We rejoice, for the Light of the World has come to darkness. Jesus Christ is the Light that no darkness can overcome. Advent is a season of preparation as God’s people watch and wait for Christ. We will be pondering the songs found in the gospel of Luke. The song of an old priest named Zechariah. Mary, the pregnant teenager. And angels come to shepherds in the countryside. We ponder these songs and rejoice.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. The light no darkness can overcome.
Jesus, open our eyes to your light and our ears to your words of hope. Come, O long-expected Jesus. Our hope is in you. Amen.
Word: Luke 1:66
“What will this child turn out to be?”
Meditation: Unmet Expectations
Today’s meditation is written by Susan Becher Schultz.
My thirtieth birthday wasn’t what I imagined it to be. Weeks before I turned 30, I began having terrible digestive pains. I ended up in the ER three times in the span of a week and a half. I fired doctors until I found the right one, and my gallbladder was removed five days before I turned 30. To me it wasn’t just a surgery, or a few trips to the ER. It was the shattering of my sense of safety as I lost hope and trust in our healthcare system.
During this time I lived far from my family. I spent days on the couch alone while my husband worked, weak from surgery and mentally distraught. It was a far cry from where I thought I would be. As panic attacks became the norm, I made plans to get back home. I arrived in St. Louis this past spring in a state of fragility and desperation.
“What will this child turn out to be?”
John the Baptist was born into a prophecy, high expectations placed on his shoulders from conception. I wonder what John’s internal dialogue was as he carried the weight of this calling. I wonder if he questioned his part in the story on days where everyone around him thought he was crazy.
“What will this child turn out to be?”
I think of the expectations put on John, the expectations others put on us, and the expectations we put on ourselves. What if who we turn out to be isn’t at all who we imagined? What if we feel far behind those around us? What if the vision we had for our lives looks nothing like what it’s turning out to be?
“What will this child turn out to be?”
Maybe who I am doesn’t meet the expectations others have of me. I know I often don’t meet the expectations I have for myself. But I can’t help but wonder if the path to peace is ridden with falling apart and breaking down for a reason. That maybe, just maybe, my limited vision stops me from seeing that these experiences are bringing me closer to embracing the person God created me to be.
Lord, Help me to trust you in the mess of unmet expectations, to know that no matter how old I get, to you I’ll always be a child learning more about who I am through who you are. Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
Lord God, you enter into our mess. You meet us in the midst of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. You break through with eternal hope, that through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus all our pain will be healed, all of our sin is forgiven, all of our messes will be redeemed. May we live in that hope this day, amen!