Advent: A Rebirth of Hope

          They are old words -- very old, coming from the late 7th and 6th centuries BCE. They shall beat their swords into plowshares…

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb….

The desert shall rejoice and blossom….

Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son…

          But Isaiah's words of peace and promise never fail to stir something in or hearts at this time of year. This Advent, they will be our Sunday lessons.

          Each year, Advent invites us to allow hope to have a new birth in us. It does not require our blindness to the darkness gathered around us - but grants it full recognition, believing that it was in just such a world that God acted, and continues to act, giving us the gift of peace in a son, Jesus of Nazareth.

          And this year, we and our world surely need this hope as much as ever.

          Isaiah the prophet may not have had the incarnation of God's Son in mind as he spoke God's word - but for many centuries, Christ's followers have found them inseparable from our own yearnings, and from our belief that God has given, and will again give, this gift of God's own self; and that those who seek Him will find peace.

          Come, and let these old words stir something in you as we worship during this season.

Hopefully,

Rod