Advent
December 20, 2018
Scripture Reading: Psalm 80:1-7
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved. –Psalm 80:3-7
What a beautiful prayer for such a time as this. Praying for restoration implies that what needs to be restored was once whole in the eyes of God. There are no pre-existing conditions in God’s eyes. Neither birth defects nor genetic mutations change the fact that every human is made in the image of God. Along the way, we drift from the ways of God. We get caught up in the enticements of lesser gods such as greed, lust for power, envy, the list is endless. At some point, these individual disengagements coalesce with similar behavior among our fellow human beings and whole cultures or nations present with the same brokenness.
Just as evil can create its own synergy so can good. As God works with us to restore ourselves and our world to the rule of love, we transition from the things that divide us and become whole once again. A big part of wholeness is accepting each person for the gift they are to our world and helping each child and each adult blossom into all that they can be. We no longer need to feel superior to any other to establish our worth.
Prayer:
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.