Advent
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Friday, December 2nd, 2011Friday - (December 2): “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”
Scripture: Isaiah 30:19-21,23-26 Psalm 147:1-6 Matthew 9:35-10:1,6-8
Reflections: Who doesn’t want a life of good health, peace, and well-being? Isaiah foretold that God’s kingdom would overcome sorrow and adversity and bring true peace and prosperity to God’s people. Jesus understood his mission to bring the kingdom in all its fullness to us. The core of the gospel message is quite simple: the kingdom of God is imminent…turn back to God…believe! What is the kingdom of God? It’s the power of God at work in that society of men and women who trust in God and who honour him as God. In the Lord’s prayer we ask God to reign fully in our lives and in our world: “May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 5:10 )
Jesus’ preaching of God’s kingdom was accompanied by signs and wonders. People were forgiven, healed, nourished and given new life. Do we allow God’s kingdom to impact our life? In Advent we pray that we be open to allow God to reign in every area of life.
Jesus entrusted his disciples with the mission of carrying on his work– to speak God’s forgiving, healing word and to bring God’s healing touch to the weary and oppressed. Jesus said to his disciples: Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8). What we have received from Jesus (free of charge) we are now to pass on to others without expecting any kind of payment or reward. Our first interest is to be continuing the work of Jesus.
Advent Week One - Thursday
Thursday, December 1st, 2011Thursday - (December 1): “According to your faith be it done to you”
Readings: Isaiah 29:17-24 Psalm 27:1-4, 13-14 Matthew 9:27-31
Reflections: Are there any blind-spots in your life that keep you from recognizing God’s power and mercy? When two blind men heard that Jesus was passing their way, they followed him and begged for his mercy. The word mercy is something more than compassion, or sorrow at another’s misfortune. Compassion empathizes with the sufferer. But mercy goes further; it removes suffering. A merciful person shares in another’s misfortune and suffering as if it were their own. When two blind men approached Jesus, he questioned their earnestness. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Jesus put them to the test, not to rebuff them, but to strengthen their faith and trust in God’s mercy. He touched their eyes, both to identify with their affliction and to awaken faith in them. Their faith grew as they responded to his word with confident hope. Jesus restored their sight – both physically and spiritually to the reality of God’s kingdom. Faith opens the way for us to see the power of God’s kingdom and to experience his healing presence in our lives.
In Jesus we see the fulness of God’s mercy and the power of his kingdom – power to save from death and destruction, to forgive sins and lift the burden of guilt, and to heal infirmities and release the oppressed. Jesus never refused to bring God’s mercy to those who earnestly sought it. How can we seek and obtain God’s mercy? God gives mercy to the lowly in heart – to those who recognize their need for God and for his forgiveness and healing power.
God wants to change and transform our lives to set us free to live as his sons and daughters and citizens of his kingdom. Faith is key to this transformation. How can we grow in faith? Faith is a gift freely given by God to help us know God personally, to understand his truth, and to live in the power of his love. For faith to be effective it must be linked with trust and obedience – an active submission to God and a willingness to do whatever he commands. The Lord Jesus wants us to live in the confident expectation that he will fulfill his promises to us and bring us into the fulness of his kingdom – a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Do you know the peace and joy of God’s kingdom?
Advent Week One - Wednesday
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011Wednesday- (November 30): “When they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing …they glorified the God of Israel”
Readings: Isaiah 25:6-10 Psalms 23:1-6 Matthew 15:29-37
Reflections: What can satisfy the deepest hunger and longing of the human heart? Isaiah prophesied that God would provide a heavenly banquet for all peoples and would destroy death once and for all. Jesus came to fulfill that promise. Jesus’ miracles are both a sign of God’s kingdom and a demonstration of God’s power. They also show the immenseness of God’s mercy.
When the disciples were confronted with the task of feeding four thousand people, they exclaimed: “Where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” The Israelites were confronted with the same dilemma when they fled Egypt and found themselves in a barren wilderness. Like the miraculous provision of manna in the wilderness, Jesus, himself provides bread in abundance for the hungry crowd who came out into the desert to seek him. The gospel records that all were satisfied and they took up what was leftover.
In the feeding of the multitude, we see a sign of what God does. God knows our needs and he cares. When God gives, he gives in abundance. The gospel account records that the leftovers from the meal was more than seven times the amount they began with. Seven is a symbol of completion and wholeness. God gives us more than we deserve and more than we need. He nourishes us with his life-giving word and with the bread of heaven. In Advent we give thanks for all God has given us and as we long with expectant hope for the coming of his kingdom in all its fullness.
“Lord, you alone can satisfy the longing and hunger in our hearts. May we thirst for your kingdom and find joy in your presence. Give us the true bread of heaven and nourish us with your life-giving word.”
Advent Week One - Tuesday
Monday, November 28th, 2011Tuesday - (November 29): “Many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and to hear what you hear”
Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72:1, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Luke 10:21-24
Reflections: How does God bring his kingdom to us? Jesus remarked that many prophets and kings before him longed to see God establishing his kingdom. When King David’s throne was overthrown, God promised to raise up a new king (messiah) from the stump of Jesse, the father of David. This messianic king would rule forever. The Spirit of God would rest upon him and remain with him (Isaiah 11:1). The Messiah would be equipped with the gifts of the Spirit – with wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord and would begin the Kingdom of God by offering forgiveness and reconciliation with God to sinners. The Messiah would defeat the power of sin, evil and death through the power of God’s love. God’s Kingdom would include not only the Jewish people but all the nations of the earth.
As Christians we believe that through his life, ministry, death and resurrection and through who he is, Jesus opens the way for us to be in a redeemed, healthy and life-giving relationship with God and to be people who live in confident expectation that Jesus will come again to fully establish God’s kingdom of righteousness and peace.
Jesus’ prayer (Luke 10:21-22) tells us that God is both Father and Lord of earth as well as heaven. God is Creator of all who at the same time cares lovingly for creation and his people. Jesus warns us that pride can keep us from the love and knowledge of God and he contrasts pride with simplicity and humility. In Advent we remind ourselves to seek God’s wisdom and grace with humility and trust?
For Christians, Jesus reveals who God is and what God is like. In Jesus we see the God who cares and loves us, who reaches out to people with forgiveness, the God who loves us, who he lives for us and who gives his life for us.
Through allowing Jesus to touch our hearts, our knowledge of God is not limited to knowing stuff about God. Through allowing Jesus to shape our lives, we can be in a relationship of love, trust, and friendship with God. Jesus makes it possible for each of us to experience God as a loving parent…as our Father. In Advent we ask ourselves if we pray to God with joy and confidence in his love and care for us.
“Lord Jesus, give me the child-like simplicity and purity of faith to gaze upon your face with joy and confidence in your all-merciful love. Remove every doubt, fear, and proud thought which would hinder me from receiving your word.”
Advent Week One - Monday
Monday, November 28th, 2011Monday - (November 28) : “Many will come and sit at table in the kingdom of God”
Readings : Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122:1-9 Matthew 8:5-11
Reflection: The prophet Isaiah foretold a time of peace when all nations would come to “the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob” and “beat their swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:2-4). Jesus implements this prophecy by offering both Jew and Gentile a renewed, redeemed fellowship with God through his victory over the power of sin and death. When Jesus comes again he will fully establish God’s Kingdom of peace and righteousness. (Ephesians 1:10).
Jesus used many images to describe some of what the kingdom of God is like. One image is that of a great banquet given at the King’s table. Jesus promised that everyone who believed in him would come and feast at the heavenly banquet table of his Father with the patriarchs of the Old Covenant who believed but did not see the promised Messiah.
The season of Advent invites us to reflect on God’s promises and renew our commitment to seeking his kingdom first in our life. The season of Advent also invites us to approach the Jesus with expectant faith, like the centurion in today’s gospel reading.
Jesus told this parable in response to a request made by the centurion, a person despised because he was an outsider, hated because he represented foreign domination. The centurion was courageous and faith-filled. He risked criticism by seeking help from the itinerant preacher from Galilee and approached Jesus with confidence and humility. He was a compassionate man who wanted Jesus to heal his beloved slave. Jesus commends him for his faith and grants his request.
Are we willing to experience criticism in the practice of our faith? Do we approach the Lord Jesus with expectant faith?
“Lord Jesus, you feed us daily with your life-giving word and you sustain us on our journey to our true homeland with you and the Father in heaven. May we never lose hope in your promises nor lag in zeal for your kingdom of righteousness and peace.”