Though the Lord may give you the bread
of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself
any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or
when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This
is the way; walk in it.”
Isaiah
30:20-21
Advent is a
season of anticipation and hope based on a promise that God is coming to us. If
we reduce the season to a time of preparation to celebrate a birth that
happened 2000 years ago, we rob Advent of its full meaning. We can look back to
the birth of the Christ child, but we do that because the child born so long
ago allows us to look towards our future with hope. In a time when social services
struggle for adequate funding, it is easy to lose hope.
When Lutheran
Children and Family Service concluded its involvement in refugee resettlement
and support services for adoption, foster care, and after- school programs this
year, it was difficult to hold on to hope. However, Advent is a time when we
have hope because God is coming to us, and appearing in unexpected places – even
a virgin’s womb. We don’t know God’s plan but we know God is leading us, calling
to us, “This is the way; walk in it.”
At this
point, we may not fully know what new life arises out of not renewing
contracts, but we know for sure that God is coming to us, arriving in unexpected
places and accomplishing amazing things. Let us walk together down the path
that God is taking us with the hope that God brings new life out of difficult times.
God I believe, help my unbelief; God I
want to follow you, but if I do not, drag me. Amen.
The Rev. Eric
Reimer is pastor of St. John’s, Hatboro, PA and is a member of the Lutheran Congregational
Services Advisory Board.
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