Week TwoDecember 7, 2021Someday At ChristmasIsaiah 19:18-25In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together…The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel, my inheritance.” Isaiah 19:23, 25 (NIV)Someday at Christmas, men won’t be boys,Playing with bombs like kids play with toys.One warm December, our hearts will seeA world where men are free.—Stevie Wonder, “Someday at Christmas” (1967)When I was a child, we put up decorations while listening to this holiday classic every Christmas. As a child, the music moved me. But now, as an adult, I value the lyrics equally. The song’s message is just as important now as it was in 1967. In my view, it is such a fitting song for Advent.I often wonder if Stevie knows how his song dovetails nicely with the prophetic and eschatological themes of Advent. Like the prophet Isaiah, he penned a vision of the future where joy, peace, hope, and love will be the order of the day. However, what’s important to note is that no one will be left out of this vision. In the oracles from Isaiah, we read that although God will hold Egypt and Assyria accountable for their oppression of God’s people, yet still God includes them in this reconciling work.This Advent, may we consider how anticipating Christ’s coming into the world involves drawing the circle of grace wider. We embrace those already in the fold, those pushed to the margins, and yes, even our enemies. In Advent, we anticipate restorative justice not through building walls but through paving highways that all may enter the ever-inclusive Kin-dom of God. The fruit of our faithful labor may not be immediately apparent. But as Stevie would put it, the fulfilment will come “maybe not in time for you and me, but someday at Christmastime.”Keith Anthony BethellStudent Senate Member and Master of Theological Studies Student See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.