Daily Advent Reflection: November 29
First Sunday of Advent | November 29
Psalms 146, 147 · 111, 112, 113
Isa. 1:1-9
2 Pet. 3:1-10
Matt. 25:1-13
One of the readings from today's Daily Office lectionary is Isaiah 1:1-9. At the very beginning of his oracle, Isaiah hears the God of Israel offering a lament for the people of promise, "Children I have reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me." Now, the last thing I suppose any of us would want to read after the last nine months of "CoronaTide" is anything even hinting at a word of judgment. We're looking for a word of comfort, a word of encouragement, or a word of hopefulness, aren't we?
To be sure, we'll get to hopefulness in due (liturgical) time, but the church always begins the season of Advent by pausing to look honestly into the depths of the human condition. And reading Isaiah, we discover that, for all of our alleged progress, our spiritual condition hasn't changed very much. The prophet hears God plaintively ask, "Why do you continue to rebel?" And then the prophet hears God's own answer, "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint." In the midst of the stresses and strains of navigating our way through these past months of the unrelenting news of pandemic, protests, and politics, maybe we've found our thoughts infected with distress, misery, or hatred. Maybe our usual reservoirs of empathy, compassion, and understanding have evaporated. I've certainly had days when I wished my heart could have a good, long rest and my head would think some healthier thoughts. The opportunity before us in the days ahead is to give ourselves the gift of a few minutes of reflection. Advent gives us the opportunity to reopen our hearts to God's healing presence, and reopen our minds to the Good News that the God-Who-Came-Among-Us at Christmas will remain with us until past the end of time.
Even though Advent 2020 will be much different than Advents we've observed in the past, the season has nevertheless arrived right on time for souls in need of the sustenance of God's grace. Today, the Church prays that God will, "give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." May this Advent season be an opportunity for us to honestly confront the rebellion that keeps us in the darkness of sin. May our hearts be open to the work of grace within us -- for the love of God, for Christ's sake (and for our own).
The Rev. Gary Manning
Trinity Episcopal Church, Wauwatosa