The literal meaning of advent is a “coming” or “arrival,” and can refer to the general beginning of something significant. When capitalized, Advent refers to the Christian season of four or more weeks of preparation for Christmas, focused on the coming of Jesus Christ. This anticipation encompasses both the remembrance of his birth and the hope for his Second Coming. The four words associated with Advent are Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

I intended this to be an Advent devotional, and I will revisit it again on November 30, the First Sunday of Advent this year. However, there is a more pressing need as today in our nation we are consumed with anger and hatred the depths of which we have rarely seen.

There is a divisiveness in our nation that tears at the very fabric of who we claim to be. Proclaiming “one nation under God” does not make us a nation that loves, reveres, and serves God. There is precious little in the political rhetoric that bombards us from the media, and our elected leaders, that is reflective of the Christ found in the pages of the New Testament.

There is a desperate need in our personal lives and in the trajectory of our nation to experience the “coming” of the Prince of Peace. The words, Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love have no meaning in a culture that destroys families and “disappears” people who do not look like us. It is impossible to justify the treatment that we are visiting on “others” from the life of Jesus.

The word of the Lord to Solomon is a message we need to take to heart at this moment in our nation’s history. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 emphasis added)

God cannot bless our nation when we fail to practice justice and mercy. To repent means to change direction. We need to take seriously the requirements to be humble, pray, seek God’s face, and for the love of God learn to practice mercy and justice.

The words associated with Advent are Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. The Word became flesh to show us the heart of God. The Gospel of John puts it clearly, “No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” (John 1:18). What was known through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is that God is the God of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Much of what are calling Christianity has no resemblance whatsoever to the life and teachings of Jesus. To use the cover of Christianity to justify the inhumane treatment of our sisters and brothers, created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) is not only deplorable it is hypocrisy. It is sin. Sin requires repentance. In the words of Chronicles, it requires that we turn from our wicked ways.

The news of Jesus’ birth was announced as “good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). If we expect to live into that “good news” we need to first fall on our knees begging forgiveness, then rise from our prayer to work for justice and equity for all people created in the image of God.