Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 28, 2021

First Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16

The wheel of the seasons has come around to Advent. A new liturgical year begins.

Triptych of the Last Judgement (c.1486), oil painting on oak panel by Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516). Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

While much of the world is already celebrating Christmas with carols, parties, and serious shopping, Advent invites us to move toward the celebration of the Incarnation in a quieter, more meditative way. Sunday’s readings look toward the fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity and our desire for forgiveness as we wait for the coming of the Messiah. Israel in exile understood the prophet Jeremiah’s words in our first reading to be a promise that the people would return safely to Jerusalem, protected by God’s righteous justice. Christians must honor that understanding, while also imagining in the prophet’s words an image of Jesus as our righteous king and savior.

Psalm: Psalm 25:1-9

Just as the Jeremiah reading calls for hope and trust in a time of pain, Sunday’s Psalm portion asks us to put our faith in God’s love. The psalmist, speaking in the imagined voice of King David, repeatedly calls for God’s compassion using the Hebrew word chesed. This, said to be Thomas Merton’s favorite biblical word, represents an emotion-laden idea that may also be translated as “faithfulness,” “kindness,” “mercy” or “grace.” Yes, it is reassuring to place our hope in God’s compassion, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and grace when things look dark.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

So many of Paul’s letters are directed to beloved communities from afar. He expresses hope to be reunited with them, and calls for God’s blessing on their lives. This short letter to the people of Thessalonika in Northern Greece is believed to be the earliest authentic letter from Paul. He prays that, with God’s help, they will love each other and love everyone! He prays that God will strengthen their hearts in holiness so they may be blameless before God at the coming of Jesus with all the saints.

Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

In this passage from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching the apostles after they have left the Temple, not long before they gather for the Last Supper and his passion begins. Jesus is giving the disciples dire warnings, in apocalyptic language, of hard times to come. The Temple will be destroyed and Jerusalem fallen to its foes, and people will faint with fear as even the heavens are shaken. These signs will signal that Jesus’s return and the world’s redemption are drawing near, and everyone should pray that they have the strength to escape all the things that will happen. Yes, Luke makes Jesus’s coming sound scary – when I was a little boy, these Advent readings used to scare the bejabbers out of me. That may be the Evangelist’s point: The people of God should live good lives and be ready, so Jesus’ coming won’t be a surprise.