1 Advent

The texts for the first Sunday of Advent are about hope, fear, upheaval, signs in the heavens and on earth. Is there any connection in our lives today with a tradition of apocalypse?

Zechariah 14:4-9

On the day of the LORD his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee by the valley of the LORD's mountain, for the valley between the mountains shall reach to Azal; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

On that day there shall not be either cold or frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light.

On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.

And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one.

Psalm 50:1-6, Page 654, BCP

Deus deorum

1

The LORD, the God of gods, has spoken; *
he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

2

Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, *
God reveals himself in glory.

3

Our God will come and will not keep silence; *
before him there is a consuming flame,
and round about him a raging storm.

4

He calls the heavens and the earth from above *
to witness the judgment of his people.

5

"Gather before me my loyal followers, *
those who have made a covenant with me
and sealed it with sacrifice."

6

Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; *
for God himself is judge.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Luke 21:25-31

Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

8 Creation

Contemporary Reading: Thomas Berry “Christianity’s Role in the Earth Project”, in Christianity and Ecology

Image: from fracticality.com

To preserve this sacred world of our origins from destruction, our great need is for a renewal of the entire Western religious-spiritual tradition in relation to the integral functioning of the biosystems of the planet Earth. We need to move from a spirituality of alienation from the natural world to a spirituality of intimacy with the natural world, from a spirituality of the Divine as revealed in verbal revelation to a spirituality of the Divine as revealed in the visible world about us, from a spirituality concerned with justice simply to humans to a spirituality concerned with justice to all those other components of the great earth community. The destiny of Christianity will be determined to a large extent by its capacity to fulfill these three commitments.

The Lesson Colossians 2.13-20a

13 (God) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20a and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven . . . .

Psalm 148.1-6 (BCP p. 805)

Mark 11:1-11

When Jesus and those who followed were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, `Why are you doing this?' just say this, `The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'" They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

"Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

7 Creation

Contemporary Reading

The Navajo Beauty Way Ceremony

In beauty may I walk
All day long may I walk

Through the returning seasons may I walk
Beautifully I will possess again
Beautifully birds
Beautifully joyful birds
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk
With beauty may I walk

With beauty before me may I walk
With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk
With beauty all around me may I walk

In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk
It is finished in beauty
It is finished in beauty

Daniel 12:1-4a(5-13)

The Lord spoke to Daniel, saying, "At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end."

Psalm 16:5-11 Page 599, 600, BCP

Conserva me, Domine

5

O LORD, YOU are my portion and my cup; *
it is you who uphold my lot.

6

My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *
indeed, I have a goodly heritage.

7

I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; *
my heart teaches me, night after night.

8

I have set the LORD always before me; *
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.

9

My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; *
my body also shall rest in hope.

10

For you will not abandon me to the grave, *
nor let your holy one see the Pit.

11

You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Mark 13:14-23

Jesus said, "But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; the one on the housetop must not go down or enter the house to take anything away; the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not be in winter. For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut short those days. And if anyone says to you at that time, 'Look! Here is the Messiah!' or 'Look! There he is!'--do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be alert; I have already told you everything."

6 Creation

The readings this week share a thread that has to do with wisdom, courage, generosity, and spiritual common sense.

A Contemporary reading from Wendell Berry, “Christianity & the Survival of Creation”

Obviously, the sense of the holiness of life is not compatible with an exploitive economy. You cannot know that life is holy if you are content to live from economic practices that daily destroy life and diminish its possibility. And many if not most Christian organizations now appear to be perfectly at peace with the military-industrial economy and its ‘scientific’ destruction of life. Surely, if we are to remain free and if we are to remain true to our religious inheritance, we must maintain a separation between church and state. But if we are to maintain any sense of coherence or meaning in our lives, we cannot tolerate the present utter disconnection between religion and economy. By ‘economy’ I do mean ‘economics,’ which is the study of money-making, but rather the ways of human house-keeping, the ways by which the human household is situated and maintained within the household of nature. To be uninterested in economy is to be uninterested in the practice of religion; it is to be uninterested in culture and in character. Probably the most urgent question by people who adhere to the Bible is this: What sort of economy would be responsible to the holiness of life? What, for Christians, would be the economy, the practices and the restraints, of ‘right livelihood’? I do not believe that organized Christianity now has any idea. I think its idea of a Christian economy is no more or less than the industrial economy—which is an economy firmly founded on the seven deadly sins and the breaking of all ten of the Ten Commandments. Obviously, if Christianity is going to survive as more than a respecter and comforter of profitable iniquities, then Christians, regardless of their organizations, are going to have to interest themselves in economy—which is to say, in nature and in work. They are going to have to give workable answers to those who say we cannot live without this economy that is destroying us and our world, who see the murder of Creation as the only way of life. --Here what the Spirit is saying to God’s people

1 Kings 17:8-16

The word of the LORD came to Elijah, saying, "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth." She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

Psalm 146, Page 803, BCP

Lauda, anima mea

1

Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, O my soul! *
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

2

Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.

3

When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.

4

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!*
whose hope is in the LORD their God;

5

Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;

6

Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.

7

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; *
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

8

The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.

9

The LORD shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!

Mark 12:38-44

Teaching in the temple, Jesus said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."