Advent I
On the hillside a crowd is fixated on the humble man we've come to know so well that we don't even recognize him, who quotes from a poet/activist centuries before his time:
Jesus: Following those hard times,
"Sun will fade out,
moon cloud over,
Stars fall out of the sky,
cosmic powers tremble.
And then they’ll see the Son of Man enter in grand style, his Arrival filling the sky—no one will miss it! He’ll dispatch the angels; they will pull in the chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole.
That same poet activist had more to say about this one called the Son of Man, he didn't shirk from speaking truth to power, specifically the One he saw as the highest power, his God:
Isaiah: You are our Father.
Abraham and Israel are long dead.
They wouldn’t know us from Adam.
But you’re our living Father, our Redeemer, famous from eternity!
Why, God, did you make us wander from your ways? Why did you make us cold and stubborn so that we no longer worshiped you in awe?
Turn back for the sake of your servants. You own us! We belong to you!
For a long time now, you’ve paid no attention to us. It’s like you never knew us.
Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend, make the mountains shudder at your presence—
When the present is invaded by eternity, Words melt off the screen into the soles of your shoes this very moment. Hear it in this letter to the unlikely tight-knit group of friends who formed in Corinth around that humble man on the hillside years earlier:
Paul: ... as you wait expectantly for our rescuing hero to arrive on the scene for the Finale... God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up... God, who got you started on this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our rescuer. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.
Replay the scene... what stands out to you stepping into this story...