First Sunday of Advent

Year 1: December 2, 2018

Preaching Text:  Habakkuk 1:1-7; 2:1-4; 3:[3b-6], 17-19

Yard Sale by Eve Bunting

(Written for ages 3-7)

Comment: In Eve Bunting’s Yard Sale, Callie sadly watches as her family’s possessions are sold in a yard sale. Her family has to move from their home into a small apartment, without as much space, and not all of their belongings will fit, and so they have to be sold. Callie knows all this, but she is still sad. Then she becomes alarmed when an older woman, joking, but unknown to Callie, asks about Callie being one of the yard sale items. Callie, with her sadness and misunderstanding of the joke, runs to her parents to tell them how upset she is. They listen to her, and assure her that though some of their possessions are being sold, that they would never give her away, and they will always be a family. Callie and her family are facing a sad situation, but they find a glimmer of hope in their relationship with each other. The prophet Habakkuk is sadly watching trouble and wrongdoing among God’s people, and declares that he will stand on the rampart to keep watching what will happen. Habakkuk sees clearly the sad things happening in front of him, and knows that the grief for him and his people will not be over quickly—there is more to come. But there is a glimmer of hope, that even “though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines”, Habakkuk will “yet rejoice in the Lord”, and trusts in the Lord’s continued care. Our lives are not always easy and happy, sometimes we will walk through times of grief and sadness. But as we mourn, we remember the glimmers of hope which still exist: our relationships with each other, and the Lord’s continued care for us.

Thanks to Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna Sara Anne Berger for writing the Year 1 Narrative Lectionary Links.

Lectionary Links (NL): December 2, 2018 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.