For Sunday, December 1, 2024, Readings: Jeremiah
8:1-13, Psalm 46, 1 John 4:13-21, Luke 1:5-19 from "A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church"*, Yr C
For there shall be a sowing of peace; the
vine shall yield its fruit, the earth shall yield is produce, and the heavens
shall yield their dew…so it shall be that when I save you all, you shall be a
blessing. Fear not; strengthen your hands. [Zechariah
8:12a, 13b]
God is for us a refuge and strength, a help in trouble, easily
found…therefore we shall not fear, though the earth should change…Be still and
know that I am God…a stronghold for us is the God of Rebekah’s line. [Psalm 46:1-2a, 10a, 11b]
By this we know that we
abide in God and God abides in us, because God has given us God’s own Spirit…God
abides in those that confess that Jesus is the Son of God…God is love, and those
who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them…There is no fear in
love, rather perfect love casts out fear…We love because God first loved us…The
commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their
sisters and brothers also. [1 John 4:13, 15a, 16b, 18a, 19, 21]
There
appeared to Zechariah a messenger of the Living God…Zechariah was shaken when
he saw the messenger and fear overwhelmed him. But the messenger said to him, “Fear
not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give
birth to a son for you, and you will call his name John. You will have joy and
gladness, and many at his birth will rejoice for he will be great in the sight
of the Sovereign God…He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s
womb. [Luke 1:11-14]
Welcome to Advent, a season of hopeful
waiting, anticipation, and the beginning of a new Liturgical Year, Year C, in
the three year cycle of Sunday readings. Think of it as a time to see and hear
the same readings differently; yet here, in THIS time, in this space in
this new Liturgical year, is the introduction of different readings and in
new translations. As with the immediately prior 7 weeks of The Season of
Creation in my parish, in this Year C, I’ll use the usual Revised Common
Lectionary marked RCL in its title on one blog space, offering my sense of the readings and personal
form of the prayers of the people with the usual lectionary readings. In this
blog space each week, I will be using A Women’s Lectionary
for the Whole Church* aka WLWC or, going
forward here, WLC, by The Rev. Dr. Wilda [Wil] Gafney’s translations. I
will post her translations below** with a brief bio and her website
link.
There is far far more
to be gleaned from the Introduction, Text Selection, Proclamation/Text
Notes in the book itself that accompany these translations and I
cannot possibly offer her explanations for every reading but I will give very
brief notes from the WLC when I deem them useful. For one tidbit of usefulness,
the opening questions of the WLC Yr C ask, in part, What does it look
like to tell the Good News through the stories of women who are often on the
margins of Scripture and often set up to represent bad news…when women’s
brutalization and marginalization are moved from the margins of canon…held in
tension with the stories of biblical heroines and heroes…I do believe that my
questions and perceptions invite women, men, and nonbinary readers to engage
the scriptures in new ways [to] find themselves and their
questions represented. In addition to expansive titles for God to give
expression to a new vision of God, Dr. Gafney uses gender-expansive
translations and explicit feminine God language. She also says that while
the lectionaries are not as androcentric as the Scriptures women are
even less well represented than they are in the biblical text. For
example, there are at a minimum one hundred and eleven named women in the
Hebrew Testament…not always preached upon or even read…[and] does not account
for the numbers of unnamed women and girls. Yet not many of my students or parishioners
can name even ten…or even…in entire biblical canon.
To begin: What is ADVENT to you in a spiritual
sense? All too often we seem to focus on the end of it and all
the less, or rather more of the non-spiritual preparations that go before. Part
of the beginning of contemplation is knowing some of the “why and what”
factors. For example, the name advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning "arrival" or "coming," especially the
coming of something of great importance. Our culture uses the notion
of adventure in a variety of ways but mostly as a way for us
to experience something unusual and exciting. Using this series of readings
from Dr Gafney will be an unusual and exciting way to challenge our sense of
the Spiritual throughout the entirety of this Year C. We are to spend the four
weeks before Christmas, preparing ourselves and our souls in hope and with
repentance for our less than stellar actions, words, and even thoughts [aka
sins], as we await the birth of Jesus, our Redeemer Christ. Yet Advent
spiritual preparation is about far more than waiting for a sweet baby to be
announced by a chorus of angels and welcomed by shepherds. The sacred Birth
would have been long forgotten were it not for the Gospel writers as they
describe the intervention of God in Creation in the form of Jesus who
became the Christ, the Messiah: the Anointed One. The
name/word
Christ, anglicized from the Greek, has more or less
become the last or surname of Jesus instead of a “title” or Human-Divine
position and role within the Trinity.
Jesus in his earthly time came to teach us,
warn us, and show us how to prepare for the Second Coming, the Parousia [pahr-oo-see-uh, from
the Greek for coming], the Last Judgment. It’s not as
warm and fuzzy a concept and is much less exciting for many of us to anticipate
than the pretty tree with lights, sparkling decorations, beautifully wrapped
gifts, and the wide-eyed wonder of little ones.
Liturgical rituals for this time, in some
denominations, include marking the beginning of each week by the lighting of a
candle in an Advent Wreath with a prayerful reflection before the Liturgy [the Mass or the Service] begins. Even at home, families and
individuals may use a wreath or an Advent Calendar for daily or weekly
reflections and prayers. Each of the four candles represents a theme from the
readings of that week.
This week’s theme is Hope. In a
year where our world has seen terrible earthquakes, massive fires, and
hurricanes all decimating the lives of millions, and then the horrific gun
or knife or worse weapons of violence wrought by humans in malls, schools,
neighborhood streets, and now, again and still, in new and ongoing terrible
wars in too many places, killing tens of thousands, and holding too many others
hostage. It does give pause and perhaps a deep inhalation of breath and wonder.
Our Hope truly is in
the name of the Lord, and, in our willingness to turn the thoughts and actions
of our lives toward the light of God's enduring, continuous presence. It's
definitely not easy to get back on the right course, especially in these times,
and at this of year with all the glitter and shopping that can be a welcome
distraction from woes and worries. One clear theme from these readings is to Fear
not expressed explicitly and in other ways in each reading. We are to keep those
distractions from obscuring our inner vision and diverting us from our good
intentions. The cloud cover on our path forward begins to lift when we are
sincere in our desire to dedicate our lives to Christ, always as ready as we
can be, to be gathered in an unknown time and claimed for eternity.
Just as a New Year's resolution starts
well and means well, Advent is the opportunity to be intentional about
preparing for and renewing our commitment to Jesus as our Savior. Each season
of the Liturgical Year is designed to help us to remember, continuously renew,
and re-commit ourselves to our faith and to Christ. Here's a new beginning to
get back into good habits of faith building and faith in action. It’s time to
begin anew with an Advent-ure in faith, in hope, in Jesus, the Christ.
*Readings
for our Parish in this Year C are from The Rev. Dr. Wilda [Wil] Gafney, Womanist biblical
scholar, and is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite
Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of A Women’s Lectionary
for the Whole Church Yr C and translator of its biblical selections. Learn more about her and her work at her website: https://www.wilgafney.com/
**Readings
for Advent I, December
1, 2024:
Zechariah 8:1–13: 1 The
word of the SOVEREIGN of heaven’s legions came to me, saying: 2 Thus says the
COMMANDER of heaven’s vanguard: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and
with great wrath am I jealous for her. 3 Thus says the RULER of the multitudes
of heaven: I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and
Jerusalem shall be called “The Faithful City” and the mountain of the SOVEREIGN
of the vanguard of heaven shall be called “The Holy Mountain.” 4 Thus says the
HOLY ONE of heaven’s armies: Elder women and elder men shall again sit in the
streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. 5 And
the streets of the city shall be full of girls and boys playing in its streets.
6 Thus says the MAJESTY of the Heavens: Though it seems miraculous in the eyes
of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem miraculous to
me, says the COMMANDER of winged warriors? 7 Thus says the SOVEREIGN of
heaven’s legions: It is I who will save my people from the east land and from
the west land. 8 Then I will bring them to dwell within Jerusalem; they shall
be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness. 9
Thus says the COMMANDER of heaven’s legions, “Strengthen your hands—you all who
hear in these days these words from the mouths of the prophets, female and
male, who were present when the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the
temple, the house of the RULER of the Multitudes of Heaven. 10 For before those
days the wages of human [labor] was nothing and of animal [labor, less]; as for
those coming and going, there was no security from the enemy and I set every
single person against their neighbor. 11 Yet now I will not deal with the
remnant of this people as in the former days, says the SOVEREIGN of heaven’s
legions. 12 For there shall be a sowing of peace: the vine shall yield its
fruit, the earth shall yield its produce, and the heavens shall yield their
dew; and I will inherit the remnant of this people with all these things. 13
And it will be that just as you have been a cursing among the nations, house of
Judah and house of Israel, so it will be that when I save you all, you shall be
a blessing. Fear not; strengthen your hands.
Psalm 46: 1 God is
for us a refuge and strength, a help in trouble, easily found. 2 Therefore we
shall not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains quiver in
the heart of the sea; 3 its waters roar and churn, the mountains tremble with
its swell. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy
habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be
moved; God will help her when the morning unfurls. 6 The nations roar,
dominions quiver; God puts forth her voice, the earth melts. 7 The WARRIOR
PROTECTRIX is with us; a stronghold for us is the God of Rebekah’s line. 8
Come, behold the works of the FIRE OF SINAI; see what desolations she has set
on the earth. 9 She makes wars cease to the end of the earth; she breaks the
bow, and shatters the spear, she burns chariots with fire. 10 “Be still and
know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The WARRIOR PROTECTRIX is with us; a stronghold for us is the God of Rebekah’s
line.
1 John 4:13-21: By
this we know that we abide in God and God in us, because God has given us God’s
own Spirit. 14 And we have seen and so testify that the Father has sent the Son
of God as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and have
believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love
abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in
order that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as God is, so
are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, rather perfect love casts
out fear, for fear relates to punishment, and whoever fears has not reached
perfection in love. 19 We love because God first loved us. 20 If someone says,
“I love God,” and hates their sister or brother, they are a liar; for those who
do not love a sister or brother whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they
have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God
must love their sisters and brothers also.
Luke 1:5-19: And it
was in the days of Herod king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who
belonged to the lineage of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her
name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living according
to all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Sovereign God
blamelessly. 7 Now they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and they
both were advanced in age. 8 And it happened that when Zechariah was serving as
priest and his order had the service before God, 9 according to the custom of
the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to offer incense and he entered the
sanctuary of the Holy God. 10 The whole assembly of the people was praying
outside at the time of the incense offering. 11 There appeared to Zechariah a
messenger of the Living God, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12
Now Zechariah was shaken when he saw the messenger and fear overwhelmed him. 13
But the messenger said to him, “Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been
heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son for you, and you will call
his name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many at his birth will
rejoice, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Sovereign God. Wine and
strong drink he must not drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his
mother’s womb. 16 He will turn many of the women and men of Israel to the Holy
One their God. 17 He will go before the Holy God with the spirit and power of
Elijah to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to
the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Redeeming God a people made
ready.” 18 Then Zechariah said to the messenger, “How shall I know this? For I
am an old man and my woman is getting old herself.” 19 The messenger answered
him saying, “I am Gabriel. I stand before God and I have been sent to speak to
you and to proclaim to you this good news.”
For
Further Reading: Compare these readings with a Bible version of your
choice ~ using several translations/versions is even better to discover
differences and similarities. Google the often used: The Lord of Hosts for its actual definition, and then look at the Rev. Dr. Gafney’s use of titles for God. Think about which
translation speaks to you most clearly. Why? There are no right or wrong
answers! For a larger variety of interesting translation and paraphrase
versions of the Bible, without overloading your shelves and wallet, check out
this link to: www.BibleGateway.com
LET
US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ O God, our Refuge and our Strength, awaken
the eyes of our souls and keep us calm. Remind
our hearts to call on Your Name, to trust and not to fear, to be still and know
that You are God, our stronghold.
O Holy God Who is Love
RESPONSE: Cast
out our fear
~ O God, our
Refuge and our Strength, enlighten the minds and steady the hearts of all who
govern across this Earth. Straighten the path to peace and unity with local,
national, and international friends and adversaries alike, guiding the path to
justice, mercy, humanitarian, and planetary care. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
O Holy God Who is Love
Cast
out our fear
~ O God, our
Refuge and our Strength, embrace and sustain all who are seriously ill or
facing desperate times, that they, and those who give support, may know Your
warmth, light, and encouragement within. We now join our hearts to pray
for those in need…add your own petitions
O Holy God Who is Love
Cast
out our Fear
~ O God, our
Refuge and our Strength, console and inspire us with the knowing that all those
we love are welcomed into glory as they enter Your gates, as You embrace and
await all who will soon transition from this life. We pray especially
for… add your own petitions
O Holy God Who is Love
Cast
out our Fear
~ O God, our
Refuge and our Strength, we pause in this moment to offer You
our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials…add
your own petitions
O Holy God Who is Love
Cast
out our Fear
~ O God, our
Refuge and our Strength, rekindle our hope in this waiting time, especially in
all who are anointed in Your Name to lead us to Your Truth, guiding us to
prepare the way of and to the Holy One that is our Christ. We pray
especially for: add your own petitions
O Holy God Who is Love
Cast out our Fear
The
Celebrant adds: O Sovereign of Heaven’s Legions, we
know that as we abide in You, You abide in us. Help us, in these difficult
times, to honor Your Commandment to love You and our earthly brothers and
sisters, as You love us each and all. Keep our spirits alive with joyful
anticipation of Your sowing of peace, as we prepare our souls through continuing
prayer and repentance. Guide us to be still and know that you are God, as we await
the sudden yet unknown time of the return of Your own Spirit, Jesus, Your Son.
We ask through our Messiah Christ; the Holy Spirit, our Divine Advocate; who
together with You reign as One God, forever and for always. Amen.
