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Saturday, First Week in Advent

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by Matthew B. Harper

And Jesus said to them…, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:20-21)

When Mary accepted God’s call to her, I don’t think that she had any idea what was coming. She risked so much, and lost so much, all for God. Being pregnant and unmarried she risked being rejected by Joseph and her family, she risked being stoned for adultery, she risked being condemned. When Mary traveled to Bethlehem she left her friends and family behind. There would be no midwife to deliver her baby, no family to welcome it, and no village to celebrate, rejoice, and bring gifts.

In all that Mary lost, she willingly gave it up for God. And God, in turn, blessed her so overwhelmingly. With no midwife to announce the birth, God sent the choirs of heavenly angels. With no family to gather, God sent the shepherds. With no village gifts for the child, God sent the wise men bearing gifts for a king. Mary offered up to God what little she had, and God gave it back to her with divine abundance.

We get so caught up in stuff this time of year. We get so focused on things. And I love stuff, I love things. But these things are so incidental to our faith. In my life I have lost so much. And not just lost, I have thrown away, wasted, squandered and destroyed so much. And I think that to some degree we all have. We offer to God what little we have left. And God blesses us, God restores with divine abundance in ways we could never have foreseen.

God restored to Mary, and through Mary’s offering God blessed all of humanity beyond compare. Our God is a loving God of restoration. God restores, and God continues to restore to us.

Born thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a king, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. (Hymn 66)

First Sunday in Advent

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by Matthew B. Harper

So then let us not sleep, as others do but let us keep awake and be sober.

(1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

Today we light the first candle of our Advent wreaths. A candle that welcomes light into our world, and a light in the window to wait for our coming Savior.

‘Let us keep awake and be sober’ cries Paul to the Thessalonians. What a difficult command this is to us. In our culture, in prison and out, we do not want to wait or be sober. Instant gratification and indulgence are the mantras of the culture. But seeking the desert, as Jesus did after his baptism, was about being quiet, and waiting on God. When we create stillness, then there is room in our lives for God to fill.

As a child I loved to devour the toy catalogs. As Christmas approached I would make longer and longer lists of the things that I ‘just had to have.’ In prison I am prone to do the same. I read my magazines and books full of boats, and scuba diving, and in my mind I make my lists. But I have to wait, and wait. In prison I have had to learn patience, it has been forced upon me. It has not been easy, but it has been a gift. I am learning how to be quiet and present to reality, and neither to live in my past or my future.

We stay busy. This time of year we seldom slow down even for a moment. In prison I work hard to stay occupied with productive things. But the hardest spiritual work there is often comes when we do less, and do it better. When we find times to deliberately slow down, and quiet down, to spend time with God.

I have my dreams, and sometimes they console me while the pain and longing grips me; but when the pain is the most intense, and the yearning reaches to the depths of my heart; in those times I cannot dream, I can only grow quiet and sit safe in the hand of God.

Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding. “Christ is nigh,” it seems to say; “Cast away the works of darkness, O ye children of the day.” (Hymn 59)

“Going live” on Monday, November 23rd

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Prison Lectionary will “go live” on Monday, November 23rd, 2015. This will be a week prior to the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the liturgical year in Christian tradition. On that day, we will release about a dozen new submissions at once and begin a regular cycle of publication.

Every Monday, Prison Lectionary will share commentary on the Revised Common Lectionary texts for the following Sunday and throughout the week other items will appear regularly.

During the Christian season of Advent, which begins four Sundays before Christmas, Prison Lectionary will share daily devotions prepared by a single incarcerated author.

Stay tuned for more great things to come!