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This past Sunday, Steve Bell offered a reflection during his concert at Hilldale Lutheran that has stayed with me (btw, our son Graham played a few tunes with him on guitar and did a great job. Very proud). He spoke about the three comings of Jesus that the Church has always celebrated in Advent. Now, we usually talk about “two comings” 1. Jesus came once, as a baby in Bethlehem 2000 years ago and 2. Jesus will come again, in his glory, to renew all things. This past Sunday we noted how we’re in the in-between of these two comings and the work of the Church is to figure out what that is to look like and what we are to do in this in-between time. I noted the Church is called to witness to the reality of heaven coming to earth and we are to participate in this reality, joining in with the work of bringing heaven to earth through working for justice, peace, beauty and reconciliation efforts around us.

I’m moving into my third Advent as a pastor and truth be told, it still snuck up on me. Maybe you feel that too. One moment we’re pushing through the noise and cacophony of distractions vying for our attention and the next we’re lighting a candle and straining to hear once more the ancient invitation: ‘Wake up. Pay attention. Hope is on the way.’”What do we do with those things in our lives that look like the Kingdom of God (alleviating suffering, justice, reconciliation, etc.) but don’t derive from Jesus’ people? In fact, they might even be antagonistic toward Jesus and his Church, etc.?
I noted the Church is called to witness to the reality of heaven coming to earth and we are to participate in this reality, joining in with the work of bringing heaven to earth through working for justice, peace, beauty and reconciliation efforts around us.

So last week our community encouraged one another through sharing some pretty cool glimpses of the kingdom of God. Before doing so, I addressed a question that has been brought up a few times over the past few weeks:
What do we do with those things in our lives that look like the Kingdom of God (alleviating suffering, justice, reconciliation, etc.) but don’t derive from Jesus’ people? In fact, they might even be antagonistic toward Jesus and his Church, etc.?
I noted the Church is called to witness to the reality of heaven coming to earth and we are to participate in this reality, joining in with the work of bringing heaven to earth through working for justice, peace, beauty and reconciliation efforts around us.

Encourage. Build up. Carry each other’s burdens. Strengthen each other’s faith. All of this, it seems, is rather important to Paul and the rest of the New Testament authors. When we gather as followers of Jesus, the overwhelming vision for the church is about participation—where each of us brings something that stirs life in others and points us to the hope of the reconciliation of all things happening now. Sweetgrass, we learned, is sometimes called kindness medicine. It’s a plant used in ceremony and teaching, a gift from the Creator that helps people remember how to live with grace for one another. As braids of sweetgrass were passed through the congregation, the community touched it, smelled its sweet vanilla-like fragrance and noted its two-sided nature – rough and smooth.

Thinking about what to write this week, I kept circling back to three moments — a tweet, a podcast, and a conversation — that have been living rent-free in my head throughout the summer. They seem unrelated on the surface, but each one, in its own way, has something to say about following Jesus faithfully in 2025.