Daily Advent Devotional

ADVENT WEEK FOUR: LOVEDecember 22 Rev. Allie Utley, PhDThe TurningLuke 1:46b-55…indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.Luke 1:50There is a group of researchers at Samford Center for Worship and the Artsstudying the experiences of young people in worship. According to their web-site, “the purpose of the Young People and Christian Worship (YPCW) studyis to listen deeply to how young people, including teenagers and emergingadults (aged 13–29), experience public Christian worship in a range of liturgi-cal contexts—Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, evangelical, and charis-matic.”In a recent survey, they found that one of the favorite songs among youngpeople in the Roman Catholic and Mennonite traditions is Canticle of theTurning, a hymn text based on the song of Mary*.It inspires me that young people connect with Mary’s vision of a God whosubverts the world order. From generation to generation, God casts down theproud and powerful and shows preferential love to the marginalized. Fromgeneration to generation, God promises that the tyrants of this world will failand fall.But even if we trust in this promise, we can struggle to see beyond the evils ofour day. We might remember that Mary sings about the mighty work of Godwhile she is still pregnant. She embodies expectancy and hope. Advent is aseason of tension for us as well: God’s love is breaking in, and still, we wait forits fullness.Where might you catch a glimpse of that turning today? And as you wait, howmight you live as though God’s love is already reshaping the world?________________________________*Emily Snider, “Young People and Christian Worship: Seeing the Liturgical Assembly throughthe Eyes of Teenagers and Emerging Adults” (Societas Liturgical, Paris, July 30, 2025).

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?