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Morning Meditation in the Season of Advent
December 18, 2025
Reading: Isaiah 40: 3-5
A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Reading: Luke 1:39-45
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."
Reading: John 1:1-9 The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world…
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
As Charlie and I were driving to The Redeemer for Lessons and Carols Sunday, we were struck by the beauty of the still snow and the sunset upon us. Even in the relatively crowded spaces along Montgomery Avenue, one couldn’t help but be gently awed by God’s natural beauty. I look forward to the Redeemer’s Advent Lessons and Carols service very much. I appreciate the juxtaposition of plainly emphatic scripture and majestic song. This year the unlikely snow was an added blessing.
One of the gifts I receive every year from Lessons and Carols is that it offers an expansive perspective about God’s arrival in Christ Jesus and a tableau with innumerable connections among the nine scripture lessons . The peace and hope I derive from this service comes from finding new connections about the readings among Genesis, Isaiah, Luke, Hebrews and John. Genesis returns us to God’s creation of all that is upon the Earth and the last reading from John reprises Genesis with “In In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Isaiah occupies a middle ground of sorts reminding us that the initial awesomeness of God’s creation will be match with the glory and majesty of God’s coming to us as the Messiah. Isaac deftly balances the power of God to transform the world and us with the understanding that although we remain on earth but for a moment, Isaiah compares people to grass, we nonetheless are responsible to prepare the way of the Lord through the wilderness, leveling mountains and raising valley. Beyond earthly transformations of deserts and streams, Isaiah prophesizes that God’s arrival will motivate myriad joyous transformations among God’s people – the blind shall see, the lame shall leap, and no traveler will be lost.
Lest we despair in our insignificance, Luke’s Gospel brings into relief how vital our individual relationships in our families and communities are. The Angel Gabriel comes to Zacheriah and Elizabeth, and they are blest with their baby, John. Gabriel comes to Mary to inform her that she carries Jesus. Daunted, Mary travels to visit her Elizabeth and finds God’s peace in their shared circumstance. Placing ourselves in their time, we can marvel at the courage Elizabeth and Mary shared and likely motivated in one another. Elizabeth had been shunned for being childless and Mary was a young woman not yet married. Yet these were the intimate relationships God engaged to bring his son to life. One can also perceive how God’s compassion flowed between Elizabeth and Mary, and how that love in turn fueled the courage they needed to journey forward.
Finally, John’s Gospel emphasizes God’s chosen role for Elizabeth’s son John the Baptist. God sends John to be Jesus’ witness. Today during advent so much of our attention goes to the birth of Jesus that we could benefit from considering God’s love for John and God’s plan to have John baptize Jesus. I may be theologically out of bounds here, but I think of John the Baptist as Jesus understudy – as one who would ignite Jesus’ ministry and confirm Jesus’ as Redeemer for us all.
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