Advent Devotions
All are invited as we Make Room this Advent season.
God Loves Us All
Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Gary Olson.
Please read John 3:1-21.
When we read John 3, the tendency is to focus on John 3:16, “For God so loved the world God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” This is vitally important. It is a summation of the gospel. But to ignore the rest of John 3 is to leave out much more that is important, the
wholeness of God.
Prof. Marjorie Suchocki points out that in John 3 Jesus first speaks of “God as Spirit, bringing us to birth.” Then Jesus speaks of God’s Son (himself) as “being lifted up on the cross to draw all humanity to God.” Finally, Jesus speaks of “the transcending
Father” who sent the Son (John 3:16-17) (God, Christ, Church, p 230 Suchocki).
So we have Father, Son and Spirit, or as Suchocki would say it, “Power, Wisdom, and Presence.” In other words, the Trinity, what I call the wholeness of God.
I find it comforting that the wholeness of God loves the world, the whole world. God loves the trees and breeze, the deer, rabbits and fox, the lakes and streams—the beautiful and nurturing nature! Through nature God enables us to live, to be here.
God loves the world, the whole world—brown and black people, Asian people, Scandinavians and Northern Europeans –immigrants and birth-right citizens alike. God loves us. God loves us all!
That’s why what is happening in Minnesota to many immigrant people who are being targeted without proof that they are here illegally is so abhorrent. People have been accosted on the streets of Minneapolis and St Paul without cause except they are dark skinned or have an accent. People have been yanked out of their homes without Judicial Warrants. There has been the shooting to death of a woman and a man by an ICE agent with no investigation of the agent or of the incident by the nation’s Department of Justice. I am not in favor of criminal behavior but this indiscriminate abuse of people cannot be tolerated. I am in favor of peaceful protest, writing and speaking out. The nation’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seems out of control. We live in fear of them—which seems to be the purpose.
Surely the wholeness of God who loves the world, the whole world, is needed. We are God’s feet and hands and the morality of God’s love.
Last Sunday I prayed a prayer that I edited from a longer poem given to me by Scott Tunseth, author unknown. I share it here:
“Sometimes, Lord,
It just seems to be too much:
too much violence, too much fear;
too much of demands and problems;
too much of broken dreams and broken lives;
too much of war and slums and dying;
too much of greed…;
and the sounds of people
devouring each other
and the earth; …
………
Too much of darkness, Lord,
too much of cruelty
and selfishness….
……..
O God,
make of me some nourishment
for these starved times,
some food
for my brothers and sisters
who are hungry for gladness and hope,
that, being bread for them,
I may also be fed
and be full.”
Amen.
Previously…
Lotus
In the stillness of a serene pond, amidst murky waters, emerges the Lotus, a symbol of purity and enlightenment. Just as the Lotus rises above the muddiness of its surroundings, so too does our faith in a post-resurrection world.
Morning Glory
In the quiet hours before dawn, as the world awakens to the promise of a new day, the Morning Glory unfurls its delicate petals, greeting the sun with radiant beauty. Like the Morning Glory, our lives are a testament to the transformative power of faith in a post-resurrection world.
Empowering Spirit
‘“The Lord has risen indeed,’” (Luke 24:34) the couple heard when they returned from Emmaus, “and he appeared to Simon!” Then the couple shared with the disciples their own encounter with Jesus, how their hearts burned within them.
And yet in the very next verse when Jesus suddenly appeared to all of them again saying, “Peace be with you,” they were “startled and terrified.” He offered proof: “Look at my hands and feet….touch me and see…” And Luke’s gospel tells us that “in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering.” (Luke 24:36)
Why Are You Looking Up?
Millions of people will be looking up today as a total solar eclipse crosses North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. This phenomenon, which happens when the moon passes between the sun and earth, completely blocking the face of the sun, will cause the sky to darken as if it were dawn or dusk.