Psalm 26, 28
Isaiah 5:13–17, 24–25
1 Thessalonians 5:12–28
Luke 21:29–38
Jesus warns us in our reading today to be watchful for the potential of our hearts being weighed down by both poor choices and daily pressures. They can trap us into a deep or perhaps careless unawareness of God’s presence and actions.
Isaiah warns of his own people whose history reveals to us God’s story of grace and love in their midst. Yet their response is described as one of spurning, despising, rejecting and disregarding God’s actions and will. King David reiterates this in the Psalms for today. How might we be called to respond to these warnings and readings as part of our Advent preparations?
The word that resonates for me is ‘honour’. I have ‘sat’ with it for a while and it brings an important reminder to my experience of Advent this year. This is a season when adoration, wonder and awe sing out from our mouths and lives. Honour invokes gratitude and earnest respect; it encourages us to nurture the cherished treasure of God’s presence; beckoning us to ‘lift our hearts’ to the Lord, and humbly welcome the God who loves and delights in us.
Paul’s letter today reflects how we honour God through our love and care in communities of worship, families and neighbours.
While Advent wreaths our celebrations of God’s story with heightened alertness and anticipation, we may seek to also offer honour in a time and space of quiet recollection, refreshing our souls again with the Good News of Jesus’ birth; opening our hearts in a calm and certain knowing of his glorious return; resting our ‘tattered and scattered’ lives in a humble willingness of faithful waiting to welcome The Gift.
May the peace of Christ embrace you today as you honour him in your hearts.
- Dorothy Dahli
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