Advent 3 - Friday
By Pat Lee | December 19, 2008
Friday December 19, 2008
We are greater than John
Scripture Reading: Matthew 11: 7-15
Scripture Verse: Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist.” Matthew 11:11
No one ever honoured John more than Jesus did with the above praise, but Jesus’ next words were “…yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Anyone—including us—who even imperfectly grasp what God did in Jesus is “greater than he.”
John preached what we must do. We know what God did.
We have seen much more than John. Jesus went on to not only reveal the true nature and agenda of God but also to bring us the love of God that reclaims us and redeems us sinners. Jesus’ death and resurrection showed that the power of God’s forgiving love for us is the strongest force in the universe…stronger than sin…stronger than death. When we fail in our “little repentances”, we can turn to God, confident in his promise to forgive us when we confess. Sin and death are defeated and God’s Holy Spirit is with us.
But does our complete reliance on God undercut our resolve to “repent” as both John and Jesus preached? Does “forgiveness” give us an excuse—an easy way out? Does all that God did negate what we need to do?
The answer is “No.” If we keep before us the images of Jesus’ life, ministry, suffering and death, we see how the sin we do hurts God’s dream that His Kingdom, begun in Jesus, is done on earth as it is in heaven. That Kingdom is now built through the Spirit acting in and through even the least of us in the Body of Christ, Jesus’ church. We do not want to impede that and so we remain resolved to repent.
Prayer Heavenly Father, though we are offered peace with you through Jesus, help us to never be at peace with our sin. Amen
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Advent 3 - Thursday
By Pat Lee | December 18, 2008
Thursday December 18, 2008
Repent
Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1-11
Scripture Verse: Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist”
We move forward some 30 years. “Repent” proclaims the adult John, to get ready for the coming of Jesus.
Repent means to change, to be different. Change from what? From all that keeps us from being all that God intends us to be, from all that keeps the world from being all it can be.
It can be helpful the think of the “Big Repentance” and “little repentances”. The “Big Repentance” is to turn away from living a life in which God doesn’t matter to us and turning to a life in which we want God and God’s ways to touch our hearts and shape the way we live life. This “turning around” is the repentance to leads to the new life/new creation experienced in baptism when we are born anew as children of God.
The “little repentances” are the daily struggles we have to do the right actions that are in alignment with God’s will as expressed in Jesus. The crowds asked John, “What then should we do?” (Luke 3:10-14) Today John might say things like, “Be honest in your work and in you dealings with people; be generous with what God had given you; respect one another—especially those with whom we have a difference of opinion etc.”
If we take those daily repentances seriously, we discover that our culture pressures us to conform to its values of unrelenting self-interest. Often “little repentances” can be a struggle because issues are rarely black and white…the right way and the wrong way are not always clear…two “goods” or two “evils” often seem to compete or because it is difficult to see the value of a sacrifice we might be called to make. The “little repentances” are our daily struggle.
The Anglo-Saxon root of the word “merry”, as in “Merry Christmas”, means not only mirth-filled but also “mighty”. Robin Hood’s Merry Men were strong and gallant. Jesus came at Christmas not only for happy times but also to help us be “mighty” in our struggles.
Prayer Loving God, we thank you that, in Jesus, you became one of us so that we, with the help of your Holy Spirit, could live more like him. Amen
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Advent 3 - Wednesday
By Pat Lee | December 17, 2008
Wednesday December 17, 2008
The First Christmas Carol
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:67-79
Scripture Verse “Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy.” Luke 1:67
Zechariah had not spoken for nine months, having become mute when he did not want to name his son John. He was given time to ponder and brood over the miraculous things going on.
Now he was holding his son, undoubtedly full of gratitude that Elizabeth and the baby were healthy after childbirth. Add to this Zechariah’s inspired awareness of the events that would happen after the birth of Mary’s baby, promised to her as the “Son of God.”
Out of all this, Zechariah, filled with the Spirit, sang the first Christmas carol.
Of course, Zechariah could not know the details of what lay ahead—how people would stream to his son, or that John would die a horrific death, that Jesus would proclaim God’s Kingdom and embody what God is like and how we humans should be, and perform miracles to reveal the God is with us. And finally that Jesus would die and rise from death to defeat the power of sin and death to separate us from God’s love.
Nevertheless, we see in Zechariah’s song that he has already glimpsed where all this was heading. He blessed God who redeems his people, who raises up a Saviour so we can “serve him without fear.” John is to give “knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of sins.”
Zechariah concludes, “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Such visions in Advent are the first Christmas carol.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, as we try to follow your Son Jesus, our Saviour, Lord and Friend, gulde our feet into the way of peace. Amen
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Advent 3 - Tuesday
By Pat Lee | December 16, 2008
Tuesday December 16, 2008
Nothing’s Impossible for God
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:39-45
Scripture Verse: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the child leaped in her womb” Luke 1:41
We don’t detract from Mary’s courageous acceptance of her role in bearing God’s Son if we give honest weight to her questions and uncertainties. In Luke 1 we are told that when the angel appeared, “she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of a greeting this might be.” (vs.29) When the angel Gabriel told her she would conceive and bear Jesus, she protested, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” (vs.34) Her concerns are to her credit and only clarify the magnitude of her faith.
Because of her honest concerns, the angel told Mary that her relative Elizabeth, long past child-bearing years, had conceived a son and was in her sixth month. Thus John the Baptist began preparing the way for the coming of Jesus—his presence even before his birth served as a sign to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God.” (vs. 37)
After her vision, “Mary set out and went with haste to the Judean town in the hill country where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (vs. 39). There was Elizabeth pregnant with her baby John—evidence that what the angel had promised would come true for Mary also.
Verses 39-56 describe the encounter between the two women. The child “leaped for joy” in Elizabeth’s womb, Elizabeth blessed Mary for believing. Mary’s “magnificent” response follows (vv 46-55) And Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Sometimes the best boost for our faith is to sit back and let the wonderment of God’s doing soak in.
Prayer: Loving God, as did Mary, our souls magnify you and rejoice in your gist to us of our Saviour. Amen
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Advent 3 - Monday
By Pat Lee | December 15, 2008
Advent Take-Homes
The following have been used as resources for these take-homes.
In the Presence of the Lord—Advent Devotions by Caroline Pignat
Daybreaks—Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas by Patricia Livingston
Wake Up To Joy Devotions for Advent by Mark Nielsen
Following the Star—Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas by Mark Boyer
Living in Hope Advent Meditations—Henri Nouwen
Third Week of Advent
Monday December 15,2008
Meet John
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:1-15
Scripture Verse:”Do no be afraid Zechariah…your wife Elizabeth will bear a son and you will name him John.” Luke 1:13t
Most of us have listened to the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth in the second chapter of Luke. Fewer have read the story of the birth of John the Baptist in Luke’s first chapter. Yet the two births are intertwined as later on their two lives would be. John’s birth was no accident.
As with Abraham and Sarah 2,000 years before, John’s parents Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless and up in years. God produced the people of Israel by intervening miraculously and giving Sarah a son. Here, too, it is God’s doing—God’s intention, God’s initiative. God not only provided his Son to save us, God provides the predicted forerunner John. A barren Elizabeth conceived as promised by the angel.
This reminds us that life is not an accident, a coincidence or luck. There is a Creator actively working his will in the world—in this instance picking up his centuries old promise to send someone to prepare the way for the messiah and providing John for this specific purpose.
“He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God,” the angel promised Zechariah. “With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him…” God had promised through the prophet Malachi to send “Elijah” to Israel. In John the promise is kept.
You and I may not expect God to perform such overt signs for us but we can trust that God is keeping his promises and working in our lives too. And now and then, looking back, we can see that it has not been luck or coincidence or accident. God is at work with us also.
Prayer: .Loving God give us the eyes of faith to see your care for us expressed in our lives. Amen
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