On our third day of Advent, we remember new birth, hope-filled growth, seeing with the eyes of Jesus’ disciples, and, in these last days of the Jubilee year, being pilgrims of hope.

Isaiah gives a vision for Israel – and for us in our own times – of a better life that will come when we, like this tree stump, grow toward God’s rebirth of souls. God always transforms us and renews our lives, even as this stump, which is believed to be dead.

Each Advent, we receive another push in our spirited journey to move toward the mountaintop. Our eyes and ears are boosted to bring God’s justice to birth. We are to be the ones who sit with the lion or lamb, kid or leopard. Why? The Holy Spirit rests upon us, giving wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and grace. God’s holy mountain has room for everyone. Isaiah exhorts us to climb! Arise to the challenges, and they will help you draw closer to God and bring about God’s justice.

We see a glimpse of that mountain top in our world if we choose to see the Holy Spirit at work around us. Christ told the disciples to buy a pair of God’s glasses and see God’s vision of the remarkable.

At each Eucharist, we have the promise to return to our world and climb with a new set of glasses. We are called to nurture the sprout of our faith and hope to have God’s justice flourish and thrive within us and then the world. The bloom must not be squandered; we support and rescue those most in need. As we near the end of another time of Jubilee in our holy church, may we see the new life of hope blossom to build God’s peaceable kingdom. Let’s not waste another sprout and another new liturgical year of hope.

Prayer:

O God of hope and promise, we call upon your grace and guidance to renew the face of the earth with your justice and care. Support our efforts to renew our lives, so that, moved by changed hearts and a renewed spirit, our lives may build a community of love, hope, unity, and peace that flourishes until Christ’s coming in glory, through Christ our Lord.