Advent: Week 1

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, and I find myself in an interesting position. Not only do I live in a tourist town where we start readying our streets for Christmas in October, but I also have the privilege of listening in on lots of church-service-planning meetings. And for the last few months those meetings have focused on Advent. I have been in anticipation of Advent as if I was in an Advent of my own. Advents on Advents! That's what they say, right?

I really enjoy the rhythm that the Christian calendar lends to our year as a family and as a church. It is my (lofty) goal to post something every week of Advent about what we are doing, reading, saying, or listening to in order to remind ourselves of our hope in Christ.

Advent simply means "coming" or "arrival." Like most sacraments in the Christian Church, Advent lives in a tension. We remember, with the children of Israel, the expectation for a Messiah who would save and redeem them. We also look forward to the second coming of Christ, and embrace the waiting we are currently in, with both the brokenness and the hope that it has to offer us.

This year we will have a Jesse Tree for the first time.

There it is in all its stark simplicity. 

The idea for a Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11-- 

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

We will be using this devotional every day when we talk about each ornament that we add to the tree. I'm very excited to do this with the boys. Each ornament is part of the story that God used to bring Jesus into the world.

You might notice that I have lots of words around my house. In high school I took lots of art classes, and I found myself always painting words on top of the pictures on my canvases. It's how I learn, how I remember. I couldn't say what I needed to say with a picture; I could be more specific with my words.

There are lots of words that I love in this album:

It's technically for the kids, but I listen to it all the time. I highly recommend Rain for Roots, and this Advent album is close to perfect. I'll be highlighting a few different songs throughout the season. This week, you should listen to Come Light Our Hearts . Our children's choir will be performing this at church next week, and I'm so excited. It's been really sweet to teach Asher all the words. 

Seth is preaching tomorrow from Hosea, and I have been reading Hosea over and over this past week. Usually when I do any devotional-type scripture reading, I almost always end up in the Psalms. Or if not, then it's the gospels or Paul's letters. But man, I forgot how much I love the prophets! I took a class on the minor prophets in college, and it really opened my eyes to all the goodness therein. 

I could copy and paste Hosea in its entirety, but I won't. (You're welcome. But GO READ IT.)  I will leave you with this. The last chapter of the book. (P.S. I tried to just copy and paste just the most relevant sections, and I ended up with pages and PAGES.)

14  nReturn, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for oyou have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2  Take with you words

and return to the Lord;

say to him,

“Take away all iniquity;

accept pwhat is good,

and we will pay with bulls

qthe vows1 of our lips.

3  rAssyria shall not save us;

swe will not ride on horses;

and twe will say no more, ‘Our God,’

to the work of our hands.

uIn you the orphan finds mercy.”

4  I vwill heal their apostasy;

wI will love them freely,

for my anger has turned from them.

5  xI will be like the dew to Israel;

yhe shall blossom like the lily;

he shall take root like the trees zof Lebanon;

6  his shoots shall spread out;

his beauty shall be alike the olive,

and his fragrance like Lebanon.

7  They shall return and bdwell beneath my2 shadow;

they shall flourish like the grain;

they shall blossom like the vine;

their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8  O cEphraim, what have I to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.3

I am like an evergreen cypress;

dfrom me comes your fruit.

9  eWhoever is wise, let him understand these things;

whoever is discerning, let him know them;

for the ways of the Lord are right,

and fthe upright walk in them,

fbut transgressors stumble in them.

Just a remark: I love the phrase, "Take with you words." Mmm.

Also, "we will say no more, 'Our God' to the work of our hands."  

Yes, Father. Please let us see that it is you who give us the grace to believe, to act, to return. It is you from whence we find our strength.

Forgive us for worshiping ourselves, our Baals. Forgive us for forgetting you when we are comfortable and content. Forgive us for being like a whore, quickly fading in our faithfulness.

The story of Hosea brings to mind a song written and sung by two friends of mine. It's the song I walked down the aisle to, "The Fury."

It is split into two parts, with "Beloved" and "God" singing to one another. At our wedding, Tommy sang only one side of the song, which ends with this verse. God says:

I'll always forget the way 

You sail the seas

And chase other gods

But me

I wish I could link to this song, but it is not on YouTube. I also don't have the full lyrics. I felt badly that I couldn't remember them all until I wrote Adrianne, the author, and she said SHE DIDN'T REMEMBER EITHER! Ha! Now I don't feel so bad.

I am so grateful that God always forgives. Always brings restoration. Always reaches into our brokenness and pulls us out, dusts us off, teaches us how to walk. 

"It is I who answer and look after you.

I am like an evergreen Cypress;

from me comes your fruit."