Advent Devotions - Door County 2020

[Read Luke 1:46-55 ] And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. Mary’s story is quite amazing. She was nobody special. Yet, this young girl was chosen by God to bear the Savior of the world. Her pregnancy must have caused quite a stir in her family – enough for her to leave town and go see Aunt Elizabeth in the hill country. When Elizabeth, herself pregnant with John the Baptist, saw Mary, the babe in her womb leapt for joy. And Mary responded in song. The song she sang is so in keeping with her character – praising God for recognizing and having favor on someone like her of humble means. What an amazing insight into the God of all creation. That the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present God sees those whom the rest of the world looks past. When Jesus came to us that first Christmas morning, he signaled to a world of the unknown and forgotten, the broken and abused, the hungry and hurting, that

[Read Matthew 1:18-25 ] But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” God chose Mary for her special assignment as the mother of our Lord Jesus. The angel Gabriel told her what would happen. But God did not let Joseph in on the plan. Certainly, God could have told them both in advance, but he did not. Instead, in the course of time, Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, and he was put in the terrible position of having to decide what to do. He had in mind to break off their engagement quietly and sensitively. We can only imagine the confusion and pain Joseph felt. He loved Mary. He loved God. He wanted to do what was right but was not at all sure what was right. Joseph was a good man, a faithful man, and yet God did not bail Joseph out right away. He let Joseph struggle and come to a decision he thought was the rig

[Read Haggai 1:12-15 ] Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel…with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. One of the blessings of the Christmas season is the anticipation of time spent closely with family and friends. Due to world circumstances many will spend a very different Christmas this year. Yet there is good reason to keep good cheer! Zerubbabel was the ruler of Judah when the Jews began returning to their ancestral land after captivity in Babylon. He led his people during very difficult economic and social times, with a huge task of uniting his people under true worship by restoring the Temple of God. When Haggai, the Lord’s prophet, confronts Zerubbabel and Joshua, the High Priest, with God’s Word and decree to rebuild, they immediately render themselves over to God’s plan. That is when the Haggai delivered this powerful word from God to them, “I am

[Read 2 Chronicles 35:1-3 ]  Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. It was a scene that could have happened in Imperial Rome, a king assassinated by close advisors, his young son thrust onto the throne. Such was the story of Josiah, son of Amon, King of Judah, the last remaining lands of the once great Davidic Kingdom. The nation was a mess. Solomon's Temple was in a state of disrepair, and the people were divided, worshipping false gods. The king started small, directing that Temple funds be used to repair the building. It was in that process that a long-lost scroll of the Law was “discovered.” Today, scholars believe that scroll was Deuteronomy, and while this seems a minor incident in the scope of the Hebrew story, it set off a national and theological reform with consequences to this day, responsible for historical books that tell us the story of that people, influencing the Prophet Jeremiah. Josiah consulted the great proph

[Read 2 Chronicles 33:10-13 ] And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. Most people know Darth Vader as a bad guy. For many of us, the first time we saw him he choked a guy by lifting him off the ground, captured the princess, and killed Ben Kenobi. He’s the ultimate evil. Until Episode 6 winds down, and he makes a noble choice, ridding the galaxy of the Emperor and saving his son. At that moment, you cheer for the former bad guy who had a change of heart. We forgive his wrongs, right before he dies. Manasseh was a man whose story is marked by evil. He’s ridiculously bad. 2 Chronicles 33:6 says, “He burned his sons as an offering…” in the valley of Gehenna, which Jesus uses in the New Testament to descr

[Read Colossians 3:12-13 ] And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. The focus for the fourth week of Advent is peace. And as you make your final preparations for Christmas, your level of peace might be low and your stress levels high. Last minute gift shopping, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, and the like become the tasks we need to complete. And if you’re attending a family gathering, you might be anxious about family tensions. In these final days of Advent, St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians tells us how we should live our lives. He says, “Put on…compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience.” How have you done that during these weeks leading up to Christmas? You might have been compassionate when you gave a gift to someone in need. You were kind when you answered a stranger’s question at the store. Waiting in line at the check-out line without grumbling was an act of pat

[Read 2 Kings 19:14-19 ] O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. “Holy Hezekiah!” That’s written in the margin of my Bible next to 2 Kings 18:3. The Batman-like exclamation is not meant to be trite. Righteous kings were a rare phenomenon in Hebrew history. Just as God warned the people through his prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 8), power and wealth would prove too potent a temptation for most of the men who ascended to the Jewish throne. Unfortunately, the people would pay dearly for their overwhelming desire to be like their neighbors. But just when you are tempted to believe all is lost for this chosen nation, God raised up Hezekiah. At 25 years old, he got busy for God…shutting down counterfeit religions and reopening the temple. His ascent was a like a comet in a dark Mideastern sky. His father was evil, and his son would prove to be really evil. But in the precious

[Read Isaiah 7:10-17 ] Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” When you climb a tree, you look up and around for good, strong boughs to hold; you want something that will support your weight. Thick branches are enticing, but you really want to look for one with green leaves, signifying that it’s healthy, and trustworthy. At a glance, pulling Isaiah 7:12 out of context, King Ahaz of Judah looks like a solid limb. He says, “I will not put the LORD to the test.” Plus, he’s the earthly king of God’s p eople. Sounds good and noble. Seems Christ-like, when we remember how Jesus rebuked Satan’s temptations in the wilderness with similar words. But, Ahaz isn’t reliable at all. He’s an altar-desecrating, murderous father and an evil king with bad foreign relations policies, and his refusal to “Ask a sign of the LORD” is actually disobedient and bone-headed. He didn’t want to hear what God was planning to d

[Read 2 Chronicles 26:1-23 ] As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. We don’t hear much about Uzziah. When we do, it’s usually in that part of Isaiah in which he describes his theophany and which starts out, “In the year that King Uzziah died…” This section from 2 Chronicles tells a bit more about him: that he became king at the age of 16, that he reigned for 52 years and that his reign was considered second only to that of King Solomon. It was characterized by conquest, but also by building and by advances in agriculture. It was a prosperous time. The name Uzziah means “Yahweh is my strength”. But, according to the text, Uzziah forgot that and his successes led to pride which led to overreaching which led to his downfall. He was afflicted with leprosy and had to leave the throne. That is an all-too-human temptation. We need to remember that God is our strength; we accomplish nothing on our own. Uzziah was also an ancestor of Jesus, listed in the genealogy of Mat

[Read 1 Kings 15:9-24 ] …the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He removed the altars of foreign gods from his Kingdom and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. Because Asa was loyal and faithful to the Lord his God, the kingdom had peace and was quiet many years. In 2 Chronicles 14, we see that the faith of Asa was put to a severe test when Zerah the Ethiopian invaded his kingdom with a million men and 300 chariots. From every human viewpoint the large army from Egypt would sweep everything before it. But during the years of peace Asa had not given this time to amusement and pleasure; he had been preparing for any emergency. He had an army trained for conflict; he had endeav

[Read 1 Kings 12:6-8 ] And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? (KJV) In this passage, Rehoboam has taken the throne of Israel as their new king. The people come to him stating that his father, Solomon, had made the yoke grievous, but if he were to lighten it, they would serve him. Rehoboam, following the advice Solomon wrote in Proverbs, seeks counsel. The older men advise to lighten the load and to be a servant to the people. The younger men gave completely opposite advice. The sequence of the passages seems to indicate that Rehoboam rejected that of the older before he even heard that of the younger. Often those who seek counsel, as wisdom teaches us to do, seek that which they want to hear, not necessarily that which is the best. Sadly, by doing so, he brings on a split in the k

[Read 1 Kings 3:3-14 ] And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. In a dream, the Lord appeared to Solomon and asks the young king what he would like to receive from God. Solomon responds, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?” Beyond the material things of this world, Solomon’s selfless request for wisdom pleases God because it points to something greater than himself – compassion, care, and concern for God’s people. Justice, peace, and right relationships all matter to God. They matter to Solomon, too, as an emerging leader of God’s people. Each year, at some point during Advent or at Christmastime, we hear the wisdom of King Solomon transposed into our context of waiting in joyful antici

[Read Isaiah 55:12-13 ] For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace… I choose joy. To choose joy is to believe beyond what is seen and to claim a deeper inspired happiness. Joy is a condition of the heart. It defies reason. It is not dependent on things going your desired way. Joy cannot be contained. It should NOT be contained. It gives peace and motivates action. I am drawn to the action words in this scripture. With joy, “you will go out… be led with peace.” You will move forward not even sure where it leads, but confident, at peace and secure with the One who leads you. To move, guided by the Lord, is the only way to go forward into the unknown with peace and joy. The action words continue with the impossible statement that the secure mountains and hills will break forth from their firm foundations into shouts of joy!! The very trees will clap their hands! All creation is exuberant with the joy of the Lord! This is the kind of joy that Christ bri

[Read 2 Samuel 11:26-27, 12:24-25 ] …and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Between chapters 11 and 12 of 2 Samuel, the drama of Bathsheba and David twists and turns like a soap opera. The child conceived and born at the end of chapter 11 dies. Bathsheba and David conceive again. The son born in chapter 12 fulfills the promise and extends the lineage of David’s dynasty. We should not miss the reality that not all children survive their first few breaths, or days, or weeks, or months. In any era, infant mortality due to war, famine, disease, or cancer, brings despair, sadness, and the irretrievable loss of unfulfilled potential. Children dying should always upset us. They were gathered at a graveside picnic style. A birthday cake with a single candle sat sadly next to the gravestone. As I approached the couple, I recognized them, but I did not know their story. Their firstborn son died in utero. They gathered graveside to celebrate his first birthday. The carols of

[Read Ruth 1:16-17 ] Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. We shouldn’t even be talking about her. You know that, right? She’s an outsider, a foreigner, one who shouldn’t even be part of the story, much less part of the genealogy the Savior of the world. But there she is, part of the family tree of Jesus’ family tree; “Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.” (Matthew 1:5-6). At a time of famine, Elimelech and Naomi left Judah and lived for a while in Moab where there was food. Naomi lost her husband and both her sons, one of whom had been married to Ruth, a Moabite woman. When Naomi decided to go back home, she urged her two daughters-in-law to stay in Moab with their own people. Ruth refused. “Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God.” So, this foreigner to the lan

[Read Joshua 2:1-21, Hebrews 11:31 ] Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down… Rahab is mentioned in three different lists in the New Testament. Matthew 1:5 (the genealogy of Jesus); Hebrews 11:31 (an example of outstanding faith) and James 2:25 (illustrating that faith without works is dead). In Hebrews and in James, it mentions Rahab’s former occupation of being a prostitute. Her incredible story is recorded in Joshua 2. She lived in the great walled city of Jericho, a city that was prohibiting God’s people from obtaining the Promised Land that was given to them. Joshua sent two spies into the city to assess the situation and the spies were identified and pursued. Rahab concealed the spies and aided in their escape. Rahab had heard of how God had protected and provided for the Israelites. She knew that if God could protect them, He could protect her and her family. When the walls of Jericho came down, she an

[Read Genesis 49:8-12 ] The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet Genesis 49:8-12 tells us that Judah (meaning ‘praise’) would become the leader among the tribes. Judah would be strong as a lion and so secure that no one would dare to oppose him. This passage is speaking of the coming of Messiah to set up His millennial kingdom giving peace to the world. This is the second coming. But in order for this to take place, Messiah (Jesus, the Christ), had to come the first time, which He did, at His birth in Bethlehem through the virgin, Mary. When Matthew records the genealogy of Christ, we find that Christ is in the line of Judah (and actually is the Lion of Judah). Now what took place is that Judah had a sexual relationship with who he thought was a prostitute, only it was his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who tricked him and since he had wronged her, he realized that she was more righteous than he was (Genesi

[Read Genesis 32:22-32, 47:28 ] For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. Back when I was in high school, I was on the football team. There was another player who also participated in wrestling. That player remarked how the football players who were also wrestlers did well on the football team. Wrestling takes conditioning, strength, endurance, and skill. Wrestling matches have time limits of three rounds, each lasting just two minutes. Jacob wrestled with a man beginning sometime in the night until daybreak. Neither man prevails and they should be utterly exhausted, yet Jacob’s opponent has the strength to strike Jacob on the hip and put it out of joint. But, even with the pain of a dislocated hip and exhaustion, Jacob will not give up. We’re told the man with whom Jacob contends in this lengthy wrestling bout is God. Jacob is being tested by God and God chooses to end the bout when he strikes Jacob on the hip, yet Jacob will no

[Read Genesis 35:28, Galatians 4:28 ] Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. “Promise” - both in word and dynamic - appears repeatedly throughout the Bible. Some count over 3,500 promises, others 7,000, and still others nearly 9,000. Regardless of how many one may count, it is clear that promises are important to both God and people. God refers to a specific person as a “child of promise” – that person being Isaac (Galatians 4:28). The Bible tells us that Isaac was the one God had promised to Abraham and Sarah, and the events remind us that Isaac’s birth was solely due to God’s promise that Isaac was to be born. While all human elements pointed to his birth being impossible, God’s promise remained. Fast-forward in time, and Isaac marries Rebekah. The promise of Christ’s lineage continues as Jacob and Esau are born. For all of Isaac’s 180 years, God’s enduring promise is evident. This enduring promise is also seen in Christ’s birth in B

[Read Hebrews 11:1-3 ] Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. If you’ve ever heard something too good to be true you’ve undoubtedly decided to investigate it further. We’ve all been burned. Maybe it’s by the bait and switch of the advertisement getting your hopes up only to discover the conditions of the fine print upon arriving at the store, maybe it’s the online profile picture that was taken a decade ago and sent through numerous filters before your first date, maybe it’s the product that seemingly worked so well for everyone else on social media, but has failed to give you any results. Regardless of the reason, when you hear the claim that is too good to be true the skepticism in your mind causes you to crave knowing more, a desire to further interact with the claim, and see it for yourself. The hope of the promise of Jesus seems too good to be true. That God would still choose to love us and desire a relationship with us in spite of the

[Read Genesis 17:17 , Matthew 3:9 , Galatians 3:29 ] And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. Abraham and Sarah both laughed at the idea that they would bear a child. Afterall, Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90! God had a plan. They just couldn’t believe it! The idea was absurd, utterly ridiculous. When they received the miraculous gift of the child, they even named him “Isaac”, which means to laugh. The laughter of absurdity was turned into joy and relived every time they called his name. In Abraham and Sarah’s future lineage, came another surprise child… God’s One and Only Son… born of a virgin. A king… born in a stable. The angel announced “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” As it was with Abraham and Sarah, those who witnessed Jesus’ birth were stunned. The shepherds feared. Herod raged. Religious leaders were surprised. God had a plan.

[Read Genesis 6:8, 22; 1 Peter 3:20; Hebrews 11:7 ] By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. Here on the island, we know the importance of finding safe passage through the waters. And we’re pretty blessed to have the ferry providing year-round service across the “Door.” It truly is our lifeline. If you’ve been on one, you know their boats are unique. They’re not cruise ships or fishing boats. Each is specifically designed to safely take vehicles, humans, and cargo to and from the mainland. For Advent this year, as we look forward to Jesus’ Second Coming, we’re remembering Jesus’ ancestors. It turns out that one of his distant relatives also ran a ferry boat. His name was Noah and God told him to build a boat, or Ark. Its purpose? To carry people and animals to safety from a catastrophic flood (see Genesis 6:9-8:22). This must have seemed pretty random for Noah. Yet, with no evidence

[Read Genesis 5:27 ] Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. Often people lament that life is too short. Even when blessed with a relatively long life, people feel it isn’t enough time. In Genesis we read of Methuselah. He bore a son at the age of 187 years, and he lived another 782 years; this is a total of 969 years. He died in the year of the flood. As noted in Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, even the “longest liver must die at last.” Methuselah’s life might remind us that such a passing has long been considered a relief from struggle. Methuselah’s grandson is named Noah to signify rest, and his father complained of the “calamitous state of human life… Our whole life is spent in labor, and our time is filled up with continual toil.” How true this is! We sometimes forget that no matter how good life is, it seems that it always includes struggles. They may be because of loved ones, or addictions, or poor choices, or politics of the day, but often it seems life

[Read Genesis 5:22 , Hebrews 11:5 and Jude 1:14 ] By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews opens with a definition of faith. Jesus’ teaching allowed for no limits to the power of faith. The story of Enoch is an example of having such faith. I find the last words of verse 5 to be telling, “he had pleased God.” One of the things I love about the Advent season is that it opens in darkness but ends in light. A world condemned to the mean state of hopelessness and death has been given hope through the Christ child. Right now, everything from the pandemic to political strife can feel like darkness threatening to envelop our lives. Faith is not found in darkness but rather in the light of God. After all these years I am still deeply moved when the lights go out on Christmas Eve and only candl

[Read Genesis 4:25-26 ; 5:8 ] And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth… In one awful moment, her world was shattered. Eve, mother of humanity, lost 2 sons. Abel, the sensitive shepherd, beloved by God, murdered by her first-born. Cain, the son who was destined to lead the family, banished from her sight. Bereft of her offspring, humanity itself was in the balance. We can only imagine Eve’s anguish. What joy and relief came with the birth of Seth. She received him as a gift from the hand of God. There are few words to describe Seth in Genesis, but we know that this child of providence reflected God’s light, because we read that after Seth’s son was born… people began to call on the name of the Lord. Seth stirred his people to seek God’s presence. Generations later, another son of Seth was born. The child of promise. The child who would free all humanity from sin’s dreadful grip. Son of God and Man, the Savior of the world, Jesus.