Life is weird sometimes. So many families are grieving so intensely...the news feed is still full of the mass shooting in CA and the shooting yesterday of a child and her mother at soccer practice.
And today, we "green" the church for Christmas. Lots of people will come. We will eat, drink (coffee), and be ridiculously merry for about three hours until the church glows with celebration.
And Amos will shout in the background with God's words, "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies...Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps."
Should we not decorate today?
Perhaps we really shouldn't. But perhaps we should. What God asks instead of the songs and the festivals is that we "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." We in this little congregation are far from perfect, but we work hard in different venues for justice.
Could we work harder, yes. Will we. Yes. Will we forget to work hard some days. Yes.
Today, the greening of the church represents the hope that God's righteousness and justice will be fully accomplished. For me, it is a promise that my prayers for victims will be paired with work toward God's justice and righteousness. And I will trust that God's great power will take my meager efforts and turn them into God's work.
That's my Advent hope for the day...
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