December 22, 2024 – Advent 4C

“In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Luke 1:39-45

What were Mary and Elizabeth expecting once the children were born? In a world and a society that is getting more and more complicated, and more and more impersonal, busier and busier, I am not sure that any of us can have a grasp on what we might expect will come around the next corner. I believe we are losing our love for each other, diminishing our face to face time, and allowing technology to replace our relationships. Look, I know we do not live in an idyllic world, and divorce and separation and failed relationships and sin are a part of this broken world. I just have to think that maybe, just maybe, after these last four years of the Covid pandemic and all of the changes that have come with it, maybe people are reassessing their priorities and looking at ways to simplify their lives, and changing their expectations. 

So, what were Mary and Elizabeth expecting? I have a feeling that both Mary and Elizabeth were expecting to be reassessing their priorities – and changing their expectations, now that they were “expecting”. I also believe they were rejoicing in the new directions and possibilities that G-d had gifted them. This is the real gift G-d gives to us in these texts – something none of us could have been expecting — and that is the gift of new possibilities. You see, no matter what age you might be at in your life, G-d is not finished with you – in fact G-d may just be starting with you. When a woman is expecting, she hopefully comes to accept the fact that there are major changes coming in her life – especially when their children are born. The same is true for you and me – when Jesus is born into our lives and into our hearts at Christmas, and every Sunday with the sacraments, and every day with G-d’s Word, we too are to make changes in our lives.

This Christmas season, I want you to ponder some things: with the gift of Jesus born into your hearts anew again this Christmas, I want you to consider where your priorities are in regards to your faith, and to your faith lives? What are you expecting G-d to do in your life this coming year? Do you need to reassess the time you give to your family, to your church, or to your savior Jesus? You have the gift of time – but we never know how much time.

Pastor Dave

December 21, 2024 – Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age

“…the world is not what we think it is. It is so much weirder. It is so much darker. It is so, so much brighter and more beautiful. We do not create meaning; meaning is already there, waiting to be discovered. Christians of the first millennium knew this. We have lost that knowledge, abandoned faith in this claim, and forgotten how to search.” (Dreher, Rod. Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age (p. 13). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)

“They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he looked intently, and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.” Mark 8:22-26

“The world is not what we think – it is much weirder”

I will admit that there are some days that are much weirder than others. Some experiences are weirder than others. Of course we know some people who are much weirder than others. But that is life – that is what makes this world such an interesting place. I think of the scripture I have chosen for this devotion, realizing that the man has such a weird comment to Jesus once he is healed. In fact this text gets weirder, for Jesus must heal the man a second time. I believe this is the only time Jesus needs to heal a man a second time for his healing to be effective. It is just plain weird.

But that is the kind of G-d we have – we have a G-d who is wild, wonderful, and weird – sort of like the state of West Virginia. Sorry to anyone who is from West VA – half of my family lives there – and there is no one weirder than me.

Anyway, we have a G-d that will use the weird, the wonderful and the wild to let us know of G-d’s presence. This world is weird and whacky. And our G-d will use both to let us know we are known, and we are loved. I mean, how much weirder can you get than Jesus using his own saliva to heal this man. Look, I do not spit on my hands before distributing the bread for communion. No one wants that. Yet Jesus spit on his hands and healed a blind man.

Just think of the ways G-d might be trying to get your attention – but you are thinking it is just too weird. My friends, that may just be the point.

Pastor Dave