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“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” 

Ezekiel 36:26 

Read Ezekiel 36:24-28 

Hardening of the arteries is a common, life-threatening physical ailment. Becoming hard-hearted socially, emotionally and spiritually diminishes the circulation of the living spirit God has provided. Ezekiel and his countrymen experienced wartime devastation and forced removal from their land. Those who survived had many reasons to be bitter and hard towards God. The prophet took the risky position to tell them that the destruction came about because they turned their hearts from God’s way. Stone idols had filled their hearts, hardening them to the words of God. 

In exile, they heard the taunts that their god had abandoned them. God’s name was ridiculed by the nations and God responded jealously for God’s own name. God promised to restore the hills, valleys, waterways and cities and to return the people to their homeland. But bringing the people home again would not be sufficient if they returned to their old ways. They needed to change. A new heart and a new spirit would enable the people to follow God’s statutes and ordinances. 

One of my uncles was a popular and busy minister. A checkup determined that he had an enlarged heart and would need a transplant. He did receive the transplant, but it came at the cost of someone else’s life. He confided to me at one reunion that his priorities changed after that. He was more interested in playing with his grandchildren and being with people than dealing with the business of the church, among other things. His new heart of flesh gave him a new life. 

Remove the hearts we have allowed to become stony through our own pursuits. Put new hearts in us that will follow your life-giving ways, loving you and loving others. 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 

Jeremiah 1:5 

Read Jeremiah 1:4-10 

I’ve been appointed to lead at various times in my life—as a head coach in high school sports, as a youth pastor, on a school board, to lead the Center for Community Transformation at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary and many other spaces. I’ve seen victories; I’ve also seen failures. I used to think that my genius was validated by my victories. This led to failures being followed by cynicism and “what ifs.” In my cynicism I tore down without regard to much else. In my vulnerability, I said, “I wish I was different, God,” whether it be younger, more experienced, better spoken, etc. Maybe you have felt this too. 

God reminds me: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you.” The word consecrated means “having been made or declared sacred” or holy. In my times of failure, God sees me as holy. God made me this way and appointed me to lead in this role. 

Embracing my uniqueness can be difficult at times, especially in a world that seems to dislike differences. God said I am enough. I am holy not because of what I do, but because God said, “I consecrated you.” My holiness in God is not what I do, but who I am. Appointed to pluck up and pull down…to build and to plant. I must remember that tearing down is not enough, I am called to build and plant as well. Both my victories and my failures are God’s. I am God’s. 

God, you consecrated us before birth. Give us the courage to accept who we are, Imago Dei, to reject cynicism and embrace the hope of your promises fulfilled by holy childbirth in this time of Advent. 

“The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.” 

Psalm 85:12-13 

Read Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 

The Santa season is at its full height. Stores and media sing and tell the Santa story. Though charming in a way, the belief that Santa is watching to know whether to punish (coal) or reward (gifts a-plenty) challenges the true Christmas story. Santa becomes a behavior modification device used to motivate behavior. The popularized Santa story prompts conformity, not transformation. Some of us grow into adulthood with that way of thinking. 

God’s story is different. God wants to forgive us and move us toward a truly changed life (Psalm 85:1-2). God wants to restore us to flourishing and to life abundant, speaking “peace” to us (v. 8). To accomplish this goal God comes to dwell with us (v. 9). The result of God’s coming is that we experience the abundance that comes when God’s “love and faithfulness meet” and God’s “righteousness and peace kiss” (v. 10). God wants what is good for us (v. 12) and promises to make a way for us to receive these good gifts by God’s presence. 

God’s free gift makes the coming of Jesus at Advent spectacular. We don’t deserve God’s grace and mercy, yet God becomes human and comes to give us this gift anyway. We deserved coal; we received God with us. That is the good news, that God in God’s abundant love and faithfulness brings us righteousness and peace. God comes, not because we earned it, but because we need God’s presence. That is what love does. God’s love gives freely. 

Jesus, we remember your love and faithfulness in this season. We receive anew your righteousness and peace that we might show others how good you are. 

“He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.” 

Micah 5:4

Read Micah 5:1-5a 

Last summer, I accompanied a group of Fresno Pacific University students on a study abroad trip to Turkey and Greece. Being in a different country helped me to appreciate the diverse ways that national identity and pride can be expressed. I must have seen the Turkish flag on every street corner I passed! 

While being proud of our roots is not necessarily a bad thing, for Christians, our ultimate allegiance and identity is founded elsewhere. Today’s text from Micah 5 celebrates rooting identity and finding strength in God alone. 

Micah 5:1-5a describes the coming of a great ruler who will lead “in the majesty of the name of the Lord.” The Hebrew word translated “majesty” (ga’on) is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe nationalistic arrogance, especially among Israel’s enemies such as Babylon (Isaiah 13:19), Egypt (Ezekiel 16:49), Philistia (Zechariah 9:6) and Assyria (Zechariah 10:11). Instead of asserting political arrogance, though, the leader Micah envisions will defer to God’s majesty and strength. 

Today, our nations, our churches, our community organizations and even our families can encourage us to be prideful about our association with these groups. Yet, as the leader in Micah 5 demonstrates, ultimate majesty is only God’s. We can rejoice the most by aligning ourselves with the divine. This Advent season, may we pay attention to the ways in which we take pride in God’s majesty, not in the other groups that might vie for our loyalty. 

God of Majesty, we recognize your sovereignty over all things. Help us not to boast in false authorities but to rely on your power as our strength. 

“The lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation.” 

Micah 4:7 

Read Micah 4:6-8 

When have you felt left out, cast off, lame or shamed? Are you weary of appearing lame (or just plain) on social media? Are you weary of failing to be “in,” not making the varsity team, or not having standing at work or status in social circles? Rejoice! God flips the societal measuring stick and its values, gathering up the cast-off nobodies to make them a “strong nation.” This passage points to a radically encouraging reality: we can let go of grasping for status in the world and rest in the status we have in God’s upside-down Kingdom. 

Micah encourages, but also challenges. Which measuring stick do we use, society’s or God’s? In her book Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church, Katelyn Beaty states that the problem is not just celebrities themselves, but also how other Christians enable and foster celebrities. The American church has overall mimicked celebrity culture rather than challenge it. 

Beaty likens the allure of celebrity to the allure of the ring in Lord of the Rings. It is not a spiritually neutral tool. She observes that Jesus refused to do good things in the wrong way. Beaty advocates for a return to the small, the quiet, the uncool, the ordinary. Beaty’s challenge sounds similar to God’s focus in Micah. What are ways you feel a pull to the opposite? How might you choose intimacy over fandom and prioritize flesh-and-blood relationships over mediated ones? 

God, thank you that the weary parts of our being that feel lame and cast off can rest in your love. During this Advent may we reflect on how Jesus’ humble birth challenges societal fascination with and trust in celebrities. 

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.” 

Isaiah 9: 6-7 

Read Isaiah 9:2-7 

In Advent we participate in the expectancy of the Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9 is a prophecy for the people of God while their nation was threatened by Assyria. 

The Israelites anticipated a human king who would rule on David’s throne and defend them from enemies. Jesus later would fulfill this passage, though not with military might or winner-take-all politics. Jesus came to this world as a vulnerable child to a young virgin mother, quite contrary to the hopes of his contemporaries for a messiah to forcefully free them from Roman occupation. 

Following Advent, we enter yet another election year in our increasingly polarized country. As Christians, we should not feel secure because “our” candidate is polling well or dismayed because they’re not. As we participate in the politics of this world, let us not place our hopes in the rulers of this world, but instead in Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor. 

Amidst the ads, misinformation and awkward family holiday conversations, may we remember that in Christ’s Kingdom there will be no end to his government and peace. May we humbly admit our own blind spots, placing our hope in the Prince of Peace. 

Keep our eyes on the manger and not on the polls. May our hope be placed in the Prince of Peace. 

“You are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

I Corinthians 1:7

Read 1 Corinthians 1:6-9 

“What’s happening?” I fretted as the line of people inching up Moro Rock came to a stop. It was a beautiful July day in Sequoia National Park, but I was impatiently waiting for my turn to take pictures at the point of the rock overlooking a breath-taking panoramic view of the Sierra Nevada. 

Advent is a time of waiting. The hymn “O Holy Night” uses the word “pining.” Our lectionary passages use the word “wait:” “God…works for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4), “Wait for the revealing of our Lord.” (I Corinthians 1:7). 

We wait for many things—at the line in the grocery store, for a bus, in traffic or in a theater for a movie to start. Many of us have found ways to occupy ourselves during that waiting—scrolling through our phones, reading or listening to music. But what do we do while waiting for God? 

Jesus says, “Keep alert, be on the watch, keep awake” (Mark 13:33-35). Jesus calls us neither to fret nor to lull ourselves into complacency, but to watch, to be ready to respond when we see his coming, God acting. 

Back on Moro Rock, I realized that instead of fretting, I could enjoy being on top of the world in no hurry. I watched a wildflower growing in a crack. I watched the mountains display the glory of God. I watched my children enjoy the view and make conversations. And too soon, my turn came to take pictures and move on. 

Lord, even as we wait and hope for your coming in our lives, we are grateful that you work to give us the spiritual gifts of hope, patience, love and joy. 

Welcome to the 2023 Advent Devotional “A Weary World Rejoices!” 

This year our hopes for healing from epidemics, for relief from practices that harm our environment, for recovered common civility in society bent on polarization have not been realized. While we do not despair, we grow weary while waiting. 

The aim of this devotional is to renew our perspective that Jesus has come to Bethlehem, is coming to renew all things and is present through the Holy Spirit active within the Christian community and among all creation. 

We as members of the Fresno Pacific University and Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary community pray that you will experience God’s peace afresh during Advent 2023. 

Merry Christmas! 

Thanks to Lynn Jost, Ph.D., professor of preaching and Old Testament and director of the Center of Anabaptist Studies at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, for his work as editor of the 2023 Advent devotional.