Date: 22 December 2023
Author: Loli Reiter
Text: Isaiah 61:1-4
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion--
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
So, I will confess that I’m starting to find the true meaning of Halloween this year as the first hints of Christmas pop up. A radio morning show played a Christmas song on October 25th, and I was surprised at my reaction. My heart began beating a little faster...not like when I am excited but like when I am scared. Then the thought popped into my head, “trick or treat?”.
As in, will the Christmas season be a “treat” this year, or am I going to find myself a couple of days before Christmas Eve lying under my weighted blanket, taking deep breaths, crying, and feeling “tricked” once again. I do love Christmas, but these past years have just been hard... we’ve had several funerals, the house got COVID for Christmas, sending family that had come down to visit right back home, and just the “adulting” realizations that at Christmas people are still poor, brokenhearted, disappointed, in prison, and captive to all sorts of miserable situations. That at Christmas people are still mourning – the loss of loved ones; the loss of how life used to be; the loss of friends who have moved, significant others who have changed their minds, and of hope that it will get better.
What good news can anyone proclaim?
Well, Jesus proclaims, “I am here.”
Jesus came on a winter night, crowned with stars that looked over those who rejoiced and those who mourned, amid the lowing of cattle and the stank of their poop, for those who pushed and shoved each other and those who hugged and held on tight. Jesus comes to be the “oil of joy” that keeps the gears of the world turning when the amount of our tears cause them to rust and the grime of our selfish souls endangers creation to grind to a halt. Jesus will continue to come to clothe us with “garments of praise” that don’t have that top button of anxiety that makes it hard to breathe or that belt of despair that chokes out any hope of things getting any better. Jesus comforts us with the reality that the Christmas season has its “Hallmark Movie” days, but as in real life, there can be sun or rain; there can be kindness or cruelty; there can be stress or calm, but be assured that there will always be Jesus with you...no trick.
Challenge:
Read Isaiah 61:4 again and consider the following:
Make a list of the “places long devastated” in your community or in your family or in your relationship with someone. Pick one to lift up in prayer, asking how God may be calling you to rebuild, restore, and renew. After you pray, sit in silence for 1 minute. After the silence, write down what came to your mind and heart.
Prayer:
God give us the strength to rebuild our hope and our trust in You.
Jesus show us the way to restore hope in our families, among our friends, and in Your world.
Holy Spirit, renew our excitement, our wonder, and our awe in the amazing story of Christmas...the real Christmas with the coming of Immanuel, “God with us” and no tricks.
We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Author: Loli Reiter
Text: Isaiah 61:1-4
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion--
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
So, I will confess that I’m starting to find the true meaning of Halloween this year as the first hints of Christmas pop up. A radio morning show played a Christmas song on October 25th, and I was surprised at my reaction. My heart began beating a little faster...not like when I am excited but like when I am scared. Then the thought popped into my head, “trick or treat?”.
As in, will the Christmas season be a “treat” this year, or am I going to find myself a couple of days before Christmas Eve lying under my weighted blanket, taking deep breaths, crying, and feeling “tricked” once again. I do love Christmas, but these past years have just been hard... we’ve had several funerals, the house got COVID for Christmas, sending family that had come down to visit right back home, and just the “adulting” realizations that at Christmas people are still poor, brokenhearted, disappointed, in prison, and captive to all sorts of miserable situations. That at Christmas people are still mourning – the loss of loved ones; the loss of how life used to be; the loss of friends who have moved, significant others who have changed their minds, and of hope that it will get better.
What good news can anyone proclaim?
Well, Jesus proclaims, “I am here.”
Jesus came on a winter night, crowned with stars that looked over those who rejoiced and those who mourned, amid the lowing of cattle and the stank of their poop, for those who pushed and shoved each other and those who hugged and held on tight. Jesus comes to be the “oil of joy” that keeps the gears of the world turning when the amount of our tears cause them to rust and the grime of our selfish souls endangers creation to grind to a halt. Jesus will continue to come to clothe us with “garments of praise” that don’t have that top button of anxiety that makes it hard to breathe or that belt of despair that chokes out any hope of things getting any better. Jesus comforts us with the reality that the Christmas season has its “Hallmark Movie” days, but as in real life, there can be sun or rain; there can be kindness or cruelty; there can be stress or calm, but be assured that there will always be Jesus with you...no trick.
Challenge:
Read Isaiah 61:4 again and consider the following:
Make a list of the “places long devastated” in your community or in your family or in your relationship with someone. Pick one to lift up in prayer, asking how God may be calling you to rebuild, restore, and renew. After you pray, sit in silence for 1 minute. After the silence, write down what came to your mind and heart.
Prayer:
God give us the strength to rebuild our hope and our trust in You.
Jesus show us the way to restore hope in our families, among our friends, and in Your world.
Holy Spirit, renew our excitement, our wonder, and our awe in the amazing story of Christmas...the real Christmas with the coming of Immanuel, “God with us” and no tricks.
We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
