November 28, 2017

Longing for Hope

GINGER E. GAINES-CIRELLI | Read Isaiah 64:5-9

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Lectionary Week

November 27–December 3, 2017

Scripture Overview

Advent begins not on a note of joy but of despair. Humankind has realized that people cannot save themselves; apart from God’s intervention, we are totally lost. The prayer of Advent is that Christ will soon come again to rule over God’s creation. The passages from Isaiah 64 and Psalm 80 express the longing of faithful people for God to break into their isolation and to shatter the gridlock of human sin. The New Testament texts anticipate with both awe and thanksgiving the coming of “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Isaiah 64:1-9. When have you found yourself in a disorienting setting? What was your cry to God? What response to your lament did you seek?
• Read Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19. What in you needs the restoration that only God can give?
• Read 1 Corinthians 1:3-9. How might you become a means of reconciliation in your family, your work setting, your city?
• Read Mark 13:24-37. What especially do you long for this Advent-Christmas? How can you participate in the transforming love of Christ to manifest a reconciling spirit?

Respond by posting a prayer.

In the midst of the resettlement of Jerusalem following a long exile, conflicts arise among people who stayed in the land, foreigners who moved in, and those who return. Who has—or hasn’t—remembered and honored God? Whose fault is it that things are so difficult?
The words of lament from today’s...

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Potter God, even when I can’t feel your presence, help me trust that I am held in the palm of your hand. Amen.

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