The word for December 11th is BROOD. It is taken from the gospel lesson for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, where John the Baptist calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “Brood of Vipers”. In other words a group of like minded folks who are actually snake-y! In Matthew chapter 3, John the Baptist sees these two groups of religious leaders approach and says, “But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”

The term “coming for baptism” could also be translated something like “Coming to see about these baptisms”. So most likely they were opposed to the JtB baptisms and came out to oppose them. So John calls them out for this, a group of snakes who oppose the repentance John insisted on and held the to the same standard – bear fruit worthy of repentance. A good lesson for all of us!

Encouragement is in the 2nd lesson for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, from Romans 15: May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the book of Acts we meet Barnabas, whose name means “Son of Encouragement”. He is a key part of the leadership of the early church and Paul’s ascendancy as an evangelist to the Gentiles. He is a champion of John Mark when Paul is upset with him leaving from one of Paul’s missionary journeys. He is a cheerleader for St. Paul and John Mark.

I like the image from the Romans passage of “the God of steadfastness and encouragement”. Can you see God the Father, cheering us on, always loving us, saying “well done!” and “you got this” and “I love you” when we need it the most! Our Steadfast Encouraging God – what a great image”.

The Advent Word for today is Equity, taken from the 1st lesson of the 2nd Sunday of Advent, Isaiah 11:4: He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

Ah…the prophet has moved from preaching to meddling! Equity is not the same thing as equality. You’ve probably heard this example of the difference: Equality means giving everyone the same resources/opportunities, assuming a level playing field, while equity recognizes people start from different places and provides specific, tailored resources needed for everyone to reach the same successful outcome. If 3 kids of varying heights are trying to see over a fence, equality means you give them all the same size box to stand on, which may or may not correct the problem for all three of them. Equity means you give them a box that works for their height (or if tall, no box may be needed). Think of equality as a one-size-fits-all approach, while equity is about fairness by adjusting support to address individual needs, leading to truly equal results.  Equity has gotten a bad name in some parts (it’s the “E” in DEI programs), but in the Scriptures of Advent we hear God deciding with equity how to treat the poor and meek of the earth. Something to think about friends…

Today’s word comes from the book of Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2, which was the first lesson of the 2nd Sunday of Advent: The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Earlier in Isaiah we are given a list of titles for the coming Messiah, from chapter 9: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” So Counselor is an important part of our understanding of the Messiah, whom we believe is Jesus. One definition of “counsel” is to give advice and guidance. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit will be our “advocate” (Parakletos in the Greek, meaning advocate or helper or comforter). Seems this aspect of the godhead is important, one who comes alongside us as our helper, comforter, advocate and counselor. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Come Lord Jesus!

As we enter the 2nd week of Advent, today’s word comes from the Collect of the Day for the 2nd Sunday of Advent. Give us grace to HEED their warnings and forsake our sins.

The entire Collect on this Sunday when we hear from John the Baptist in the gospel, says: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation; Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

There is a definite cause-and-affect in this prayer. We need the grace of God to be able to heed the warnings of the prophets, admit our sins and ask forgiveness for them, and repent – turn around, back to God. And we do this over and over again as humans and as Christians. As I said Sunday in my sermon – rinse and repeat as needed. We want to greet Jesus with joy? Then we pray for God’s grace and heed the prophets warnings. And the next day, we do it again. Thank you God for the grace of Christ in whom our redemption lives!