In today’s Advent reflection, we’re reminded that this season isn’t just about preparing for Christmas but also about returning to the rhythms of repentance, renewal, and peace. Romans 15:4–6 points us to the encouragement and hope found in Scripture and calls us to live in harmony with one another — something our culture rarely values. Paul’s challenge to “put up with the failings of the weak” and “build up our neighbor” stands in stark contrast to an age marked by criticism and division. Yet this is the pattern Jesus gives us: a life not lived to please ourselves but to glorify God. True unity doesn’t mean uniformity; it means choosing harmony over hostility, walking in the rhythm of Christlike patience, and letting our shared purpose in Jesus give us “one voice” that glorifies God. Today, we’re invited to live as peacemakers in our homes, workplaces, and communities — people who embody the unity Christ prayed for and who reflect His grace in a divided world.

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Good morning, y’all. It’s good to be with you on this Tuesday morning as we continue walking together through this season of Advent.

Each day I’m using our Advent devotional guide from St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church, and I hope it’s been meaningful for you. I really do love Advent. Much like Lent, it gives us a chance to slow down, reset, and reawaken some of those rhythms we lose during the year.

In fact, we talked in Bible Study the other night about how Advent really is a kind of “little Lent.” It’s another season of anticipation. Another season for repentance.
And repentance, as we said Sunday, is a gift. Because when we repent — when we confess — Scripture tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Through repentance we experience forgiveness. We get to start fresh.

So Advent invites us into repentance, and because of that, Advent invites us into peace.

Today’s reading jumps us over to Romans 15:4–6. Advent lectionary readings hop around a bit — unlike our normal Rooted rhythm where we walk straight through a passage — but the message today is powerful.

Let’s read:

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Romans 15:4–6

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,
so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures
we might have hope.

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you
to live in harmony with one another,
in accordance with Christ Jesus,

so that together you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Now… that’s quite a word for the year of our Lord 2025, isn’t it?

Paul says the Scriptures give us encouragement and hope. And then he says this:

“May God grant you to live in harmony with one another.”

Living in harmony… that is not something we see much of today.
We don’t see a lot of peace.
We don’t see a lot of patience.
We see a whole lot more agitation than unity.
A whole lot more adversarial spirit than harmonious spirit.

So Paul’s words push back on the world we’re living in.

And if we go back just one verse earlier — to Romans 15:1–2 — Paul really starts meddling:

“We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak,
and not to please ourselves.
Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose
of building up the neighbor.”

Oh boy.
We don’t live in an age where we “put up with the failings of the weak.”
We don’t live in an age where we focus on “building up our neighbor.”
We live in an age where every weakness is criticized and every difference becomes a battleground.

But then Paul reminds us:

Christ didn’t live to please Himself.
He lived to do the will of His Father.

And if we call ourselves Christians — “little Christs” — then this is our pattern too. This is the path Jesus walked, and it’s the path He calls us to walk.

And that path… is a path of unity.

We talked not long ago about Jesus’ prayer in John 17 — His High Priestly Prayer. One of the last things He prays before the cross is for the unity of His followers.
“Father, let them be one.”

But unity is not something our world helps us with.
We divide over theology.
We divide over politics.
We divide over ideology.
We divide over sports teams for goodness sake.

And instead of standing on what unites us — Jesus — we focus more and more on what divides us.

You know how often I talk about my kids and their music. Holly and I are blessed with talented children, and after all these years of band concerts, pep bands, and marching shows, I always enjoy watching them keep rhythm. You can see them counting with their feet, tapping out the beat, staying in time.

That shared rhythm is what brings all those different instruments together — the triangle, the trumpet, the trombone, the clarinet, the strings — all those diverse sounds moving as one.

Unity has a rhythm.
And Jesus gives us that rhythm right here:
“That with one voice you may glorify God.”

Unity doesn’t mean uniformity.
It doesn’t mean we all look the same or think the same.
But it does mean we value harmony over hostility.
It means we put up with the failings of the weak.
It means we build up our neighbor.
It means we let the insults that come our way draw us closer to Jesus, because He walked that same road.

So today, friends — in our homes, our workplaces, our church, our community — let me ask you:

Are we going to be peacemakers?
Are we going to be people who live by the rhythm of unity?
Or are we going to march to the beat of division?

The world needs people who walk in the rhythm of Christlike unity.
May that be our rhythm today.
May that be our calling.
May that be our offering to God — to glorify Him with one voice.

Thanks for being with me this morning.
We’ll pick back up tomorrow with another reading from our Advent guide.
Have a blessed day.