Terri Hord Owens - Imagining a New World: An Advent Devotional

Copyright

Copyright 2020 by Chalice Press

Bible quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible , copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ChalicePress.com

Print: 9780827216792
EPUB: 9780827216808
EPDF: 9780827216815

Contents

Introduction

2020 has been a challenging year in the life of our families, the church, and the world. The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought changes, sickness, death, and disruption unlike anything in most of our lifetimes. We simply could not have anticipated these circumstances, and as I write, we do not really know what the world will look like in Advent 2020. While we miss what was, we realize that the world will never be quite the same again. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are now called to imagine a new world, and who we will be as church in it.

On February 23, 2020, I gave the State of the Church address to the General Board of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I told the board that we must have the courage to imagine not only a new church for a new world, but how we as church could help to shape that world. I said we needed to give ourselves permission to change, to let go of processes, structures, and even practices, emboldening ourselves to try and explore new understandings of ministry. Even more importantly, Jesus called for change in his ministry on earth. The early church itself was born in the midst of radical change: crucifixion, resurrection, and Pentecost were all moments of massive disruption for those earliest followers of Christ. Finally, I said, we must let go of the fear of what will happen when we do change. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power, and confidence.

Little did I know that only three weeks later the COVID-19 pandemic would hand us a new world. Some of us began working remotely. Congregations could not worship in person, and we had to learn how to worship, care for, and connect with each other in new ways. We have had to re-evaluate the use and value of our buildings. We have had to find ways to connect and sustain relationships on Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube. We have been unable to care for the sick and comfort the bereaved with our physical presence. Celebrations of life have been re-imagined because we cannot gather. We have had to name the added stress and exhaustion that life in a pandemic has brought to us and to focus on self-care for ourselves and others. Most importantly, we have had to call on God to teach us, guide us, encourage us, and help us imagine new ways to live out Gods love and witness for justice and peace from beyond our four walls.

In each of these devotionals, I have tried to invite us into a space of courageous and prophetic imagination. When we embrace Jesus as God in our midst, who then must we be? How then must we love? What then must we do? Walter Brueggemann reminds us: the imagination must come before the implementation. As you enter into this season of anticipation and expectation, may the Spirit feed your heart, mind and spirit as we imagine a new church in this new world, called by God, grounded in love, and enlightened by the Word.

First Week of Advent

Sunday week 1: The Urgency of Now

Read Isaiah 64:19

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil

to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence. (Isaiah 64:12)

Isaiah speaks to God on behalf of a people who have run out of time, a people who need God to show upNOW! Living under the oppression of Rome, holding fast to the promise of a Messiah, they are impatient for the promise to be fulfilled. They want God to show up in ways that would cause fire to burn wood and boil water! They need God to move as never before, and the prophet calls for God to do it in ways that people will take notice.

Like the Israelites, many communities today live constantly on the edge of enough, marginalized and living with constant and multiple traumas of poverty and oppression. We impatiently anticipate solutions to our problems: more money, a new job, a safe home, protection for our loved ones. If you have life-challenging problems, you need solutions today. If you are in a burning building, you need the firefighters to break through walls, shatter windows, and knock down doors. There are times when we simply need God to movenow.

I feel the prophets urgency for our world today. Do what you have to do, Lordtear open the heavens, break down the doorcome down! Now! Let us embrace the urgency of this moment in our society, anticipating and expecting God to move as only God can. In this unprecedented time, we need something new that we have never had before, and Lord, we need you now!

Prayer: Tear open our hearts, set our souls afire, mold and make us to be the reflection of your love, working boldly to imagine and create a new worldnow. Come through now, O God. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Monday week 1: What Will God Do through You?

Read Isaiah 64:19

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father [Mother];
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)

Wouldnt it be wonderful if we had a clear layout of Gods plan for our lives? We are eager to take assessment tests to learn more about our personality, temperament, gifts, strengths, and weaknesses. It is usually not so much that we dont know ourselves, but rather that we want some kind of clear sign that who we understand ourselves to be is truly who we are. More importantly, we want to know if who we are is what God has planned.

Having called out to God to act, the prophet acknowledges that we must yet be yielded to Gods creative power. Yes, yielded, being ready to be used in the kin(g)dom of God in ways that werent a part of our own plans. God can use every experience weve had along the way to bring us into a way of being and serving. God can show us how every step, every stumble, every turn in the road along the way can be used to equip for this moment. In this season when we welcome the new light, may you see how God has led, and remember that God will keep.

Prayer: Mold us, make us, O God, so that we may have courage to step forth into new ways of being your people. Give us the courage to yield ourselves to new shapes and patterns that can be reflections of your love in the world. Amen.

Tuesday week 1: Thanking God for You

Read 1 Thessalonians 3:913

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:913)