First Week of Advent – Be Ready

The new church year begins with a wake-up call: Christ is coming soon! In today’s readings both Paul and Jesus challenge us to wake from sleep, for we know neither the day nor hour of the Lord’s coming. Though we vigilantly watch for the promised day of salvation, we wait for what we already have: Christ comes among us this day as the word and meal that strengthens our faith in the promises of God. So this Advent, in our efforts to “Be the Manger” we hear the call to be ready.  Be ready in heart, mind, and spirit to welcome Christ once again into our lives and into the world.

Second Week of Advent – Be Sturdy

At the heart of our Advent preparation stands John the Baptist, who calls us to repent and make a new beginning. As the darkness increases in the Northern Hemisphere, we turn toward the approaching light of Christ. For Christians he is the root of Jesse, the righteous judge who welcomes all, especially the poor and meek of the earth. So this Advent, in our efforts to “Be the Manger” we hear the call to be sturdy.  We must be sturdy so that we can withstand the repentance we need to welcome Christ once again into our lives and into the world.  We must be sturdy like the stump of Jesse, for from this seemingly dead stump the hope we need will flourish!

Third Week of Advent – Be Empty

The popularity of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was established in England on Christmas Eve, 1918, in the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England, where the dean of the college sought to soften attitudes about religion following “The Great War.” Having served on the front lines, he knew personally the devastating effects of battle on one’s faith.

The nine lessons to Christians throughout the world the story of our salvation – from the fall of humanity to the birth of Christ. The lessons are interspersed with carols, which were introduced in 129 AD when a Roman Bishop declared a song called “Angels Hymn” should be sung at the Christmas service. This slowly developed and by the 1200s carols were common in the various Christian churches of Europe. For the non-reading folk of the Middle Ages, the carols were an easy way to understand the Christmas story, similar to the visual stories of the great stained glass windows.

Join with the musicians and choir of Triumphant Love in this special tradition as we worship with the familiar readings and carols of Advent and Christmastide and are invited once again to “Be the Manger” this Advent. As we are emptied of all that separates us from God, may the Word and our carols fill the manger of our hearts to welcome Christ once again!

Fourth Week of Advent – Be Still

Names are powerful makers of meaning both in the scriptures and in our lives. Consider how much we associate people with their names. A name is merely a word, a sound, yet it can completely represent a person. And our names can be powerful. The texts for the fourth Sunday of Advent invite us to explore the name “Emmanuel.” And he shall be called “Emmanuel,” God with us. This reality changes everything. Never is God so with us as in Jesus of Nazareth. Here is God-made-flesh, and in his very name, the Son of God proclaims just how with us and for us God really is, and yet like Joseph, we need to be still in order to realize that God is with us. So this Advent, in our efforts to “Be the Manger,” we hear a call to stillness so that God can once again be with us in the manger of our hearts.