Daily Advent Devotional

ADVENT WEEK FOUR: LOVEDecember 21 Rev. Allie Utley, PhDThe Origins of Love IncarnateJohn 1:1-18“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Wordwas God.” John 1:1The poetic first verse of the Gospel is something of an origin story. We oftenread this passage on or around Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus:God taking the form of a baby. Christ comes to us, fragile, small, dependent.But the writer of John reminds us that Jesus’ life doesn’t begin at Christmas;it reaches all the way back to the beginning of the cosmos. His very being iseternally woven together in the very being of God our creator.In advent, we wait for the coming of the Son of God through whom the love ofGod was, is, and will be revealed. That doesn’t mean the Hebrew people didn’tknow God’s love, or that Jesus is the only way God makes love known. Butone reason I claim Christianity as my faith is that I am moved by this mystery:that God would become human, that God would take on vulnerability, tempta-tion, even suffering.In Christ’s coming, God draws close not only to reveal love, but to know ourlives fully. There is no part of you, no part of me, that is hidden from thatknowing love. This knowing can make us feel loved, but it can also make usfeel vulnerable and exposed.Advent is a season of anticipation and preparation. What might it look like toopen ourselves to that love and to allow ourselves to be truly known?

ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOYDecember 20 Rev. Jenny WynnBetween Memory and HopePsalm 126Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.Psalm 126:2aRituals are an important part of our faith. They provide structure and meaningin our lives while helping to manage anxiety and stress. When we feel disori-ented, rituals can help reorient us to what matters most.Rituals connect us to our faith story. They remind us of who we are, wherewe have been, and where we are going. Most importantly, rituals remind us ofGod’s presence in our lives and that we belong to God.Psalm 126 reflects a period after exile. Joy erupts in the Psalm as the com-munity looks back on their deliverance. The psalm goes beyond an exercisein longing for “the good old days.” It remembers the joy of the past, but it alsoorients the readers toward anticipating joy. It engages both rituals of celebra-tion and lament, using them to point to an ever-present God who meets us inour sorrow and our joy.How can you engage in the rituals embodied in this psalm by acknowledgingthe pain while also celebrating what has been lived?You might consider lighting a candle and naming a loss that you have expe-rienced this year, then name a hope for the coming year. As you engage inthese rituals, remember that you are not alone.Remember the promise of the psalmist: “Those who go out weeping, bear-ing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying theirsheaves (v. 6).”

ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOYDecember 19 Rev. Jenny WynnJoy Breaks ThroughIsaiah 52:7-9Break forth; shout together for joy, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord hascomforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem… Isaiah 52:9Advent draws us into a liminal space, a threshold between what is and what isyet to come. Advent invites us to voice our longings along with our bold decla-rations that our broken and fragmented world can be made whole.Advent draws our attention to those who have existed and continue to exist indifficult and painful liminal spaces. It is into such places that the prophet Isa-iah spoke. The prophet knew the deep pain that the Judeans in exile voicedwhen they cried, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me” (Isa-iah 49:14).Yet into this despair, God speaks words of hope, words brimming with joy. Isa-iah responds to their fears with profound assurance that God was still moving,still working toward renewal. “Break forth; shout together for joy, you ruins ofJerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusa-lem (v. 9).”This is Advent’s promise: our whispered prayers in uncertainty are not the endof the story. We are not alone, God still has need of us, not as passive waiters,but as joyful, active participants working for the peace we long to see throughacts of compassion, justice, and love.Where might God be calling you to participate in bringing wholeness to bro-ken places this Advent?

ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOYDecember 18 Rev. Jenny WynnMore than CrumbsMatthew 15:21-28She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from theirmasters’ table.” Matthew 15: 27Mary Oliver wrote in her poem “Don’t Hesitate,” “Joy is not meant to be acrumb.” This wisdom echoes Matthew 15:21–28, where a Canaanite womanseeks mercy for herself and her daughter, who is tormented by a demon. Shecries out loudly to Jesus. Her cries are met by Jesus’ silence. Annoyed thedisciples urge him to send her away for being too loud.Jesus finally speaks, saying, “I was sent only for the lost sheep of the houseof Israel.” Undeterred, she kneels and pleads. His reply is harsh and cutsdeep, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”Nevertheless, she persisted. This outsider refused silencing, even by Jesus.With an expansive vision of God’s household, she fought for her and herdaughter’s place in it. Her bold reply, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fallfrom their masters’ table.” opened his eyes. He praised her faith. Her daughterwas healed. This woman helps Jesus to see how wide God’s welcome ex-tends.In Advent, this brave woman teaches us. Standing between what was andwhat could be, she joined the endless chorus crying out to Emmanuel. Sheclung to a crumb of hope, believing her world and her daughter’s world couldchange.Her voice joins countless others still crying for a different way, namely the wayof justice. She reminds us never to settle for crumbs. God’s welcome, mercy,and joy were never meant to be mere crumbs for anyone.

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.