Third Sunday of Advent

Year 3: December 17, 2017

Preaching Text: Isaiah 55:1-13

Merry Christmas, Davy! by Brigitte Weninger

(Written for ages 4-8)

Comment: Scholar Walter Bruggeman says that the first verses of this text offer an alternative to the cultural expectations of Babylon and of our current quid pro quo culture. “It recognizes that there are neighbors who are entitled to generosity. It knows that healthy social relationships depend on generous hospitality.”  To follow God’s ways is to consciously live differently, believing God’s message of abundance, rather than scarcity. In Weninger’s story, Davy is moved to share his family’s food with others in the forest who seem hungry. His generosity causes stress for his family, who has saved and stored food for the winter, yet it leads to an abundance in the forest community that leaves everyone well fed and care for. God calls us to live in ways that are often countercultural. As you reflect on this text and story, invite your congregation to share their own stories of living generously and caring for others without expectation of return.

Thanks to Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna Noell Rathbun for writing the Year 4 Narrative Lectionary Links.

Lectionary Links (NL): December 17, 2017 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.