Our Advent Word for the 3rd Sunday of Advent is Honor. It is taken from the Epistle reading for 1st Sunday of Advent, from Romans chapter 13: Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day.

Honor in a Biblical sense usually refers to reverence, respect, and obedience. We Honor our parents, according to the 10 commandments, we are to live honorably as in the light of Christ which illuminates all. We honor God in worship, praise, and obedience.

Honor can also mean living a life with the knowledge of the honor you have been given. Today is the 23rd anniversary of my ordination to the Priesthood. It certainly has been an incredible honor to serve along side all six congregations and 3 dioceses I have worked in, as well as my work at General Convention, and also leading retreats, leading stewardship programs for other churches, serving as a camp director for 5th and 6th graders, staffing spiritual retreat weekends like Cursillo and Vocare and men’s group retreats, all of it has been humbling, uplifting, and challenging, and in all that it has been an honor to be blessed by so many people in these 23 years. I have learned a lot, laughed a lot, cried some, wondered often about my worthiness or gifts, while always being blessed by the support of a loving, supportive and beautiful in every way wife, along with all my family. Thank you all, I have been richly blessed far more than I deserve. What an honor!

Today’s word comes from the gospel of the 2nd Sunday of Advent from Matthew Chapter 3: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The separation of those who are truly following Christ and those who are not – either because they pretend to or because they intentionally oppose the Messiah and his teachings, is a theme in the gospel of Matthew. In chapter 25 it is Jesus who separates the sheep from the goats, and the goats will include a lot who called Jesus their savior but who were not honest or earnest about being disciples, to the point where Jesus says some who called him Lord he does not recognize. This fire which cannot be quenched awaits, metaphorically, those who oppose the message, love, grace, and redemption of Christ in order to protect their own earthly power, power which is short lived vs the eternity of fire or glory with God.

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…