Daily Advent Devotional

ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOYDecember 17 Rev. Jenny WynnTending Toward JusticeJohn 15:1-11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joymay be complete. John 15:11As a child, I was heartbroken watching my dad remove flowers and tomatoeson brand new plants before planting. I couldn’t understand why he would dothis to the plant. Eventually, I learned about pinching, deadheading, and prun-ing. Each requires removing parts of plants at specific growth stages. Thisallows for redirection of energy for fuller growth and better tasting fruits. Ilearned careful tending leads to deep joy at harvest time.John 15:1-12 uses the metaphor of a gardener and a vine to illustrate an abid-ing relationship with God and Christ that is rooted in love. This relationshipproduces fruitful discipleship. When the vine branches stop producing fruit,they need some pruning to redirect energy toward what truly matters, love.In Advent, as we long for a fruitful future free from violence, scarcity, anddeath-dealing systems, we must ask: what needs pruning in our lives andcommunities? Perhaps our tendency to judge rather than love, our impulse tohoard resources instead of sharing with those in need, or our silence whenfacing injustice?Pruning may be difficult, but when harvest comes, when everyone has enough,communities are healed and restored, joy is made complete. Just as my fa-ther’s careful removal of early fruit led to abundant tomatoes, spiritual pruningredirects our energy toward love and justice, and toward cultivating the worldthat we seek.Take time to notice moments when you’re tempted to judge, hoard, or stay si-lent. In those moments, ask: “How can I redirect this energy toward love?” Letthese redirections be your pruning practice.

ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOYDecember 16 Rev. Jenny WynnA New HeartEzekiel 36:1-37A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I willremove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.Ezekiel 36:26It may be cliché, but when I read Ezekiel’s words, I can’t help but think of theGrinch. The Grinch is a curmudgeonly character whose heart is famously “twosizes too small.” He hated everything about Christmas, so he plotted to stealChristmas.When the Grinch realizes that Christmas couldn’t be stolen because Christ-mas was more than food, presents, and decorations, his heart begins to grow.What strikes me the most is when Cindy Lou Who invites this former enemy tojoin their Christmas feast. In that moment, the Grinch must become vulnerableand release the protective barriers he had built around his wounded heart.The Grinch had allowed hatred, distrust, and fear to isolate and harden him.Sound familiar? We live in times when it’s easy to be consumed by fear anddistrust. Our hearts can become numb to it all.This is where Ezekiel’s ancient promise becomes deeply personal. Speakingto God’s people in exile, the prophet envisions complete heart transformation.God promises to remove hearts of stone and replace them with hearts offlesh: hearts that beat for justice, hearts dedicated to God’s dream for cre-ation, hearts renewed in covenantal relationship with God.This Advent, we are invited to examine our own hearts. Like the exiles in Eze-kiel’s time and like the Grinch in his mountain cave, we too can experiencerevival of our hearts. God can soften what has hardened, heal what has beenwounded, and give us a vision of Shalom to work toward.

ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOYDecember 15 Rev. Jenny WynnJoy in Hard TimesPhilippians 4:4-7Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4During seminary I attended a women’s retreat. The organizers invited us topick a rock inscribed with a word. When I drew my rock, I was not pleased: myword was happy. I quietly traded it in, only to find my new word was cheerful.No better. Weeks later, in my Theological Reflection Group, our leader gaveeveryone a rock with a word. I looked down. Mine read: joy. Really?Why would the words happy, cheerful, and joy bother anyone?Many people struggle to hold on to joy during Advent. It’s hard to rejoice ina consumer culture that insists the perfect holiday can be bought when youstruggle from day to day to make ends meet. It’s hard to hold onto joy whenheadlines are filled with violence and war.In the confines of a prison, Paul offers insight on holding onto joy despite whatis going on in the world around us. Paul writes to the church in Philippi: “Re-joice in the Lord always” (v. 4). How could Paul rejoice in prison?Paul refused to give his captors power over his joy. His joy was not rooted incircumstance or external factors, but in faith and a living, ongoing relationshipwith God and with the faith community. Paul’s joy was a joy that endured andsustained even in the hardest seasons.How can a joy, grounded in faith, sustain you in this season?

ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOYDecember 14 Rev. Jenny WynnGoing Out in JoyIsaiah 55:1-13For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and thehills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall claptheir hands. Isaiah 55:12As I write this devotional on joy, news is breaking of another school shooting.Two children died during Mass. How can I write about joy when I’m filled withsadness and anger over senseless violence?Isaiah’s words stare back at me: “For you shall go out in joy and be led back inpeace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all thetrees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12).Where is this joy? This peace? How do we go out in joy when nowhere seemssafe, not even places where children worship?Isaiah’s prophetic words offered comfort to the exiles, who had been waitingand praying for something more, giving them perspective beyond the tyrannyand violence of their world. The prophet envisioned a different kind of empire,a place of Shalom.In Advent, we follow the same rhythm: we wait and long for peace. Isaiah 55reminds us that our task is to come, listen, see, and seek God. We must breakfrom the death-dealing ways of the empire and engage prophetic imaginationthat seeks to transform our current world.Our waiting isn’t passive complacency but active engagement. We’re calledto work toward transformation. We go out in joy not because our world is per-fect, but in anticipation of what it can become with God’s help.Even amid tragedy, we hold onto hope. Our joy comes from trusting that God’skingdom of peace is both promised and possible.

ADVENT WEEK TWO: PEACEDecember 13 Rev. Mike MillerThe Peace of Advent2 Thessalonians 3:1-17Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.The Lord be with all of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:16In the midst of Advent, when the world is often rushing toward Christmas withfull-speed anticipation, this prayer in 2 Thessalonians 3:16 brings a gentle re-minder that peace is not something we find by striving or planning, but some-thing that God gifts to us, in every season and at all times.This blessing over the Thessalonians is a prayer for divine peace to floodtheir hearts, not just in moments of quiet, but in every circumstance, whetherin moments of joy or in trials. And as we await the coming of Christ, we, too,are invited to experience this peace. The Lord of peace is with us, and offerspeace that isn’t dependent on external circumstances.Advent is a time of longing for the peace that Jesus brings into a brokenworld. The Prince of Peace came not as a distant figure, but as Emmanuel,God with us. His presence offers a peace that goes beyond mere tranquility.It’s a peace that holds us steady in uncertainty, calms our hearts in worry, andreassures us in fear.

ADVENT WEEK TWO: PEACEDecember 12 Rev. Mike MillerAdvent RestPsalm 4In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwellin safety. Psalm 4:8 (NIV)It seems as if true peace is rare since our world is filled with constant noise,pressure, uncertainty, and hatred. It can be hard to feel peace as we movethrough our days because we tend to pick up what others are sending outinto the world, whether it be positivity or negativity.Often, it is in the darkness in our bedrooms that we begin to process the day.It is in the silence of the night when we realize what we have been carryingwith us throughout the day. We can hyperfocus on all of the pressures andproblems that we feel and have encountered. And for many of us, this leads toa feeling opposite that of peace.But this psalm reminds me that God’s peace is not found when problems areabsent but God’s peace is found when we rest in the presence of God. And inthose moments when we rest with God, we are granted a glimpse of a life thatis full of God’s peace.Advent invites us to reclaim that peace, the kind of peace that allows us torest, not because everything is perfectly calm, but because we know God isin control. During Advent when we are busy with preparations for the season,we too often forget to rest in the presence of God.This Advent, may we find stillness in our hearts, even when the world aroundus is loud and frantic. We can rest in the peace that God brings.

ADVENT WEEK TWO: PEACEDecember 11 Rev. Mike MillerPeace and HopeMatthew 6:25-34Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value thanthey? Matthew 6:26In Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus invites us into a radical kind of trust that confrontsour deepest anxieties about daily life. He tells us not to worry about what wewill eat, drink, or wear. At first glance, that may feel unrealistic. After all, theseare basic needs. But Jesus isn’t dismissing our concerns; He’s reorientingthem.He points us to nature, to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. Theydon’t stress or strive, yet God cares for them. Jesus reminds us that we areworth far more and if God provides for lesser things with such beauty andconsistency, how much more will God provide for us? Jesus is teaching us toredirect our focus away from the stresses of life to a more peaceful way ofliving. And when we do this, perhaps our daily needs will fall into their properplace.But it is not always easy to redirect our focus when life seems beyond ourcontrol. It is not easy to live in a state of peace when there are people legis-lating what we can and cannot do with our bodies, or who we are, or whomwe love. It is hard to live in peace when we see families being torn apart by acallous and racist government.But perhaps in these times, the peace Jesus brings is found in the hope thatJesus brings. That hope is that one day our world will better reflect how Jesussees each one of us. That hope is that one day our world will reflect how Je-sus cares for every one of us.

ADVENT WEEK TWO: PEACEDecember 10 Rev. Mike MillerThe Call of PeaceRomans 12:17-21If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, love peaceably with all.Romans 12:18This passage from Romans 12 has been one of my personal favorite scrip-tures along my faith journey. And it reminds me that if our journey as Chris-tians and Christ followers is easy, I don’t believe we are doing it right.Paul’s words here are challenging. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil... live atpeace with everyone.” These aren’t passive instructions; they are active callsto peacemaking. Our call to be Christians is not a call to passivity: it is a call toaction. This kind of peace that we are called to create with God isn’t just theabsence of conflict, but it is the intentional presence of grace, forgiveness,and humility.As we reflect on the Peace of God this Advent, we’re reminded that Jesuscame not only to bring peace to us but also to make peace through us. Jesuswas not born into a serene, peaceful world, but into one filled with injustice,fear, and political tension.Still, Jesus chose peace and continues to call us to do the same. Our world isstill so full of injustice, fear, and political polarization. Our call as Christians isto continue to create spaces of peace for all of God’s beloved: which is all ofus.Advent is a season of expectation, wonder, and preparation — not only forthe birth of Christ but for the transformation Jesus’ coming brings. In a worldmarked by division, resentment, and conflict, Romans 12 calls us to somethingradically different: the way of peace.

ADVENT WEEK TWO: PEACEDecember 9 Rev. Mike MillerPeace in the PreparationsJohn 14:1-31Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as theworld gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them beafraid. John 14:27As Jesus prepared His disciples for His departure, He spoke these words inJohn 14:27. He knew fear and uncertainty would soon overwhelm them. Andyet, in the midst of impending chaos, Jesus left them with peace. This peacewasn’t the absence of conflict but the presence of calm in the storm. It is asettled assurance rooted in trust.Advent invites us to prepare ourselves to receive that same peace. While theworld around us may pulse with anxiety, and distractions, or self-imposedpressure to create the “perfect” Christmas Eve service, or to keep the peacebetween warring family members as the mediator, Jesus reminds us thatthere is peace.This peace doesn’t depend on circumstances. It’s not earned through effortor found in a quiet room or when we do everything “right.” But it is a peace ofpresence. It is the peace that reminds us that no matter what is going on inthe world and in our lives that we can look to Jesus and find peace.As we wait in expectation for the coming of the Christ Child, may we also re-ceive this gift of peace with open hearts. May we be reminded that this gift ofpeace is not here just for a moment, but is here for every season, every strug-gle, and every heart.In the quiet of Advent, we pause to remember the promise of peace, notthe fragile, fleeting kind the world offers, but the deep, enduring peace thatcomes from above.