Advent
December 1, 2014

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:1-10

Comfort, O comfort my people,
   says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and cry to her
that she has served her term,
   that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
   double for all her sins. — Isaiah 40:1-2

What have we done to deserve this? It is an age old question. One that most of us end up asking at one time or another. For those of us who identify our allegiance with God the Creator and Sustainer of all Life, Jesus Christ our Savior, and the Spirit of Righteousness, the question most often results in a review of our sins. The prophet in our scripture today has conducted such a review for his people and declared that they have paid twice the price than was required for their sins.

I watched interviews on the news recently of Syrian families who had escaped into Jordan because they were being starved to death as a tool of war seeking to return them to the subjugation of their current ruler. I wondered what they could possibly have done that deserved such treatment.

As individuals we are called to invest time in becoming right with God in all ways at all times but it does not stop there. We are called to community with all of God’s children and we all bear responsibility for the well-being of each other. When some chose to prosper at the expense of others, it summons the resources of all the nations to seek justice for God’s children who cannot stand alone against such mistreatment. The greater challenge is: do we allow the perpetrators to draw us into their ways in our response or can we find a better way that heals all nations. And can we find and implement that better way in time that no more children are dying in the sands of a desert as they escape certain death in their own homes.

Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, come and open our hearts to new ways of being that bring comfort to the oppressed and truth and righteousness to the oppressor. 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.