Advent - Year C -- 2024
Indexed by Date. Sermons for Advent Year C
Jeremiah 33: 14-16
Psalm 25
Luke 21: 25-36
A former “across the street neighbour” told me that when they were young and “acting up” and her mother was at the end of her patience they would be warned, “Don’t make me call your father.” It was in the days before cell phones and you kinda have to know that their father was on the road all day for the phone company and if his boss called him on the two way radio, he had to pull over and climb a telephone pole to clip into a line to make the call.
The Great Realisation is a YouTube video from the UK, created in response to the pandemic of 2020. In case you have not seen it, it depicts a father of a young child who begs him to read his favourite book, “the Great Realization.” In the beginning of the story the world was polluted, profit driven and inhabited by people and even families that had lost touch with one another. Then came the pandemic which forced people to stay indoors where they baked, and spent time together and rediscovered joy in the simple pleasures of life.
As I think about life at the end of 2024, I wish that the optimistic vision of this video had lasted. I think we all heaved a collective sigh of relief as the pandemic ended, restrictions were slowly lifted and we could go “back to normal.” We blame our economic troubles on the pandemic restrictions that were lifted long ago and we forget that staying home and connecting with friends and family may have had some benefits. Why were we itching so hard to get back to exactly as we were before the virus hit our shores.
I used to have a cartoon stuck to my filing cabinet in my office. It was published in the early days of computers on ever desk of every office. It depicted a harried secretary and had a caption something like this: “wouldn’t it be great if all I had to do in life, was to hit the “reset” button.
Well, Advent is our spiritual reset button. As a community of faith, Bridging Waters, follows the lectionary cycle from Advent through to Christmas, and on through Lent to Easter and then walk the journey of the long season of Epiphany. We journey from hope to fulfilment, each year. Each year is begun in waiting and expectation and if we do it right it is not a futile journey of going around in circles but like a slinky; our going around builds on the year before it and we grow and change as we encounter the story of redemption and grace and change.
On Wednesday evening a high-school classmate I used to know well, put pictures of Christmas lights and decorations on Facebook. He is a teacher in Florida but returned to his childhood home for his father’s funeral. which was that morning. Familiar streets adorned with Christmas lights spoke to him of hope and beauty and thankfulness. Advent begins that journey toward the one who speaks in times of transition. Advent helps us to discover that solid ground we need when everything else seems to be shifting and rumbling. In Advent we discover that the God of heaven and earth is with us still.
We know that we are not the same people we were last year - some of us have had major life changes - a death (like my friend experienced) - a new relationship - the loss of a long term relationship - the addition of a child or grandchild - a move - a new job or a retirement - or the realization that your thinking on something big had to change. In these changes Advent helps us discover that we can rely on the God who promises to never leave us nor forsake us.
As we enter into this new church year we need to pause and reflect on where we have been and where we are going. This reflection is quite separate from making our Christmas list and checking it twice -
We need to ask, “for what do we hope?” As bombs and missiles fly in the very lands mentioned in the biblical text and as people in Ukraine continue to suffer, we pay for peace. When I think of peace I think of the angel songs at Jesus’ birth. But I also think of Jesus’ so called, “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday when he shook his head and lamented that the people did not know, “the things that make for peace.”
The now familiar hymn, “Walls that Divide” reminds us that we cannot have true peace in a world where “waste and want live side by side”. Advent will teach is that we cannot have true peace in the midst of racism limits people’s lives, where nationalism hurts others. We cannot have peace where family violence is ignored or when schools are filled with gang violence and drugs.
Of course there has never been a world at total peace but that does not mean that we lose the dream. We may feel as if we are going to a new land where all the road signs have been taken down or monkeyed with, but we are called to follow a new map, a new ‘visitors guide to the Realm of God” The hymn, “Lead on, O Cloud of Presence,” concludes with these lines, “We pray our sons and daughters may journey to that land, where justice dwells with mercy, and love is law’s demand.”
In this Advent may this be our prayer.
Amen.
Malachi 3: 1-4
Song of Zechariah
Luke 3: 1-6
August 31, 1997 was a Sunday; it was the day that Diana, the ex-wife of the Prince of Wales was killed in a car accident in Paris, France. Despite the fact that she and the Prince were no longer married, she was still, “the people’s princess” and as the sun rose, it was “breaking news” the world over. Many people were heartbroken and the outpouring of emotions and flowers at the Palace gates was astounding. Those who did not hear on the radio or TV news, heard it from friends, neighbours and even strangers. By the time I arrived at church almost everyone had already heard. It seemed as if the whole world was in mourning.
I gather that people of different “generations” access the news in different ways.
In an app on a cell phone.
On the radio.
On an all news TV channel where you have to pay attention to 5 things at once.
From a newspaper.
By word of mouth.
Or, in the case of one couple I know, not at all. This young couple did not watch the news or buy newspapers. If it did not happen in their community, they were simply not interested.
Most people though like to know something about the world around them - was that lost child found? How bad was that car accident the other day. And who won the election?
The year was 1962 and the world seemed to be on the verge of nuclear war. In what came to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet long range weapons had been stationed in Cuba and American ones were ready to launch from Italy and Turkey. I’m told that some people in the USA were going around in a daze, not sure if an all-out nuclear war was about to destroy everything. School children were being taught to hide under their desks - as if that would provide any measure of safety.
Immigrant and war veteran, Noël Regney wrote, the song, “Do you hear what I hear,” as a prayer for peace. When he arrived home, his wife, Gloria Shayne, in a departure from their traditional way of working, wrote the music. I read that neither of them could perform it because it evoked such strong emotions. When Bing Crosby recorded it, it became an overnight sensation.
Regney had been invited by his record producer for a new Christmas song but he was hesitant because he felt that Christmas had become too commercial in the early 1960s, and he did not want to write a song that promoted that kind of Christmas. He was inspired to write it after seeing mothers with babies in strollers in New York City.
I have said before that in order for the promises of Christmas to be real for us, the promises have to speak to the real lives of people, in our case, Saskatchewan residents in the year 2024. There have been better years; there have been many worse! Christmas is not a long ago event, it is a celebration of hope in the midst of the difficulties of the here and now.
For Mary and Joseph the situation was very precarious. They were living in occupied lands and had been doing so for generations. Not even the oldest person could say, “I remember when things were much better, when we were free.” What they had was ancient prophesy and stories of the reign of the great King David - from the good old days, from long, long, before.
We tend to think of Christmas as something to be celebrated best when everyone is safe and well - and has lots of money to spend. Sometimes people put Christmas on the back burner when there has been a death in the family or there is a serious illness. We forget that the songs about “peace on earth” were designed for those times when the people did not experience those things. The songs are prayers for peace as much as they are songs of thanksgiving in times of peace.
I remember the year when we lit candles for the people serving in the Canadian army, deployed overseas, one of whom was part of our own church family. Our prayer was a prayer for his safe return as well as an expression of our deep desire that the conflict itself come to an end. When the world in which we live and move and have our being is relatively peaceful we may sing without much real emotion, knowing in our heads that we should be thankful, but such feelings don’t go much below the surface.
But we should never forget that millions life in fear for their lives. For them, the prayer, “let there be peace on earth” is truly a matter of life and death, a matter of their very survival.
Some people have “Christmas in Bethlehem”, on their bucket list but the Canadian government does not recommend it this year; all public celebrations were cancelled last year. Syria has just had a major crisis and Ukraine is still under attack. Family violence in our own communities harms vulnerable people - and the list goes on. The Blue Christmas service many churches offer gives an opportunity for the hurting to pray for God’s peace without the distraction of the commercialized, “feel good” Christmas, of turkey, tinsel and travel, and may serve only to rub salt in open wounds.
We have read the story so very often we can forget the trauma that Mary and Joseph must have experienced - because of their situation, they would have been ostracized by many family members and they were living under occupation. The people of Palestine, Jews and Gentiles, had not been in charge of their own lives for generations.
There used to be a phrase used as a euphemism for evangelism, “gossiping the gospel.” I suppose if I was to sit in any coffee-shop in Canada I would hear a great deal of gossip. Of course there is the genuine concern for those who are ill, or recovering from an accident, or away for the winter but there is a lot of genuine gossip, malicious, or not.
What if, we were as eager to gossip news of hope as we were to tell what we thought of as bad news. If they had coffee shops in Nazareth, imagine how many people would have been talking of Joseph and Mary. bad news. What if we focussed on things like beautiful northern lights.
I know that they are appearing in the Maritimes this year and they are a massive hit with many people going out of their way to get the best vantage point. Do we notice any more. What about the gorgeous silver thaw as the light dawned these last few snowy days. Shooting stars, can inspire awe inn anyone, if they let them. What about the feeling of peace that overcame you when you looked at pictures of your loved one or when you held a new grandchild and remembered when you were holding your own children all those years ago.
The hope of Christmas is worth talking about, worth passing on, worth shouting from the rooftops. Long before satellites made GPS navigation possible, the stars guided mariners to their destination. It made sense that the stars would announce the birth of the Prince of Peace. Just because there has never been peace over all the earth does not mean that we should not believe in its possibility. It is as if the heavens are singing, singing with such gusto that you are sure you are beside a rolling ocean. Or a windswept lake.
That little lamb, after having listened to the night wind, passes on to the young boy, tending sheep, “there is good news afoot. Believe!”
It does not stop there but the shepherd boy, a person of no account, receiving an audience with the King and telling of the Good News, news of peace on earth. In this transmission, hearing becomes knowledge, peace is on its way.
Notice the irony in the song - a shivering and cold child in a warm palace. Visited by magi, strangers from the east and gifted with silver and gold, prompts those who have ears, those who do know, to pray for peace.
Do you hear what I hear? Said the night wind to the little lamb Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb Do you see what I see? A star, a star, dancing in the night With a tail as big as a kite Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy Do you hear what I hear? Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy Do you hear what I hear? A song, a song high above the trees With a voice as big as the sea Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king Do you know what I know? In your palace warm, mighty king Do you know what I know? A Child, a Child shivers in the cold Let us bring him silver and gold Said the king to the people everywhere Listen to what I say! Pray for peace, people, everywhere Listen to what I say! The Child, the Child sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light He will bring us goodness and light.
Let us allow the goodness and light of Christmas to seep into our hearts and souls and this Christmas let us live and let us sing, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”
Amen.
Zephaniah 3: 14-20
Isaiah 12
Luke 3: 7-18
(Codette) When I was young, one of my favourite camp songs was, “I’ve got the joy”. It went like this: I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, Down in my heart, Down in my heart, Down in my heart; I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, Down in my heart, Down in my heart to stay.
(Nipawin) One of my favourite camp songs was “I’ve got the joy.” I COULD sing it, but I asked Hughene and she said the choir could do the first verse.”
The song is very repetitive and can come off as kind of silly. However it’s not as silly as the song which I learned in Brownies or Girl Guides, which begins, “My eyes are dim, I cannot see, I have not brought my specs with me” and goes on to mention things such as bananas in striped pyjamas and turtles wearing rubber girdles. Kids can get quite good at coming up with hilarious rhyming combinations but I could not find many that resonated with my memories when I Googled it last week. I learned the song as “the corner master store” but about 15 years ago, I was told by someone in one of my congregations that I had been singing it wrong, all my life, “it was supposed to be “the Quartermaster store.” If that is actually the case, I suppose it originated on an army base but when it moved to non-army children all they knew were corner stores. All I knew as a very young child were country stores that sold everything from boots and buttons to brown sugar and canned vegetables, and, of course, penny candy. Just to let you know, both versions could be found on the internet the last time I checked. No matter what kind of store it was, it was a fun song.
Today’s passages are about joy and as much as songs like the one I just quoted have a positive effect and put a smile on the faces of children, and give them joy, it is not really the same kind of joy that is spoken of in the passages read in today’s service.
The biblical view of joy is far from silly. In fact, the biblical story takes joy very seriously! I mean that! Joy is meant to be taken seriously! Today’s passages refer to the kind of joy that comes from being aware of what God has done and will do. The joy comes from the promises of prophets who announce that God will save the people from their enemies and from their lack of attention to the ways of God. The joy comes from the promise that they will never be alone, no matter what happens!
Time and again the people were in a pickle. Their misfortune was linked to their lack of faithfulness. They had forgotten to be Gos’s children, had neglected the call to be a light to the nations, had failed to care for the aliens and the strangers in their midst. They had forgotten their call to service and had replaced it with an assurance of privilege and rested on their laurels - like “Little Jack Horner” they said to themselves, “what good boys and girls we are.” The prophets would call them back to their identity, to their centre and thereby give them hope and in giving hope their received joy. The possibility of God’s dream opened up for them.
At the outset, the preaching of the Baptizer named John, does not seem to have much joy. After all he looked at his audience and called them “a bunch of snakes.” “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come.” It does not really sound like a way to make friends and influence people. John was a very intriguing character; after all if you live in the wilderness and exist on bugs and honey, your sermons are bound to be a little unusual.
Many years ago, I began my sermon on this Gospel passage with similar words; “who told you to come to church today, do you think you’ll make through the pearly gates, just by coming to church!?” A few were shocked, but I suppose, by then, most were used to odd sermon introductions and knew that, if they listened, they would “get it” by the end of the sermon.
I’m a Call the Midwife fan. Occasionally Dr. Turner must give a patient bad news but in the next sentence he may say, “We can treat this now and there is no reason you cannot live a normal life.”
John announces a painful harvest - with a winnowing fork. I guess it is like a manual threshing machine. Imagine what it would be like to be tossed up in the air to have your chaff and wheat separated? My mother used to talk about their threshing machine, but I had never seen one working till last summer when I went to the Living Forestry Museum and saw the one they have being demonstrated. Before the invention of combines they saved a great deal of work.
Deep down, the people knew that John “had their number” but the thing about that kind of preaching is, that it can lead to despair. Those hearers go home feeling there is no path to redemption, no hope, no way to “fix it.”
The people asked for some good news; what can we do? John had good news too, there were things to do. The society of John’s day was divided into haves and have-nots, the powerful and the powerless. They were the foreigners working as soldiers, the well-off who owned land and extra clothing and had food to spare, and the tax collectors who were supposed to be part of the community but whose opulent lifestyle came at the expense of their neighbours.
His advice is simple, though costly. It is not “rocket science” as we may say. Each was allowed to earn a living but not to the point of exploiting their clients or the people they served.
I recall the student at AST who used to live overseas in a kind of sketchy country with frequent checkpoints for travellers. I cannot remember which one! He told us that it was customary to carry American money in his passport and more often than not it was gone when the passport was returned to him. He and his employer saw it as the cost of doing business in that country.
Syria is one country in today’s world which is at a crossroads. When oppressive regimes fall apart it is tricky to bring in a regime which is fair and treats the people equitably. There may be too many who want to receive some sort of “extra compensation.” In such a country oppressive regimes may be replaced by chaos and more oppression.
He has advice for tax collectors - only charge enough to make an acceptable wage. As I understand it, tax collectors received a bill from Rome for their area and as long as they remitted their amount, they could charge a top-up as large as they wanted. They were widely regarded as traitors (because they worked for Rome) and as thieves (for their price gouging).
The people who were well off enough to have extra food and clothing were exhorted to share with those who did not have adequate amounts of these things. It’s easy enough to say to ourselves, “we deserve to have more because we work harder.” John does not get into that debate but, instead says “share.”
John also tells people not to count on their being “children of Abraham” - they will need more than that to become “right with God”. Some people felt that the children of Abraham were chosen for special favour but John was just another one of many prophets who told the people that they needed to show their own faithfulness.
These days some people might say, “My family were among the first people to settle in this area. My great great great grandfather chopped down the first tree or built the first grain elevator, or came with the railway, or was a fur trader.” Some of these people might say these things as if they deserve more respect or have more say about the future because they have settled here the longest. Many of these folks don’t recognize the various peoples driven out by settlers who came with different ideas about the use of the land and the right to individual ownership.
I have heard some American friends brag and claim to be descendants of those who came on the Mayflower. I also read somewhere that there are far more people who CLAIM that their ancestors came over on the Mayflower than is actually possible, given the known history and passenger capacity of that little ship. Half the people died on the voyage and half of those remaining did not survive the first winter. None would have survived without the help of local indigenous communities. So they were a small group for the population of a colony.
Canadians who have paid a great deal of attention to their own genealogy proudly trace their lineage through the hardships - why they left, what they faced when they arrived here and so on - and there is nothing wrong with this but once it starts causing a pecking order it is a skewed view of life.
I was once told about a certain person, in the community which I lived who was married to the judge of the county court, who thought that she did not have to wait in line, at the local general store because “her husband was the judge” but the store owner had different thoughts and told her so. “Wait in line Ma’am. These other people were here first.”
Does someone born in Canada and born a citizen have more rights than someone who moved here, passed the exam and became a citizen. I have looked at a sample citizenship test, some of it is “common knowledge” but some of the stuff on it, I never learned or forgot long ago.
John’s preaching should challenge us as he challenged the first hearers long ago. Yet, his is a message of joy: it’s not long now, the one who is greater than all people is coming.
Rejoice for God’s salvation is at hand.
Amen.
Micah 5: 2-5a
Luke 1: 47-55
Luke 1: 39-45
I am struck by the opening line of the gospel reading where we are told that Mary went with haste to see her relative, Elizabeth. I have known many women in labour who went with haste to the hospital and I have known some of them who were told to go back home and wait some more. But this was not that! This was Mary who was unexpectedly expecting (but nowhere near her due date) who went to see her much older relative who was also unexpectedly expecting.
Mary knew that Elizabeth would understand. Mary knew that Elizabeth would be able to listen to her story of an angel visitation and not call her crazy. Mary knew that Elizabeth would understand that their children were somehow linked. And they both knew that these marvellous things were God’s doing.
I remember visiting my mother’s much older relative and his wife quite a few years ago. Before our visit, we did not know that she was expecting. She was much younger than he was but it was still a surprise; unlike Elizabeth and Zachariah, they already had 2 children but thought nighttime feedings and diapers were well behind them!. Over the next few years we would comment that they were the only couple we knew that received both an Old Age Pension and a Family Allowance Cheque.
On this last Sunday before Christmas we leap ahead in time to those months just before Jesus birth. Some people tell me that this is what happens with most pregnancies; 9 months seems so long into the future and then, before you know it, the birth will be “any day now!”
The impending birth of a baby often causes a flurry of preparations such as getting a room ready and of borrowing or purchasing many items. The list may include cribs, baby gates, playpens and high chairs, car-seats and strollers, diapers and clothes and lots of stuff Amazon will deliver to your door, with free shipping!
Elizabeth and Mary would have had similar preparations but of a much simpler nature than today’s parents. But according to Luke, that was not likely the topic of much of the conversation between Mary and Elizabeth. Both knew that this was God’s doing and that the time had now come for God’s long promised saviour to be born. I wonder if they speculated what each child would be like and how old they would be before someone else saw in them the fulfilment of the promise? Did they know each one would die for their proclamation instead of being promoted to power and honour. Did they keeping for the day to arrive and did they spend time looking for signs!
It would do no good for the mothers to say anything about their special children to anyone else; after all the mothers are, more or less expected to promote their children as the best and greatest.
I received two pictures of my nephew’s oldest son this past week. One was of his second birthday party - complete with a new outfit, a bunch of balloons, and a themed backdrop. His mother and I agreed that it was hard to believe he was 2 already. The other was an official Christmas picture from day-care wearing the sweater I sent him. The photos will become a scrapbook page; one for my album, one for his mother’s.
I have a box full of pictures I have been sent by the proud parents of children I have baptized, usually in a Christmas card. I have several years’ worth for some children, and yes I do keep them! When you are the parent you just have to share your good news. When I was in my second pastoral charge I baptized 9 and 6 year old neighbours; who requested the baptism themselves. A few years before the girl was ordained, I was back in the community at a church event and her father asked me if I had realized that one of the children I baptized would some day become an ordained minister. I did not at the time, but as I saw her grow and become involved in Conference children and youth forum and in a significant leadership role, I hoped that the Spirit was pushing her in that direction. Yes, I also credit at least one of my successors in ministry and the entire church for supporting her and sending her to youth events, having her serve on the church board and holding her in prayer.
Somewhere in the Psalms section of Voices United is a refrain that was written during a meeting of the hymn book committee - during their lunch break. Apparently, the committee was looking for an appropriate refrain and tune for a certain Psalm but could not find one that seemed to work. One of the musicians on the committee sat at the keyboard and whipped it up - before they reconvened. He refers to it as “a work of the Spirit.” I would venture to say that the vast majority of hymns were regarded by their authors as works of the Spirit. Each one has a story; each one is a faith expression.
There is a YouTube video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing “It is well with my Soul” and the performance is narrated by British actor Hugh Bonneville (think of the 7th Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley of Downton Abbey fame). He speaks of the hymn as a response to the tragedies in the life of the hymn’s author Horatio Spafford. 151 years ago all of his children were drowned when their ship sank on a transatlantic voyage. This was after he was financially ruined because of the “great Chicago fire” and subsequent downturn in the economy of that city.
The people of Israel had hoped for a messiah, a saviour, for generations. Generally speaking, their hope was for a political leader who would send the Romans packing and who would sit on his rightful throne in Jerusalem. There was no separation of church and state in their hopes and dreams.
The prophesy of Micah casts new light on things. In the beginning, these hopes and dreams were focussed on Jerusalem, but Micah’s prophecy changed it- for those who were listening. Bethlehem may well have been King David’s birthplace, but it was not his capital nor the seat of his power. To me this is a not-so-subtle sign that Jesus would change many other things about his fulfilment of the hopes for the messiah. Jesus would defy all of their expectations.
Micah’s prophecy asked people to look for the fulfilment of God’s reign in an unexpected place - Bethlehem. The trouble is that we know the so-called Christmas story so well that we forget how startling it was to its first hearers. When the news was new, it was new and different. We forget to stay open to the new things that are happening in our time.
(In Nipawin) you saw and heard our Moderator’s Christmas message (for Codette) I will read her message.
I am the Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, 44th Moderator of The United Church of Canada.
In the Christian year, Christmas is the start of change. During the Advent season, we anticipate the possibility of change while we realize that the change is not yet here. At Christmas, with the arrival of the Word made flesh in the Christ Child, change is here.
The Hebrew Scriptures proclaim in Psalm 96: “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord; bless [God’s] name; tell of [God’s] salvation from day to day.”
I’ve been reflecting on many things: my first two-and-a-half years as Moderator, anticipating my last six months of my term, commemorating the Centennial of our denomination, preparing for General Council 45 next year, and the seeds we are planting for growth and ministry renewal all across the church.
None of it is easy, but so much of it is good. It has been such a privilege and honour to work alongside you all since the General Council in 2022. So, this Christmas, let’s look around us at the signs of changes and new life.
Let us continue to do the work of deep spirituality, bold discipleship, and daring justice, and to be a blessing to God’s name.
Just like we would look with awe and wonder at the arrival of a child, let us sing a new song to the Holy One.
Like the hymn asks us, “open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me.” We would not need our eyes opened if we encountered Jesus in the same way and the same place every year. The first Christmas is a long time ago, historically; Bethlehem and Jerusalem are a long way away, geographically. Sadly they are in the news almost daily as the conflict between Hamas and Israel continues. To see such destruction and suffering is very troubling.
But I remember the then moderator the Very Rev Stan Mackay saying that most Canadians talk of the “holy land” being synonymous with Israel or Palestine, but challenging us by saying that the holy land is where we live and move and have our being; IT IS HERE, IN CANADA here in Canada. Our land is holy. The place in which we connect with Creator is sacred. The hope for a world made new is also about life here, not just in some far-away place. So if we have read these promises as already having happened in another place and time we need to listen to Micah again and ask, “what are we missing because we expect it to happen somewhere else to someone else or because we expect it to be in the past? We need to be open to Emmanuel coming to us, here in Saskatchewan in 2024.
Christmas, like Easter, is meant to be a present reality, not just a commemoration of a past event.
I was driving around looking for someone’s house - you don’t have posted civic numbers or mailboxes in rural areas and the picture that formed in my mind was different than the one they intended to convey, when I asked for directions, which made finding their house harder.
Perhaps we are looking for one thing and God’s grace is reaching out to us in other ways. In Jesus’ case the people were looking for a warrior king and Jesus came as the Prince of Peace; he was not rich, but poor; not educated, but self-taught.
Any day now we will celebrate God coming to us.
May we be open to seeing it this year.
Amen.