The four Gospel portraits of Jesus take very different approaches to his origins. Mark has no record of Jesus’ ancestry, except for his connection to John the Baptist. Matthew traces his genealogy back to Abraham; Luke even farther back, to Adam. The Gospel of John outdoes them all, tracing Jesus’ origins back to the time before time, before the world was created! Jesus is the eternal Word of God.

Advent’s four Sundays each have their own focus: “Stay awake!” (First); John the Baptist (Second); Rejoice! (Third); Joseph/Mary (Fourth). We might need to have little pity on the Fourth Sunday, however, since the hectic realities of the secular calendar can overwhelm it, particularly in those years when there are only one or two (or zero!) days before Christmas. This year we have the luxury of a whole week!

Good news is good news is...Today's messages from Isaiah (prophetic ancestor of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth) and James (spiritual offspring of John and Jesus) both have messages that resonate across the five centuries that separate them: hope in the coming power and presence of God. Isaiah was attempting to comfort and encourage the people of Israel in geographic and spiritual exile. Their exile will end, Isaiah says, with God's presence shown forth through spectacular occurrences in nature.

In our scripture translations, word choices matter. When today’s first reading tells us that a “stump” will bring forth a new shoot, it's Isaiah’s way of telling us that God's miraculous power is at work. Seeds bring forth shoots. Even buried roots can bring forth shoots. But a stump? When we look at a stump, essentially we are seeing the corpse of what used to be a tree.

Have you ever been caught off guard? The first Sundays of Advent often have an ominous quality to them. Jesus reminds his listeners today about how many people who lived at the same time as Noah were caught off guard when the deluge came. If course, we can end up being complete nervous wrecks if we spend each day in paranoia, looking for signs of impending doom. A healthy readiness is called for, one that keeps us alert so we can find signs of God's reign—soon to be made manifest in Jesus—around us.

We conclude the liturgical year today with the Solemnity of Christ the King. On the surface, we might wonder what this has to do with our lives. Why does it matter that Christ is King? Do we need a king? If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we do need someone to follow, a king who will rule our hearts, minds, and lives with goodness. Left to our own devices, following our own tendencies, we are bound to fall short of God’s great call to grow and live in holiness. Christ will shepherd us, not from a position of power or authority, although both are his as well, but rather from the throne of the cross, the throne of humility, compassion, and peace.

It is easy to go through life non-reflectively, living the routines of our days and weeks without giving much thought to the larger questions of meaning, purpose, and calling. We may know we need to change but put it off, thinking we'll love, serve, and care more in the future. We may face trial personally and be weary of trying to live as we know we should. We witness discord, violence, and division and it may feel that it is the end of the world. Today’s readings urge us to put laziness, fear, or distraction aside and get about the work of discipleship with the assurance that the Lord will provide what we need as we do so.

Today's readings present us with extreme examples of faithfulness and reliance on the promise of eternal life. Most of us will never be tortured because of our Christian faith, although people are martyred every year because of their commitment to Christ. While we may never face bodily harm as Christians, there are consequences to living as a disciple. We might be ridiculed or harassed. We might find it necessary to call out injustice in the workplace or our local city, and such witness may cost us our jobs and friendships. What are we prepared to do as followers of our Lord? Today, we are encouraged to be strong in faith, secure in the belief that when we endure in Christ, we may look forward to life in eternity with God.

It is difficult for us to comprehend God's mercy. We are constrained by own experience of and often-limited willingness to be patient and forgiving. God loves all of creation and desires that we fulfill our call, glorifying our Lord in all we do. Yet we often fall short of this great purpose. We get lost in the pursuit of worldly things and lose sight of what really matters. Then, when we realize our failings, we falter, uncertain that we can really be forgiven. Today's readings invite us to deepen our trust in God’s great kindness with the assurance that, as Jesus did with Zacchaeus, God waits with open arms when we turn away from our sinfulness. Let us grow in belief in Christ who came to seek and to save what was lost.

In these waning weeks of the liturgical year, our readings present us with God's vision for the world, in which the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds and the humble are exalted in God's sight. It is not always easy to follow Jesus, to stand for justice, share love, and bring peace when there is so much division, poverty, loneliness, and pain in our homes, workplaces, cities, and world. We do not stand alone, however. We who are disciples and servants are assured that the Lord will hear our petitions, stand by us, and give us strength as we strive to bear witness to the good news of salvation.

We all get weary sometimes. So often we face frustration, discouragement, and temptation to despair over what we can’t change in our lives, or in the world. Today's readings give us resources to persist in sustaining hope and trusting in God. The reading from Exodus shows us that when our arms get weary, we are not alone, that God provides us companions to sustain us. The letter to Timothy reminds us that we are rooted in scripture, the story of God’s past actions and promises for the future. The Gospel passage from Luke gives us the image of a persistent widow, who has a passion in her heart to sustain her relentless efforts to secure justice. This passion, this faith and hope, are God's gifts. But they require ongoing practices of prayer to stay alive and growing. Let us encourage each other in prayer when our arms get weary.

This Sunday's readings explore how we see and respond to blessing in our lives. We hear two stories of healing and of thanksgiving, of a powerful military leader Naaman, and of a powerless Samaritan leper. Both are examples of humility and gratitude that mark the presence of faith in God. We observe that both Naaman and the leper had their horizons expanded by their healing. Once healed, they did not simply attribute this to a stroke of luck, and then go on with their lives.

We live in a society of instant gratification. We download and stream and binge-watch at our convenience; we use drive-throughs or have our food and groceries delivered. Wonderful things are indeed coming, but we must learn patience and humility! The Lord encourages Habakkuk to quit being impatient and wait for the vision to mature. Anyone who has started a fire knows how patient you must be to, as Paul admonishes, “Stir into flame the gift of God you have,” and to guard it well. Even in their good zeal, Jesus slows down the apostles. He equates faith to a mustard seed and tells them to settle down. As it takes that little seed many years to become a great tree, the Apostles and disciples must spend their time in service and grow in learning and love, and faith will come with it.