Advent 2024: Carrying the Blessing (All the Way)

This blessing knows how to bide its time, to watch and wait, to discern and pray until the moment comes when it will reveal everything it knows, when it will shine forth with all that it has seen, when it will dazzle with the unforgettable light you have carried all this way. —Jan Richardson

One of our favorite choruses at UCH for the Advent season is “Emmanuel” from the Chalice Hymnal: “Emmanuel, Emmanuel, His name is called Emmanuel, God With Us, Revealed in Us, His Name is called Emmanuel.” (Chalice Hymnal #134)  

Matthew leads early on in his Gospel with Isaiah 7, “A young woman shall conceive and bear a son and will call his name Immanuel” Emmanuel is not a common word in the Bible - but it’s an important one because Matthew tells us that in addition to being called “Jesus” that Jesus shall also be called Emmanouél (Ἐμμανουήλ), which means God with us — in the present moment. 

The word often used for revealing (or revelation) in Greek in the New Testament is ἀποκάλυψις (apokálypsis), translated — according to Strong’s — as “through the concealed.”  An apocalypse is a disclosure of knowledge, a lifting of the veil or revelation. In religious contexts it usually refers to bringing something hidden to light.

As that chorus has floated around in my head in recent days, alongside my grief and anger, I have found myself asking: How is God with us right now? What is being revealed in us right now? How are we being called to give birth in the light of Christ in the world right now?

We will bring these questions into our Advent and current events container as we explore four powerful points of revelation in the traditional Advent scriptures: Ancestral Lines (Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1), Threshing Floors (an image in John the Baptist’s Apocalyptic Preaching Matthew 3), Finding Voice/Utterance under Duress (Mary’s Magnificat Luke 2), and Standing in Integrity/Wisdom in the face of Injustice (The Magoi/Herod. Matthew 2).

I look forward to being with you for the four Sundays of Advent, and the Christmas Eve Service @ 6:00pm PT on Sunday, December 24. Message us for the link to join live, or find us on Facebook for the sermon livestream.

– Rev. Jeanne