Our Advent Climb

The Mountain of the Lord Is 2: 1-5 2 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord. Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant Matt 8: 5-11 5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 10 When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one[a] in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, These two readings (yes, today we have a bonus!) set the tone for the rest of Advent. We are beginning a journey of now 27 days till Christmas. Isaiah invites us to climb the mountain of the Lord's House, and listen to his insbructions so that we may "walk in the light of the Lord." These days in the Northern Hemisphere see the days shortening and the darkness tipping the balance over light, making our longing for the Light of the World ever more poignant. This light comes with the birth of Jesus, an event worth waiting and working for. The Centurion, a non-Jew, evidently saw the light, made no bones about his femarkable faith in the power of Jesus, and was rewareded with the praise of Jesus and the cure of his servant. He models for us the faith that we pray and sacrifice for and that will grow during this Advent. "Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord." (Is 8: 5) Bro. Rene