Week Two
December 6, 2021
A Word of Comfort
Isaiah 40:1-11
The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8
I used to work at a summer camp. During training, we would rehearse a list of values and principles that would guide our work together. Most of them have faded from my memory but one embedded itself in my life: When confronted with changes big and small, the twinge (or wave) of anxiety I feel is met with the phrase, “I am flexible and adapt to change.”
It helps us all to be flexible and adapt to change because change is inevitable. Viruses mutate. People get sick. People die. People grow. People move. New jobs start. Families grow. Families divide. Seasons pass. Grass withers. Flowers fall. Grass grows. Flowers bloom. The list could go on and on and on.
But, as Bon Jovi sings, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” It often seems like a lot of the troubles in our world endure as steadfastly as God’s love. Global warming continues to progress at a terrifying pace. Police brutality and the killing of oppressed peoples persists. The pandemic rages on. Again, the list could go on and on and on.
Hear a word of comfort and call this advent season: in the midst of it all, God is steadfast and sure. We are flexible and adapt to change! We work with God, responding to the needs of the world, ushering in change that brings relief to the suffering and liberates the oppressed.
Dr. Allie Utley
Assistant Professor Liturgy and Practical Theology
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