Advent
December 21, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 96

O sing to the Lord a new song;
   sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
   tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvelous works among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
   he is to be revered above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
   but the Lord made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him;
   strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. –Psalm 96:1-6

Can pure love feel pain? I wonder how God feels when God sees his creation in chaos with people doing horrible things in God’s name. How do we sing at all much less a new song when the whole world seems to be crumbling under our feet? We are all so caught up in our image of God that we cannot tolerate another perspective. Though we are called to work toward perfection, can any human fully comprehend God? How much is our image of God based on our idols? How do we know the difference?

Advent brings lots of questions. World events that dash hope add questions. Human life has become an expendable commodity to some. Fear is epidemic. How do we sing a new song in such circumstances? Perhaps we should consider that the very circumstances that make us lose hope are writing the melody and the words to a new song. The new song we need to sing is an ancient song apparently lost to some over the years. God created the world out of chaos. Is God calling us to be creators of love out of the chaos that surrounds us? How would that look? What role must each of us play in making God’s love real to all?

Prayer: Lord, in many situations through the Bible your messengers tell us to fear not. Help us hear those words and make our fears catalyst for loving even more. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.