Advent devotions: Dec. 15, 2017

Friday December 15

Isaiah 52:3-10 Israel is redeemed

For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. For thus says the Lord God: Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what am I doing here, says the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the Lord, and continually, all day long, my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore on that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.

How beautiful upon the mountains
   are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
   who announces salvation,
   who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
   together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
   the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
   you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
   he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
   before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
   the salvation of our God.

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The prophet Isaiah reminds us in these verses of how God heard the cries of his people and led them out of exile in Egypt. Then later he redeemed Jerusalem and eventually “bared his holy arm before the eyes of all nations.”

Today the good news for us comes in the form of the birth of God’s son Jesus. As we prepare to celebrate this great event let us be aware of the gift of salvation given to us because of his birth. God is still hearing our cries and is still leading the way as he did with the Israelites. He fully gives his love and promise of salvation “to all the ends of the earth.”

Prayer: Thank you Father for the good news and gift of the birth of your son Jesus. Be with us as we celebrate his birth and all that it means for our lives. Amen

Dee Lockshiss

Advent devotions: Dec. 14, 2017

Thursday December 14

Ezra 3:8-13 Celebration of the altar

In the second year after their arrival at the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their people, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upwards, to have the oversight of the work on the house of the Lord. And Jeshua with his sons and his kin, and Kadmiel and his sons, Binnui and Hodaviah along with the sons of Henadad, the Levites, their sons and kin, together took charge of the workers in the house of God.

 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, ‘For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever towards Israel.’

And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.

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Ezra is one of those books of the Old Testament that we don’t often read and in fact, we can almost miss as it and its’ companions, Nehemiah and Esther, are sandwiched between Chronicles and Job.  It tells of the time after the Babylonian exile when the Persian king, Cyrus allows the people of Israel to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple that the Babylonians had destroyed.

The verses before today’s reading (3:1-7) recall the first worship service that is held before work has even begun.  Today’s reading recalls the foundation being laid.  More than just a construction site, it becomes a place of witness as people’s voices praised God as the foundation was built.  They sing of God’s faithfulness: “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel” (3:11)

This event in their life of faith was about much more than the rebuilding of the temple.  It recalled God’s presence in the midst of exile and God’s promises being fulfilled as they returned from exile.  It all pointed to God and God’s steadfast love.

In the midst of our preparation for another event – the birth of Christ – how do we lift up our praises for all that God has done for us?  Where is Christ amidst our own celebrations?

Prayer: God from whom all blessings flow, keep us every mindful of your steadfast love as we go about our daily lives.  We pray that we may live our lives in praise of you today and always.  Amen.

Pastor Jen Boyd

Advent devotions: Dec. 13, 2017

Wednesday December 13

Ezra 3:1-7 Rebuilding the altar

When the seventh month came, and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. Then Jeshua son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kin set out to build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. They set up the altar on its foundation, because they were in dread of the neighboring peoples, and they offered burnt-offerings upon it to the Lord, morning and evening. And they kept the festival of booths, as prescribed, and offered the daily burnt-offerings by number according to the ordinance, as required for each day, and after that the regular burnt-offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the sacred festivals of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill-offering to the Lord. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt-offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from King Cyrus of Persia.

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After seventy years of exile, the Israelites return to Jerusalem and set out to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed in the siege by Nebuchadnezzar II. Earlier in the book of Ezra it describes the gold and silver vessels and other materials that had been gathered for the reconstruction.

But first the priests gather to erect the altar so that they can begin to make their offerings to the Lord, even before the temple is started. Even if it is not the perfect and complete location, the most important thing was to be able to give thanks and praise to God.

Maybe sometimes we feel like our worship has to wait because our “temple” isn’t perfect and ready. Perhaps we’ve been away from church for a while, or our relationships with others haven’t been as good as we know they should be, or the path we’ve been following hasn’t taken us as close to God as we would wish. But we shouldn’t let anything keep us from “rebuilding our altar” and turning to God, no matter how incomplete or imperfect or unready we might feel. Our Lord is always ready to accept us as we are and he rejoices whenever we turn to him.

Prayer: Dear Father, we know we are incomplete and imperfect and need your help to rebuild from that brokenness. Help us keep our hearts and eyes open to see all the ways you show us that you are always welcoming us to you. Help us always to carry an altar of thanksgiving to you in our hearts as we face every day. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

Mary Beth Commisso

Advent devotions: Dec. 12, 2017

Tuesday December 12

Ezra 1:1-11 Cyrus helps exiled to return

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:

 ‘Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill-offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.’

 The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered. King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. King Cyrus of Persia had them released into the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the inventory: gold basins, thirty; silver basins, one thousand; knives, twenty-nine; gold bowls, thirty; other silver bowls, four hundred and ten; other vessels, one thousand; the total of the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

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Cyrus II, King of Persia? Another in a long line of mid-eastern potentates including Nebuchadnezzar and Darius known in the Bible as abusers of the Jewish people? Actually, no. Cyrus is set apart, called by the Lord as savior of His chosen people. Cyrus was indeed a great conqueror, but he was famed for supporting the social and religious beliefs of his subjects. Like Moses, called to free the children of Israel from captivity in Egypt, Cyrus is called to free Israel from captivity in Babylon. Isaiah foretells this in chapter 45. Then the words of Cyrus are quoted in Chronicles:

Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people – the LORD, his God, be with him – let him go there. — (2 Chronicles 36:23)

A few weeks ago we heard of David chosen as king because the Lord looked upon his heart, not upon his appearance. God chose Moses to free the people by looking upon his heart, not upon his faulty speech. He chose Joseph to feed his people during famine. He chose Elijah to defend his worship against Jezebel and the worshippers of Baal. Now He calls on Cyrus, most likely a follower of Zoroaster, religious prophet of the monotheistic worship of Ahura Mazda, the god of light and all good. He respects the Jews and returns them to their homeland. He restores to them the goods stolen from the temple of Solomon and allows the Jews to rebuild and restore the worship of Yaweh.

Isaiah calls Cyrus “the anointed” or the Messiah in chapter 45:1. He is the only non-Jew to receive this title. God chooses those needed at essential times and for expedient solutions, Gandhi in India at the time of independence, Washington for the 13 colonies in their time of need, and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior that we might be redeemed, freed from sin, and by grace, made worthy of the Glory of God. In this blessed season, we reflect on the glorious wisdom of Almighty God to bring us His only Son as a child, born in our minds and hearts, that we might be made free.

Prayer: Blessed Lord Jesus, we await with bated breath and open hearts to receive you, God’s greatest gift, the gift of divine Love. Amen

Franklyn Commisso

Advent devotions: Dec. 11, 2017

Monday December 11

Ezekiel 39:25-29 God’s Promise to the Israelites

Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they live securely in their land with no one to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have displayed my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them behind; and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.

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In 605, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, and in 597, after a revolt in the captured city, large deportations began of Israelites to Babylon.  Ezekiel, a prophet, was in the first group forced to leave.  Ezekiel describes the reason God allowed Israel to be overrun, the Israelites punishment and their promised return.

In a nutshell, the usual sequence occurred wherein the Israelites turned away from God, God decides to punish them, and after their suffering God repents and allows them to return.  In this passage, after the Israelites have been in exile for about 60 years, Ezekiel describes God’s forgiving the Israelites, allowing them to return to Israel, safety in their homeland and promising them good fortune. 

How often have we heard this story?  God gives man a good deal.  Man doesn’t listen.  God punishes man.  God forgives man.  God gives man a second/third/fourth chance.  You get the idea.  All God wants is for you to be faithful to Him.  Is that too much to ask?  In return you get all the gifts that God can bestow.  Yet we repeatedly fail to heed what God says, turn to sin, suffers sin’s trials and tribulations, and only are restored to God by His good Grace.

Would that we had the fortitude to not sin again.  But we don’t.  It is only through God’s good Grace and Jesus’ sacrifice that we are saved from our own frailty.  We don’t have the power on our own to resist Satan’s call.  But with true repentance and belief we can ask for and receive forgiveness for our sins.

There is very little we can accomplish on our own, but with the Gospel to guide us, Jesus’s sacrifice to take away our sins, God’s Grace to strengthen us, and God’s never ending mercy, there is nothing we can’t do in His name.

Prayer: Gracious Lord, you show us undeserved mercy throughout the ages.  We once again beseech you to let your Grace shine upon us, even though we have done little to merit it.  We all too often stop listening to you and turn away, following our own paths instead of your will.  For this, we ask for your forgiveness as we turn back to your Word.  We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Joanne Icken

Advent Devotions: Dec. 10, 2017

Sunday December 10

Ezekiel 37:1-14 Dry bones: new life, new hope

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’

 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

 Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’

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When Ezekiel saw this valley with thousands of dry bones he must have thought “What can I do? Is this a giant jigsaw puzzle?” But God told him that He would give these bones flesh and tendons and all parts necessary so that they could praise the Lord and He did. What do we need to do today to have all people join together to worship? There are many of our members who we have not seen I a longtime, Are they those dry bones that need reviving? Shouldn’t we reach out to them to encourage their participation in today’s church? We need to let people know about church, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Let’s get those bones up and moving so that they can praise the Lord today.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we ask for our help and strength together with the wisdom to bring those bones together so that we may become worthy to praise Your name. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Dorothy Kafalas

Advent devotions: Dec. 9, 2017

Saturday December 9

Ezekiel 3:1-11 Call to prophecy

He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.

 He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them. For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel— not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not fear them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears; then go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’; whether they hear or refuse to hear.

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Sent by God to the people of Jerusalem, Ezekiel was a prophet who warned them about their coming destruction and exile if they didn’t change their ways and heed God’s warning. The city of Jerusalem was still standing, but was inhabited by a head strong people who had turned away from God.  God decided to give them a warning of their upcoming doom if they didn’t start listening to Him.  In a vision He appears on a throne in a human like form to Ezekiel.  He gives Ezekiel a scroll containing God’s word and tells him to eat it.  As Ezekiel does so he finds Gods words sweet as honey.  God warns Ezekiel that his people are hard headed and will not listen to him or Him.  But He has given Ezekiel an even harder head and he is to speak back God’s words that he has ingested and warn the people whether they hear or refuse to hear. 

Here is the imagery we have seen in other parts of the Bible of God “touching” his prophet to put God’s words into his mouth.  One comes away with the impression, soon to be verified, that the people will not listen to Ezekiel.  This is the too oft repeated pattern of Gods’ people turning away from Him, God punishing them and then, because of God’s mercy, forgiving them.    

It is only through the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s mercy that we can truly be saved.  For we, all too often, repeat this pattern ourselves of failing to listen, suffering and then seeking God’s mercy once again.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you sit above us beyond our comprehension, full of mercy for your undeserving people.  Please listen to our prayers asking for your forgiveness for our turning away from your will and placing other desires ahead you.  We plead again for your boundless compassion.  Forgive us our trespasses as we turn back to you.  Amen

Don Icken