As I drink my morning cup of tea, I am reflective of the season. Recently we celebrated Christ the King Sunday. In the church world, Christ the King Sunday is our sacred version of New Year’s Eve. We celebrate the liturgical season concluding and prepare for a new liturgical season to embark upon us. We will once again walk through the Old Testament, Psalms, Gospels, and Epistles but with a slight different focus and hear the scriptures from different voices.

Usually I find myself dwelling in the Gospels over the Advent season, but I feel called to spend serious time unpacking the prophets. The prophets were able to harmoniously unite God’s eternal victorious dwelling with the present day-to-day existence.

November 29th (First Sunday of Advent or what I like to call our Liturgical New Year’s Day) hears the voice of the prophet Jeremiah (33:14-16). Jeremiah could almost be called a book of Lamentations. Of all the prophets of the Bible, Jeremiah is perhaps the whiniest prophet (though Jonah does come close). However, Jeremiah has reason for despair, frustration, and complaint. As a prophet, he speaks on behalf of God in bleak and dire circumstances. The people are in economic and violent turmoil. All that is familiar to the people are under great threat. Human creation looks more like a human slaughterhouse.

Jeremiah pushes the people to not dwell in the past but to look forward to a new hope by a New King. It was understood back in the biblical days that the righteousness and justice of the King had the power of being an effective mediator between God and the people. An irresponsible king systemically caused havoc and turmoil on society. (In Jonah, we see the people, animals and king all repenting in sackcloth and ashes; as if we are seeing a reordering of creation from bottom to top).

In Jeremiah’s day, much of the people have lost their roots and identity. They are integrated into the corrupt Babylonian Empire and the people have to make a choice to join the political and religious benefits of the Babylonians or to regain their identity as a people of YHWH. The religious identity of the Israelites is threatened to dissolve in this Babylonian melting pot.

I believe we tend to lose ourselves when life gets the best of us. We may hear the loudspeakers play “Tis the season to be jolly….” But in this time, it seems that these words are more hauntingly ironic than an invite to be jolly. We ourselves have experienced dwindling pension plans, unemployment, sickness, and the fear of the unknown.

It is that time of the season when we are invited to prayer, to reflect, to look towards God’s victory though the battle wages on. At this point in Advent we reflect on our brokenness and our need to be restored by the grace of God. Our symbol of hope for this passage in Jeremiah comes in the form of a branch. I imagine the Branch stands quietly but courageously tall as all of life seems to fall down. We Christians interpret this Branch to refer to Jesus Christ the King who will strengthen and renew the House of David. This King we await for is filled with righteousness. The Greek version of the Old Testament (Septuagint) the word to describe God’s mercy, justice, and righteousness are all interchangeable.

In Advent we dwell in the Right Now and the Not Yet. Advent looks toward the past (when the baby Jesus is born) and looks toward the future when Christ will come again. Advent recognizes our internal longing for order and peace to be restored. May this Liturgical New Year truly renew our souls!

(from www.goodpreacher.com/blog/)