Third Tuesday of Advent

Scripture Reading for Today:

Psalm 125; 2 Kings 2:9-22; Acts 3:17-4:4

Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. 2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore. 3 The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil. 4 Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. 5 But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers. Peace be on Israel.

2 Kings 2:9-22

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. 15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.” 17 But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” 19 The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.” 20 “Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’” 22 And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

Acts 3:17-4:4

17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ 24 “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

4 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.

Waiting

by Alicia Wilson

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Advent is a time of waiting. Waiting for a time when it does not feel like evil is triumphing. Waiting for God’s restoration, when all in the world will be set right. Waiting for the Christ child to return as King.

This year as I reflect on the season of advent I realize more than ever that I am tired of waiting. I am tired of waiting amidst the brokenness of this world. My heart is heavy from a year of heartache and disappointment. This year I said goodbye to my niece, who I never got to meet. Her arrival into this world was just sooner than her little body could survive. In her death, I had to watch my sister and brother-in-law grieve the child they had prayed for and waited to conceive for over 10 years. This year my heart broke when a three-year relationship that I thought would end in marriage, simply and suddenly ended. It was a relationship that was fractured by the realities of loving someone in the throes of addiction.

This year I struggled with the highs and more often deep lows of depression that I often experience, as I navigate living with bipolar disorder. Unsure of what tomorrow will hold, I often find myself entering the day with anxiety present. And this year I said goodbye to my shadow when I put my Aussiedoodle down. She was a comforting presence that was always right by my side.

This year was not the year I had hoped it would be. It was a year in which my broken heart longed for the world to be set right. I longed for darkness to be chased out by the light. I longed for the waiting to be over. Yet in this longing, Advent reminds me to hold onto hope.

I hold onto the hope that despite the heartache and brokenness of this year there was still beauty. Deep…profound...sacred beauty. It was the beauty of the community. People who chose to enter into the brokenness of my life and carry me through the year. There is deep beauty that shows up when we meet one another in each other's suffering and grief.

I am grateful for the people who have walked through this year with me. At the funeral of my niece my sister and brother-in-law were surrounded by family and lifelong friends that showed up to share in their grief. There have been many deep heart-to-heart talks about loss and relationship where I could be vulnerable and raw about my emotions. I was completely surprised and overwhelmed with gratitude when my cousins pooled together money to help me cover the vet bill for my dog. On my darkest days of depression, I have been reminded by mentors that the darkness won’t last and I just need to hold on. And as I hold on I am reminded of the hope we find in each other.

Yes, Advent does call us to wait. It calls us to wait in the tension of now and not yet….but we do not wait alone. This Advent season, it is the gift of community that reminds me, that in the midst of a suffering world the incarnate God chose to show up.

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