Advent Readings from Iona

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• Publisher: Wild Goose Publications
• Year: 2000
• Print ISBN: 9781901557336
• eBook ISBN: 9781905010837
• Topic: Theology & Religion

Celebrate Christmas with reflections and prayers for each day of Advent. This effective antidote to the commercialism of the festive season can be used for individual meditation or group worship.

December 1

Pslam 98

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

the world and those who live in it.

Let the floods clap their hands;

let the hills sing together for joy

at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming

to judge the earth…

The long-awaited and well-prepared day arrived. In the morning, the royal wedding. And in the afternoon, up and down the land, hundreds of colourful street parties. In one particular street, everyone turned out. Even Fred from the corner house. The neighbours were delighted and amazed to see him there. He had become a recluse; few ever saw him these days. And no one knew his age, for he had been very old as long as anybody could remember. But there he was. Sitting at the long table, eating his jelly and ice cream with the best of them!

Delight became embarrassment, however, when he suddenly took it into his head to stand up and make a speech. To all within earshot of him it was soon apparent that today was his birthday. And that he thought this party was for him!

No one told him any different. In fact, when it came to the time for the toast to be proposed, it was to the royal family – and Fred.

A prayer

Holy and gracious God,

the season of Advent is so important to me:

It’s not just the parties and presents. Not for me!

What I look forward to each year,

is your coming;

your love born again, as if never before.

But save me from thinking this is just happening to me.

Or to my family.

Or to a family of like-minded people called Christians.

Remind me that Advent is about everyone,

with or without beliefs, or presents, or hangovers.

And remind me, too,

that Advent is not just for individuals,

but for the world, and everything in it;

for cultures and nations and peoples;

for justice and equality;

and for enough care of the planet to make hills sing with joy.

Remind me most of all, holy and gracious God,

that Advent is about you, and your reign over all things.

Remind me of how you changed the history of the world;

and hold time and space in your hands.

Help me to see just how big this party is!

And whatever else you do, God,

please save me from making a fool of myself

by pretending that it is my party,

or the celebration of the faithful few.

December 2

Isaiah 43:16–21

Do not remember the former things,

or consider the things of old.

I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Whenever I went on a train journey as a child, I always insisted on having a forward-facing seat. ‘Otherwise,’ I explained, ‘I will be ill.’ But now I wonder whether my travel sickness was just an excuse. I suspect the real point was that I wanted to see where I was going. I still do. I have never been able to understand why some people choose the other seat. Why travel into the future looking only at where you have come from?

Recently it has been pointed out to me that the safest place for rail passengers is in the backward-facing seats. Personally, however, if we are going to have an accident I would rather see it coming!

A prayer

Liberator God,

Why did your exiled people look backwards so much?

Did it make them feel safer, and give them courage,

these stories of the path you made through the sea

for their ancestors to escape captivity?

Is that why they clung to the events of the past,

thinking of the good times?

It was important, of course. And understandable.

But you were wanting them to look for a new thing:

a path from their own captivity –

this time, through the wilderness.

There was so much for them to hope for now.

Not just release from Babylon.

A Messiah. A New Age.

If only they could have listened to their prophets

and looked to the future!

It happened, of course. In Bethlehem.

Some believed. Others still wait.

But here is the ironic twist:

is it not the waiting ones who look forward now;

whilst the believing ones travel through Advent

gazing two thousand years into the past?

Take us out of our backward-facing seat.

Turn us round to see what you will do.

Show us today’s exiles and captives,

chains to be broken, pathways to open up.

New things, liberator God –

things that have never been written,

things we would never have thought of,

things for a New Age dawning!

December 3

Ephesians 1:3–10

[God] has made known to us his secret purpose,

in accordance with the plan which he had determined

beforehand in Christ, to be put into effect when...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Advent Readings from IONA
• November 27
• November 28
• November 29
• November 30 (St Andrew’s Day)
• December 1
• December 2
• December 3
• December 4
• December 5
• December 6
• December 7
• December 8
• December 9
• December 10
• December 11
• December 12
• December 13
• December 14
• December 15
• December 16
• December 17
• December 18
• December 19
• December 20
• December 21
• December 22
• December 23
• December 24
• December 25 Christmas Day
• The Iona Community