3

INTRODUCTION

Advent, the coming of Christ, is about connection. God connected to humanity as Jesus emptied Himself and came to live on Earth. Sin and evil disconnect humanity from God, but the work of the cross and power of the resurrection reconnects us in a deep, tangible way. Followers of Jesus are connected by the Holy Spirit with an almost inexpressible bond that is very real. This volume of the UBC Advent devotional is about these connections through the lenses of creative expression. The reflections will be from the book of Psalms. While not a traditional source of Advent material the Psalms are uniquely positioned as material for connections.

In a commentary on the Psalms, Walter Bruggeman puts them into three categories: Psalms of orientation that speak to how things are for the blessed person, Psalms of disorientation speak to how thing have broken into chaos and people are trying to deal with a broken reality, and Psalms of new orientation speak to the hope of God’s coming work with the gratitude of people resulting in praise and thanksgiving. The Psalms do not fit nicely into categories and can be in different categories depending on the readers’ circumstances. What is to be noticed is that the Psalms are connected to the lives of the reader and demonstrate God’s connection to those lives. In the connection between the Psalms and Christ, Bruggeman gives a helpful picture of the movement through these categories. In the earthly life of Jesus, the movement from living and teaching to the crucifixion is from orientation to disorientation, and the second movement is Jesus’ resurrection resulting in the new orientation. Within these movements is space for lament, despair, hope and thanksgiving. In connecting Christ to our lives, we know what it is to move in and out of these categories. Sometimes we experience a blessed state of happiness, sometimes life is hard, and we are looking to something new, refreshing, and hopeful. During Advent we remember the chaos surrounding Christ’s, the chaos of the cross, the violent chaos in our lives’ today and we look forward to the making right of all things. This is a right-now- reality and a complete promise to come. May these devotions bring some clarity to your chaos and an avenue for you to cry out to the Lord in the middle of it all. Be Connected.

Dr. Justin Dunn, Pastor
University Baptist Church
Shawnee, OK