Second Wednesday of Advent

Scripture Reading for Today:

Psalm 27

Of David.

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. 7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Malachi 2:10-3:1

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

10 Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another? 11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty. 13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. 15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.

Breaking Covenant Through Injustice 17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” 3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

Luke 1:5-17

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Do not be afraid! That’s a joke, right!?

by Payge Lucas

Author

Payge Lucas is the New Leaf administrative assistant and the Director of the Roxy Centre. Payge lives in Dundas, ON with her husband Paul and their three kids. Payge has worked in a variety of ministries and is currently pursuing her Masters of Theological Studies with a focus in Spiritual Care and Counselling at McMaster Divinity College. She loves plants, spending time with family, and building aquariums in her spare time.

For someone who deals with anxiety, the fact that the Bible often says "Do not be afraid" is always hard for me. This is how Psalm 27 begins. Stating, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” I can see how this makes sense.

Every day, every hour, and every moment, the Lord has helped me get through very hard times, like losing my job and my child being very sick, among other things. But even though I know that I do not need to be afraid and that Jesus is stable, trustworthy, and reliable, I still have a hard time.

For a long time, I thought that my constant need to get things done quickly was normal or that taking it easy was not helpful. But after being diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder with panic attacks (GAD), I realized that I might need to take a step back and rethink how I was living my life. Seriously, it sounds like a joke to not be scared. There is a whole diagnosis that tells me that this is not how I normally act.

David is pleading with the Lord in Psalm 27 not to leave him but to be with him. He talks about how much he wants to be with the Lord when things are bad. On the worst days of my anxiety, this is also what I want, but when I start to feel panicked, I can not snap out of it without the Lord's help. I can not see past the crippling anxiety and panic.

I used to think that this made me weak, less important than other people, or like the worst kind of believer who just could not get it together. But now I see that it just makes me human. I am not better or worse than anyone else; this is just my struggle on earth. Recognizing that I am human and knowing that I am deeply loved and valued helped me see past my flaws and realize that I need to slow down, really accept who I am right now, and be okay with the fact that I am on a journey of sanctification. There are, of course, shades of grey here; it is not simple or black and white. And yet, it makes me think about what the church can do better.

I think there would be a change in the church in Canada if we let people come as they are instead of expecting them to be where we think they should be. But of course, in the world I am talking about, all the weaknesses will be present. There are other people who struggle with judgment, hypocrisy, and a lot of other bad habits.

We need to be honest with ourselves and remember that the church is made up of messy people who are all on the same life journey. I believe the most important thing I have learned about my GAD is that I can not heal if I do not bring myself to church and other Christian events, gatherings, or retreats. I can not be the real person I am called to be. Being shown only the good parts of our lives makes it impossible for those who are really struggling to be heard.

We need to be able to sit in moments where we may be uncomfortable. It is important to be able to learn from people who do not agree with us. We all need to learn how to hold space for us and give each other time to listen, learn, and grow together. Being a follower of Jesus means that it is not my job to fix people. Instead, it is my job to be with them as they go through this thing we call life.

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