Lectionary Links: Sunday, December 7, 2014
2nd Sunday of Advent
YEAR B: December 7, 2014
First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11
Come on, Rain! by Karen Hesse
(Written for ages 4-8)
Comment: The prophet Isaiah proclaims that God will soon shift everything—what is crooked will be straight, the valleys lifted, the mountains crumble, and the people who lived sinful lives will be comforted and given tender tidings. The seismic shifts predicted in the earth will also be felt in the souls of God’s flock. The changes God brings will stand forever. In “Come on, Rain”, the earth also experiences a shift—from the sweltering, sun-baked heat of a drought to the shimmering, nourishing patter of rain. The young people and their mothers who watch the clouds roll in, cry: “Come on, Rain!”. They are overcome with joy, dancing in the drops, reveling in the profound change around them and inside of them. So, too, God’s people will live in the good tidings of a changed world, with changed selves, too.
Second Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-15a
Just a Second by Steve Jenkins
(Written for ages 4-8)
Comment: In this section of Second Peter, the writer reminds us that God does not measure time the way that we measure time as humans. God is beyond all time, and we, as God’s creatures, can only understand a fraction of that eternity! And while this may be overwhelming to consider, it is also comforting, because what seems slow to us is not to God, and what seems to be dragging on forever is really God’s patience toward humanity. In Just a Second, Steve Jenkins shows different ways of measuring time—for example, how many times can a hummingbird flap its wings in a second, how far can a mole dig in an hour? The book uses the creatures and events of the natural world to demonstrate new ways of thinking about time, just as the writer in Second Peter exhorts the readers to think about God’s time in a new way.
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:1-8
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
(Written for ages 4-8)
Comment: In The Doorbell Rang, Sam and Victoria are excited to eat the cookies their mother made for them, but then their friends come to the door! Sam and Victoria are happy to share, at first, but then the doorbell rings again and again, bringing more friends and requiring more sharing. But their predicament is happily solved when the doorbell rings one last time and Grandma arrives with a whole plate of new cookies! At Sam and Victoria’s house there is always someone new coming along, ready to join them. And that is what John the Baptist says about Jesus in this passage. While he is baptizing and calling people to repentance, he is also aware that another person is coming—someone even more powerful, someone who will baptize in a new way. Just like Sam and Victoria always had someone new coming to the door, John the Baptist and the people around him know that Jesus is coming to them, too.
The Lectionary Links this week are written by Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna Sara Anne Berger.
Lectionary Links: Sunday, December 7, 2014 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
