Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, Advent 2 (full size gallery)
Advent was in full force this week with a successful choir retreat, Advent 1, and the Port Royal Christmas party on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. The lights were out for Christmas in attendance making for a vivid spectacle.
The Port Royal Christmas party was less attended than in previous years. Snow was coming down as the party began and predictions for Saturday were anywhere from 1-3 inches. The outside tree which was planted many years ago showed the splendor of Christmas and the numbers that were in attendance had more time with Santa. The church helped with the Pizza. Johnny dished out the Pizza along with Elizabeth and Jim Heimbach, Andrea helped with desserts and Nancy was helping with the kitchen.
We also learned some old news -that Giving Tuesday yield $1,010 – double our goal of $500. That leads 1,000 to be fed in the next year. That’s 5 months+ support. Thanks to our supporters and those that helped record this information and publicize it.
The real news was an early snow which sprinkled the ground. By service time at 11am it was almost gone. In the meantime there were some pretty winter scenes around the church. In particular the sycamore pods had "little caps of white snow."
During Sunday School the children were working on the Christmas Play for Dec. 17. Also we finished "Dickens, A Christmas Carol and the Bible" looking the "Ghost of Christmas Future" and "The End of it."
We had a congregation of 41 – a spirited service with a number of children and upbeat hymns. Catherine began the service with a vocal perlude. The choir received accolades for the offertory as Brad describes it “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” a lovely piece which uses the text and music of “Veni Emmanuel” commingled with the hymn tune “Gift of Love." The tambourine got a workout in the Hymn of Praise, "Soon and Very Soon" and even in the processional hymn "Comfort, Comfort ye my people." The Long family provided the lighting of the advent candles. We also had a children’s sermon about gifts of the season.
During the service we wished Nancy and Talia a happy birthday. The Andersons will be shipping off for their winter residence in Texas. This was the final donation Sunday for Season of Giving. Helmut reported that the ECM had sufficient funds to support three families at Christmas. It was the last Sunday to order poinsettia. Only Endowment Fund donations are left for next Sunday.
The sermon used the Isaiah reading along with the Gospel to promote strength and forgiveness during Advent.
1. The idea of comfort in Isaiah is about gaining strength. "Comfort is more than consolation, more than relieving someone’s sadness or grief, more than feeling a lack of pain or distress. Comfort is also about strength! The word “comfort” comes from the Late Latin noun “fortis,” meaning strong. The verb related to “fortis” is “confortare,” which means “to strengthen.” So when God gives us comfort, God not only consoles us and relieves our sadness, but God also gives us strength. And God wants us to strengthen one another"
2. "In today’s gospel, the prophet John proclaims a baptism of repentance so that the people, by repenting, can open their hearts and accept the forgiveness that God is ready and waiting to give them. God, who is infinitely loving and patient with us, and generous, is ready and waiting to give us a double dose of forgiveness! And forgiven people are strong people."
3. "Our bonds with God and one another get weakened when we let one another down, but God’s forgiveness and comfort strengthen us! Every Sunday, when we repent by confessing our sins, we lay aside our weaknesses and find that we are now free to receive God’s comfort, which includes God’s strength. Forgiveness is the action that can break down those mountains and hills of resentment and anger that we allow to loom in our lives. When we can forgive, then we find ourselves in “the valley of love and delight,” in the wonderful words of that old Shaker hymn, that place of peace in our lives where truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven."
4."The prophet John, out in the wilderness, quotes Isaiah when he tells the people to prepare the way of the Lord. As we wait for the coming of Jesus in this season of Advent, the way of the Lord that we are to prepare is to be straight, and level, as the roads constructed for the coming of a king into a village on a royal visit in the time of the prophets."
"And the way for us to prepare that road is through forgiveness, letting go of those things that have brought discord into our lives, and paving the pathway of the Lord with peace—for the psalmist says that “peace shall be a pathway for his feet.”
This week’s readings call us to repentance. Isaiah announces that God is coming to deliver and comfort—prepare the way! The author of 2 Peter tells us to prepare for this coming by living in holiness and devotion. In today’s gospel, John the baptizer proclaims “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”
This Isaiah reading serves as a prologue to chapters 40–66, sometimes called “the book of the consolation of Israel” because of this opening passage. It serves both as an account of a new calling and as a statement of the major themes of the rest of the book. The reading is familiar — "Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God" since it is in the Messiah
The voice announces that the salvation of exiled Israel is imminent, the nation’s “penalty” (v. 2), that is, its time of compulsory servitude in exile, is over. Now the people are invited to receive both deliverance and restoration.
Unlike other instances of the highway image in Isaiah, where the people journey on a path prepared by God, this highway is prepared for God’s travel. Verses 3-4 reflect the practice of sending messengers ahead of visiting royalty. The prophet shows that the comfort due to God’s people is inextricably linked to God’s presence and the revelation of glory. Joy, fearlessness and comfort result from the supreme “good news”: “Here is your God!” (v. 9). As sovereign ruler and tender shepherd, God comforts the people.
The Psalm provides thanksgiving is given for the return from exile (vv. 1-3), and the Lord’s continued help is requested. The Lord’s answer comes (vv. 8-13), perhaps as an oracle uttered by a prophet or priest. Verse 11 beautifully reassures the people of God’s gracious care. These four qualities—steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace—spring from God and unite to work for the good of God’s people
The Gospel in verse 1 stands as the title of the new literary form that Mark created. The word "gospel" in secular usage meant “good news,” often about an important event such as the birthday of the Emperor Augustus. Mark’s good news of Jesus Christ includes both the message that Jesus proclaimed and the person and significance of Jesus himself. Thus, his “gospel” is not only a life of Jesus but also a proclamation of the foundational belief that Jesus is the promised Jewish messiah (“Christ”) and “Son of God.”
The Gospel goes back to Isaiah – "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" since John is that messenger preparing the way for the Lord in the wilderness with his baptisms.
A messenger of preparation was awaited as a herald of the last days and was expected to embody the prophetic spirit of Elijah. John the Baptist is described in terms reminiscent of Elijah. John’s “baptism of repentance” (v. 4) was a customary ritual of purification for Gentile converts to Judaism, but John warned the Jews not to rely upon their physical descent from Abraham to ensure a relationship with God. They, too, needed conversion.
John’s baptism may also have been a sign of one’s repentance and purification by God. Repentance describes the change of heart demanded by personal conversion—a turning away from sin and a return to loyalty toward God. John promises that the One to come will baptize with the Holy Spirit, pouring out upon all people a new communion with God.
Each of us this Advent needs to consider how we are preparing for the Lord Donations of time, talent or treasury? Prayer? Service to one in need. The possibilities are endless.
David Lose has this to say about the Mark reading:
"Notice that Mark begins his account not simply by saying that his work is “The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” but rather “The beginning of the good news….” It’s so easy to be taken off guard by the brevity, even terseness of Mark’s opening line – no angels and shepherds here, no genealogies or hymns to God’s eternal Word – that we overlook it altogether. But I think Mark is trying to tell us something, both by the simplicity and open-ended quality of his opening (and ending for that matter, but that’s another story!). I think Mark is suggesting – and keep in mind, Mark regularly suggests and provokes rather than flat out declares – that his whole story about Jesus, beginning with John the Baptist and running through the calling of his disciples, exercising demons, healing the sick and feeding the hungry, and culminating in his death and the declaration of his resurrection (but no appearance!)…is all just the beginning.
"Which leads me to wonder if we might ask our people to pause amid the frantic and joyful preparations of the season to be reminded that God is still with them, working through them, continuing the story of the good news among and in and with them…and will keep at it well after this season concludes. We might remind them, that is, that this story is bigger than the news stories we hear or the worries we harbor or even the hopes we share. God is not done. We are not yet what we have been called to be. The promise of Christmas is bigger than we’d imagined. And God’s mercy and courage and blessing extends farther and deeper than we can imagine. For this, Dear Partner, is all just the beginning!"