Excerpted from 2024 Advent Guide: Hope is Near, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
“Save, O Lord, your people,
the remnant of Israel.”
See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and those in labor together;
a great company, they shall return here.
With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back;
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path where they shall not stumble,
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
and will keep him as a shepherd does a flock.”
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord.
Joy as God’s scattered flock gathers.
Lately, it feels like the world has become more divided than ever. What we have witnessed since Hurricane Helene hit our beautiful North Carolina mountains, however, is that WE can come together when it matters. Our hearts, minds, hands, and feet have all been working together toward a common purpose . . . to help our neighbors! The quick efforts of community members, businesses, and nonprofits has been nothing short of amazing.
God has blessed creation with a great variety of gifts and gathered all people into one family, so that in sharing, we might strengthen and be strengthened by one another. We gather into our hearts and minds the universe entrusted to us, remembering its needs before God and this company.
Prayer for the People: Grant that these prayers, O God, may be enfleshed by our commitment not only to pray them, but to live them in your Son’s name. Amen.
