Presbytery of Northeastern New Jersey Updates
- lisa26365
- Oct 13, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
The Presbytery of Northeast New Jersey
This Advent week arrives carrying sorrow. As news of the mass shootings at Brown University and in Australia reach us on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, the familiar language of “preparing for Christmas” feels thin. Lives are interrupted and families are shattered. Once again, communities are stunned by violence that seems both shocking and all too familiar. In moments like these, the question is not whether the world needs love, it is whether love can possibly be enough.
Matthew’s story of Jesus’ birth begins with disruption. Joseph discovers the life he imagined is unraveling as fear, confusion, and shame press in. His instinct is to protect himself and withdraw quietly. But the angel’s message draws him in a different direction - Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. Love, in this story, does not erase danger or uncertainty. Instead, love chooses presence.
Isaiah names the promise simply, God is not distant or untouched by human pain. God is with us in vulnerability, in grief, in a world where violence intrudes into classrooms, neighborhoods, and sacred spaces. Advent love does not rush to explanations or platitudes. It stays present to mourn and it refuses to look away.
For the church today, this kind of love matters deeply. When communities are traumatized by violence, by fear, by the constant churn of devastating news, the church is tempted either to retreat into sentimentality or to harden into numbness. Advent calls us to neither. Instead, we are invited into love that bears witness, love that grieves publicly, prays honestly, and stands alongside those who feel unsafe, unheard, or unseen.
Joseph’s obedience reminds us that love is not passive feeling; it is a decision shaped by trust in God’s presence. Love takes responsibility for one another’s safety and dignity. Love asks hard questions about the world we are shaping and the lives we are protecting. Love insists that violence will not have the final word.
This week, as we move closer to the manger, we do so with tenderness. We light candles not because the brokenness is gone, but because God has entered it. Emmanuel means that even here, especially here, God is with us. And that love, born in vulnerability, still has the power to change the world.
Steve Huston
Organizing Co-Leader
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