First Sunday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
14 “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 15 “‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
Psalm 25:1-10
Of David.1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. 2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. 4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. 8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Luke 21:25-36
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Communities of Tension and Love
by Amy Bratton
Amy Bratton is the Director of Operations & Publishing for the New Leaf Network and the project manager for the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project. She lives in Saskatoon, SK with her husband, Tim, and their two sons, Oswald and Ira. She is a lay leader at Riversdale Neighbours church and an Adjunct Professor with Rocky Mountain College in the area of Spiritual Formation. She writes and speaks about the history of Christian spirituality, with a focus on the early Methodist understanding of Christian maturity known as “perfect love.” Read more from her in her book Witnesses of Perfect Love: Narratives of Christian Perfection in Early Methodism.
Thank you for joining us for the 2021 New Leaf Advent Reader. I am excited to share this collection of reflections from writers across Canada during the Advent Season. The authors are pastors and poets; historians and theologians; laypeople and church leaders. And they all come together to wrestle with the tensions of the Advent season.
Christmas can be a strange time in Canadian culture. We have inherited cultural assumptions from a bygone era of Christendom that prioritize Christian holidays, yet in this era of post-Christendom, any commitment to the religious significance of these holidays seems optional.
In some parts of the world, Christian cultural dominance would be resisted or protected. In Canada, we experience a more subtle and less confrontational approach. As a Christian, I feel like I am welcome to express my Christmas practices; if someone found them too religious they wouldn’t attack me but would instead just disengage.
There is tension between the cultural Christmas of Santa Claus on one hand and the Christian Feast of the Nativity on the other. This tension doesn’t need to be a bad thing; it can be a chance to truly see my neighbourhood and networks of connection as we all engage the Christmas season, even while we encounter it in different ways.
The practice of Advent, with its weeks of preparation leading up to December 25, is also full of tension – this time between waiting and celebrating. Each year the church calendar starts fresh at the beginning of Advent, telling again the story of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection. Each time we start again, we know more of the story. During Advent, we wait in expectation to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity, but it is also a time pregnant with deeper meaning as we anticipate Jesus’ promise to come again, to be God-with-us.
This year we have entitled the collection Finding Advent Shalom: Waiting in Communities of Tension. While I see tension within myself, I also see tensions between others, as we face polarizing issues throughout our lives. Yet, even as tensions are created by being in community with other people, community is also where understanding can begin, where we can be seen, and where we can find Shalom.
How do you experience tension in your own life?
Do you immediately seek to resolve them?
Do you wait, paralyzed, for a clear path that points to one side or the other?
Do you embrace the tension and seek a way forward that makes space for both sides?
Do you reach out to people who are holding the other end of that tension, welcoming their perspective in your life?
Tension is an important part of life, both in the creation around us (I’m thinking of how the perfect raindrop is formed through water’s surface tension) and in our relationships. Holding relational tensions can be hard, but it is vital work within our communities: holding the tension of resonance and connection with uniqueness and individuality; holding the tension between mourning and celebration; holding the tension between the particulars of individuals and the unity of a group that chooses to do life together.
In reading the passage from 1 Thessalonians 3 in our lectionary text today, I see this community tension at work. This short passage is part of Paul’s acknowledgement of Timothy’s report from Thessalonica, a report that brings good news of maturing faith in the community where Paul spent time previously. We hear the deep joy that Paul receives from the encouragement of his friends, even as he is suffering persecution. And he returns the blessing of joy, that calls for an increase of love and maturity.
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
Knowing the human condition, and our inevitable human struggles, I don’t imagine that the church at Thessaloncia is a perfect enclave of tension-free relationships. Instead of a platitude from Paul suitable for a mug or fridge magnet, I see in his blessing a provocation to healthy tension within community that increasing love and growing holiness will encourage. Living with others brings tension, but overflowing love can help us find Shalom.
Throughout Advent, reflections will appear daily in your inbox and on our website. Together we will seek to find Advent shalom while waiting in communities of tension.
Amy Bratton
Lead Editor of the Advent Reader
Thank you for reading the New Leaf Advent Reader, a collection of reflections from writers across Canada. If you are enjoying the reader, sign up to receive the readings in your inbox each day here: SIGN UP
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