Daily Read

Luke 1:57-80 (NIV)

Today’s reading reminds us that Yahweh is a God who is faithful to his promises. With all the ways that our culture shapes Christmas in its own image, even as we remember the story of Jesus’ birth, it’s easy to forget what things were like for Israel beforehand. Remember that for generations prior to the announcement of the birth of Jesus, life for Israel was full of war, political unrest, and a kind of silence from Yahweh.

Today many things in our lives are instantaneous relative to the experience of humans throughout history. It could be difficult for some of us to imagine what it must have been like to live your life wondering if you belonged to the generation that would see God’s promise fulfilled. Yet, to Zachariah and Elizabeth it is announced. Yahweh’s covenant promise is about to be fulfilled. As we look for Joy this Advent, it will be found where God is doing what he said he would do.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. What Promises from the LORD do you most long to be fulfilled? Ask the LORD to help you see where they might be on their way.

3. As you reflect on this passage, consider how  the LORD might be asking you to respond. If there is something specific write it down, or hold on to it and take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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Luke 1:5-25 (NIV)

There are moments in each of our lives when we realize that something we dreamed would be possible passes beyond the time in which we could achieve it. A rather trite example for me was the moment that I realized that I was past the age of eligibility for college sports. I mean it was obvious for a long time that I was not cut out to be on any collegiate court or field, but it left me thinking about the past and what might have been if I had only done this thing or that thing differently.

In today’s passage, the story begins in a deeply painful place, with a couple for whom the opportunity to bear a child was long past. And yet, God makes this promise. Today’s passage challenges us to receive the promise of Joy even when it feels like life has taken us beyond our eligibility. Can you trust God to bring Joy even when you see evidence to the contrary?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. Did anything in this passage increase your longing for the future God has in store for our world?

3. What promises might the LORD want to remind you of today? Make space to hear from the LORD. If there is something specific God wants to say, write it down to process later alone or in community.

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Isaiah 35:1-10 (NIV)

Have you ever been really... really tired? I mean like you can barely keep your body awake kind of tired. I used to have to drive a little over 2 hours back and forth from Tampa on the weekends to work a gig I had. Sometimes I would drive back late at night. Everything would start off fine, but then, when I was about 80% of the way home, the battle began.

I would notice that my eyes would start to droop, or I couldn’t stop yawning. It was hard going, and probably a little unwise, but then I would see the Tampa skyline. And I would think… alright, the end is in sight. I’d turn up the music, roll down the windows, put some water on my face and keep my eyes on those lights. And somehow each time it worked. I’d pull up to the house, and I’m telling you there is little better than sliding between those sheets knowing that you're safe at home.

Today's passage calls us to strengthen feeble hands, not to give up, for the LORD is coming. He will give us rest and we will experience JOY.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. Did anything in this passage increase your longing for the future God has in store for our world?

3. How can you strengthen your hands or someone else's hands in anticipation of the LORDs redemption?  If there is something specific God has spoken to you, take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NIV)

Our family lights candles each Sunday evening at the dinner table during Advent. So far we’ve lit one for hope, one for peace, and now one for Joy. But this is more than glee, good tidings or happiness. It's what comes in that breaking point when all hope seems lost…. But then out of darkness comes a glorious light.  Advent calls us to remember the moment when Joy ended Israel’s long night of waiting for the Messiah—the incarnation. And it calls us to anticipate when he will come again delivering new creation.

J.R.R. Tolkien tried to describe this kind of moment, he called it a eucatastrophe. He wrote: "I coined the word 'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears (which I argued is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce). And I was there led to the view that it produces its peculiar effect because it is a sudden glimpse of Truth, your whole nature chained in material cause and effect, the chain of death, feels a sudden relief as if a major limb out of joint had suddenly snapped back. It perceives – if the story has literary 'truth' on the second plane (....) – that this is indeed how things really do work in the Great World for which our nature is made. 'eucatastrophe' produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love."

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. What areas of your life are in need of a eucatastrophe, that sudden happy turn that pierces with joy? Ask the Lord to help you see and experience Joy in these areas.

3. How might the LORD want to encourage you today? How might the Holy Spirit be prompting you to respond? Take a moment, if something comes to mind, write it down and process it alone and with someone you trust.

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Psalm 126 (NIV)

Today begins the third week of Advent. We have spent the past two weeks in longing and lament, and this week we are asked to open our eyes and look. Like the buds on the tips of the flowering trees or blades of grass pushing through the snow, there are signs all around. The long winter is slowly being replaced by spring. The sun is rising, warming the ground, its light revealing, exposing what’s there.

Again we remember that we are living in the in-between. We remember the way things were meant to be, we long for the way they will be, but we also cannot forget that Jesus has come into our world. He was born into the mess of this broken place, he grew up, lived, died and was raised from the dead. And his kingdom reign has begun. And he is a good king. So, alongside our lament and our longing, we can have joy.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. Think about your life. Take a minute to remember the times you’ve seen God act in your life. At the same time, where do you long for Jesus’ kingdom to come—in you, in your family, or in your community?

3. Take some time today to sit with the words of this passage. If there is something specific God has spoken to you, take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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Romans 8:18-25 (NIV)

We’ve spent this week lamenting, grieving the brokenness of the world and our role in its pain. Today’s passage for Romans places our lament within the deeper, wider longing of all of creation. A longing for every broken piece of the world to be put back together, for humans to be truly human, working with God to contribute to the flourishing of the world rather than it’s pain. Advent teaches us to wait.

In our interview with Bobby Gross he reminded us of Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of this passage, he puts it this way: All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Listen now to Romans 8:18-25 from the New International Version.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. Waiting is hard. Especially when we are in discomfort, in pain, or are suffering… How does the image of birth help you think about your longings this advent?

3. Take some time today to sit with the words of this passage. If there is something specific God has spoken to you, take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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Luke 3:1-18 (NIV)

If you’ve been listening along with us this week, you may have noticed the theme of a messenger, preparing the way for the Day of the Lord. Both Malachi and Isaiah foretell it. Someone who would call for repentance, call the people to remember who God is; someone tasked with getting them ready to meet him—getting their lives to match up to what they profess to believe.

Luke begins this passage with details about the various rulers of the day, and we might be tempted to gloss over them. But they’re in there for a reason, because it is against a backdrop of kings, governors, and religious authorities that the long-awaited messenger appears in the flesh, calling for repentance, readying the people, and preparing them for another, greater king… preparing them for the King of kings.

Listen now to Luke 3:1-8.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. John the Baptizer answers the people’s questions with some pretty practical responses. Be generous and fair. Have integrity, Act Justly. If John were standing with you, looking at your life, and you asked him what you should do, what do you think he might say?

3. Take some time today to sit with the words of this passage. If there is something specific God has spoken to you, take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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Malachi 4 (NIV)

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Our God is a God of second chances.” But what about third chances? Fourth? Fifth? At what point does God say, “Ok, that’s it. No more chances.” Today’s passage provides a picture of the future and a reminder of God’s character. Yes, “It’s coming,” the prophet says. The Day of the Lord: Judgment. Evil purged, trampled and destroyed. And also healing, renewal, restoration for those who love him. Some of us might feel more inclined to long for that day. Others of us might secretly dread it. And yet the door of repentance is still open. The invitation is still on the table. The LORD, still unchanging, has not forgotten his covenant. The justice of God is not like that of the world. Yes, he will punish evil, but his compassion, his long-suffering, loyal love almost seem crazy to us. Sometimes we want to say, “C’mon, Lord, it’s enough. Don’t give them any more chances.” But he says in reply, “Hang on, just a minute more. Don’t close the door yet.” And so we wait... And long... And hope... And repent...

As you listen to the passage read aloud, ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. As you reflect on the passage, is there someone who comes to your mind—maybe someone you’ve given up on—for whom the door is still open? Bring them to the Lord in prayer today.

3. Take some time today to sit with the words of this passage. If there is something specific God has spoken to you, take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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Malachi 3:1-7a (NIV)

Our reading today comes from the book of Malachi. Like the other prophets, Malachi wrote a message of warning to the people of Israel. They had made it through the exile in Babylon, but 100 years later it’s like they were back where they had started. Very few were being faithful to Yahweh. The leaders were corrupt, people were being stingy with their sacrifices and offerings, and the worship of other gods was creeping into their homes. Sound familiar?

As we continue walking through the second week of Advent together, we continue to open ourselves to lament—to grief, to repentance. We grieve the state of the church and the way God’s family in our culture has forfeited our witness to the world in exchange for power, wealth and security. We repent of our tendencies to point the finger at others and diminish our own lack of integrity. We open the door to the dark places in our lives, in our homes, and we ask God to let there be light.

As you listen to the passage, ask the Lord to illuminate the places that need to be seen clearly—in your heart and mind, in your life, in your family. . .

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. Malachi spoke a message of warning, but also of hope. God is unchanging, always ready to forgive and restore. In what area of your life do you need to respond to his call to return to him?

3. Take some time today to sit with the words of this passage. If there is something specific God has spoken to you, take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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Isaiah 40:1-11 (NIV)

Today’s passage opens with what many traditions call Second Isaiah. There’s a turning point in the prophetic book from warning to comfort. And while passages like these might tempt us to look away from the trouble that we find ourselves in, as if we can escape into a kind of wishful waiting, we must remember that these words came to a people who were a long way off from experiencing the kind of comfort that was proclaimed in this passage. Rather than it being a way for Israel to look away from their circumstances, this passage gave them a new way to look at their circumstances.

So today we invite you to bring to mind the troubles you carry this Advent. Bring them before the Lord and invite him to give you a new way to view them… in light of the one who holds us close to his heart.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you hear in the passage? Was there a word or phrase that stood out to you?

2. How do these words reframe the troubles that you carry this Advent?

3. Take some time today to sit with the words of this passage. If there is something specific God has spoken to you, take some time to process that alone or with a friend.

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