Mail Archive of the old Santa Clara Valley Lutheran Parish

I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brethren. (Thessalonians 5:27)
Subject: An Advent devotion
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:41:41 -0800 (PST)
From: David Bonde <pastorbonde@gmail.com>
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Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:41:41 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: An Advent devotion
From: David Bonde <pastorbonde@gmail.com>
To: SCVLP <scvlp@googlegroups.com>
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One more to balance the last one - lest you think I am too dark.
written for our December newsletter.

David Bonde

PS any thoughts on the proposed changes to the ELCA constitution
making it more complicated, maybe more difficult, for congregations to
leave the ELCA?

Is this a wise policy step or will it have the effect of telling
congregations to get out now while you still can?

--

My favorite color is blue.  Although my appreciation for a variety of
colors has grown, there is something about blue that still captures my
soul.  The house we bought in Toledo was blue.  The house I bought in
Westland was blue.  The house in Detroit was brick=85but our car was
blue.  The fact that the color for Advent is blue isn=92t the only
reason I love the season of Advent, but it helps.

Advent is the season of anticipation.  It is the aroma of break
baking. It is the first glimpse of brilliant green in early spring.
It is the promise of fresh summer tomatoes or sugar snap peas almost
ready to harvest.

Advent is the season of anticipation.  It is the hunger that waits for
the hot chocolate, that revels in the aroma of the pizza parlor
anticipating the feast to come.

Advent is the season of anticipation.  It is the season of waiting and
watching knowing that Christmas will come.  It does not hope that
something good might come; it knows.

Christ will come. Grace will happen.  The banquet table is set even
now.  The ravines in the wilderness are being filled in and the road
made level.  The desert sands are turning to springs.   The weak knees
are strengthened.  The hearts of the fathers are being turned to the
children.

There is an unstoppable character to the kingdom of God just as there
is an unstoppable character to the turn of the seasons.  The Spirit of
God cannot be quenched.  The mercy of God will not be denied.  The
healing power of an eternal love cannot be diminished.  =93The light
shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.=94

Advent is a season of anticipation.

I=92m not talking about the holidays.  Those are fun, too =96 or they can
be fun.  They can also be hard:  times of loneliness, remembered
grief, broken family.  The girls=92 mother would arrive to pick them up
at 3:00 on Christmas Day =96 after the hectic and delightful activities
at church on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and a hurried opening
of Christmas presents, suddenly the house was achingly empty.   But
Advent is not about the holidays; it is about the Christ who comes.

The Christ who comes and all heaven sings.  The Christ who comes to
grace a stable and a peasant mother.  The Christ who comes and sleeps
amidst the ox and the ass.  The Christ who comes to Simeon and Anna,
the answer to a life of yearning.  The Christ who comes to be greeted
by those wise who watch for the word of God written in the sky.

The Christ who comes to lay hands upon the sick. The Christ who comes
to welcome the outcast.  The Christ who comes to touch the world with
grace and life.

The Christ who comes to the woman at the well and the man born blind,
who blesses the children and shares bread even with Judas.

The Christ who comes to cleanse the temple and the human heart.  The
Christ who comes in the desolation of the cross.

Advent is about the Christ who comes. The Christ who comes forth from
the tomb.  The Christ who comes to Mary in the garden, to the twelve
through locked doors.  The Christ who comes to unbelieving Thomas.
The Christ who comes to Peter at the seashore.

The Christ who comes to lavish his spirit upon his followers.  The
Christ who comes to the Ethiopian Eunuch.  The Christ who comes to the
Roman Centurion.  The Christ who comes to Paul on the Damscus road.

The Christ who comes with each morning sunrise.  The Christ who comes
with brilliant fall color.  The Christ who comes in the crunch of new
snow.

The Christ who comes with the goodnight kiss of a parent on their
child=92s forehead.  The Christ who comes in the joy of the wedding
chamber.  The Christ who comes in random acts of kindness.

The Christ who comes in water and word and bread and wine and hymn and
sharing of peace.  The Christ who comes to walk in our midst, like the
cross coming down the aisle.

The Christ who comes and makes wars to cease.

The Christ who comes to renew the earth.

Advent is a season of anticipation.  It is joy that cannot be quelled
by any of life=92s sorrows.  =93The earth is the LORD=92s and the fullness
thereof.=94  =93Hail Mary, full of Grace, the lord is with thee.  Blessed
art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.=94
=93My soul magnifies the Lord, and my Spirit rejoices in God my
Savior.=94  =93And suddenly there was with the angel a host of heaven
singing=85=94
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