My homework for you this week is this:

Think of one or two people who helped your parents raise you.

Think about them, how they assisted your parents when you were young, and give God a prayer of thanks and gratitude for them this week.

And yet, in the midst of the fear, we hear the words of the angel

To those on their knees:

“do not be afraid!”

When you’re young, you’re aware of the presence of loved ones at Christmas.

And when you’re old, you’re aware of the absence of loved ones at Christmas.

That’s a big difference.

Through this year, and into the new year, 

we need to cling fast to the promises that Israel clung to,

The covenant, the contractual relationship between God and God’s people.

God will not abandon us and God does not abandon us.

God promises comfort, and comfort will come.

This Advent 2020, we need to set aside our previous preparations, 

our preconceived notions, our busyness and more than ever, 

try to slow down, so we can connect with each other, 

hear each other 

and help each other.

In those passages.

irresponsible leadership is contrasted with 

God (the good shepherd) as leader.

God the good shepherd, we are reminded

is a good leader active here and now.

God is active in the world!!

Amidst the worries and concerns of this Second COVID Wave.

God cares for humanity

Before Joshua receives a response, he leads by example and answers his own question himself:

but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (V15)

Perhaps one of the most famous verses from the entire book.

 

You can’t say a proper good-bye now when someone dies.

And this has profound implications.

It increases our suffering, and our need for comfort and consolation.

But where will that come from?

 

Our reading today provides that answer:

From the shelter and canopy of God’s enduring presence with God’s people.

I think we need to stop hoarding.

And to remember the preschool adage, 

that sharing is caring.

Our first reading speaks to today’s situation, of having come through the wilderness of a closed church building, 

these 7 months of worship desert,… 

and now we are (almost) back in the promised  land, 

back in church, at least,

well …some of us, and for how long, …remains to be seen.