We have expectations, but are often met with a reality that looks much different than we hoped. The good news of Jesus Christ is this: Who he really is, the reality beyond our expectations, is very good news for us.
This advent we discover who Jesus is and what he is promised to be through stories of the Old Testament. There a promise was made and expectations began. From the Old Testament to now, we learn Jesus is much better than we expected.
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: Genesis 18:12
“So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?’”
Meditation: Keep Your Shirt On
Today’s meditation is written by Megan Roegner
Five Decembers ago I discovered that—surprise!—I was pregnant with our third child. After preeclampsia with my first child, a traumatic birth with my second, and torturously poor sleep for the first couple years of both of their lives, my husband and I had figured that a family of four was a very nice size. God had other plans, though. After looking at that positive pregnancy test, I had to take my shirt off for about thirty minutes to keep from fainting. How a person responds to this kind of news reveals a great deal about their character.
When Sarah overhears Abraham talking to God about how she will finally have a child as a sprightly ninety-year-old, she laughs. (And to be completely fair, Abraham himself laughs at the news in the previous chapter.) What does Sarah’s laughter reveal about her character? She is a person who was undoubtedly shaped by complex experiences. Throughout her long marriage to Abraham, he’s given her away to other men, twice. She’s had her name changed. She and Abraham have been promised a child and descendents numerous as the stars multiple times, but as she gets older and no child comes, she encourages him to father a child with her servant, Hagar, and that brings up all the complicated feelings you might expect.
I imagine that after her tumultuous life, Sarah was a woman who was proud to be nobody’s fool. So when she hears that she’s supposedly going to be a nonagenarian expectant mother, she laughs. At least she kept her shirt on.
About 1,800 years later, we hear about some other surprise pregnancies. The priest Zechariah is told by the angel Gabriel in the temple that his post-menopausal wife, Elizabeth, will conceive their first child, and he responds “How shall I know this?” (Luke 1:18). Zechariah’s first instinct is to respond with doubt, to require proof. And because of this, Gabriel punishes him: “And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time” (Luke 1:20).
Six months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Gabriel visits Mary. Unlike Sarah and Elizabeth, whose pregnancies are miraculous because of their age, Mary’s is even more unbelievable because she is a virgin. But Mary’s response is very different. She says, “How will this be, since I am a virgin” (Luke 1:34). There’s a big difference between “How shall I know?” and “How will this be?” Mary doesn’t laugh or doubt, she accepts and wonders.
Mary is the ideal when it comes to how we respond to the divine. I’m sure she kept her shirt on. We should all aspire to be like Mary, but she sets the bar very high.
Yet, I was thinking about how God himself chose the names for all three of these babies. Jesus, Yehoshu’ah, means “Yaweh is salvation.” John, Yochanan, means “the Lord has shown favor.” And Isaac means “he laughs.” Even when we doubt, God saves us; he shows us favor. And when we laugh, he includes himself in the joke, turning incredulity to joy.
Father, thank you for all your blessings, especially the unexpected ones. Help us respond with faith and trust when you bring change to our lives. You are in control, and your plans for us are good. Amen.
Prayer for Daily Callings
· For my occupation, workplace, coworkers.
· For my work to be good for others, an extension of God’s love and care.
· For the unemployed.
· For growth in my career; not to work for a paycheck but for you and others.
· For discernment, if I should pursue another job or direction in life.
· For my callings at home as spouse, son/daughter, brother/sister.
· For schools, teachers, classmates.
· For eyes to see God’s work around me this day. For the courage to participate in it.
· Not to be comfortable in my callings, but to be useful.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we live in a world full of tension. In your son you hold all tensions in perfect balance, justice and mercy, agony and ecstasy, law and Gospel. Create in me deeper faith in you in the midst of tension. Amen!