2010 Advent Devotional
St. Stephen United Methodist Church
Sunday, November 28
Isaiah 2:1-5
 1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

 2 In the last days

   the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
   as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
   and all nations will stream to it.

 3 Many peoples will come and say,

   "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
   to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
   so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
   the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
   and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
   and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
   nor will they train for war anymore.

 5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
   let us walk in the light of the LORD.

 

Advent: 1. the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas and observed by some Christians as a season of prayer and fasting; 2. the coming of Christ at the Incarnation; 3. a coming into being or use <the Advent of spring>

This definition of "Advent" from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is technically correct in all three of its descriptions. But it is somehow incomplete. Amazing then that in reading Isaiah 2:1-5, where "Advent" is never mentioned, the full meaning is abundantly clear.

In Disciple II Bible study we are just wrapping up Genesis and discussing all the ways God's promises are fulfilled. Through the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers we see the promises made to God's people fulfilled, even though we continue to "mess up." In each of these stories we are confronted with disappointments, hardships, and betrayals. Each time God redeems us.

What we are also learning is what is required of us as God's people: patience, perseverance, faith and faithfulness. Isaiah looks forward to a time when God's kingdom will come, what that will look like, how it will be achieved - at a time when God's people were not doing what was required of them.

Are we doing what is required of us today? As we begin our period of "four Sundays before Christmas" consider this: We know what is coming. In light of that knowledge, can we be patient, can we persevere, can we have faith, and can we be faithful?
Teresa Hymes
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