Devotion for Saturday Before the Third Sunday of Advent, Year C (ELCA Daily Lectionary)

Above:  The Naming of John the Baptist

Image in the Public Domain

An Advent Invitation

DECEMBER 11, 2021

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The Collect:

Stir up the wills of your faithful people, Lord God,

and open our ears to the preaching of John, that

rejoicing in your salvation, we may bring forth the fruits of repentance;

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 19

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The Assigned Readings:

Amos 9:8-15

Isaiah 12:2-6

Luke 1:57-66

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In that day, you shall say:

“I give thanks to You, O LORD!

Although You were wroth with me,

Your wrath has turned back and You comfort me,

Behold the God who gives me triumph!

I am confident, unafraid;

For Yah the LORD is my strength and might,

And He has been my deliverance.”

Joyfully shall you draw water

From the fountains of triumph,

And you shall say on that day:

“Praise the LORD, proclaim His name.

Make His deeds known among the peoples;

Declare that His name is exalted.

Hymn the LORD,

For He has done gloriously;

Let this be made known

In all the world!

Oh, shout for joy,

You who dwell in Zion!

For great is your midst

Is the Holy One of Israel.”

–Isaiah 12:1-6, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

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Now the texts really sound like Advent!  Exile will occur, but it will also end.  Afterward divine generosity will be a wonder to behold.  And, in the New Testament, some people wonder what the newborn St. John the Baptist will become.  The elements of the drama of Advent are coming together.

Exile is an important aspect of the story of Jews living under Roman occupation in their homeland.  The Roman Republic, which allied itself with the Hasmoneans in 1 Maccabees 8, became an occupying force in time.  Then it turned into the Roman Empire.  Jews living in their homeland were in exile in a way.  One way of coping with that reality was hoping for a Messiah who would end the Roman occupation and restore national greatness.  It was a common (yet not universal) expectation, one which Jesus defied.

St. John the Baptist founded a religious movement to which Jesus might have belonged for a time.   (New Testament scholars have been debating that question for a long time.  They will probably continue to do so for a while longer.)  If Jesus did belong to John’s movement initially, that fact might shed important light on the baptism of our Lord and Savior.  (Why did a sinless man undergo baptism, which St. John the Baptist administered for the repentance of sins?)  Either way, our Lord and Savior’s cousin was his forerunner in more than one way, including execution.

I invite you, O reader, to embrace Advent as a time of prayerful preparation for Christmas–all twelve days day of it–if you have not done so already.  Read the pericopes and connect the proverbial dots.  Become one with the texts and discover where that reality leads you spiritually.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/08/13/an-advent-invitation/

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