“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

I make lists. I suspect most people do, at least to some extent. Grocery lists, list of food and recipes for a special meal, daily “to-do” lists, and my “big-projects-for-this-year” list are my favorites. Lists keep us on track, help us focus on the things that are most important in the busy-ness of our lives. They serve to filter out the noise, the distractions; you know, all the outside influences, special interests, gadgets, devices that seek out and demand our attention. Lists help us order how we spend our time and energy. They help us organize our thinking and they help us keep our priorities in focus.

An article on time management entitled “The Unimportance of Practically Everything” (Greg McKeown, May 29, 2012, Harvard Business Review) recently caught my attention. The title is a rephrasing of a quote from leadership authority, John Maxwell: “You can’t overestimate the unimportance of practically everything”. The article describes an intelligent, driven executive who was constantly distracted by having multiple conversations going at any given time on Twitter, Gmail, Facebook and other forms of social media. While these activities may have served some useful purpose, they kept the executive from getting to the most important and rewarding parts of his job. Ultimately the cumulative effect of the distractions had a negative impact on his quality of life. The article goes on to illustrate the relationships between activity and reward and the importance of distinguishing the “trivial many” from the “vital few”. More than just providing background and explanation, the author also gave a useful “First, Do This” course of action.

Make a simple action list:
1) write down your top six priorities
2) cross off the bottom five
3) put your top priority in a highly visible place
4) schedule time to work on your priority every day
5) every time something calls your attention away from your priority, make note of that distraction.

As I read Greg McKeon’s review, I couldn’t help but wonder if, in some way, he was writing a case study of Matthew 22, vs. 36-40. If you read chapter 22 you see that the Sadducees and Pharisees are trying to entangle Jesus, distract him, trip him up with their questioning. But you can almost hear in the tone of his reply, Jesus telling them “Stop focusing on the trivial! You can’t overestimate the unimportance of practically everything. I’m trying to tell you, here is what is important…..”. Eugene Peterson, in The Message, paraphrases verses 36-40 this way:

“Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

In other words, distinguish the “trivial many” from the “vital few” and focus your attention on the vital few.

The Christmas season is prime time for making lists. I think most of us are conditioned from an early age to “make your wish list for Santa” and as adults we often rely on our lists of gifts to give, events to attend, Christmas cards to send, and other tasks or activities that will help to ensure that our most important seasonal traditions aren’t overlooked. This Advent Season, as you prepare for Christ’s birth, consider how you can distinguish the trivial, the distracters of the season from what is vital, the priorities. Perhaps, to start, make a simple action list where “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” are at the top then only include items on that list if they, in some way, reflect, can hang from these priorities.

Written by Ken Loud
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
“I’m passionate about our Connections Sunday School class and curriculum. Our readings and discussions influence my thoughts and actions throughout the week and help me connect Sunday to the other 6 days. Come join us! You’ll be glad you did.”

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior and son of God, I have to remember that we all are children of God. Does God love me? Yes, he does. Does God love my enemies? Yes, he does. It is amazing that God chooses each of us to be his child and that he loves us unconditionally. Unconditionally. Forever and ever. No matter what we do. So what does he expect of us? He expects that, through our relationship with Christ, we have a responsibility to all of God’s children, and just like we love and care for our own families, so should we love and care for all of God’s children. If we profess to love God, then we should act like it. As the apostle John says, “if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” Simple to understand but oh so hard to do.

I have been struggling in the last few months to remember this idea that we are ALL God’s children. It is very easy to love the loveable but so much harder to love those who have different views from me. So when I see or hear someone exhibit behavior that I find offensive, I struggle to not jump to anger. And in that moment right before I might say something I will regret, I hear Jesus’s command to “love one another”. I need to remember that, as a Christian, God expects for me to take this opportunity to bring love and positivity to His child instead of condemnation. Thankfully, God has a funny sense of humor and reminds me daily that I’m a sinner, too, so I pray that I can be more Christ-like and that my brothers and sisters may experience the love, peace, and understanding that comes with God’s grace. Essentially, my hope is that by showing love to others, I can show that God is love.

So as I reflect on the Advent season of Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy, I know that the greatest of these themes is love. Be kind always. Do good. Love one another. It really is that simple.

Written by Karen Payne
What am I passionate about at Heritage? I’m passionate about Hope Circle and Santa’s Caravan. If you want to see the love for/of God in action, please join us working with Santa’s Caravan…there’s a place for you.

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

Three years ago, my life was marked by getting ready. We had just found out we were expecting our first child, and were thrilled to share the news of it with our Merry Christmas message to friends and family. In the months that followed, we prepared for this wonderful change. I was continually amazed at how my body changed and prepared to grow life within me, one that moved around when the organ played in worship and began to kick not long after. It was clear something special was happening. There were practical preparations, too – creating a baby registry of what we needed, and some things we wanted, putting together a crib and organizing a nursery, going to childbirth classes, reading books about what to expect and more. All of these things were good and helpful, but I remember still not feeling quite ready or prepared. As my due date came near at the beginning of the following summer, I was nervous, not quite sure what things were going to be life.

Remarkable changes can bring about a healthy anxiety for the future – especially when you know something is coming that is going to radically change your life. Truth be told, this is the same kind of anticipation we should have in Advent, because we believe that Jesus can and will change our lives.

John the Baptist, using the words of Isaiah, calls us to make ourselves ready because the time is almost here. As people of faith, we should be on the edge of our seats, excited to hear and see the story unfold yet again. We should also be up and moving, making and preparing a way – both in our homes and in our lives, for this good news to truly sink in. Advent is our “nesting” period, the time in which we are on the look-out for big changes. It might serve us well to be a little anxious about it if we remember how transforming and worldchanging God’s presence truly is. Advent should make us a bit uneasy, as signs of new life spring forth.

But, in the words of countless angelic messengers, do not fear. The amazing news of the season will be good. In fact, it is so good we can’t fully prepare for it. New parents can do all of those steps to get ready for a baby, but in the end, nothing can fully prepare you for that moment when you hold a little bundle wrapped in cloth for the first time. In that moment, all the anxieties and worries you had seem to melt away – and you are left with love. THIS is the moment we are preparing for in Advent – that time when we see that little child wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger, and are overwhelmed with love. May we not only take steps to get ready for that moment, but also make space in our loves to experience it when it comes.

Written by Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford

Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. The LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, “See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” They shall be called, “The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD”; and you shall be called, “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”

Following the defeat of the Babylonian Empire by the Persians in 538 BC, Cyrus the Great freed the Israelites from the captivity brought about by King Nebuchadnezzar. This scripture instructs them to pass through the gates of Babylon, return home and restore Zion to its rightful glory. All interfering difficulties were to be removed: the road to Jerusalem (about 900 miles long) was to be made safe, and the temple, the city walls and the rest of the city were to be rebuilt. What a job! However, all of this was in anticipation for the promised arrival of the Messiah, the “Savior” promised by God in verse 11. Though they didn’t know it at the time, they had over 540 years to prepare for Christ’s birth. Today we try to cram everything into less than a month.

Isn’t life wonderful when we have something amazing planned, and we are looking forward to it? Even if we have much to organize and coordinate, if we are truly excited about our upcoming event, the implementation of our plans can be enjoyable. However, many of us spend the time before Christmas stressing about all we have to do. There is no fun or excitement involved. One year my father even “cancelled” Christmas because of the amount anxiety my mom was experiencing! We are so worried about not disappointing others that we end up disappointing God. All God wants, I believe, is for us to be joyful because he sent Christ to live among us. We only need to prepare our hearts to welcome Jesus!

Acknowledge the true purpose of our Christmas celebration. As trite as it may be, remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Try to keep this important point in mind when you get bogged down by complexities. I suggest that you examine your plans and see if you can simplify, or even eliminate, anything. I remember the first year we decided to NOT have “the big meal” at Jim’s sister’s home on Christmas Eve. We ordered take-out pizza and wings, and we started a new holiday tradition. Since our close relatives are spread miles apart, one year visiting everyone became so confusing that Jim and I just went to Key West for a week. Now we don’t try to see everyone every year. Recently, I started sending Christmas cards to only those I won’t see in person or on Facebook. And guess what? All is fine.

This scripture forecasts a lot of work to be done, but it also predicts glorious times in the future. Jesus is coming! He is our salvation! Let us be joyful and celebrate!

Written by Merle Henry, who has served as elder, deacon and HPW moderator at Heritage.
She is passionate about our music program, works in our Clothing Closet and enjoys studying the Bible.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

In the 1962 classic, Gypsy, Baby June’s newsboys start the show proclaiming “Extra! Extra! Hey look at the headlines! Historical news is being made! Extra! Extra! They’re drawing a red line – around the biggest scoop of the decade! A barrel of charm; a fabulous thrill. The biggest little headline in vaudeville. Presenting . . . in person . . . that 3 foot 3 bundle of dynamite . . . . baby . . . June!”

It is a scene full of energy, light and excitement, as the newsboys peak the audience’s interest and make sure everyone is paying attention to the main attraction. Without the right messengers, Baby June would not become the star she was meant to be, even with the persistence of her overbearing stage mom.

The season of Advent urges us to pay attention to God’s messengers, from the angels to the prophets, and dial into a greater awareness of their message. It isn’t easy to do. There are tens of thousands of messages that surround us each and every day. From phone calls to text messages to e-mails to Facebook to Snapchat, we are bombarded. Ads fill our mailboxes declaring the best deals of the season, and commercials on tv and radio vie for our dollars. Family, friends, school, work, and even church are full of invitations for special holiday events, filling our calendars with things that are “important.” Add in Christmas gift wish lists and other to-dos and we can easily be overwhelmed by it all, lost in a sea of sound.

Isaiah, though, calls us to listen this season to the messengers who announce peace, good news and salvation. In the midst of holiday chaos, in the stresses and challenges of our lives, their voices still rise in song, proclaiming hope to all the nations. For these messengers, it is plain to see – God is coming. Comfort is on the way. Redemption will be found.

So take some time this season and listen – whether it’s a Christmas carol playing in the background as you do your grocery shopping, the laughter of a child or conversation with a dear friend, or even a rare moment of silence and stillness, pay attention for the good news that surrounds us and reminds us of the reason for our celebration to begin with.

If we do that, then maybe we can become messengers of good news, too. Perhaps we could even rewrite Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics for Advent:
“Extra! Extra! Hey look at the headlines! Historical news is being made!
Extra! Extra! They’re drawing a red line – around the biggest scoop of the decade!
The Savior has come; redemption is near. The greatest piece of news of this and every year!
Presenting . . . in person . . . God incarnate in the manger . . . baby . . . Jesus!”

May we remember this breaking news as we count down the days to Christmas, and celebrate those messengers who help remind us of it along the way.

Written by Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford

A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Growing up, my dreams revolved around cockpits and airplanes, takeoffs and landings. No doubts about the future gripped me as a boy: I would grow up to fly airplanes in the military. That certainty gave life structure and purpose, even at an early age.

God had other plans.

At age 14, I suffered a seizure while watching TV. Two years later, it happened again. The doctors figured out what caused the seizures. They prescribed medicine that worked. Compared to others with problems that defy easy solutions, my struggles were minor and relatively insignificant. Life went on.

The medicine meant that the seizures never recurred – but they did end my dreams of becoming a pilot. Where once I’d been certain of the future, now I felt unsure, with no clear idea of how my life would unfold. I drifted, buffeted by events beyond my ability to understand or control.

I’d been raised in the church, but faith ranked low on the priority list by the time of college. How could Christianity help me find my way in life? How could faith help pay the bills? After a few years of floating, I discovered a career as a journalist. It enthralled me. I poured my energies into work, eager to make my way in the world.

Years passed of long hours at work, propelled by the kind of selfish ambition that Christ cautions against. Sure, a medical problem had derailed my plans, but I’d reacted – eventually – by blazing a new path. That brought a sense of pride, but a gnawing sense of emptiness grew and grew. Had I been too quick to chalk up success at work to my grit, hard work and determination? Had I taken my eyes off something larger? Had I really done this on my own?

Only in retrospect would I appreciate that God had been in charge all along. Only after reconnecting with a community of faith would I understand that he had set me on a path that paid the bills and brought satisfaction. More importantly, God had provided me with a loving wife and three wonderful children.

Sometimes we can seem alone, adrift, lost in a fog of confusion or hurt, struggling to see the way forward. I felt that way for years after a medical problem grounded my dream of flying. Ultimately I realized, by studying Scripture in community, that I’m not really in charge, and that a sense of peace and purpose is available only when we relinquish the illusion of control and place our faith in God.

A beleaguered Jewish community heard similar encouragement to focus on God hundreds of years before the birth of Christ.

Writing seven centuries before the angel Gabriel visited the virgin Mary, the prophet Isaiah spoke of a voice in the desert who would urge people like a beacon to “prepare the way for the Lord” and “make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

Those references were to John the Baptist urging people to focus on a savior whose arrival was imminent. They remind us as Christmas approaches of where our focus should be: On Jesus Christ, our savior. Only by focusing and re-focusing on him can we shed anxiety, no matter the turbulence of our lives, to cloak ourselves in “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,” as the apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians. By studying the word of God, we hear Jesus ask, as he does in Matthew, “Who … by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Let’s listen, more than 2,000 years later, to the prophet Isaiah’s encouraging words of a forthcoming savior, to his message of hope even when times seem bleak.

Isaiah was in one respect telling the Jewish people that a messiah was on the way to offer salvation. In another respect, he is speaking to us across time and space, urging us to take our eyes off of ourselves, off of selfish or sinful pursuits, and focus instead on our savior, who alone can forgive us as we forgive others, and provide meaning and purpose and salvation.

“And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,” Isaiah writes, “and all mankind together will see it.”

Written by Mark Bixler
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
“I’m passionate about learning and teaching in a Sunday School and other small groups.”

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

The moving piece Handel’s Messiah starts with the words from today’s scripture, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” George Frideric Handel composed the music Messiah over the course of about twenty-four days in the summer of 1741. The lyrics, a combination of scripture texts from the King James Version of the Bible and The Book of Common Prayer, were compiled by Charles Jennens. Have a listen here: https://youtu.be/iTMJVvld9ok – (the whole thing is over 2 hours, but you can hear the opening if you don’t have time for the entire work).

https://youtu.be/iTMJVvld9ok

Comfort … Comfort comes in many different packages. Comfort can be found in the people we love, familiar experiences, smells, memories, pictures, music and more. We find comfort in smiles, hugs, shared meals, a warm coffee, a good book, a movie, the list goes on. This passage starts with comfort – not once but twice – a message for the people of God. A message of relief, if you will, that through the trials and tribulations that the people have undergone, Jerusalem has paid the penalty for their sins, and as a result, God’s people are to be comforted.

We seek comfort when we are sad, when we are uncomfortable, when we are broken, shattered and feel incomplete. Can we know and understand comfort without trials? Without pain? Without loss? My guess is no. I know for me, the times that I have felt the most comforted have been when I was also the most in need of comfort. In a way – seeking comfort is seeking hope – hope that things will improve, hope that the pain of loss will sting a little less with each passing day. Each little comfort found is a hope that something new is coming, something better, something that will make the waiting worth it.

In the Hebrew text, the word used for comfort is nachamu – which literally translated means “to cause to breathe again.” God is speaking through Isaiah telling the Israelites that they can breathe easy again – their waiting is done. In that same way – Advent is our time of waiting – waiting for a promised king, a savior, a messiah. In Advent we are seeking the comfort of Jesus – a comfort we have to experience to understand. Let us seek the comfort of the Christ-child this Advent season, so that we can breathe again knowing that discomfort is temporary and God will care for us when we need it the most.

Let us pray:

“Mercy and love and peace belong to You, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Just as you care for each hair of my head, You assure me that Your love surrounds me every day of my life, that I might live to Your praise and glory. Remind me of your comfort so that I may breathe in peace, in love and hope as I await the coming of Jesus. Thanks be to God, Amen”

Written by Merry Willis

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

One of the great stories in the Bible is God’s selection of Abraham and Sarah’s descendants to be a light to the nations, carrying out the divine plan of bringing humanity back to a proper relationship with God, with each other, and with nature. To help them fulfill their calling, God gives them the Promised Land and vows that King David and his heirs shall have a perpetual kingdom. But while God remains faithful to the covenant, the Israelites do not. To bring them to their senses, God allows greater powers to conquer them and send their leaders into exile.

In Isaiah 10, the chapter just prior to our text, the prophet proclaims God’s mercy in allowing a purified and faithful remnant to return home. In Isaiah 11:1 Jesse is the father of David. The stump of Jesse is a poetic reference to the remnant, and the shoot from the stump is a descendant of David, a messiah (anointed one), who will restore Israel. In its entirety, Isaiah 11 paints a beautiful picture of the life of the age to come when the spirit of the Lord rests on the Messiah, while all of God’s creatures live in peace and justice and harmony.

We read these scriptures in the Advent season because as Christians we believe that the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah is the child born in a humble manger in Bethlehem. How strange and wonderful are the works of the Lord who begins the plan for salvation with a childless couple, seemingly too old to have children, and, fulfills it, in the words of C.S. Lewis, in a stable that had something inside it that was bigger than the whole world!

Saint Paul picks up on these themes in the 8th chapter of his letter to the Romans when he envisions all creation groaning in labor pains as it awaits its redemption and the Spirit helping us in our weakness, interceding for us with sighs too deep for words. In the present age it’s easy to be cynical about such visions and think the way to get ahead is by being self-centered and ruthless. But everywhere there are saints that carry with them the spirit of the Christ child.

One of my dear colleagues grew up poor in a small Southern town. She has spent her career helping struggling students by endowing a needs-based scholarship, raising money to buy dozens of laptops for those who can’t afford them, helping several hundred students pay their tuition or find a place to live, and even giving her car to a student who was homeless before she came into his life. She’s also a Stage 4 cancer survivor who was told twenty years ago she had less than six months to live. Ever since, she’s tried to do as much for others as she can for as long as she can.

There are plenty of people like her that pray for and act as though we are already living under the just king of Isaiah’s vision. Some are in our church. May we pray that all of us be filled with God’s Spirit as we celebrate the birth of the Messiah (the Christ) this Advent season!

Written by Tom Scott, HPC’s “Bible University” teacher

“What am I passionate about at Heritage? I love our education program and the opportunity to teach an adult Sunday school class for the last 23 years. I love the fact that Presbyterians are so open to new perspectives, to metaphorical and poetic language, and to studying biblical texts in historic context.”

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Next month we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We all have grown up hearing the same phrases that half of this scripture is telling us. God has given us his Son, and Christ will have reign over all the earth. His kingdom will live forever. We know this is fact, but what does his birth do to us? Due to his birth, we no longer have to walk in the darkness. Jesus was and continues to be the light of this world. His light will shine upon us for as long as we live.

Since Jesus did this for us, how should we repay him in this season? Throughout my life, I’ve seen the Christmas season go from Christ to capitalistic greed. I don’t believe society can reverse this shift, but we personally can. For the past few years, instead of thriving off of receiving, I’ve tried to become the best giver I could be. Whether it was volunteering my time, or giving my loved ones meaningful gifts, I felt better by doing that than getting/giving flashy gifts. And that’s how I’m giving back to Christ this season. I get the most meaning from Christmas when I truly feel Jesus’ presence. This is why I love participating in events like Shop With a Longhorn at my school or Santa’s Caravan here. I am spreading the true meaning of Christmas to others.

Be kind this season. Be loving. Go out of your way to do good deeds. Help spread the light. We need to give glory to God’s kingdom and spread the light of our Savior.

Written by Nikki Martin, who currently serves as a Youth Elder.

“What am I passionate about at Heritage? I am passionate about the mission and music at Heritage Presbyterian.”