We are nearing the end of our journey through Advent. Once again, we have spent time as a church yearning and preparing to meet Jesus Christ.
This Sunday’s Gospel reading gives us Mary’s song, the Magnificat. I’ve heard this read sometimes as a to-do list— we should feed the hungry, and so on. Of course, we SHOULD feed the hungry, but reading the Magnificat this way misses the point. It makes Mary’s song about us.
In fact, the Magnificat is about God and his steadfast promises. Mary is singing about the deeds and power of God from the centuries before her time. She is recounting all that God has done, knowing that God’s acts in the past are assurances that God will act in the future.
Mary is magnifying God because she knows that God is about to do a wondrous thing in sending the savior of the world to live among us, not in power and glory but as a vulnerable baby born in humble circumstances. Truly, this is wondrous!
And Mary is reminding all who sing with her that God always looks out for the lowly, the least, and the lost. Christmas is perhaps the chief example of God’s way of working in the world to bring about our salvation, but it is only one (stellar!) example in an entire history filled with God’s deeds.
Let us with joy prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. And let us give thanks that God never gives up on us, that God is always working in our lives and in our world to bring about our redemption. Let us all magnify the Lord!
Every year in the midst of Advent, we encounter the bracing prophecy of John the Baptist. 2,000 years ago, he was a voice crying in the wilderness. Today, he is a tiny voice crying out in a cacophonous world of consumption and distraction. We all do well to clear away the noise and listen to this prophet.
One occupational hazard of Christians is that we read scripture’s warnings as applying to OTHER people. It’s tempting to read the stories of scriptures with ourselves in the place of heroes and someone else in the place of villains. This is a kind of tacit judgement. Jesus warned us about this. And, yes, he’s talking to you and to me!
Our job is to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling. If we notice another who has stumbled, our job is to invite them to a life in Christ—shaped by his grace and mercy— not to heap condemnation on them. Instead, we should get our own hearts in line.
This Sunday, we hear the prophet say,
“Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”
Imagine he’s saying this:
“Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We are the right kind of Christians already; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of God.”
Our world is increasingly polarized. We are taught to despise THOSE PEOPLE, whoever they are. But this is not the way of Jesus. He offers salvation to all who will accept the gift. Our task as his followers is to tend to our own hearts, and to invite others to a new life in Christ.
The prophet tells us the way. Live well, treat people fairly, share what we have, look for Jesus. In other words, love God and love our neighbors.
There’s no better time than right now to hear the prophet’s voice and to accept his invitation.
We’re four days into the season of Advent. Maybe you have a brilliant Advent practice and your beautiful Advent wreath is ready to be lighted in the evening. If so, wonderful! But maybe the whole season snuck up on you. After all, Thanksgiving and the heavy advertising of Black Friday can be plenty to focus on.
If so, I’m here to give you some great news. It’s not too late for Advent! In fact, this is one of my favorite teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: it’s never too late.
You don’t need an Instagram-worthy Advent wreath to be a real Christian. You can go without one, or you can grab any four candles or lights or whatever you like. We have a LEGO wreath at our house.
This season is the church’s gift to us all, an invitation to return to the Lord—to prepare our hearts and our minds to greet Jesus whenever we meet him. Sure, Advent is partly about getting ready for our Christmas worship. But it’s also about opening ourselves to be ready to meet Jesus in the sacraments; in the body of Christ, the church; in the scriptures; and in those whom we serve in his name. Of course, we’re also making sure we’re ready should he return in glory. And we’ll all meet him one day, as he will judge both the living and the dead. That’s all of us.
So how to do that, especially if the whole season snuck up on you? Spending a bit more time in prayer in this season can be helpful. If your church offers Advent programs or classes, sign up. Listen to Advent music. Read the scriptures—one way is to read one chapter of Luke’s Gospel each day. That gets you from December 1 to December 24, and you’re only a couple of days “behind.”
If you want some help, Forward Movement brings you AdventWord, a daily word to reflect on. You can receive the reflections in email or on social media. Or you can get an ebook (instant delivery!) of one of our recent Advent devotions:
Show Me Your Ways, O Lord: Devotions on the Psalms of Advent (Kindle | Apple Books)
Preparing the Way: Christian Practices for Advent (Kindle | Apple Books)
Tomorrow, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. This is one of those times when the church keeps a feast on a secular holiday. Our prayer book sets this day aside as a major feast.
The history of Thanksgiving Day is complicated, and it’s worth exploring to see what we can learn. But today I simply want to express my gratitude for a feast that invites us to express our gratitude. Gratitude upon gratitude!
Given all the headlines, one might be tempted to skip an occasion to offer our thanks to God. There’s so much to fix in our world! Violence and division seem endemic. Greed and fear run amok. In a time like this, it’s more important than ever to pause and give thanks.
There isn’t a person alive who hasn’t received blessings from God. Life itself is a gift. God has richly blessed us and our world. And if nothing else, we can give thanks “for the means of grace and for the hope of glory” in Jesus Christ.
For my part, I want to share some of the things for which I’m grateful. At Forward Movement, I’m thankful for a passionate and faithful staff who do excellent work to build up the body of Christ. I’m grateful for generous donors who make it possible for us to offer free materials online and to send free booklets and books to those in need, especially people who are in prisons. And I’m filled with gratitude for God’s call to serve him in his church, for the opportunity to testify to God’s goodness and to invite others to know the love of Jesus.
For what are you grateful?
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
P.S. You won’t hear from us on Giving Tuesday because we believe every day is an opportunity for gratitude and generosity. We welcome your offering of thanksgiving to God anytime, sharing new and Christ-centered ministry resources.
This weekend we celebrate the last Sunday of our church year, a day on which we always focus on the kingship of Christ. The collect beautifully sums up what this celebration is all about:
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Let us pray those words fervently.
Politicians and those seeking office have been much in the news lately. We who follow Jesus do well to remember that he is our king. No earthly ruler has the ultimate claim on us.
And what kind of king is Jesus? He is nothing like most political leaders. He came not to be served, but to serve. His rule is gracious, that is, full of grace and mercy. He is always loving. He brings us not condemnation for our sins, but a path to salvation by the remission of our sins.
May all our hearts be governed by Jesus. And may our love of Jesus lead us to love our neighbors and seek their well-being.
We are also on the cusp of Advent, as we prepare ourselves to worship Jesus at Christmas but also to greet him when he comes in glory.
Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come. Be for us the King of kinds and Lord of lords.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
P.S. If you are looking for ways to observe Advent, check out Forward Movement’s books and other materials for the season. Order by this Saturday, November 23, to ensure delivery before the First Sunday of Advent (December 1).
It may well seem like every moment of every day is focused on the coming election. And as I wrote last week, I hope we are all praying and working for wise decisions in this time.
It’s also true that Advent is just around the corner. Whatever happens on election day, our nation will seem to grow more and more divided. Deep rifts have been laid bare. This makes Advent more important than ever.
Advent will be an excellent season to remember another time, in another nation, when violence and separation seemed to rule. And into that world came Jesus Christ, promising peace through mercy and grace. Advent also reminds us that one day Jesus will come in glory, setting right those things which are wrong, bringing healing where there are wounds, and rendering judgement on all.
I know that I am already yearning for Advent as a time to regain my perspective and to restore my sense of hope.
Forward Movement offers several resources to help you and your church savor the richness of Advent.
You can get packs of colorable Advent calendars—created by Jay Sidebotham—to support families in your church through the season.
Our newly published Advent devotional book, Show Me Your Ways, O Lord, takes us on a reflective journey through some of the psalms traditionally associated with Advent. And we offer other Advent devotional books as well.
Let us pray for peace and justice as we prepare our churches, our world, and our hearts to greet Jesus Christ.
We are getting very close to an important election in the life of our nation. At all levels— local, state, national—critical decisions will be made about who leads us.
This ought to matter greatly to all of us who follow Jesus. Our Lord commanded us to love our neighbors. One way to love our neighbors is to seek their well-being by political means.
It’s clear that there are sharply different views of which direction our nation should take. And the same division can be found in most states and in many local communities. The end result is that this time seems to be pushing us toward division rather than uniting us as a people who seek the common good.
There are many things we can do as followers of Jesus. We can volunteer in political campaigns or even seek public office. We can encourage voting. We can work for free and fair elections. Above all, we can pray.
Forward Movement invites you to join in a nine-day cycle of prayer for our nation and for this election. Praying for nine days is an ancient rhythm; it’s long enough to feel sustainable, but brief enough to be accessible to all. The season starts October 29 and ends the day after the election, November 6.
All the prayers are taken from the Book of Common Prayer. Forward Movement has put together bulletin inserts and some social media to use in local churches. The materials are also available in Spanish. Social media posts will begin on October 29 on Forward Movement’s Facebook and Instagram channels.
Over the last year or so, a minor controversy has erupted at my church. Like a lot of places, giving patterns have shifted in the congregation over the last few years, with electronic giving becoming increasingly prevalent, and not just among younger members.
The controversy involves the laminated cards we’ve placed in the pews reading “I give online,” and including a QR code to the giving page on the website. The cards are intended to make it easier for visitors to know how to give online, and to allow newcomers and longtime members alike to offer their gifts before God in worship, or, perhaps less high-minded but still meaningful, to avoid looking stingy when the offering plate goes by. But some members of the church worry – and with solid scriptural support! – that the cards fly in the face of Jesus’s admonitions against practicing your faith for an audience. Doesn’t this violate the spirit of the instruction not to “let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3)?
Reminding people that using the cards was optional was enough to resolve most of the angst. But the questions the incident raised about faithfulness in giving, and the act of giving as a sort of social performance, remain.
As you think about your experience as a follower of Christ, whether that’s been for a lifetime or a path you’ve only recently started to tread, who taught you how to give? For Christ’s Jewish audience in Matthew’s Gospel, the answer would have been obvious. The Torah contains detailed instructions for appointed sacrifices, reinforced by social and religious customs, with the temple at the center of worship.
It would be easy to assume that the tithe – 10% of income – as the biblical standard of giving is well understood by Christians. But a 2022 survey by the Barna Group reveals that 44% of Christians cannot definitively say what the tithe is. That’s nearly half of us! So I suspect for a lot of Christians, maybe including you, the lessons of giving might not have come from the church, but from your family, or secular culture, or maybe you’ve developed an ethic on your own.
One of the jobs at the church is to be a “school for saints.” By being part of a church, you commit to daily becoming more and more like Christ through the practices of discipleship, including regular attendance at worship, scripture study, prayer, service, and generosity with the money entrusted to you for the common good and the greater purposes of God.
Are laminated “I give online“ cards an appropriate tool to help model what giving looks like in Christian community when fewer of us are dropping cash and checks in the plate? Your mileage may vary. But I pray that wherever the school for saints you make your spiritual home, your fellow students of discipleship continually and lovingly provoke you and one another to a generosity joyful and pure, a shimmering reflection of the generous grace of God.
Yours faithfully,
Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale
Treasurer of the Forward Movement Board
A message from our Director of Development:
There are many ways to give to Forward Movement, including stock and securities. A donor shares: “Years ago my wife and I bought stock in a fledgling computer company. It has appreciated in value and each year we give a block of it to Forward Movement. Giving appreciated stock both lowers our taxes and enables Forward Movement to continue to bless thousands of people with resources to guide them in listening for the subtle promptings of the Spirit.” Contact me (Lindsay Barrett-Adler) if you would like more information.
I’ve just returned from a few days in the Diocese of Texas, where I’m happy to report the Holy Spirit is doing mighty things!
On Sunday, I preached at St. Cuthbert’s in Houston. It’s one of the most racially diverse churches I’ve ever had the pleasure of worshiping in. A dazzling row of flags hangs in the worship space representing the many nations from which the members of this church come. But more than that, the place is radiant with the Spirit. They have seen dramatic growth in the last year or two, and there’s no sign of that slowing down.
What’s their secret? Why are they so vibrant? There are probably a lot of reasons, but I think their sustained focus on the transforming love of Jesus Christ — changing the world one life at a time — must be the root. Their music is lively and excellent. Their worship is well done and right out of the Book of Common Prayer. And, golly, they are deeply welcoming. If you are in the area, go check it out.
Sunday afternoon, I drove out to Camp Allen, the camp and conference center of the Diocese of Texas. There I met with the Small Church Network. This is a practice I would commend to other dioceses: twice a year, the churches with attendance under 50 get together to learn from one another. These smaller churches are able to offer personal ministry and tight-knit community. While larger churches may have more programs, small churches have their own strengths. Bigger is not better, it’s just bigger.
I heard inspiring stories of transforming ministry taking place in small churches in small towns. The Gospel is making a difference. If you are reading this and you are from a small church, I encourage you to reach out to others and to draw inspiration and support.
Finally, while I was in Texas, I met with their diocesan group of retired clergy and spouses. There were centuries of ministry experience in the room. I was encouraged by their hope for the future of our church and for the love of Jesus to make a mark in the world.
Sometimes it’s tempting to despair over the challenges we face and the seemingly unstoppable decline of our beloved church. But decline is not unstoppable. Jesus Christ, who conquered death and the grave, also promised to abide with his church until the end of time. We are not alone in our work. We have our Lord, and we have the company of fellow pilgrims on the way.
Let us all draw inspiration from one another. And let us never forget the reason our churches exist. It is not for comfort or prestige or security, but rather so that we can make disciples of Jesus Christ.
This coming Sunday’s epistle reading comes from James. It begins:
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Whether we are suffering, celebrating, or sick, we should pray. In other words, we are meant to pray without ceasing, as the scripture says elsewhere.
Our epistle reading this week was written to the leaders of the church, offering counsel for the fledgling church. It’s still good advice. We would do well to anchor our churches in prayer.
I have observed, however, that this is not always the case. Lay leaders and clergy discover a challenge and struggle to solve it. Vestries grapple with financial stress or church conflict or some other issue. In our pull-ourselves-up-by-your-bootstraps culture, we are all trained to solve our problems on our own. But this is not the Gospel.
If you or your church is facing a challenge, pray. If you are celebrating, pray. If you or someone you know is ill, pray. That’s just what James says, and it’s spot on. The first point is especially important.
A few years ago, I was working with a vestry who were facing a severe challenge. They talked about the problem from all angles and debated how to solve it. Then someone spoke up, “I don’t think we know the answer. We should pray.” After a moment, it was clear that everyone knew this was the thing to do.
Is your church struggling with a challenge, or maybe several of them? Let us pray.
Dear friends in Christ,
Dear friends in Christ,
