Daily Advent Devotional

Tis the Season to… Titus 3:4-7 When kindness and benevolence appeared through G*d, our savior, appeared, it was not a result of those deeds…. Titus 3:4-6 (A. Carter Paraphrase) It’s commonplace to describe our society as results driven. Metrics, measurables, and product, with good reason, have become outcome-oriented benchmarks that establish and legitimate organizational value, worthiness, and ra...

Love John 1:1-14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Conversation and the Conversation was with God.” When the Gospel of John was translated into Latin from its original Greek, translators of the first few centuries used the Latin word sermo for the Greek word logos in this passage.  There’s a perfectly good Latin...

God is at Work Luke 2:1-14 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. Luke 2:1 Shootings. Extremes of wealth and poverty. Food insecurity. Racial-ethnic tensions. Corporate greed. Military invasions. Divisive leadership. Limited access to healthcare. Cultural and political divisions. Societal intolerance and violence. And so forth. One might wond...

Week Four December 22, 2022 Facing the Vortex Isaiah 33:17-22 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor stately ship can pass. Isaiah 33:21 The late Civil Rights champion, James Baldwin once asserted that not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. During Advent, we must fac...

Grandparent Stories Matthew 1:1-17 An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1 The late New Testament scholar Doug Adams contrasted parent stories to grandparent stories. Parent stories tend to clean up and prettify their own youthful years in order to claim the moral high ground. “When I was a child, I never talked to my parents that way.”&nb...

The World Upside Down Samuel 2:1-10 Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in my victory… the bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has...

Staying Open to Closed Doors Genesis 17:15-22 God said to Abraham, “As for Sarah your wife… I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her.” Genesis 17:15-16 Imagine (or recall) a whole life of your partner leaving the toilet seat up even if you (or child) continuously falls in, or a whole life of having a roommate that won’t stop leaving the kitchen cabinet doors open after literally...

Dreaming During Advent Matthew 1:18-25 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him... Matthew 1:24a Deeply embedded within African American culture, dreaming is a resource for surviving the everyday traumas of being Black in America. In the days of my youth, dreams were understood to be messages from God as guidance for daily living. Everyone, whether within the chu...

Embracing the Both/And John 3:31-33 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true. John 3:31-33 “In a world that tries to push...

What is My House? 2 Samuel 7:18-22 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 2 Samuel 7:18 The ark of the covenant carried God’s presence. Up to this point, the ark was being carried around in a mobile tent, with no permanent home. After David is anointed as king, he defeats the Philistines and after d...

No Bartering Required Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 May You honor the people at Your right hand. May You honor the nation You have raised up for Yourself. Then we won’t turn away from You. Give us new life [and we] will worship You. Psalm 80.17-18 (NIRV) Like many of us, I have favorite Psalms, but the ones I like least are what I call Psalms of Barter. They acknowledge God’s greatness, ensure God understan...

Joyful Action  Zechariah 8: 1–17 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord. Zechariah 8: 16–17 In this section of Zechariah, the prophet speaks of a God who makes a lot...

Time for Wavering Jude 1:17-25 And have mercy on some who are wavering. Jude 1:22 I’ll be honest: being assigned this passage felt a bit like sitting next to someone on an airplane who, after a few minutes of pleasant chitchat, mentions sotto voce that we are clearly living in the end-times. “Oh no,” one thinks. “This is going to be a long flight.”  At only 24 verses, the book of Jude at leas...

Seeking What is Holy Psalm 42 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. Psalms 42:1 A popular Psalm and possibly even a more popular song derived from the Psalm invoking images of a deer thirsting for water symbolizing the author’s thirst for the divine. In a world where having clean water and even having access to water is a growing threat to the wellness of creation,...

Week Three December 11, 2022 Joy and Grief Matthew 11:2-11 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Matthew 11:2-3 Imagine John in prison defeated, frustrated, angry, grief stricken. Then he hears rumors of a man—the man he baptized—teaching and healing. Then John receives c...

Week Two December 10, 2022 A New Kind of Music 1 Samuel 2:1-8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. 1 Samuel 2:8a Faithful Hannah sings thanksgiving and praise. With God’s help, she who was thought barren, has brought new life to the world! Her nation is in crisis. Her son, Samuel, will be Israel’s dyna...

Week Two December 9, 2022 A Second Coming 2 Peter 3:11-18 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. 2 Peter 3:14 At a committee meeting in the 4th century, a date was set for Easter; an annual celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus would occur on th...

Week Two December 8, 2022 Peace Psalm 146:5-10 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God...Psalm 146:5 Peace has of recent become more of a wish than a reality! Something so elusive, almost unattainable. When was the last time we thought we could be in a state of “completeness, wholeness, or safety?” We talk about the realities of our times: covid (and its...

Week Two December 7, 2022 Spirit into Action Matthew 12:33-37 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil...

Week Two December 6, 2022 Peace and Power = Bold Peace! Romans 15:14-21  Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:15-16 (N...

Week Two December 5, 2022 Steadfast Love Psalm 21 In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord, and in your help how greatly he exults! […] His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. “You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be...

Week Two December 4, 2022 Envision the Impossible Isaiah 11:1–10 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9 In Isaiah 11:1-10, we find words attributed to Isaiah of Jerusalem, the 8th century BCE prophet, directed at the nation of Judah. In 722/21 BCE, the Assyrian empire had conquered the...

Week One December 3, 2022 Hope Isaiah 40:1–11 “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem…” Isaiah 40:1-2 (NRSVUE) When it comes to Isaiah’s chapter 40, there’s a tendency to jump into the drama of preparing a way in the wilderness, straightening out twisting highways, leveling mountains, lifting the tilted slabs of the desert. Big drama. God stuff, on a cosmic or at...

Week One December 2, 2022 Legacy of Love Acts 13:16–25 …God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised… Acts 13:23 In Antioch of Pisidia, Paul (Saul’s newly-mentioned Gentile moniker) and Barnabas sit down in the synagogue on the sabbath day. After the Torah and the Prophets are read, Paul is asked to share a word of exhortation. He outlines the history of God’s covenantal actions: from...

Week One December 1, 2022 Hope Psalm 72:1–7, 18–19 May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon throughout all generations. Psalm 72:5 What if we had a powerful leader who established justice, prosperity, and conditions for righteousness to flourish for all generations? The psalmist imagines an advocate who endures as long as the sun, as long as the moon. I share the profound longing...