Advent 3 December 13 Zeph. 3:14-20, Is. 12, Phil. 4:4-7
I’ve done some work on the book of the 12, so I determined to use passages from it as they arise for us. Zephaniah starts with words of doom, but like most apocalyptic material, it does not end with doom but hope, especially in this passage. God hushes us like a parent hushing, quieting a squalling infant. I wonder if it has the hint of frustration in it when you have a child with colic, or a child screaming for no apparent reason at 3AM.As we are in the heart of the cutlrual Christma sseason, but not by the church clock, think of Mary and Joseph hushing baby Jesus, in spite of Away in the Manger’s “no crying he makes”Indeed God bursts into song for us.Again, punishment does not get the last word.I wonder what Christmas is like in heaven
God will renew in love as well as exult. I repeat that I rarely hold this image of God in my mind. It does not comport easily with the punishing God.
As we approach Christmas we think of the infant Jesus. One way to translate a verse is to be silent in love-as we say hush to a squirming infant. Don't let your hands grow weak and slack. don't give in to despair. A better day is coming.
Bette Midler sang God is watching us from a distance. Zephaniah answers, no god is near to us. The shortest sentence is the fourth: ("the Lord is near"). . Like its English counterpart, eggus can be understood spatially or temporally. Brown Work Pr.) the epistle gives us all sort of virtues for Advent and Christmas living. In the third short sentence, the term to epieikes (NRSV: "gentleness") . Its semantic range includes "what is fitting," "magnanimity," and "reasonableness, fairness."clemency . Thus, the gentleness he describes is the response of a person who has suffered injustice and disgrace... "not insisting on every right or letter of law or wisdom." Also, "yielding, gentle, kind, courteous, tolerant." How can we live out these traits? How can we be known for our gentleness this Advent?
- is intoned with this exhortation to gentleness. It reminds us that the church should not be too preoccupied with its own interests/citizenship.
.At the physical level, our oceans have much more acid in them, and water rights and use occupies a good deal of consideration in our Western states, and we are engaged in a major levee upgrade in our part of the country. Water makes sense as an element of salvation, as it saves the life of a thirsty traveller and provides the necessity for life in the desert. I act as if I am going on a desert trek in going to STL and grab a soda as if I could find no oasis in a trackless desert. Getting water from a well is daily grind for women in village societies.
The water of forgiveness, of liberation from all that holds us in captivity, of refreshment of souls that are parched for grace,:... The water of salvation that flows with the very presence of God is coming again to the world in endless supply for our deepest need.Webb Working Preacher)At the spiritual level, The wells of salvation, the water of God’s gracious presence, are bottomless, endless. These are the waters that give life, restoring vibrancy to a world that is dying of thirst, and seeking wholeness for those overwhelmed by the floods of destruction
Is. 12 has 2 songs. Favorite hymns? Favorite songs? Favorite piece of music? different Christmas hymns evoke or reflect different moods from the melancholy of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to the sentimental pull of a poor child doing well in Little Drummer boy.
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