Hanukkah begins at sundown Friday, Dec. 3.

Isa. 64: 1 - 9 (TNK)
Back up and begin your study of this reading with: I will recount the kind acts of the LORD. In this frame of mind the entire lament is to be understood. YHWH's kind acts against the House of Israel, as painful as they were(1), were understood by them, and should be by us, in this sense: bestowed upon them According to His mercy and His great kindness. (63: 7)

At this point, the Prophet senses that something is terribly amiss: the Presence of God is lacking in Israel. Look down from heaven and see.... Your yearning and Your love Are being withheld from us! (63: 15) With the result that We have become as a people You never ruled, To which Your name was never attached. (63: 19) The Absence of God is unbearable for the Prophet, so he cries out in anguish and hope: If You would but tear open the heavens and come down... To make your name known to Your adversaries.... (63: 19..64: 1)

"If only You...." We have all, at one time or another, cried out in despair. To which God responds in kind: "If only you...." There is a reason that we are in this condition. The Prophet grasps this, and states it clearly: We are all withering like leaves, And our iniquities, like a wind, carry us off. Yet no one invokes Your name.... (5-6) We have met Your adversaries, and they are us(2).

So there remains but one option: to invoke the LORD's name, to recall the kind acts of the LORD, to rely upon His mercy and His great kindness. Therefore the Prophet pleads: Be not implacably angry, O LORD, Do not remember iniquity forever. Oh, look down to Your people, to us all! (8)

This lesson seems, on reflection, to be a good one for the first Sunday of Lent. But then again, perhaps we have gotten out of the habit of thinking seriously about why Christmas was so very necessary, and we need to consider this at Advent. For You have hidden Your face from us (6).

Psalm 80: 1 - 7, 17 - 19
[TNK: 2 - 8, 18 - 20]

Consider the progression of the four imperatives: listen, appear, arise, restore. And ponder the titles for God: first, as a shepherd; then, for the rest of the Psalm, as the leader of an army prepared for war. How do these visual images, and the radical change, inform our faith?

Note the triple re-petition: show Your favor, Grant Your help, show Your favor; there is only one way by which we may be delivered: grace. Remember that this is the prayer of a people who had already been delivered out of Egypt; does that fact have anything to say to us? Finally, consider the single line that is not a plea to God:

Easy to say.... Do we really mean it? Or is it wishful thinking? Or-- let's be honest now-- just lip service? If we really mean it (and I think most of us do), then we must accept the challenge: how committed to that end are we? What are we going to do-- what changes are we going to make in our lives, goals, attitudes-- so that it is more than a New Year's (= Advent) resolution, but a reality:

We will not turn away from You.

1Cor. 1: 3 - 9 (NAB)

Suggestion: start reading with v.2: to the church of God that is in ________, using the name of your community or church. This might help your folks know that the Bible is addressed personally to them. Hopefully, it will also help them remember that Scripture, even the scoldings and warnings, is meant for those who already believe. The life of faith is not an easy ride with a happy ending guaranteed. As we found in Philippians 3 (a45) and 1Thessalonians 1 (a47), one can only hope as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. (7)

He will keep you firm to the end (8). This sounds like a free ride: not to worry, Jesus will take care of everything no matter what we do, how we mess up, or whatever else may happen. But I think that interpretation is mistaken; that there is a condition attached. Recall the poem about the footsteps in the sand: for part of the way there are two sets of tracks; another part, only one. If you want Christ to keep you firm to the end, then you have to stay up in His arms; that is, allow the Lord to maintain control over, as well as care for, you.

God is faithful (9), but remember that God... is continually testing our hearts.(3) In your life, who holds the reins?

Mark 13: 24 - 37 (NAB)

"What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'" (37) We have felt, in the past few weeks, the urgency of Paul's words: hope, wait expectantly. The reason for his and Jesus' acute concern is stated at the outset: "But in those days after that tribulation...." (24)

Tribulation should not be confined to a period of apocalyptic cataclysm; basically, it means "trial", "testing". As Paul taught, God... is continually testing our hearts. Our journey through the wilderness of this earthly life is a time of constant tribulation; God is asking: "Do you trust Me? Will you remain faithful?" If we read the Hebrew Scriptures as metaphor for our lives, then the prognosis is not good. Everyone(4) who had experienced the first deliverance by YHWH out of Egypt, including Aaron and Moses, died on the way to, or in, Moab. Even though they had all been saved by God's grace, they all failed the test.

How was it, then, that Joshua (the same name in Hebrew as Jesus) was permitted to lead the second generation across the Jordan into the Promised Land? His followers had grown up during those years in the wilderness; they had experienced the testing much as their parents had. Did they all-- to a one-- somehow live "forty years" in perfect obedience? Both our skepticism and Scripture say "No"; it cannot be done.

How was it, then, that Joshua was-- and Jesus will be-- permitted to lead the children-- us-- into Canaan, the Promised Land, Eden, the kin-dom of God? Did the Israelites walk across the Jordan on dry ground because of their merit? Have you and I been so righteous that we deserve it?

At Advent, we wait for God's grace. And with good reason.

References

1. 1 And continue to be, if Paul's assessment of the situation in Rom. 11 is correct (see a38).

2. 2 Adapted from "Pogo", by Walt Kelly.

3. 3 1Ths. 2: 4; (a48, Oct. 24, `99).

4. 4 Except the two faithful spies, Caleb and Joshua. What might this mean in Christian terms?

5. 5 Haiku poem by Phil Gilman. Please feel free to utilize anything from these pages; just give me whatever credit may be due and God the Glory, Praise and Thanks.

(comments to Phil at ENAPXH@aol.com )