Wait and Believe

Notes from the Pastor...

One of the Lectionary passages for last Sunday contains these hope-filled words:
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…
Isaiah 61:1-2a

Early in the narrative of Luke, Jesus purposely opens the scroll of Isaiah and reads these words when he visits the Nazareth synagogue.  He concludes by rolling up the scroll, giving it back to the attendant, sitting down, and saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!”

Advent is the “time just before the adventure begins, when everybody is leaning forward to hear what will happen even though they already know what will happen and what will not happen, when they listen hard for meaning, their meaning, and begin to hear, only faintly at first, the beating of unseen wings.".  -Frederick Buechner

We journey through a harsh, sharp-edged landscape where life seems inhospitable.  Yet even in the desert the winds whispers of the hope, peace, love, and  joy  that accompany the advent of Christ.  It is as if snow covers the mesa, and the sharp-edges turn to a dual finish; the harsh journey becomes a new adventure.  We know what is coming: goodness, comfort, liberty, release, and the Lord’s favor living,  walking,  and breathing in our midst.  Oh that we would only wait!  Wait and believe!

Oswald Chambers says, "Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief."  May it be so!  May it be so this Advent!

Grace,
Pastor Ryan