Joy Lutheran Church Ocala, Florida

Recently my grandson Gabriel moved to Las Vegas. He had planned this move for about two years, and when the opportunity arose, he jumped. He drove 1,125 miles from Seattle to Las Vegas, through mountains he’d never seen before, a desert and barren land foreign to him. It took him two days, and during those two days, we prayed fervently for God’s mercy for safe travel.

In Psalm 90:1 we read: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” What does this psalm mean? To me, it means that through everything, and every place, God is with us. In Gabriel’s case, even through the Blue Mountains of Oregon (which can be hazardous due to how steep inclines), through the desert of Northern Nevada, through the flat land in Idaho, God was with him. God was his dwelling place.

Often we rely most on God during trials and tribulations. We pray fervently for God’s mercy. Yet we can also thank and praise God through song when things are going right. When we dwell in our Lord’s presence even when life’s turmoil surrounds us, we find peace. For that I am ever grateful.

Lord, I am forever thankful for your abiding presence and your love for all people. In you I find my dwelling place. Amen.

Shared by Sue Delgado – Alaska Native Lutheran Church, Anchorage
from The Alaska Synod Advent Devotional 2024, “Let your light shine!”

My, my – how I delight in words! A “play on words,” the title of this blog that popped into mind. I think we all get how the English language can be downright tricky most of the time.

CLOSER

“Look closer because the closer we get, the closer the closer gets.”
The Closer. Capitalizing the word, it begins to make sense. I hope.

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
Getting near.

Closer, The Closer is. Pronounce the “s” a certain way, which is easy if English is your primary, or first language.

Look, listen, get your head on straight.

Clear a straight path for The Closer. (That was the title of a recent T.V. show, and the eponymous key character played by Mrs. Kevin Bacon). Close the case.

Close the deal.

Make sure you pronounce the “s” like a “z”, which then sounds like clothes, further complicating things for the ESL (English as a Second Language) people.

That is also part of the picture. The Closer is for all tribes and nations, all peoples and tongues.

“Get your holy and repent on,” Pastor Art said pejoratively.

This Advent season is so vivid, so “in your face” and in your heart. Every Bible reading, every note of music. Speaking of, I listened as I do every Advent season, to Handel’s “Messiah”. I was sobbing. The words of the prophets set to gorgeous melodies that become earworms for me. I can’t adequately convey what this master work of music does to me – especially for such a time as this. Everything that this world offers is ultimately garbage. Every promise – from “promising” that the elevator at your assisted living facility will be fixed “soon and very soon” to campaign “promises” (BOTH parties). Yada, yada, yada.

It is not so with the Kingdom of God. We are all homesick for the home that is the one true Home, which The Closer will bring. This season is all too precious, all too brief, to waste it on the trivialities and banalities of man-made systems that do not deliver. Our strong Deliverer is getting close. Embrace that unconditional love.

Pastor Art

There’s a song by Jerry Heman that goes “For We Need a Little Christmas right this very minute.”  Some of us remember Johnny Mathis singing that back in 1986.  Well, I’d like to suggest that right now, “We need a little Advent.”

It’s been a chaotic year of angry elections, a divided nation, wicked storms, ongoing suffering by those who have the least, and personal suffering by many among us.  We’ve searched and prayed, but sometimes the Lord’s peace has been elusive.

After this frenzied year, there is comfort to be found when we pause to read, pray and reflect in this Advent season.  The second Sunday of Advent encouraged us to prepare our hearts in faithful waiting to celebrate the Christ’s birth and to ready ourselves for his second coming.  A key word there is faithfulness, not just waiting, but waiting with faith.  The other key word is waiting.  We read, we pray, we reflect, and oh yes, we would like God’s reply ASAP.  But we must wait, all things come in God’s good time, not ours.   And yes, we need that reminder, we need a little Advent.

When we wait on the Lord, there is  always hope.  Awaiting our God of unconditional love gives us true hope.  The song that follows, “The Thrill of Hope,” is sung by Cristy Nockels.  I hope you enjoy it.

Judy

Note: King David is credited with writing Psalm 145. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. This psalm by David was written in acrostic form.  This means his poetry was written with each phrase beginning with the sequential letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Reading this psalm in English, I was reminded to be patient.  God loves us unconditionally and will answer us and care for us IN HIS TIME. In the Message translation of Psalm 145: 14-18,

“God gives a hand to those down on their luck,
    gives a fresh start to those ready to quit. All eyes are on you, expectant;
    you give them their meals on time.Generous to a fault,
    you lavish your favor on all creatures. Everything God does is right—
    the trademark on all his works is love. God’s there, listening for all who pray,
    for all who pray and mean it.”

Let’s trust Him. If we pray in earnest and trust His timing… “everything God does is right!” This psalm from King David is so uplifting, so reassuring. God is on His throne.  He loves us and will answer our prayers in His way, on His time schedule and it will be RIGHT! How blessed are we to know Him! Share that good news, it’s powerful.

Jill

Have you ever thought about why we do the things we do in preparing for Christmas? I
sometimes do. I know where some of the traditions came from but not necessarily why
they were started in the first place.

Some research suggested the chopping down of the Christmas tree represented the
death of Christ and putting it back up signified His resurrection. The wreaths we hang
are never ending circles that represent eternity. Candy canes were made to look like
shepherds’ hooks and the colors, red and white represented Jesus’ blood and his purity.
The gifts we give represent the three gifts the Magi brought for baby Jesus.

All of these things are wonderful thoughts and I am sure there is some truth to them. We
as Christians, however, know the true meaning of Christmas and maybe we need to be
reminded, lest we forget.

Luke 2: 10-12 reminds us with these words. But the angel said to them. “Do not be
afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in
the town of David a Savior has been born to you: he is the Messiah, the Lord. This
will be a sign to you. You will find the babe wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger.

What a beautiful and calming message for us, especially at this hectic time of year.
When you are running around worrying about baking the most beautiful cookies, having
the most elaborately decorated house or the most elegant and delicious dinner and
shopping for the “perfect gift”, stop yourself, take a deep breath and remember this.
Because of God’s unconditional love for us, we have already been given the perfect gift.
Jesus Christ was given to us to remove all our sins. Nothing could be better! Thanks be
to God!

Patty

While we wait for the Christmas celebration with all the fun and festivities, Advent provides us with a time of reflection and renewal. It is a good time to examine what Jesus did wtih His human life.  

What can succinctly describe His life? Is this a life that we can imitate? Let’s examine this quote that I found in Pope Francis’ Little Book of Compassion (Compiled by Andrea Kirk Assaf, copyright 2017, Published by arrangement with Harper-Collins Publishers Ltd, pg. 315): 

The life of Jesus is a life for others. It is a life of service. 

It’s a simple quote, but one with a powerful meaning and a challenging example for us to imitate. It doesn’t take much thought to realize that this is exactly what Jesus did while on earth. He lived to show how to love one another through the delivery of care and love to the people he met during His ministry.  

He cared for His family, taking on Joseph’s trade as carpenter and making sure that Mary was cared for after His death; he had compassion for the new groom at the wedding feast and provided the best wine at the end of the celebration. He went about the region telling of the new commandment of love for God and each other. You know the other examples of curing, teaching, sharing, feeding and loving. 

It is not written that he ever complained that He was just too tired to help or save. Good thing for Peter when he stepped out of the boat. He never refused to take on the extra effort to make a difference in the lives of his followers and the people of Israel. He wasn’t even mean or nasty to the people who brought Him to His death. Although there are subtle lessons for these people that are delivered with compassion.  

His was a life of service. His life is our example for compassion to the fellow men and women we meet in this earthly life. I am not saying that this is easy. It’s not. Human nature gets in the way, and we surrender to our needs first. But that doesn’t mean that we abandon all attempts to help others in need.  

During this time of preparation for the birth of the Savior, the needs of many different people come before us at church, the grocery store, in the mail. Making the decision about who to help can be overwhelming. However, it is imperative that we make the effort to help folks in need in any way that we can be by assisting with packing food baskets, wrapping gifts, giving money or being kind to those we pass on the street-even though we don’t understand why they do what the do. Jesus would. 

He would because He loves everyone-everyone-unconditionally.  

Terri 

She told me she hated Advent. Every year when Christmas came around, the Lutherans were singing those awful Advent hymns instead of Christmas songs. I know it was naughty of me, but I ignored her complaint. I loved hearing the Advent hymns.

Charles Wesley, a founder of the Methodist church, managed to write over 6,500 including one version of the Advent hymn “Lo, he comes with clouds descending” which has been sliced and diced and recombined over the years with a hymn by John Cennick and then edited and altered. I’m not sure there are any two hymnals with the identical text for this hymns.

Anyway, here is a version I like sung by the Norwich Cathedral Choir to the tune “Hemsley.”

Lo, he comes with clouds descending,
once for favoured sinners slain;
thousand thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train:
Alleluia!
God appears on earth to reign.

The theme of the first stanza is from Revelation and depicts the return of Jesus at the end of the ages. One of things I find striking, however, is the reference in the third stanza to the passion.

Those dear tokens of his passion
still his dazzling body bears.

Is that odd? No, look sometime through advent and Christmas hymns and you sometimes find a reference to the death of Jesus (think about What Child is This).  Jesus comes to die in the first Advent, and comes as the one who died and rose in the second Advent.

It’s something to ponder in this in between Advent.

Read Revelation 1:7 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

A woman and I were talking a while ago about singing in church. She said she used to sing along, but she thought her singing voice wasn’t very good, so she began either singing very softly, or not at all, so that she would not distract others or draw attention to herself.

Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and playing to the Lord in your hearts. – Ephesians 5:18b-19

Singing has always had a part in worship. And it isn’t just reserved for some people; all are invited. I asked that woman if she had children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Indeed she had. I asked if she’d ever given them some crayons, and if they had drawn something for her with those crayons. Yes, of course. It went straight to her refrigerator, she answered. Then I drove home my point: You may not have even been able to figure out what it is they drew, but to you it was a masterpiece anyway. To you, it was a Rembrandt; a Monet on par with anything in the Louvre. That’s how God feels about your voice. He gave it to you as a gift, and by singing, you give it back to Him. It might sound like screeching monkeys to you, but to Him it’s nothing short of Luciano Pavarotti or Aretha Franklin. After all, you’re not singing for the entertainment of the people around you, you’re singing for the Almighty Creator who gave you that voice. So, lift it up and belt it out! She gave me a huge smile, took my hand, and said from now on she would do just that, and thank you for your encouragement!

The history of worship is filled with singing: From the Israelites, when God saved them from the Egyptians; King David, who is credited with most of the songs in the Book of Psalms; the Levites, at the dedication of the Temple; Jesus and the disciples even sang a hymn at the end of the Last Supper:
Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. – Matthew 26:30

As a cantor, I have a unique point of view as I look out over the congregation. You in the pews see the
people on the altar and the backs of a bunch of people’s heads. I see everyone’s face! It fills my heart
when I see people not just following along as the singer sings but uniting their voices with mine in praise and thanksgiving to Our Lord. And, having led music on a few retreats, I’ve been brought to tears
by the sound of twenty or thirty-men’s voices belting out something that I wrote (or, more appropriately,
God wrote using my hand).

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day. Tell his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his
marvelous deeds. – Psalms 96:1-3

So, don’t be afraid to let ‘er rip! You might not be the next Josh Groban or Celine Dion, but to God’s ear, you’re right up there with the best! Your audience – the One that matters – loves it! I’ll see you – and hear you – on Sunday.

We pray:
O Father of all music, you gave us our voices, whatever they might be. Remove our inhibitions;
grant us the spirit to give our voices back to you in song as our gift to You. You gave us Your best
without holding back; grant that we may do the same. We ask this through Your Son, who sang
hymns to you even at the end. AMEN.

Shared with permission by a choir friend in Connecticut

 Home is where the heart of the season is. For me, it is in this, my favorite season of the church year – Advent. Anticipating what’s to come. My favorite hymns that always make my eyes get misty and my throat get lumpy. Choking back the sobs when I hear “O Holy Night”. The different, delightful rhythm of life. Family reunions. Seeing family guests in worship; rejoicing with those still able to travel to where the family is, where the new-fallen snow is. Giggling with delight at a kindly gentleman’s telling of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”.

 Each of you certainly has your special personal list. Favorite carols, cookies, and commemorations. Our souls long for the home that is not about  

size, newness, or creature comforts. Home could be a one-room shack for all I care. As long as it’s filled with love, music, and laughter – things that the heart truly treasures. Emmanuel comes again to abide with us. Ah, what a word: abide. It means peace, fullness, warmth. The embedding of a Savior who is also our brother. There is much to ponder in this wondrous, mysterious time. If we allow ourselves a break from the “spin” cycle, we will be more ready to embrace what we always embrace in cold December. Everything that’s on your special personal list that is not “hustle and bustle”.

The time is too fleeting to do otherwise. Music, Advent, love. Savor them, and the unconditional love that is the reason for it all. May the precious home that is Emmanuel be with you all and always.

Pastor Art

Today’s date looks familiar to me.  It is my mom’s birthday.  Born in 1910, she grew up in a world so different from mine. It has been 33 years since she passed on to her heavenly reward.  I have a feeling that she’s still looking down on me, probably shaking her head in despair at times and hopefully pleased at others.  For many years after her death, I placed a single red rose on her gravestone each year on her birthday.  Frequently that was followed by a snowstorm that buried my token.  

As I think of her, I remember her favorite hymn.  She was always so pleased when we sang it during a Sunday service, and she had requested it for her funeral.  Perhaps some of you remember it, perhaps not.   The text was written by Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879) and the tune by Arthur H. Mann (1825-1929.)  It’s included in our red Lutheran Book of Worship, #820.  The first stanza follows:

O Savior, precious Savior, whom yet unseen we love;
O name of might and favor, all other names above;
We worship thee; we bless thee; to thee alone we sing;
We praise thee and confess thee, our holy Lord and King.

It is truly a beautiful song of worship and praise.  Singing it at her funeral, I was especially touched by the fourth stanza:

Oh, grant the consummation of this our song above,
in endless adoration and everlasting love;
then shall we praise and bless thee where perfect praises ring,
and evermore confess thee, our Savior and our king!

Yes Lord, we sing praises to you now, but how much more beautiful will those praises be when we join in the choir of angels!

The rendition below is sung by Kathleen Monson.

Judy