Psalms 22 & 23, Isaiah 11

-by Megan Tavani

Whatever season of life you find yourself in this Advent, we are all invited to consider what it means to wait for the Lord.

Year after year, I find that Advent provides me a much-needed reality check: what Time is it— where in God’s story are we? Where do I feel God’s presence (consolation)? Where do I feel that God is absent (desolation)? Do I really long for Jesus to come soon, or am I too wrapped up in my own plans and life?  Or, perhaps, am I struggling to hold onto hope that Jesus is going to come back and be all the things he says he will be for this broken world?

It is an interesting thing that, through the scriptures, God has shown us the beginning and the end of his Story, yet he has called us to live in this present moment. It requires a slowing down and a quieting of the heart.  It requires both emotional honesty and holding fast to God’s word. What a gift we have in the scriptures, that they can hold all these complexities!  This evening’s Psalm readings are striking in that they are on the opposite ends of the emotional and spiritual spectrum:  Psalm 22’s raw lament is immediately followed by Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

These psalms become even more powerful when we consider Jesus’ usage of these psalms during his earthly ministry.  In John 10, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  And we know well his final prayer on the cross: ““My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”.  

Every longing of the human heart—Jesus fully understands it, and fully satisfies it. And when I read Isaiah 11, in this time of war and violence, I long for Jesus all the more.

“We hope for what we do not see”.  Lord, guide us out of apathy or despair and into Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  And Lord, come soon.

Megan is a songwriter and freelance musician living in Roslindale with her husband, Daniel. Together they enjoy directing the music at Church of the Cross. In her spare time, Megan is usually reading or cooking!

Thursday: Deuteronomy 26, Luke 13

-by Anna Burden

“As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him,” Luke 13:17. I love the way the people in this passage respond to the woman’s healing with joy. Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom of God and some of the people there are able to experience and understand that. At the same time, in Luke 13, we also see the reaction of the religious leaders. They are indignant because Jesus is not following (their understanding of) the letter of the law—clear do’s and don’ts. 

Like the Pharisees, I find it all too easy to think of my relationship with God as a series of do’s and don’ts. I sometimes incorrectly see confession as remembering only my actions- not every part of what I have done or left undone. However, when reading through Deuteronomy 26, I noticed that the first fruits offering wasn’t just about giving up things for God—it’s an invitation to be a part of a feast. This changed my understanding of what we mean by “first fruits”. 

Looking more closely at Deuteronomy 26:1-11, we see a community of faith gathering to tell the story of what God has done and will do. We see a table of good food and an open invitation for those closely connected to the community and those on the outside to join in the meal. The first fruits weren’t just about following rules, but also about celebrating. I wonder how our faith would be shaped if we regularly told bigger and better stories about how God has been at work in the world. How would our understanding of our own stories shift if we recognized the greater story of the Gospel first and foremost?

As we continue through Eastertide towards Pentecost, perhaps you and your household can take some time to think about the following questions: 

• How are we telling the bigger story of God’s faithfulness?

• How are we joining in the celebration of the work of God?

• Who from the margins are we inviting to our tables?

Anna Burden lives in Quincy with her husband Colin and their two cats. She loves getting to share her passion for Jesus and her passion for dance with young people.

Thursday: Luke 10:1-24

-by Amanda Ward

Summer is nearly upon us, and with it begins many comings and goings. College students go out from the classroom into summer internships. Children come home from long days at school. We hop into planes and trains and cars for pockets of rest from our weekly rhythms. Next week I will go out from our city and ride a ferry across the bay to Martha’s Vineyard to spend a week with alumni of my high school ministry completing service projects and remembering that there is a God who loves them and remains faithful to them in all their comings and goings.

Summer’s comings and goings are on my mind as I read Jesus’ commission to his 72 students. They have been with him for a time, learning and growing in the way of Jesus, and now he sends them out ahead to prepare the ways that he will go. Jesus tells them “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” In my personal context, I feel the relevance of this commission. And indeed I have been praying through these very words with my ministry partners: that though the workers are few, may the Lord of the harvest send out more workers to tend to his plentiful harvest.

I wonder what this prayer and commission would look like in your life? Where is Jesus telling you to “Go!”? Where is God’s harvest ripe for the picking?

In the disciples’ comings and goings, Christ gives them instructions and warnings for the road ahead and blessings and encouragement when they return. Jesus tells them how to receive peace and welcome and how to handle rejection. He shares mysterious sayings about heavenly realities and rejoices that his Father has been made known through their ministry. Not all of these may apply directly to your daily life and callings, but again I wonder, how can we go with Christ’s peace out into our worlds? How can we come back together with praise and thanksgiving, telling each other what we have seen God do in the world around us?

As we turn toward the last days of Eastertide and see Penecost’s flames flickering on the horizon, I am grateful for this precursor in the gospels of what it looks like to be sent out by Christ into the world. May we each see and hear the things God does today in the power of the Resurrected Christ and his Holy Spirit that the prophets and kings could only dream of.

Amanda Ward lives with her husband Ryan in East Boston. She spends her summer ministering to independent and boarding students with FOCUS on Martha’s Vineyard, and will miss COTC very much for the weeks that she is away!