Second Sunday of Advent (Year B, RCL)

For a long time, Luther's hometown lay forgotten.

My words feel small. Like I’m trying to beat back the ocean with a stick. I could command the waves to stop, but the sea will keep pounding the sand. Recent world events have generated a lot of fodder for preachers and writers, and yet I have nothing to say. 

Nowadays, if we hear the word "holy" outside church, it’s usually in the expression “holier than thou.” The phrase is reserved for pompous religious know-it-alls who think they’re better at Christianity than everyone else. The title fits individuals who desperately need to re-read what the Bible says about humility.

Holiness is a murky word.

The son of a truck driver, I like highways and image of travel. Checking The New Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary's entry about roads and highways, I learned that a messila was a built-up road, intentionally constructed and improved, while a derekh (Num. 20:17, 19, Judg. 21:19) was a path was formed because of constant use and thus had become a road.

While Christian scholars have long questioned body-soul dualism, it remains common in church circles. This may finally be changing.

As the second Sunday in advent approaches, I find the prophets of the season compelling. To my ears, their message sounds pretty consistent: "Change the ways of this world."

I'm afraid I want the good news of Christmas without the challenge.

Mercy is not what we’re about, and I suspect we don’t want our God to be about it, either.

In my Swedish childhood, the signature image of Advent was Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Every valley shall be exalted—but when?