First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

 ¹The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
  because the Lord has anointed me;
 he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
  to bind up the brokenhearted,
 to proclaim liberty to the captives,
  and release to the prisoners;
 ²to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
  and the day of vengeance of our God;
  to comfort all who mourn;
 ³to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
  to give them a garland instead of ashes,
 the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
  the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
 They will be called oaks of righteousness,
  the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
 ⁴They shall build up the ancient ruins,
  they shall raise up the former devastations;
 they shall repair the ruined cities,
  the devastations of many generations.

 ⁸For I the Lord love justice,
  I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
 I will faithfully give them their recompense,
  and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
 ⁹Their descendants shall be known among the nations,
  and their offspring among the peoples;
 all who see them shall acknowledge
  that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
 ¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
  my whole being shall exult in my God;
 for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
  he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
 as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
  and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
 ¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
  and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
 so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
  to spring up before all the nations.

Psalm: Psalm 126

The Lord has done great things for us. (Ps. 126:3)

 ¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
  then were we like those who dream.
 ²Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue     with shouts of joy.
  Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done      great things for them.”
 ³The Lord has done great things for us,
  and we are glad indeed.
 ⁴Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
  like the watercourses of the Negeb. 
 ⁵Those who sowed with tears
  will reap with songs of joy.
 ⁶Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed,
  will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves. 

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²²abstain from every form of evil.
 ²³May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

Gospel: John 1:6-8, 19-28

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

 ¹⁹This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said,
 “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
 ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
as the prophet Isaiah said.
 ²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” ²⁸This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

Children’s Sermon  “It is time.”  A Disney film that has helped me a lot recently is “Lion King.”  Simba, the young lion, flees after seeing his father killed in a political move by his Uncle Scar.  Pumba, a warthog, and Timon, a lemur, rescue him.  He matures but one day his childhood girlfriend arrives to plead with him to return and save the kingdom that is “a real fix-er upper.”  Simba runs away but encounters the monkey Rafiki who challenges him that the past does hurt but you run from it or you learn from it.  Simba runs to the river where he sees his father’s reflection and hears his father speak from the clouds. “You are more than you have become. Remember who you are.”  Simba returns. In the finale, Rafiki says to Simba, “It is time!”  Simba steps onto Pride Rock to claim his rightful position in the kingdom and the sun shines as all the animals applaud.  Today we see John the Baptist proclaiming, “It is time.”   It is time for the Messiah to appear.  He is questioned, though, “Who are you?”  If you were asked “Who are you?” how would you answer?

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind,

consider it nothing but joy,  James 1:2

         When I started dating my future husband, he was memorizing the biblical book of Colossians.  I thought he was weird but my sister said she was memorizing Philippians and the organist at the church was memorizing Hebrews.  I had not done much memorizing of Scripture since confirmation.  I was shocked and decided to work on the book of James because it talks about wisdom.  Chapter 1 opens by encouraging readers to consider our trials pure joy.  That has always been a conversation stopper and thought provoker for me.  How do struggles and joy relate?  How does John the Baptist and joy relate?  JOY is our theme today.  Again we grapple with how John the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ and the face of Advent for us this year, helps us to understand real joy rooted in the truth of who we are and not just because we get our wish list on Christmas day.

         Advent 1 we focused on the HOPE that comes from a God who is true to his word and fulfills prophecy.  John the Baptist calls out, “It is time!” for prophecy to be fulfilled and for the Messiah to appear.  Advent 2 we focused on PEACE as John the Baptist encouraged us to open our hearts through confession and repentance to prepare to hear the forgiveness the babe brings.  “It is time” to come clean with God.  Advent 3 focuses on JOY as John the Baptist and we are questioned about our identities.  “Who are you?”  “It is time” to ponder the truth of who we are and who we were created to be.   Are we more than we have become?

⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light

         In our Gospel text today we have three groups of people.  John the Baptist is witnessing.  The priests and Levites who were sent by the Jews in Jerusalem are worrying about John’s identity.  But there is also all the people watching this scene unfold – us.  Let us ponder witnessing, worrying, and watching and the joy they bring.  The question hanging in the air, “Who are you?” confronts us about which of these three do we identity with today.  When we know whose we are and why we are alive, we can find true joy in life even in the midst of trials.  So take a moment to reflect right now.  In your relationship with Jesus are you a witness, a worrier, or a watcher?

Witness in the Wilderness

         Simba’s father’s appearance reminds his son that he is more than he has become.  “Remember who you are!”  John the Baptist is questioned and twice asked, “Who are you?”  John answers that he is a “voice” witnessing to light.  My first take-away in the text is that we are only voices, witnesses.  We are not God.  We are not perfect.  We are only witnessing to truth, as we understand it now. The evil one would like to convince us that we have failed when a child goes astray or a spouse leaves or our business struggles that we have failed. As we live acknowledging that we have done our best with the truth we have been entrusted then we can leave the rough spots in life for God to level out.  When we demand of ourselves that we be “the light” and do everything right, then we loose joy.  We have forgotten who we are. We are not the light. We witness to the light. 

         Also John identifies with his audience as he claims he is a voice in the wilderness with the people.  John is asked if he is a prophet.  Prophets were messengers bringing words from God to the people often in correction of behavior or to foretell the future, but John says he is not a prophet but he is a witness testifying, telling truth to those in the wilderness of life.  He is not correcting his audience but identifying with them and calling to them to prepare.  We travel in community and live our “voice” for the good of all, hopefully pointing others to the Messiah who is coming.

         So what does our life “voice” or testify or witness to today?  As we think of the words coming out of our mouths, we are challenged to be honest if those vulgar explicatives frequently explode from us when we get frustrated and under pressure.  Do our friends know they will always receive truth seasoned with compassion to tell them about what’s wrong?  I pray we are not known for our sharp and cutting, sarcastic responses.  One of the radio stations here in Florida advertises as the station that is safe for little ears listening.  Is our voice safe for all the people around us?  What does our voice witness to now?

         Being a voice, being a witness, means that the Holy Spirit does the convicting.  He changes the heart in another’s life but it is my role to witness to the truth of Christ in my life, not to change someone else.  I know we love to say the popular saying that we need only show love, only use words if necessary, but as John reflects on being a “voice”, I tend to think that it is good that we use our voices to share our truth specifically pointing others to God and not just being kind.  We are challenged to use our voice to testify about the real light of life, God.  We are who we are, not because of the success of our hands but by the grace of God.

Worriers

         If John is a witness, a voice testifying to the light, then the priests and Levites might be called worriers about the light.  They are people sent by authorities in Jerusalem and they are concerned about reporting back to their bosses.  Twice they ask John, “Who are you?”  They “need an answer for those who sent them.”  Perhaps we can put them in the category of people who want to be politically correct during Advent as they make decisions about how they are aligning themselves.  They are not witnesses but responders looking for approval from those they seek to please.

         I listen to all the advertisements during Advent that try to convince us to buy this or that, do this or that, go here or there.  The motivation is pleasing the other, not developing relationship or finding the true light.  When we are “people pleasers” worrying about the response of another, then I suspect we will have trouble finding true joy.  It feels like conflict.  Can we truly feel joy from within when the approval of another determines our success?

         Advent is a time of the year when it is very easy to be a worrier.  Presents are given and often there are more people we would like to bless than our budget allows.  Meals are cooked and the evil one loves to remind us of burnt offerings or how well someone else did it last year.  Christmas programs are presented where people wear their best, kids do their best, and musicians are outstanding.  Comparisonitis can ruin our self-value as we imagine another evaluating us.

         Perhaps our focus is the problem.  Instead of worrying if so-and-so will like this or that, we need to work on placing the gift in God’s hand through prayer to bless that person.  Seeking God’s help to use our efforts to voice light into another’s life connects us with real power and helps us silence our fears.  Who do you seek to give an answer to this Christmas?

Watchers

         The unnamed group in our text today is the people watching this exchange.  It is we the readers.  We may not see ourselves as a John the Baptist or even the preacher giving this sermon.  We may not be called to be an upfront person, a voice witnessing to the light, but we are being called today to decide if we are following the light or settling for traditions.  In our culture of leniency, tolerance and diversity, it feels dangerous to be too defined.  It sounds a bit judgmental so we leave witnessing to the professionals or the TV, podcast, or the web.  On the other hand, we do not want to think of ourselves like the priests and Levites reporting to Lutheran headquarters.  We are not tattle tales.  Our family tradition is Lutheran and we are proud of it.  We may come and go to church but do we go through the motion without personally investing for the health of our own soul?  We may be good people trying to live right but it is easy to become kind of neutral.  We might be described as lukewarm.  We can become people sitting in the pews.  Advent challenges us to reflect if we are more than we have become.  Hopefully we are not so overwhelmed that we feel like we are wandering in the wilderness as we are involved in all the hurry and scurry of the season.

         Simba was happy living with Timon and Pumba.  He had learned to survive on worms and grubs, “slimy but satisfying.”  He was content.  The problem was that he was not all that he was made to be, the child of the King, the heir apparent.  Nola arrives and challenges him.  The image of his father in the river and cloud challenge him also.  “You are more than you have become.  Remember who you are.”  John the Baptist arrives and challenges us.  Advent reminds us that we are created to walk in the light and our life is a testimony to the light.  It is as we step into our rightful roles in our “fixer-upper world” that the sun shines and we experience true joy.  Joy is different than contentment.  Joy is hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit whispering in our soul about some situation, “It is time” and we respond.  Perhaps it is time to give a hug.  Perhaps it is time to pray or read.  Perhaps it is time to pick up a phone.  Perhaps it is time to forgive.  As we step into witnessing to the light as the light calls to us then we experience true joy. 

         Allow me to rephrase slightly the close of our text today.

“Among us stands one whom many do not know, ²⁷the one whom we celebrate as coming in Advent;

I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal” but he is the light of life and worth celebrating at Christmas.”

It is time for us to witness to the light of our world.  We are not the Messiah.  We are not Elijah.  We are not the prophet Moses talked about.  We are just voices speaking to our world about the one who comes to our hearts, who came in Bethlehem and who will come someday to make our world right.  Blessings as you share this week.  May you experience true joy.

Let the people of God say, “Amen!”

First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11

 ¹Comfort, O comfort my people,
  says your God.
 ²Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
  and cry to her
 that she has served her term,
  that her penalty is paid,
 that she has received from the Lord’s hand
  double for all her sins.
³A voice cries out:
 “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
  make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
 ⁴Every valley shall be lifted up,
  and every mountain and hill be made low;
 the uneven ground shall become level,
  and the rough places a plain.
 ⁵Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
  and all people shall see it together,
  for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶A voice says, “Cry out!”
  And I said, “What shall I cry?”
 All people are grass,
  their constancy is like the flower of the field.
 ⁷The grass withers, the flower fades,
  when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
  surely the people are grass.
 ⁸The grass withers, the flower fades;
  but the word of our God will stand forever.
 ⁹Get you up to a high mountain,
  O Zion, herald of good tidings;
 lift up your voice with strength,
  O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
  lift it up, do not fear;
 say to the cities of Judah,
  “Here is your God!”
 ¹⁰See, the Lord God comes with might,
  and his arm rules for him;
 his reward is with him,
  and his recompense before him.
 ¹¹He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
  he will gather the lambs in his arms,
 and carry them in his bosom,
  and gently lead the mother sheep.

Psalm: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

Righteousness shall prepare a pathway for God. (Ps. 85:13)

 ¹You have been gracious to your land, O Lord;
  you have restored the good fortune of Jacob.
 ²You have forgiven the iniquity of your people
  and blotted out all their sins.
 ⁸I will listen to what the Lord God is saying;
  for you speak peace to your faithful people and to those who turn       their hearts to you.
 ⁹Truly, your salvation is very near to those who fear you,
  that your glory may dwell in our land. 
 ¹⁰Steadfast love and faithfulness have met together;
  righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
 ¹¹Faithfulness shall spring up from the earth,
  and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
 ¹²The Lord will indeed grant prosperity,
  and our land will yield its increase.
 ¹³Righteousness shall go before the Lord
  and shall prepare for God a pathway. 

Second Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-15a

⁸Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
 ¹¹Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? ¹³But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

 ¹⁴Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; ^15aand regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

Gospel: Mark 1:1-8

¹The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
 ²As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
 “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
  who will prepare your way;
 ³the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
  ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
  make his paths straight,’ ”
⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Advent 2: PEACE

         Today we will try a little quiz.  I will tell you a slogan and you tell me the name of the product. 

• “betch ya can’t eat just one”   (Lay’s Potato Chips)
• “You’re in good hands with…”  (AllState)
• In 2009 this company claimed, “We live to deliver.” But now they say, “Where now meets next.”  (Fedex)
• “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom…” stops these carriers.  (The US Postal system)
• And of course if I said “Golden Arches” you would know I was talking about McDonalds.

All these slogans bring smiles to our faces.

Let’s pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.   Colossians 3:15

            Today is the second Sunday in Advent and we light the PEACE candle.  Last week we learned that the journey of Advent is a journey of hope.  God always fulfills his prophecies and promises and so we celebrate the incarnation in Bethlehem with hope.  Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled. We know Christ’s promise that he will return and take us to be with him will come true.  We live in that hope.  Today we ponder peace with God. 

         So back to slogans.  I will say a slogan and you tell me the company.

1. “The original.  If your grandfather hadn’t worn it, you wouldn’t exist.”  It’s Old Spice.  (I didn’t recognize it but I have often given my father Old Spice at Christmas.)
2. “The happiest place on earth.”  (People in California would recognize that as Disney Land’s tagline but people in Florida would say Disney World.)
3. “The breakfast of champions.”  (Wheaties)
4. “Fly the friendly skies of…”  (United)

Today’s text points us to a very different slogan and logo.  If I were to ask you who preached wearing clothing of “camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey,” you would probably identify John the Baptist, even if we had not just read the Gospel.  His slogan was not a call to happiness like Disney, not to safe car issues like AllState, or not even to a friendly trip into the heavens with United Airlines.  He preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  The people from all levels of society flocked to hear John the Baptist and be baptized. His slogan is worth checking out this morning.  John the Baptist paved the way for us to understand PEACE.

“a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”

Our text today suggests that a world as chaotic, fragmented and fraught with political intrigue as theirs, was changed by a slogan that opened eyes to a new reality.  Our world is just as chaotic, fragmented and fraught with political intrigue.  John the Baptist came offering a way to find peace.  So let me start by asking you this question this morning, “What do you understand to be the core problem with our world today?  What really needs to change?”

• Some might answer, “all the world needs now is love, sweet love” written by songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dion Warwick.
• Others might cry for equality, “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage,” as Herbert Hoover offered in the 1928 presidential elections.
• Then again, our constitution originally saw “each man’s home is his castle”, secure from unreasonable searches and seizures of property by the government.”

         The Gospel of Mark starts the story of peace with John the Baptist as an adult calling people for repentance to prepare the way for a Messiah’s coming.  John the Baptist, born to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age, as the prophesized forerunner to the promised Messiah, has grown up and now appears on the world stage, like a real prophet in camel’s hair clothes and eating locust and honey.  He certainly caught the attention of people.  He did not preach health, wealth and prosperity as God’s solution for life like our TV evangelists do today.  He was not performing miracles as far as we know.  He was a voice of truth confronting people about peace, an issue of their day….and ours!

         We are separated from God because of the things we do and the things we forget to do.  We are not at peace in our world or within ourselves.  We open our worship service, as we come before God, with a confession that we just cannot seem to get it right.  We are separated from God – HELP – forgive us.  Perhaps it has come to feel like a routine part of coming to church, kind of like a prelude, but it is core to peace, peace that passes understanding.

“prepare the way for the Lord”

         Confession prepares our hearts for forgiveness, for the ability to reconnect with God and be at peace.  Confession is a way of coming to grips with reality.  In the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, a person must first admit powerlessness over alcohol making their life unmanageable, next they agree that there is a Power greater than themselves that can restore them to sanity, and thirdly that they will turn their life over to the care of God as they understand him. Until we understand that we are the creatures and God is the creator, we live with victim mentalities.  We are the victims of the government, of our family history, of our bodily imperfections and we have trouble taking responsibility for our lives.  I love the confessional that admits we have done wrong but also we have forgotten to do right.  Confession is saying out loud the accusations that the evil one loves to whisper in our ears that we just are not enough in and of ourselves.  Speaking the truth lays our souls open before that higher power and allows for God to speak.

         Slogans appeal to something core within a person.  Disney appeals to those who want to be happy and who pray a happy vacation will draw their family or group into greater harmony.  Old Spice appeals to our deep desire to be loved and to find a faithful spouse.  And United Airlines speaks to our fear of flying.  If we are honest, we also have a deep desire to be at peace with our world, others in our world and with the power that controls our world.  Conflict is not fun even for those who enjoy the adrenaline rush at first.  Conflict is exhausting.  I would suggest that the wars going on, the mass shootings, and the high divorce rates would say that our generation is looking for peace also.

“make his paths straight”

         Repentance is the act of straightening out the paths of our lives.  Many will acknowledge that they are powerless and caught in self-destructive behavior.  They might even be willing to admit they were partially to blame and acknowledge that the whole problem is not the other person.  I think counseling tries to get us to see two sides to the story.  Acknowledging the problems of reality does not make things right, though.  How do we straighten out our paths?  That’s called repentance.

         Repentance is not just saying we did wrong.  It is changing and going in a new direction.  I can cry in my beer about the grip alcohol has on my life but it is as I work on giving up drinking that my life starts to change. I have shared with you before how much I enjoy a chapter in Walter Wangarin’s book, As For Me and My Household.  Forgiveness is not just saying the words, “I’m sorry,” not just kissing and making up or making out, and not just trying to forget an event happened.  Forgiveness is acknowledging the part I had in the sin that occurred and laying it at the foot of the cross for God to take care of in his time.  I am giving up my right for justification and vengeance.  It is allowing God to have the final word.  I open my fist and turn my anger or my fear or my greed or my addiction or my loneliness or my mistakes over to God.  It is hard stuff and often I cannot do it myself but need the help of the Holy Spirit and perhaps a friend to pray with.  When I no longer need to be in control of the outcome of a situation, I can find peace.  It is no longer mine to deal with.  I turn away from that destructive behavior.

⁸I have baptized you with water;

 but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

         John the Baptist appeared on the world stage to prepare people for the arrival of Jesus the Messiah.  I remember back in the earlier days of computers when the word used to capture our imaginations and money was the word “power.”  If we would only buy a computer we would have power at our fingertips. Now we focus perhaps on the time saving value of technology so we have “instacart”, “zoom” meetings so we don’t have to waste time going places, and CNN claims they have instant news in case an event like Mohamed or Jesus appeared anywhere in the world.  We can hear about it tonight on the news.  But back in the day, technology gave us “power” over our lives.

         John the Baptist has a promise.  He is but the “voice of one crying in the wilderness” telling us that his baptism prepares our lives for the arrival of the Messiah who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.  For sure that sentence collapses a lot of religious wisdom into a few words.  We probably don’t fully understand and nor can fully explain as much about the Holy Spirit just as we understand kind of the “world wide web” and “the cloud.”  Slogans don’t tell us how Disney delivers happiness or how eating Wheaties makes me into a champion but slogans speak to a truth, to a deep human desire.  John the Baptist spoke to a world hungry for peace.  They did not want Roman rule.  They did not want the poverty and problems of their day. 

         Today Advent speaks to us through the fulfilled prophecies that give us hope and through the spiritual disciplines of confession and repentance that open our hearts to hear the message of forgiveness.  Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Spirit who walks with us to achieve peace.  We can be at peace within ourselves, with our acquaintances, with our world and with the God who created us.  Wow.  That is a slogan worth wearing camel’s hair clothes and shouting in the wilderness about.  Advent promises PEACE.

Let the people of God say, “Thank you, Lord.”