First Thursday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.You, Lord, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants— but let them not turn to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. 13 Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.
Hosea 6:1-6
Israel Unrepentant“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” 4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. 5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth— then my judgments go forth like the sun. 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
The Beauty of a Kiss
by Aaron Gerrard
Aaron Gerrard, his wife, and three kids call Ancaster, Ontario, home (Treaty 3 1792, Dish with One Spoon). Aaron is the pastor of Ancaster Village Church, a church which he, his family, and a few other crazy dreamers planted in 2012. He shares the story of that church planting journey in his new book from New Leaf Press, Quit Pastoring Your Church. The story of a small church making Jesus their pastor.
At the Ancaster Fair this past Fall I walked past one of those crazy mirrors that distorts everything. Among several ways it changed reality was to make me look thirty pounds lighter. I liked that. But it also made me five feet taller and distorted my body to look like a wavy spaghetti noodle incapable of existence. There’s always a little temptation in the distortion, but I’d rather keep my original reality.
The mirror got me thinking. It’s a helpful way to understand how sin, shame, and brokenness have affected the way in which we understand God’s good creation. Genesis 3: where there was once shalom, there is now disunity, distortion, and brokenness. Where human intimacy with each other and the Father once created a picture of compassion, love, and togetherness, there is now the marginalization of people and all sorts of injustices. Instead of freedom there is guilt and shame. Instead of compassion there is selfishness. Things are out of sorts. Distorted. We live in a circus mirror now. We still see God’s beauty and his character all around us, but it’s not the same. And sadly, that which is a distortion of the way it was originally meant to be has too often become our accepted normal.
We accept conflict between nations, people, families, and churches, because “it’s normal.” And it is, but it’s not.
We accept the existence of the marginalized because “it’s normal,” but it’s not.
We accept suffering because “it’s normal,” but it’s not.
And the list goes on.
We must always remember this wasn’t Creation’s original design. None of the distortion we see around us is normal. None of it.
Throughout Scripture, the word “righteousness” pops up with regularity. It’s commonplace. Unfortunately, the word “righteousness” is often understood as a state of being. This isn’t entirely wrong, but it’s certainly incomplete. (We can blame our Western-lawyer-Reformation faith forefathers for this. Too much legalese, not enough art in their diet.)
When the Scriptures speak of God’s righteousness it’s more like an invasion of his goodness, or an active righting of wrongs. It doesn’t matter what story you look at, when the Israelites knew God was with them in battle displaying his righteousness, they knew they had the victory. They celebrated God’s righteousness because they saw it as a fierce, Holy, beautiful goodness that would invade injustice and destroy evil. God’s righteousness, as we read in Scripture, is always about action, redemption, rescue, justice, and blessing.
It’s always a verb. And it always leads to peace (shalom).
Psalm 85:8-13 poetically and artfully describes this movement of God:
Let me hear what the Lord God says,
because he speaks peace to his people and to his faithful ones.
Don’t let them return to foolish ways.
God’s salvation is very close to those who honour him
so that his glory can live in our land.
Faithful love and truth have met;
righteousness and peace have kissed.
Truth springs up from the ground;
righteousness gazes down from heaven.
Yes, the Lord gives what is good,
and our land yields its produce.
Righteousness walks before God,
making a road for his steps.
The good and restorative actions of God and the shalom and wholeness of God have met, and they have kissed. And in this beautiful romantic embrace, truth springs up, the goodness of God gazes upon us, the land is restored, and God makes a way. This is the picture into which we are invited to participate. This is the hope of our faith for our own broken lives and for the distorted creation. God is at work — his unstoppable righteousness — and we are invited to be a part of it. We get to be a part of fixing the circus mirrors, removing the distortions, and seeing things as they should be.
I have no idea where you’re at today. Maybe the distortions are all you can feel and see right now. Just now, while writing this reflection, I received a text message from one of my congregants. It’s not good news. Surgery. Worry. Anxiety. Fear. Anger. For some of us, the distortion is everything right now. For you, I pray that the kiss would be something you can sense in your life — that someone or something would join God in his righteousness and share with you a moment of restoration amidst the circus mirror.
Maybe you’re someone neck-deep in working alongside God’s righteousness and you’re tired, burned out, or lacking hope as you desperately want to see results and change. May the Lord give to you what is good and yield produce.
Or maybe you’re someone who’s being asked by God to participate in his righteous work. Maybe there’s a new project or purpose ahead? For you, may God make a road before you as he leads you into partnership with him.
In all these ways there is beauty to be seen and felt — a kiss to be experienced. Amen.
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