A Stable Lamp is Lighted
All of us at ELCA World Hunger bring you warm Advent greetings!
Advent Calendar and Study Guide
This season’s Advent calendar and study guide from ELCA World Hunger invite you to prepare room in your home and hearth for yourself and your loved ones before going into the world to act on behalf of your neighbors. In a time of global suffering and anxiety, Richard Wilbur’s hymn “A Stable Lamp Is Lighted” calls us to embrace the tension of the moment, the natural desire for a place of our own, and our call to care for the stranger:
A stable lamp is lighted
whose glow shall wake the sky;
the stars shall bend their voices,
and every stone shall cry.
The simple act of making a hospitable, warm, cozy place — even in a stable — moves the sky, the stars and the stones to tremble. ELCA World Hunger’s seasonal packet has resources for creating a place of care, rest and reflection for you and your family so that you feel prepared to strengthen your community.
Session One: How Do ELCA Partnerships Work?
Theme Verse: Isaiah 2:1-5
Isaiah 2:1-5 is often (and rightly) understood as a call to end violent conflict, but it also establishes a different vision of human society. This is highlighted by themes of law, judgment and “nations,” all ways in which humans think about civil society. In other words, the writer of Isaiah is calling us to think about how we order ourselves in community.
Session Two: What Is Intersectional Justice?
Theme Verse: Matthew 3:1-12
Today’s clip from “Intersections” explores how various types of injustice overlap. When confronting an issue, we may have trouble disentangling the many injustices at play. Taking the time to reflect on such entanglements can be more challenging when we feel the urgency proclaimed by John the Baptizer in Matthew 3:1-12: God’s “wrath” is imminent, our roots are about to be cut, and Jesus’ “winnowing fork is in his hand.”
Session Three: Root Causes of Poverty
Theme Verse: Psalm 146:5-10
Psalm 146 sets the bar for God’s people by laying out precisely what God desires for God’s eternal reign: justice for “the oppressed,” “the hungry,” “prisoners,” those who are “blind” and “bowed down,” “strangers,” “the orphan” and “the widow.” It reminds us not only who needs justice but also that their justice will come alongside a new reign that will last forever.
Advent Resources
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