2nd
Sunday of Advent – December 10, 2017
I
–Prepare the way of the Lord.
R
–Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
II
– We await new heavens and a new earth.
A
– Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths; all flesh shall see the
salvation of God.
G –Make
straight the paths of the Lord.
+ Today, the Second Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as
“Peace” Sunday, as we
light (in addition to the “Hope Candle” of last week, now the “Peace Candle” -
second of four candles in the Advent wreath. For as we continue our spiritual preparation for this year’s
celebration of the birth of Christ, today the tenor of the readings shifts into
a gear of higher excitement. The voice of John the Baptist crying out in the
wilderness: PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD!: MAKE STRAIGHT HIS PATHS!, rouses us
to action, rouses us to responsibility, rouses us to accountability. Our human lives have purpose: we are loved intimately by God: we
are to welcome Him, the God of gods, into our lives and receive his kindness, his peace, his truth and his justice.
The
Prophet Isaiah exquisitely crafts for us the image of God as “Bringer
of Peace,” as Shepherd, as Father:
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
A
voice cries out: In
the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a
highway for our God!
Go up onto a high mountain Zion, herald of
glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem…fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah: HERE IS
YOUR GOD! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying
them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.
The
second reading, however, reminds us living today, that we not
only have waited for the Lord and Messiah to come the first time, but we also
await the time for him to come again and establish the fruit of his promise: new heavens and a new earth: where the Kingdom of his Father will be in
effect forever.
[What this means is the increasing unstable and potentially
catastrophic and deadly consequences of the current administration of the
governing bodies of the United States government – is not all there is: the
True Monarch, the True King, the True Regent is most assuredly Jesus Christ –
by his Father’s decree. Therefore, for those who do not clearly see that their
governing authority and power derive directly from his, and his Father’s, then
they will be subject to the harshest of judgments when the Monarch, King,
Regent, comes first as JUDGE OF EVERYONE – who will read the true desires and
aspirations of all hearts – and will assign eternal placement either in
Paradise or in Hell.]
Therefore, we must conduct
ourselves with holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of
the Day of God, May we be eager to be found
without spot of blemish before God when he comes to complete his action of
love and bring about eternal peace!
Prepare
the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: all flesh shall see the salvation
of God.
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