MIDWEEK MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2015

This week's reflection comes from 
Rev. Norma Malfatti
Director for Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop

Reflecting and Dwelling in the Word
PRAYER OF THE DAY  
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. By your merciful protection alert us to the threatening dangers of our sins, and redeem us for your life of justice, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen

 Gospel 
Jeremiah 33:14-16
 
14The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: "The Lord is our righteousness."

REFLECTION

Advent is just about here!  For some the beginning of the season will feel like it really starts on Thursday morning when Santa comes down 6th Avenue at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  For others it will be when their Christmas tree goes up on Friday or Saturday.  Still others it will be when that first of four candles is lit on Sunday morning.  Perhaps for pastors Advent started two months ago when Advent and Christmas worship was planned.  Whenever Advent feels like it begins for you, you will have entered the season of waiting, hoping and expectation. 
 
Last week as we marked Christ the King Sunday, the Scripture centered on a message of hope and assurance urging congregations to stay faithful in terrifying times.  This week as we move into Advent we hear from the prophet Jeremiah at a point when he was to give a message of hope and assurance in the midst of impending disaster in Jerusalem - the destruction of the Temple and the razing of the city. 
 
As with most prophets, Jeremiah was in prison because the people in power did not want to hear, nor did they like, what he or God had to say about their faithfulness, or lack thereof.  Prior to this Sunday's reading Jeremiah, Jeremiah had been strongly reminding the political and religious powers-that-be of his time what faithful leadership was supposed to look like, what walking in the ways of God looked like, and how they were not meeting those criteria.  The political and religious leaders had forgotten their God given responsibilities to lead with justice and compassion.  We could say that not much has changed over the last few thousand years.
 
Two weeks ago people were convinced that not drinking coffee out of a particular red cup was how to be a faithful Christian.  Last week people were devastated by bombings in Paris but did not know that the same thing happened in several other major cities around the globe.  Now this week the world seems hell bent on denying refugees safety, calling children and mothers who have fled those bombed cities terrorists just because they call on the name of Allah.  Fear and anxiety seems to be ruling our actions and conversations.
 
"The days are surely coming, says the Lord... I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."
 
Jeremiah reminded the people who were running for the lives, hiding in fear and being carted off to Babylon that God's desire is for all people to live in safety and experience the flourishing of life, not the squelching of it.  God knows that in the midst of despair we need to hear a word of hope, we need to know that there is an end in sight to our suffering, alongside the call to faithfulness.  However, if we feel, or actually are, alone it is not always easy to hang on to God's promises of life.  Hope is born of trust in the midst of fear; it is believing in, and being committed to, God's future in times of despair.  As Paul tells us in Romans, "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."
 
What tangible signs of God's hope does the Church show today when so many in our communities and the world are marginalized and misunderstood?  Are we proclaiming Christ born, crucified and resurrected?  Are we embodying the longing for our Emmanuel to come again? 
 
As we begin this new church year how will we live out our prophetic call as the church to be a witness to our active hope in the coming of Jesus, our messiah, in the world?


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