Psalms 55; Isaiah 10:20-27; Luke 3:1-9
Listen to the author read their meditation and prayer:
The Rev. Nathan Jennings, Advent Meditation
Advent means “coming.” The Greek would be “parousia,” showing up, arriving. What does it look like when God shows up? In our passage from Luke today, it 
looks like a prophet crying out in the wilderness “make straight the paths of the Lord!” Isaiah’s words in our Old Testament passage may seem harsh. But God is answering the cry of his oppressed people. His words come as good news: God is going to show up for them.
It is almost as if the passage from Isaiah is God’s direct response to the cry for help we pray with the Psalmist today. What are you praying for, today? What is your cry? For whom are you praying? When will God make a full end? How will you know when God shows up? Will it be a voice of one crying in the wilderness? Or, perhaps, a still small voice?
Advent is about waiting, waiting on the Lord. Wait for him. He will not disappoint you. Our Lord will come. Jesus will make a full end. Amen.
O Father, in these last days you have sent us Jesus. Make a full end, that you may be all in all; through Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Rev. Nathan G. Jennings, PhD
J. Milton Richardson Associate Professor of
Liturgics and Anglican Studies
SEMINARY OF THE SOUTHWEST
A native of Austin, Professor Jennings returned to his hometown when he joined the faculty of Seminary of the Southwest in 2005. Jennings has also served as the Director of the Anglican Studies Program at Seminary of the Southwest since 2008. Jennings is interested in liturgical theology, dogmatic theology, ascetical theology, theological hermeneutics and the way these disciplines intersect and inform one another. His book, Theology as Ascetic Act: Disciplining Christian Discourse, published in 2010, represents a light revision of his doctoral dissertation and argues that Christian teaching and reflection are embodied acts analogous to, and part of, Christian asceticism. Jennings has published various book reviews and articles in journals and collections. He is currently working on a book that will provide a liturgical theology of sacred text and its interpretation. In teaching, Jennings reflects on liturgy theologically as that which enables participation in God and God’s work in the world. In addition to the required liturgy and Anglican studies courses, Jennings offers elective seminars in Liturgical and Sacramental Theology, Liturgical Hermeneutics, and occasional seminars on Anglican Divines and Church Fathers.
