy it is when they finally receive them back. We have also heard of some people who have unfortunately given up “a few minutes” before realizing their dreams.

I once heard a story about a miner who gave up and sold off what he considered a useless mine but unknown to him, he was just a few meters away from the gold that he had been looking for most of his life. 

In Hebrews 10:32-39, the author talks about remembering our love or commitment to faith in Jesus. “So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded,” (v. 35). “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what God has promised” (v. 37).

As we await the coming of the Lord, we are being called upon:

To Wait patiently on God’s promise

To Remember our love and commitment to the message of Jesus.

To Persevere in order to receive what the Lord has promised. 

Do you know what the Lord has promised you? Knowing what the Lord has promised us is one of the things that will help us to persevere and not give up, especially when the journey gets hard. As we wait on the Lord’s coming, let us do so joyfully and with perseverance, knowing that the Lord is coming soon and will not delay! Are you expectant? 

Judith Nakibuuka 

Financial Accountant

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Week Three

December 16, 2021

Embodying the Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34

“I will put My Teaching into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. Then I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Jeremiah 31:33b

The text contains some of the most familiar words of this prophetic book. Jeremiah is speaking to the exiles in Babylon and envisioning the future that God intends for them. Through the prophet, God promises them a future, when God will “build and plant” the people in Judah and establish a “new” covenant. 

It is this last promise that needs some closer consideration. What about the covenant will be “new?” God does not say that there will be new commandments or teachings; the content will not change. Rather, it is how people will know the covenant that will be new. Whereas in their past, the Israelites had a tradition of a “written,” or text-based, covenant with God (though that was probably a later development), now God says that the covenant will be “written” on their hearts. There will be no need for monuments containing the commandments or for teaching others about God’s desires. All will know the covenant intuitively.

How could this be possible? Certainly, children and new community members will need instruction in what the covenant requires, wouldn’t they? There is no reason to take this text literally, implying that no one will ever need a reminder about how God wants us to live.

If a community structures its life together with a clear sense of accountability and acts in ways that consider the current need and possible future results, it will embody the covenant requirements. They will love God with all their being and love their neighbors as themselves; their living will “teach” the next generation. Their faith will lead them into a new future.

Dr. Lisa W. Davison

Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible and

Director of Formation for DOC Students

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Week Three

December 15, 2021

Sacred Autonomy

Micah 4:8-13

But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan… Micah 4:12a

A common trope in novels, television, and movies is the damsel in distress. A woman, usually young and beautiful, is captured by an evil villain who threatens her life and virtue, thus enticing the hero, usually a young and equally beautiful man, into the villain’s lair to rescue the fair lady at risk. A great fight ensues, the leading man carries away the leading lady, who, of course, falls hopelessly in love with her rescuer, and they ride happily off into the sunset.

In this text, the city of Jerusalem is depicted as a damsel in distress being held captive in Babylon, waiting to be rescued, not by a human hero, but by the LORD. Her captors are drooling over her, thinking that she is there for the taking.

But Lady Jerusalem does not sit around waiting to be rescued. In fact, rescue is not even in the LORD’s plan for her. Instead, God’s plan is for her to take matters into her own hands and provide her own rescue herself.

She has a “king” and a “counselor” within her (v. 9)—her own strong spirit, breathed into her by the God who created her. God’s plan for her, and for all people of all genders, is that we all have sovereignty over our own selves, a king and a counselor within each of us.

We all were created and called very good by a loving God whose desire for all of us is to flourish in lives of sacred autonomy, living out every dream that the Divine has for us and that we have for ourselves.

Rev. Renee Goodwin

Theological Reflection Group Facilitator and 

Pastor of First Christian Church of Girard, KS

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Week Three      

December 14, 2021

Where Faith Leads

Numbers 16:20-35

…when the ground under them burst asunder, the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up with their households, all Korah’s people, and all their possessions. They all went down alive into Sheol, with all that belonged to them… Numbers 16:32-33 (Jewish Study Bible)

What a satisfying ending to anyone’s enemies, no? So ends the tale of Korah, great challenger to Moses’s leadership. The interesting bit about the tale is that at first blush it looks like Korah’s beef with Moses is really about democracy versus divine appointment. 

Korah presents Moses with a pretty good complaint, stating that all of the Israelites are holy. He demands, “Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” Think of Pete’s confrontation with Everett in O Brother, Where Art Thou?: “Who elected you leader of this outfit?” Unlike Everett, Moses doesn’t have a snappy comeback. Instead, Moses prostrates himself and begins to consult with G-d. 

He perhaps senses a demagogue in Korah. Korah is a Levite and already has special privileges, so why is he looking to end Moses’ leadership? As a prophetic figure Moses knows there is more to leading G-d’s people to G-d, that land of milk and honey, than simply declaring everyone finished in achieving holiness. 

Martin Buber suggests that Moses knows, through G-d, that the road to learning how to become a holy people is a long one and must be hewn across generations of choices “between the way of G-d and the wrong paths of their own hearts.” Where does faith lead you this season?

Sandy Shapoval

Dean of the Library and Research Services

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Week Three

December 13, 2021

Korah’s Rebellion

Numbers 16:1-19

And the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole congregation. Numbers 16:19b 

Whichever word you use for it — incarnation, real presence, embodiment — a central theme for Advent and Christmas is how the human Jesus reflects the work of God in a flesh-and-blood world. The next question, then, is how and where this holy work manifests in a real way today.

Though the biblical story of Korah’s rebellion requires more exegetical unpacking than we can do here, it does offer an interesting perspective on how a fiery God shows up in the midst of challenge to reveal what is holy. “And the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole congregation” (Num 16:19b).

In Korah’s case, the result was to reinforce the status quo, Moses and Aaron as God’s chosen leaders. Ponder with me the possibility of a different result.

What if we ignite a fire within by challenging our existing assumptions about our own holy work? What if we begin seriously to question the traditions and structures in which we and those around us operate? What if we interrogate ourselves, our own motives, our own conscious or unconscious participation in systems we thought were neutral when it comes to justice and liberation?

Imagine this Advent as a season of rebellion against complacency, a time of self-examination and proactive exploration in which we pay attention to how a fiery God shows up in the challenge and reveals to us anew both the internal and external holy work to which we are called. This, too, is incarnation.

Rev. Susanna Weslie Southard

Dean of the Chapel and Affiliate Instructor for Ministry Studies

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Week Three

December 12, 2021

Extended Warranty

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4

If you are a mainline, Protestant person of a certain age, you likely have a tune going through your head about now. “Rejoice… rejoice… and again I say, rejoice.” You may also be hearing that music as a round that will take a while to exit your brain. You may also be thinking of the lack of things to rejoice about over the past year.

The “rejoicing” expressed in this text is not a happy kind of feeling. Instead, it’s a call to a sense of total well-being in the promises of a Divine One whose desire is for our protection and peace. This is a total protection plan, the most extended warranty of warranties, far beyond anything a telemarketer could offer, regardless of how many times they call.

Folks in Philippi get a reminder in this letter that while they may not live in the most welcoming neighborhood in the Roman empire, they are to trust their faith to lead them to a life of shalom, a peace that “exceeds human imagination” (Charles B. Cousar). They are reminded that their hearts and minds are also guarded by the Divine One, even as they navigate persecution from without and disagreements within their community.

The folks of Philippi know that as faithful followers of Jesus, the one we await this season, they are expected to also share this encompassing love, this peace that “exceeds human imagination” outside of their community, even to those who persecute them, rejoicing in the Lord always and in all ways.

Kurt Gwartney

Senior Director of Communications

Instructor, Center for Ministry and Lay Training

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Week Two

December 11, 2021

Second Kind of Faith

Luke 1:57-66

But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” Luke 1:60

Faith is tricky. For some, faith comes easily, a childlike trust that God is always there, a belief that God hears every prayer, a certainty that God has a plan about everything. For others, faith is more difficult, like trying to grasp a handful of fog or see the wind. It’s there, but not easily describable or concrete. 

Looking into the future is an act of the second kind of faith. We can’t know what’s there with certainty; we can only peer into it with near-sighted vision. Yet our faith can give us an underlying hope in the future, as in the passage from Isaiah.

For a people in exile, dreaming of a return home, it would have been easy to succumb to hopelessness. But with their faith, the words of Isaiah about the future, about repairing, restoration, and rebuilding were like trying to grasp that fog. It was there and not there at the same time.

Like the amazement surrounding the naming of John the Baptist, there is wonder about both the present and the future. As John’s name was clearly decided, people still wondered about his future—and their own—as they wondered what he would become. His future was not yet written but had promise and potential. 

And so it is with us. As we wait through Advent and through life, may we embrace the fog and the wind, and the steadfast God there through it all. 

Kelly Youngblood

Student Senate Member and Master of Divinity Student

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Week Two

December 10, 2021

Cheerful Giving and Receiving

Amos 8:4-12 and 2 Corinthians 9:1-15 

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Has shopping for Christmas presents ever felt more like a grudging obligation than a joy? I have to confess that most years at least some of my gift-giving feels compulsory rather than cheerful.

I admire my few, brave, counter-cultural friends who refuse to participate in gift exchanges at Christmas. I wish I would follow their example of rejecting the idolatry of consumerism and commercialism that conscripts so many of us into buying and material junk as a token of love. Yet, I can hardly imagine opting out of the custom. 

This lesson from Amos reminds me that greed is a human tendency with serious consequences. Ideally, the practice of gift giving could be a rehearsal for generous sharing — the opposite of greed. In the 2 Corinthians passage we read about one community’s outpouring of love to support another community. When love flows between those who can give to those who are in need, the Commonwealth of God is manifest in visible, tangible ways. 

I am intrigued by the line in verse 15 about God’s gift that is indescribable, inexpressible, unspeakable. Can we say anything at all about that gift? Perhaps we come closest to experiencing that gift through the wonder and hope that stems from the miraculous power that can free us from greed. The insatiable, acquisitive drive in me is a cruel master. It is a miracle when I am freed from grasping in order to appreciate and share with others instead of wanting more for myself. 

May your giving and receiving be filled with potent cheerfulness this Christmas. 

Dr. Kathleen D. McCallie

Associate Professor of Ministerial Leadership and Ethics

and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program

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