Saturday, December 21st

By: Jerome Johnson
James 5:7-10
Reflection—v.9 ‘so that you may not be judged’

In verse 9, it says that we shouldn’t judge each other. I think that the writer is saying not to judge another person for what they believe in. I think I judge people sometimes—and I ask God to forgive me for that. Because who am I to judge? I don’t have a Hell to put them in and I don’t have a Heaven to send them to. Like it used to be that when I saw people doing something that I thought was wrong, I used to judge them for it. I used to think that was a sin. And God showed me, ‘Don’t do that Jerome—I’m the only judge.’ And I said, ‘God forgive me for that.’ I have a friend out in Bankhead, he was killed in the back of a van. He used to drink all the time, and I would just judge him, and I thought about that, and said ‘I was wrong for doing that.’ He would work, but he would always drink, and I would judge him. And I asked God to forgive me for that, because I try not to judge people anymore. I’m working on myself. I have a long way to go, but I’m still working on myself. I think being community for one another is that we should love one another. We should love all people and welcome them with open arms, because God made us all.

Prayer: Just God, help us to judge one another less and love one another more.

Friday, December 20th

By: Kevin Harris
Isaiah 35:1-10
Reflection—v.1 ‘the wilderness will rejoice and blossom’

We travel through life’s wildernesses and some of us don’t even know it. We get caught up in the day-to-day busyness of our lives and assume we are on the right track and that we are the authors of our own destinies. When things don’t go our way and we feel weak, the world says ‘be strong’ and sometimes we think it is within our power to do that. But when the world tells you to ‘be strong,’ God says ‘just be.’ When we’re going through something, when we cry, we often seek comfort and solutions from people. But, those solutions can be temporary. We live in a confused state when we exclude God from being a part of our troubles. ‘Just being’ and listening to the sound of peace, allows us to hear our creator. We get restored when we give ourselves to the teacher of life. God’s plans become our plans when we smile (even sometimes through pain), knowing that the promise is that soon and very soon we are going to see the king. God’s promise is that one day there will be no more pain. All of our families will be one. There will be no more self-judging, just us loving one another. Seek the light above, for it shall brighten us all. Come as the little children of God.

Prayer: God of peace, in our most trying ‘wilderness places,’ help us to ‘just be’ that we might hear your voice calling out to us and leading the way

Thursday, December 19th

By: Isaiah Lewis
Luke 1:46b-55
Reflection—v. 47 ‘In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior’

In the Magnificat, Mary—a poor, unmarried girl in a colonized territory—becomes a poet and a prophet. She begins by saying her heart magnifies God, then goes on to say how being in relationship with God changes how she expects the rest of the world to see her. Instead of being cast aside because she’s too young, poor, or female to matter, Mary calls others to recognize her dignity and the gifts God has been working through her. She also takes joy in the radical mercy God is showing everyone, not just her, and gives concrete examples of what it looks like: people being unable to organize their arrogant thoughts and dominate others with them, oppressive and oppressed people being put on equal footing, and everyone having enough, but not too much, to eat. Mary is outlining a prophetic vision of the kingdom of God in this passage, and because she knows who God is, she’s willing to risk her body and her reputation to bring it into the world. And she’s happy about it! She shows us that even in the midst of confronting harsh injustices in our lives, we can find joy in the identity God’s love gives us.

Prayer: My soul does magnify the Lord! My spirit rejoices in God my savior!

Wednesday, December 18th

By: Brittany Fiscus-van Rossum
Psalm 146:5-10
Reflection—v. 7 ‘who gives food to the hungry’

I have always considered myself to be a terrible cook, and they don’t teach you soup-making in seminary. Now, writing a thoughtful sermon, speaking in public, or burying my head in enough books to write a compelling paper, I had the skills for. So for a while I thought I was doing just fine. But I didn’t realize how hungry I was. Before I was a pastor, I interned at Mercy Church to learn those hands-on essential skills for ministry. I remember quite plainly the words of Pastor Chad as I stood in Mercy’s cramped little kitchen watching him de-bone some chicken for soup. With apron dirty and greasy hands, he said, ‘If you want to do this work, it’s important to know how to feed people.’ That stuck with me. Because, you see, we follow a God who feeds the hungry and asks us to do the same—a God who when born into this world spent most of his ministry sitting down at table and sharing food. If you have ever spent time with our community (or taken the time to read our devotionals thus far), you must realize that Mercy is far from a soup kitchen. We’re a church congregation full of dynamic theologians and writers and creators and valued human beings, some of whom happen to be living with food insecurity. So we eat together and cook for one another, and it is essential. Do you ever find yourself hungering for the thing that satisfies? Come share a bowl of soup in community, and give praise to the God who feeds the hungry.

Prayer: Happy are we, for our hope is in you, O God, who feeds us!

Tuesday, December 17th

By: Brittany Fiscus-van Rossum
Isaiah 35:1-10
Reflection—v. 8 ‘a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way’

It was in seminary that I first learned about that fabled intentional community, the Open Door. The first time I walked past it, it looked as if life were literally exploding out of its ramshackle doors. There were human beings scattered everywhere throughout its yard, making themselves at home. I cannot help but to conjure up this image every time I walk past the place where the Open Door once stood. That bustling, teeming, organic little home was gutted and razed, and now there stands a bleached-bone white rectangle of apartment-living that I, for certain, could never afford to ‘make home.’ I know this is just the way of things. I know things must die and end and even money can be used for good. Yet every time I walk past that dead and lifeless eyesore, I see the symptom of a malignant sickness pressing down on us with death’s heavy hand and infecting what we hold most valuable. Because what I see is another sign in our neighborhood that says, ‘the poor aren’t welcome here anymore.’ ‘We don’t value you unless you can pay.’ Now, certainly these messages are well-hidden behind graven images of what we actually put our trust in—progress and safety, well-intentioned ideas and systems. But where are we to lay our heads tonight? Like Isaiah, I dream of a day when our sidewalks and parking lots and the streets of our city shall be called a ‘Holy Way,’ a safe space for God’s redeemed to walk and be welcomed with the dignity and love they deserve.

Prayer: Beloved, create safe spaces where we are welcome. Create for us home.

Monday, December 16th

By: Brittany Fiscus-van Rossum
Matthew 11:2-11
Reflection—v. 6 ‘blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me’

I find it equal parts satisfying and disconcerting that Jesus’ message continues to shock and offend our delicate sensibilities. In this conversation with John’s disciples Jesus quotes a revelatory passage from Isaiah to convey the depths of what the God we follow is really about—the lowly will be brought up, the dead will be raised, and the poor will have good news. The whole world will be transformed wherein those without get what they need, and everyone is seen, acknowledged and valued. ‘Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me,’ he says, as if healing, life, and goodness could be offensive. And yet, those of us who worry that we have something to lose do take offense at such a radical image of hope. That is why every year as we discuss our way through the Gospel narratives, someone, often unwittingly, will have push-back for Jesus. ‘Jesus isn’t saying its bad to be rich, right?’ ‘Jesus’ good news isn’t only for the poor, right?’ We live in a world in which some of us have more than what we need to live comfortable, cushy lives, while others go without their basic needs being met. And yet God made us all to live and thrive. Jesus comes to set us free from the things we grasp onto so tightly so that we may actually desire to live in a world where all God’s children are valued. To those of us with something to lose, it can be offensive, but blessed are those who come to see another way.

Prayer: God, may we delight in your good news, even as it challenges us to change our ways!

Sunday, December 15th

By: Brittany Fiscus-van Rossum
Matthew 11:2-11
Reflection—v. 7 ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?’

Jesus is talking about John the Baptist, that rough-around-the-edges, tells-it-like-it-is, dirty, baptizing, eat-what-you-find, back-roads prophet, as he asks the crowd ‘what did you go out into the wilderness to look at?’ If you were looking for someone in soft robes–you should have checked the palace, he says, you won’t find someone like that out here. If you are expecting guidance to come from a three-piece suit, try downtown or the courthouse. Would you prefer your prophetic word to be packaged a little fancier? Try Ponce City Market or Midtown. No, really, Jesus implores, ‘What then did you go out to see?’ Did you desire to hear something prophetic, or would you prefer soft robes that keep the status quo? John the Baptist was a radical. He spoke the truth, positioned himself on the margins, and ultimately, caused enough good trouble to get himself killed. He called tax collectors and sinners to the wilderness (there at the edges of acceptable society) to change their hearts and lives and prepared the way for the one who would call us all. What are we looking for and where do we seek it? Would we prefer to maintain the status quo and grasp for whatever inkling of power benefits us at the sake of others or do we want to change our hearts and lives? Check yourself and where you seek your guidance. Prophets are often speaking to us from those places we would rather avoid.

Prayer: Radical God, the way is prepared; call us out into wilderness places to hear you.

Saturday, December 14th

By: David Swank
Psalm 72:1-19
Reflection—v.12 ‘For he will deliver the needy who cry out’

Hello everyone! I would like to start by considering how sometimes it seems like life as it is on earth is more like ‘Hell on earth’ than as God must have intended it to be. I can personally imagine the grief and frustration, along with the sadness, God must truly feel, because when God created all life on earth God created it good. God’s creation was his main attention–he gave it attention and care and desired a sinless world. However, ever since those first days on earth when Cain murdered his brother Abel, that set the tone for countless future sins such as greed, power, hate, and racism. I believe these are some of the reasons we war–we are prejudice toward one another over race and nationality. These types of wars seem like a never ending thing. People are fighting over the money and power that they want to gain for themselves, spending billions on utter foolishness, when there are thousands of poor and needy people in dire need of important necessities such as food, clothing, and hygiene products. But, I trust that God wants better for us–that God wants us to care for one another, and I truly believe God will prevail.

Prayer: God our good creator, save us from our foolish ways and help us to be good to one another as you so deeply desire.

Friday, December 13th

By: Bill Smith
Romans 15:2-13
Reflection—v.6 ‘with one mind and one voice’

My Daddy was one of those people who hated a braggart. He hated when people would say ‘I’m doing this-and-so better than someone else.’ I could name my accomplishments, say for example, ‘I did this thing,’ but if I were to say ‘I’m better than someone else’…not in his household! His point was that someone else might be better at something than you–so none of us are really better than any others. Earlier in Chapter 15 it says ‘Let every one of us please our neighbors for their good edification…’ I understand this to mean that we’re supposed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. That is what Christ taught, and that is what Paul is reminding us here. I think sometimes the church particularly views those who are on the margins as less than, when actually, it’s been my experience that those on the margins have more than enough to offer. Take for example a random Bible Study here at Mercy—people here have a lot of wisdom and insight. Sometimes this comes from hard living on the margins. That’s where some of the most fruitful study comes from. This passage goes on to say that we must have but one mind and one mouth to glorify God. We must treat each other as God does. God says we’re beloved. God says we’re of value and when we think of ourselves as better than others, we’re not treating that person as valuable–we’re lowering them. That’s not how we should treat each other in God’s household.

Prayer: Beloved Creator, help us to see our neighbors and value them as you do.

Thursday, December 12th

By: Sid Imes-Burkett
Isaiah 11:1-10
Reflection—v.9 ‘they will neither harm nor destroy’

Isaiah 11:1-10 is a beautiful passage—beautiful enough to bring one to despair in the year of our Lord 2019, when the gulf between our world and that of the prophet’s vision seems hopelessly wide. Closing our eyes and thinking of happy-clappy animals feels tone-deaf at best. 2,000 years ago, though, if I’d been focused solely on Roman colonialism and Herod’s genocide, I’d have missed something pretty important. God’s thing has never been hauling the faithful off to a sky-castle. The miracle of the incarnation is that Jesus joins us right in the middle of the worst we do to one another. The powers that be bring death, but Jesus is always on the move on the margins. I never know what I’m going to find on a given day at Mercy. We don’t have lions or snakes, but we do get some dogs, and we get an amazing cross-section of human beings. And we’re a hot mess. And God is incredibly faithful to us. By showing up, I get to see the beloved community that God is creating and the abundance God wills for all of us. Hope, for me, is the work God does in opening my heart to the goodness of those around me and the new thing God is doing in and through and around our brokenness. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: God, come and do a new thing, even and especially, in the midst of our brokenness.