ADVENT WEEK THREE
December 15, 2020
One Big Family Tree
Acts 3:17-4:4
These prophets, along with the covenant God made with your ancestors, are your family tree. Acts 3:25a (The Message)
Decades ago, we enrolled our daughter Joy in our public school’s “magnet” multicultural Kindergarten program. This meant she would have to ride a bus to school each day.
On the first day of school we all waited for the bus: Nancy and I, our daughter, and her great-aunt. We waited and waited. But because of new semester confusion, no bus ever showed up.
That waiting seemed like an eternity. When we ask our now-adult daughter about this, she doesn’t remember the waiting or even missing school that day. She only remembers that what we had promised her came true: she experienced an amazing year of new adventures, friends, and teachers.
Advent is about joy waiting for something wonderful to happen, at just the right time. About reminding us that our timetables are not often the same as God’s. This week is all about waiting for that perfect moment when an angel suddenly appears, saying, “The waiting’s over! It’s begun! Now sing your songs of joy with me!”
Peter proclaims this in today’s passage: there is a time coming when through Jesus all things will become fresh again, will be renewed again—and just at the right moment. Moses told us this. So did Samuel. All the prophets made such promises, says Peter, and these are for all of us: for every kind of family, for everyone on earth. Says Peter: we’re all part of one big family tree.
This, then, is how we joyfully wait for God’s timing: we do it together. Kindergartners, moms, dads, great aunts, you, me—whoever! No exceptions. We’re all part of the family of God. We’re all in this together.
Dr. Thomas Hoffmann
Adjunct Faculty
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