Happy New Year! Yep, the church has already started a new year with the first
Sunday of Advent -- November 27 this year – in anticipation of the Advent (or coming)
of Emmanuel, God-with-us. We prepare and wait together in this joyful season for
Christmas Day, when we celebrate what God has done for us and make a space again for
Jesus in our hearts and our lives.
When Mary learns of the coming Son of the Most High, she sings “My soul
glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” Then Mary continues her
song of praise with, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the
humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty”
(Luke 1:46b-47a, 52-53), for Mary knows that God’s gift to us is a joy and it also turns
the world upside down (or maybe right side up). We meet that loving and unsettling God
through Jesus, in time and space. Advent is full of arrivals and departures.
Isn’t that the way we still live out Advent, especially this year in the life of this
congregation? Family arrives and departs for visits and parties. It can be good to
reconnect with those we don’t see often, and we miss those who are not with us. You’ve
had to say goodbye to your beloved Interim Minister, Karen, celebrating the ministry
you’ve had together for the past two years and feeling the loss of the departure. You’ve
welcomed me so warmly and together we anticipate the ministry we will share together in
the coming years.
Underlying the excitement, the waiting, the preparation and the good-byes of the
Advent season, we are held in the peace of God which passes understanding. In the
midst of the commercial hype and the busy activities, we move in the hope of God’s
faithful work among us here and now.
I am so excited to begin this new year with you, as we prepare our hearts and
minds and souls and strength to welcome the baby and then live as the Body of Christ
throughout the year.
Smiling in Christ,
Pastor Anjeanette
