advent – Wicomico Presbyterian Church

Advent 1: Being Present with Hope

Mark 13: 24-37 Every year I begin the season of Advent feeling the urge to apologize about the scriptures. This text from Mark. It’s not very cheery, is it? But there it is, with its words of dread; one calamity after another. The sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will fall from the sky. It’s like a horror movie. And we can treat it that way if we want to. My son Joe spent some time in Mississippi when he was a young man and attended a church where the pastor preached in the fire and brimstone tradition. Every Sunday he stood in the pulpit breathing threats and terror against the disciples in the pews. Every week he would end with, “come back next week and I’ll tell you more about how it’s all going to end.” And Joe kept going back. He didn’t […]

Keep Awake

Matthew 25:1-13 I am the kind of person who watches the Super Bowl for the commercials because some commercials these days are really great. There is one that is aired a lot now that I love. It shows a family going through security in an airport. The dad gets through first and one of the TSA workers says to him, “Enjoy your flight.” Without thinking the man says, “You too.” And everything stops. The employees and his family members look at him as though he has somehow betrayed them. The TSA workers are offended, his kids are humiliated, and his wife says to him, “I thought I knew you.” It’s a huge overreaction about a tiny little mistake this guy made. I hope I never find myself in that situation. This poor man would surely like to rewind the tape and try again. If only he had a chance, you […]

Advent 1: Making Room

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Advent always gets here before I am ready for it. No matter how good my intentions, I am never quite prepared; I am surprised by the arrival of Advent, wishing time would slow down. But if the season of Advent is about making time and space to get ourselves ready, then maybe that’s as it should be. Maybe I don’t need to get ready to begin getting ready. However it may be, here we are…at this special time…Advent 2021. And like it does every year, Advent takes us as we are – where we each are personally, where we are as a congregation, where we are in the world. And where we are in the world is still kind of a hard place. We have been in this COVID season way too long for us to keep it in the forefront of our minds – and yet, even […]

Journey to the Light, Part 3: As We Wait

John 1:6-8, 19-28 Today on this third Sunday of Advent, we await the coming of the light. It is a dark season. We are a week away from the darkest day of the year – the day when the sun is farthest from this northern hemisphere, making our day short and our night long. It is a dark season, yet we await the coming of the light. It is a dark season for us in many ways. Day after day, the weight of this novel coronavirus darkens our land with sickness, want, loneliness, and death. It is a dark season around the world where the numbers of the sick and the dead continue to rise, where leaders try, or do not try, to alleviate the suffering around them. In a world where powerful people behave as though they own the power, rather than that they are stewards of it. Where […]

Journey to the Light, Part 1: Awake

Mark 13:24-37 I saw a t-shirt recently that said, “I miss precedented times.” I have to agree; this year, “unprecedented” has worn out its welcome. But here we are in the season of Advent – a season that tells us to expect unprecedented things. The sun and moon will go dark, stars will fall from the sky, the Son of Man will come in the clouds, and no one knows the day or the hour. Every year it feels a little strange to begin the Advent season, because it’s a thing that most of the world doesn’t recognize. To most people, this is the Christmas season, or maybe the Thanksgiving leftovers season. It is the time of the year when the church is the most out of sync with the world around us, because we are waiting for Jesus – in a world that detests having to wait for anything. […]

In the Waiting

Matthew 24:36-44 Jesus is coming. Are you ready? And as I ask this question, you might be thinking of all your lists. Shopping lists, baking lists, card lists. You might be thinking of your calendar dates– concert dates, dinner dates, party dates, arranging flights or picking up folks at the airport dates. You might be squirming in your pew as you realize just how not-ready you are. I sometimes feel like I need to apologize to the church for Advent. While our heads are full of Christmas, the church is saying, let’s talk about something else, because it’s not Christmas yet. This is jarring. Because everywhere else you look, Christmas is in full swing. On TV, on the radio, in the stores, everywhere you go. The culture is at least a month ahead of us on the calendar. It all comes so early and lasts so long, we feel […]

What Then Should We Do?

Zephaniah 3:14-20 Luke 3:7-18 Does anyone know if the war on Christmas is still going on? I’m just wondering. I haven’t been paying much attention to it, so I’m not really up to speed on it. I would feel bad about that – except that I don’t. I am tired of this particular war. I can’t work up any enthusiasm for it, frankly, because if you want to know the truth I am more concerned about the war on Advent. You don’t hear much about that one –probably because it has been so successful. Seriously, when was the last time you had anyone wish you a Happy Advent? How often do you see Advent decorations or get visited by Advent carolers? Never? It’s all “Christmas this” and “Christmas that” – Christmas trees, Christmas carols, Christmas movies. Even here in the church. The struggle is real, my friends. The war on […]