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Final Preparations For Christ’s Second Coming
Final Preparations For His Coming
Mark 11:1-10
† IHS †
As You Realize the Depth of the Grace and Peace of God our Father, and Jesus our Lord, May Your Cry for Him to Save Us Become More Confident and Filled With Wonder and Expectation!
They’ll Be Here Any Second!
You look at your watch, or maybe the clock on the microwave, and as your heart begins to beat faster, you wonder where the last forty-five minutes went!
The company will be here any moment, and you so aren’t ready.
The appetizers are perfect, but you haven’t changed from your bathrobe and pajamas, for that matter, you realized you haven’t showered yet!
The rest of the house, you know, the parts that you asked for help in getting cleaned up, well they are worse than when you asked for help1
The extra chairs are still in the garage, the laundry basket is empty, all over floor.
And as you leave the kitchen to get looking half presentable, you notice you forgot to turn on the oven, and the turkey is still thawing in the sink!
IS this the ultimate nightmare, or worse… reality?
Many people get stressed when company is coming over…. They want things to be perfect for their guests. Perhaps some of us aren’t that noble. We know life isn’t perfect, but we like it when others think that our lives are!
If we are so concerned about company coming over and finding lives, what concern do we have about Jesus coming back, and finding us ready?
As we spend these weeks prior to Christmas thinking about Jesus’ incarnation and His second coming, we are going to look Advent prayers and preparations. Wednesday Nights we’ll study the prayers in the Bible for Jesus to return, and on Sunday’s we’ll look at how to be prepared, how to be ready.
So let’s begin looking at the final preparations for Advent, or is it Easter!
Easter or Advent?
It may seem a little odd to begin Advent with a reading from Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry. The beginning of the week leading to Good Friday and Easter. There is a reason. When the shepherds looked down on Jesus in the manger, they had no clue what it would take to be the Savior. A year or so later, as the wise men presented Jesus gifts, they didn’t know either.
The disciples have walked with Him for years. They’ve heard him teach about the Father’s love because of firsthand experience. They’ve seen Jesus heal lepers, give sight to the blind, feed thousands with a few sardines and small roles of bread. They’ve seen Him raise people from the dead.
The Messiah is about to establish His reign over everything, and it is for this reason that He came. To answer the prayer the people cried out Praise the Lord, as they cried out Hosanna! (which means save us!) Everything’s ready for that which had been a mystery from the beginning is about to occur….
It’s almost ready… just a few final preparations.
Are We Willing to Go Get the Donkey…
There is always one task that everyone hates, that has to be done when company’s coming over. Maybe it’s taking out the trash, maybe it’s cleaning the toilet bowl.
I can’t imagine taking the walk to town to pick up a young unbroken donkey, and dragging it back to Bethany was the greatest of jobs. But someone had to do it, and these two disciples had to go deal with the donkey.
Some of us may be sent on similar missions still to deal with stubborn donkeys and bring them to Jesus. Some of us are as stubborn and that unbroken donkey.
But are we willing to listen to God’s direction that clearly? Are we willing to go and take on a task that isn’t glamorous, and may be more than a bit difficult? These two disciples played a role in fulfilling prophecy, but I am not sure they knew that. I can imagine one of them wondering if they could find this donkey, the other wondering if no one asked them, would they be charged with Grand Theft Donkey?
Our lives are often like their task that day. We aren’t sure why God wants us to work with donkeys, or why He doesn’t just wipe out those we think are enemies. Why this action is good, but why doing that is a sin, and doing that is labelled an abomination. We don’t have the answers, and our answer is the same as those disciples, simply telling people what we are told, by God.
But will we accept that His answer is good enough?
What advent is about is to prepare to welcome the King, to welcome the Messiah who comes in the name of the Lord God Almighty! Are we ready for that day? Have we done that which He asks, in preparation for that day when He comes, and everyone praises Him?
We are called into this relationship, into this family of God. Are we waiting for His return! Will we be found ready? Or will we be still trying to figure out why we have to work with donkeys?
A Word of Hope!
The anxiety of company arriving at any moment can be matched, when we consider our own work, as we strive to become ready for the second coming of Christ. Paul addresses that in his letter to the church in Corinth,
4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!
That is the key to Advent, the key to being prepared for Christ’s return. He isn’t coming to check out that all the trash cans so clean you could eat out of them, or that the toilet is that clean, or even that the feast is perfectly prepared. He’s coming to see if we are ready to enter the Father’s presence, following behind him like the crowds did on Palm Sunday.
How we are prepared? We know what God has done, and is doing. We know about the cross, about Jesus dying that we could be free from all blame. That what scripture promises about Christ is true here, in this place. It is true for all that believe and are baptized! We are prepared when we have trust in God’s work in this place. When we know and use the gifts God has given to us, given to us because we belong to Jesus Christ. When we know that Jesus will keep us strong, and free from all blame. Because He is faithful we trust in Him, and we look forward to what is promised.
I love verse 8 – we have to hear it again,
He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!
There is our hope, and there is the hope of the world, that in Christ, people are free from all blame and will be when He returns. For God has promises this welcomed you into a community led by Jesus! This is how we prepare for Advent. We realize our need for Him, our desperate need, and trust that He will meet it!
May our trust in God be seen, as we work with Him, even as His return draws closer!
Amen!
An Advent Resolution: Get a grip!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. 14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. 16 Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. 17 You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears. Hebrews 12:12-17 (NLT)
396 Renew your firm resolution to live your Christian life right now, at every moment and in all circumstances. (1)
In a little over a month, people will be making sincere resolutions, that will be broken in a month or two. Some will simply give up, others will be forced by life to change their resolution, until it is no longer visible. A few will keep them, losing the weight, doing better at their work, spending more time with their family, making a determined try to be at church every week, and Bible Study as well! Even perhaps, double their time in prayer and God’s word.
As I came across the reading from Hebrews this morning, I was already thinking about how this season of advent is one of rededication, of a renewed commitment. It is a penitential (2) season, a time of reflection, of prayer, of admitting our need to remember we are God’s children, and that Jesus will return. This passage is a great one to reflect on, in this case. these are the things we haven’t done well. THe author of Hebrews calls the church to repentance with a clarity that is still amazing,
- We haven’t walked the paths that God would have us walk
- We haven’t supported those who are spiritually weak or lame,
- We need to be better living at peace with others,
- We need to see that our lives are set apart for walking with God, to seeing Him in our lives
- We need to watch out for the poison of bitterness, which can corrupt us.
- We need to understand and treasure what our “birthright” is; what is promised to us when God cleanses us and claims us as His children in the sacramental waters of baptism.
- We need to realize that life is too short, that tossing aside all the blessings of God will have a consequence. It is not a scare tactic to describe a time when tears and begging will not replace what has been tossed aside.
Do we even feel remorse in reading this list? Does it bring us to tears to realize how we have failed, how we haven’t live as those who are God’s children? Or are our minds already trying to justify ourselves, just accepting our sin as some sort of undeniable reality? Are we ashamed of how we behaved, does it rock us to consider it?
If it doesn’t, how do we see salvation? Do we not celebrate with as much joy our salvation? Do we fail to see how incredible the love of God is, in Jesus delivering us from power of sin, satan and assuring that death has no lasting sting? Is this why our worship is weak?
It’s time to get a hold of why we need to be saved, why we need to be granted repentance, and a faith in God which calls us near, so that He can heal us, so that He can transform us, so that our salvation is no longer neglected. To do what Hebrews 12 starts the chapter with,
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Hebrews 12:1-2a (NLT)
We so need to focus on Jesus, to trust Him, to let Him work on our lives. He is the one who brought us to life in faith, who redeemed us. We need to remember He is the one who will perfect us, work with us, comfort us, and yes cleanse us. Restoring us, calling us back to trusting in Him.
Such a season of advent brings strength ot our lives of prayer, not because we are holy, but because our holiness finds its source, its life as we cling to Him.
May we remember we cry, “Lord, have mercy” and “Lord Save Us”…. that we may cry it all the more often, and be sure it is always answered.
So hear is your resolution: Get a grip, make your resolution, to realize the presence and work of God in our lives. AMEN
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1546-1547). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) A Penitential Season (like Advent and Lent) is a time of repentance, of sorrow for our sins (both individual and corporate) tempered with the expectation of the coming of grace
Called and Loved and Holy: The reason for the Reason of the Season
Called and Loved and Holy:
The reason for the Reason of the Season
† IHS †
During the Christmas celebrations this year, may we know the
grace, the mercy and peace of God that is the reason for the reason of the Season!
Confusion about IHS!
It is amazing how easily this world can get confused about the message of Christmas, and never see the real reason for the season, or the real reason for the real Reason of the season. In this year, I think there is more of that going on than ever, not just in the world at large, but in the church. Part of that is we often get confused ourselves, and instead of asking questions, and doing our research, we simply go with what makes sense. Let me use a story from my youth to explain.
When I was growing up, there was a place in the church where the chalices were kept, and the cup that held the bread over which the words of institution was already said. On its brass locked doors, there were three letters, very ornate in their carving.
I H S
Sometimes on the bread, those letters were seen as well. The Chrismons that we used to hang on the tree here had them as well! As a curious kid, I always wondered what they meant, and one day I thought or heard someone say that they stood for “In His Service.” I would later hear they meant things ranging from Jesus, Savior of Men, to Jesus, Son and Savior. All of which make some sense.
Doing some more research, it seems the oldest use of them, was just the monogram of Jesus, the first three letters of His Name.
All sorts of different stories, most of them seeming to make sense, yet each obscuring a little of the simplicity of referring to who is with us, whose body and blood is given and shed for us.
Sometimes I think we need help focusing, especially now at Christmas, and that is what this reading from Romans does for us today.
An Ambassadors Limitations
In each of the letters Paul wrote to churches in various cities throughout the Mediterranean, he starts them with a reference to who he is, usually using the title apostle, with clarification that his role is by God’s choice and calling, not his own. He writes to the church in an area – not necessarily to a single congregation, but to all whom are called and gathered as God’s people there.
An apostle is like an ambassador, a person who is entrusted to speak for the one who selects and sends them. They are trusted with opening up relations and enhancing the relationships, but within the guidelines he has been given, with the powers with which he’s been entrusted.
The Greek word for sent emphasizes it – it is the word we get horizon from, and is defined as the boundaries Paul is given as an apostle. Despite his position, despite His call, he can’t change his mission and say he is only sent to these people, nor can he change what God has defined. Simply put, he can’t say, I don’t like baptism, so instead do this to enter a relationship with God. Nor can he change the rules and say, I don’t think gossip is as bad as sex outside of marriage, so let’s hear all the stuff about your neighbors, and what is that friend of yours doing now?
He was given a message, a very specific message with a very specific goal in mind.
Our challenge is to keep that message central in our lives, to depend on it, for it makes all the difference in the world. To be focused on Him, and what He has done, not on all the other things that can confuse the message, like I was confused about all the different possible meanings of IHS.
To declare the good news that God has sent His only begotten son into the world, into the family where God had always said he would be for the sake of rising from the dead to prove that Jesus cares for each one of us… and has taken responsibility for each one of us. Paul was to bring this message to a certain people group. A large group, this is sure, for it is everyone who isn’t Jewish. So that they can trust in God, and really hear Him, as He loves them, and calls them to be the people that are set apart to be God’s people.
That’s the limit of Paul’s work, the limit of the work of the church.
But that word – the one we get horizon from – the setting of the boundaries and limitations, is not just used for Paul’s ministry, or the ministry he has passed down to us through generations of generations of believers.
It’s used in regards to Jesus as well.
When it says in verse 4, that He was shown to be the son of God, when it talks about the dimension of His being shown as death could not stop Him. There is the evidence of His love, His call on our lives, His desire to make us Holy.
Even death could not stop him on the mission that God the Father sent Jesus on!
The Reason for the Reason of the Season
That is the reason for this Reason for this season to come. To make it abundantly clear that we do not walk alone, that this manger and this cross has a reason for us, not just eternally, but in the eternity that started when this good news became our good news! When the Holy Spirit replaced our heart of sin hardened stone with His heart, when He brought us to a life that is lived with Christ.
When we understand its not about our serving Christ, this time, but it is when Christ comes among us. Whne we are revealed to be the ones God loves and adores, when we care chosen and called to be His saints the people made Holy, set aside to be His.
That’s us.
That’s the message we’ve been given the responsibility of revealing to the world.
Like Paul, it is what our focus is to be on…
For it is what makes the difference. Look there – we are the ones in the last verses –
6 And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people.
His Love, His calling to us, His being our God, and making us His people…
That is what makes Christmas so radically different. Realizing it isn’t about the presents, or the people who would stop us from decorating our lawns, or the most recent action of a company that is perceived to be against God. That’s the difference between whether it is an acronym “In His Service”, or simply a monogram saying “Jesus” One focuses on us, the other, simply points us to the reality of Jesus Christ being our Lord, our source of life.
It makes an eternal difference, rather than just putting a burden on us, that we can’t possibly live up to.
His work, saving us, redeeming us, fixing our brokenness, restoring us to life with Him, that is the reason that Jesus is the reason for this season, and no other. Everything else, simply isn’t eternal, and doesn’t give us the grace and peace we’ve been given, the grace and peace that we can invite others into sharing.
English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But this news – that He is our Lord – that He has promised to be with us and care for us… that is what this is all about.
He is IHS our Lord!
AMEN?
Death, Grief, Season of Darkness and the Lord’s presence.
Devotional Thought of the Day:
I should honour Christ with the utmost boldness by the way I live, whether that means I am to face death or to go on living. For living to me means simply “Christ”, and if I die I should merely gain more of him. I realise, of course, that the work which I have started may make it necessary for me to go on living in this world, I should find it very hard to make a choice. I am torn in two directions – on the one hand I long to leave this world and live with Christ, and that is obviously the best thing for me. Yet, on the other hand, it is probably more necessary for you that I should stay here on earth. That is why I feel pretty well convinced that I shall not leave this world yet, but shall be able to stand by you, to help you forward in Christian living and to find increasing joy in your faith. So you can look forward to making much of me as your minister in Christ when I come to see you again! Philippians 1:18 (Phillips NT)
879 Death comes and cannot be avoided. What empty vanity it is, then, to centre our existence on this life. See how much many men and women suffer. Some suffer because life is coming to an end and it pains them to leave it; others because it is going on, and they are sick of it… In neither case is there room for the mistaken view that makes our passage through this world an end in itself. One must leave that way of thinking behind and anchor oneself to another, an eternal one. A total change is required, to empty oneself of self-centred motives, which pass away, and to be renewed in Christ, who is eternal. (1)
When I realized what I needed to write this morning, I wanted to not write it. I sat at my desk trying to find a reason not to write it…
But write it… I must?
This season is so incredibly hard, as I look around me and see the damage that death can do. The family agathered around a bedside, waiting for what they know is coming. A friend dealing with the family struggles that have appeared as they grieve the loss of a family member. Trying to think of ways to bring the Holy Spirit to them, and to all who are grieving, even while grieving myself. Other friends whose grief is not found in loss, but found in their present existence. The darkness so well described by the words of St. Josemaria Escriva, the people who are struggling with life coming to an end, and those who struggle with living life, and want Jesus to return, because life is too full of pain. I know that feeling – even somewhat joke about it, “Lord can you come back NOW!?”
Perhaps it is not always as much of a joke, as a cry of pain, or tiredness, of trying to see where God is working, and not even realizing that He is working at our side, in us, through us. Yes, I want Christ to return, but do I want Him here just so the suffering ends. I want His return so we can enjoy His presence… well – at least that is what I want… to want.
Apparently Paul knew these words as well – the passage quoted above echoes those feelings well. They speak comforting words, words that mean we can reveal the challenge of life these days, in the manner He did, and come to the realization that Paul did. To realize that this life isn’t just about “us”, our wants, our “comfort,” That peace comes from living in Christ, not avoiding the challenge, not avoiding the pain, but allowing Him to strengthen us and lift our weary heats. I like St. Josemaria’s words here as well, “A total change is required, to empty oneself of self-centred motives, which pass away, and to be renewed in Christ, who is eternal.” To realize that this change has already begun, as the Holy Spirit calls our lives to be united with Christ’s death on the cross, that we can be share in His life, that we share in His ministry. That when we go to someone’s aid, and do not have the words, His presence with us, will be there for them. That our prayers and study will prove fruitful in those moments. That we can bring joy and peace to those who need. Often it is at our weakest, that we see God’s presence the clearest, or that others see His presence with us. To know that our burdens are exchanged at the altar forHis Body and Blood, an echange of “burdens”, on that drags us for one that brings us aware of His peace, the peace in which we do live!.
It is in those moments, when Christ’s presence is so… evident, as His work in our lives we can perceive, that we find the strength in Him to keep going. to keep serving, to keep being present… even as He lifts us up.
which will fire our desire for His return, not because of what we are enduring – but simply because He is… our God.
“Lord have mercy” we cry… listen and hear His answer… “I am with you!”
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3592-3597). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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This News Strengthens Weak Hands Unsteady Legs and Racing Hearts
The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This News Strengthens Weak Hands
Unsteady Legs and Racing Hearts
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
As we experience the grace and mercy of God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, may our hearts be calmed, and may we find ourselves strengthening others we encounter!
The Kingdom of God is like.. Christmas Morning…
There was a rule in the house I grew up in, we were not allowed to have our feet touch the first floor of our house until 6:30 on Christmas morning.
Needless to say, by about 5:45, my sister Kelly, my brother Steve and I were crowded on the first step of the stairs, pointing out the presents under the tree, wondering which presents were for which of us. Some of it was easy – if there were two boxes the same shape and size – one was Stephen’s, one was mine – my folks like to buy us the same thing. I think to see who would break the item the fastest?
At 6:31, my mom could be heard descending the stairs, a few moments more, my dad. That was the morning of instant coffee, for they were up late the night before, for we often didn’t get home from grampy’s until after 11. Then they had to wrap presents, and get everything ready.
Exhausted when we woke them up, something always happened as they watched us rip open presents with the energy that only children can have. They began to laugh and smile and enjoy themselves, despite their tired, cold, achy bones. A transformation occurred, as the tiredness somehow evaporated. There is something about sharing joy that is transforming.
The coming of the Kingdom is like that!
The dramatic change of Isaiah’s desert and desert highlands is lost on most of us. We can’t picture a place like Arizona suddenly looking like Yosemite, or the coastal redwoods of Santa Cruz. We don’t see the area between here and Las Vegas all of a sudden looking like the Everglades. The transformation is that incredible, as God comes among us. Can we even begin to comprehend it?
We can understand the language found in verse three and four, about having the tired hands, and knees that just want to give out, and hearts that are so crushed, that they are racing because of stress and wear and tear they undergo.
We need this season of Advent to not just about to be about waiting – but to hear the news –that God is coming, that God is with us…. For then, as the King David says –
11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, 12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!Psalm 30:11-12 (NLT)
This week, the third of our advent journey, that is what we find joy in, the news of how the tired, weary and anxious are more incredibly transformed than parents were on Christmas morning!
What causes our weaknesses? What causes our hearts to race?
It was once said that a pastor’s sermon should afflict those comfortable in sin, by comfort those afflicted by it. Those who spiritually are tired, worn out to the point of stumbling, those whose heart races. In other words, a lot of us in this place – are not in need of me ranting about the condition of the world, or of the sins that cause consequences in our lives.
We’ve felt them often, enough so that I can joke about needing to invest in whatever corporation owns Kleenex. It’s why this place is called a sanctuary, a refuge – and why Sunday is our day of hiding in Christ and finding rest.
We know those Isaiah says need to be strengthened and encouraged and to lift our hearts. Sometimes, like John the Baptist in the Gospel, we are the ones who ask – are you really there Jesus, are you really listening to us God? Not because we don’t know – but we need to remember.
We need to know we have a real God whom cares for real people with real problems.
We need to hear God’s message, as we struggle in what seems to be a desert wilderness.
Be calm, be strengthened by this… Immanuel!
That is what advent is all about – this time where we recognize our need for God’s presence, where we try to imagine what going through this life would be like in ancient days.
Not talking about the days with black and white televisions, brownie cameras, pong video games and rotary phones. I am talking about the days before Christ’s being born of Mary, when they knew of God, but because of Jesus not coming yet, they couldn’t quite understand the promises of the Messiah spoke of a hope beyond belief. The hope of a desert suddenly growing plants and trees like a rainforest, the promise of ground cracked and dry, not just having enough water to become muddy, but to become a tropical paradise.
Lives that seemed dry and useless, become lives that are alive, as we bring people to Christ like freeways bringing people to LA.
Though we know Christ, and though we are learning more and more about His love, we still tire out like John the Baptist. We still lose focus on what God is doing here, Advent reminds us – that what is coming when Christ returns is incredible, a wondrous transformation even more radical than what happens when we realize that He has saved us.
That there will be a day when what we know is true in our lives, will be seen in all of creation! When everything is redeemed, when Heaven and earth is recreated, when there is no more sorrow or sadness or tears.
When God display His glory, His splendor, when life begins anew.
Not later, the change is now, if you look at it
It is with such a vision that we can revive hands and legs, and calms anxious hearts. This is the reason we have been entrusted with this news!
Because the truth of such a vision is that, we don’t have to wait for the transformation to begin. It already has, the glory of God revealed clearly in ways that go beyond speech.
The Son of God, choosing to enter into this world, to come and abide with us, to restore us to the image in which we are created. To reverse in us the effects caused by sin’s brokenness.
That same Man, hanging there on a tree, paying for the sin of the past year, the sin of all creation, Our being united there in His death, so that we could rise with Him.
This vision of Isaiah that strengthens us, our weary hands, our wobbling knees and calms our hearts, that even though He has died, all the forces of evil couldn’t keep Him dead… He rose and is at the Father’s side… working on our behalf, our of love for us.
Because He was transformed from death to life, so are we. Get that, it isn’t that we will be. We have been. We have been changed, and we are no longer lost in the desert – we have become that highway in the desert.
As we become the highway for others in the wilderness, the work Christ does in us brings the water of life to others, and brings them to comprehend this transformation, as the Holy Spirit brings life into their barrenness.
Just as He has into ours. We may not get it completely; we may not see the fruit and vegetation yet, but we knows His presence, and the promises that have been made sure as He has cleansed us in baptism – as He increases our faith in our times with Him. As we pray, as He nourishes us with His word, and the promises like these in it. As He invites us to lay our burdens down, and as He strengthens us with His Body and Blood.
That’s why we become the road for others, so that they can learn of the healing, the restoration, what it means to be saved and rescued.
For Christ has come, and it changes everything far more than a parent’s weariness fades as kids unwrap presents..
That is the peace that passes all comprehension, but which we know guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
AMEN!
Celtic Advent II: Jesus’ Thoughts on the Incarnation
Celtic Cross (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jesus’ Thoughts
Looking toward Being Born of Mary
Isaiah 49:4-6
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May we be in awe of the love of Christ, demonstrated in His leaving heaven, to come dwell with us, even as He saved us.
The impossibility of the task:
It Is as difficult to picture Jesus in heaven before the incarnation, as it is trying to see what life will be life when we dwell eternally with God. We are after all, talking about dwelling with God. We are talking about Jesus the Messiah, the one through whom all things were created.
And now through whom all things are recreated, in order that we do the good works planned for us since before the foundation of the world.
Even so, the exercise is useful, trying to imagine what Jesus thought and felt a few hours (however one experience that) in heaven.
Can you imagine Him and the Father, looking down at the world, knowing what was to come, having planted the seed of this even before Adam and Eve were ushered out of the garden for their own protection?
Even before the garden was?
What did he see?
As he looked down at their brokenness, as he considered the sing, the evil, the hardness of hearts that Jesus knew He was going to encounter, as He considered the beauty, the glory, the incomparable, indescribable, life He was going to freely give up…
How could He not be repelled? How could the stench of sin, the overwhelming self-centeredness of mankind not turn Him away? How could he not react as we do when we face making sacrifices for those that would rather not be helped?
How could He not hesitate, but for the joy that was set before Him, smile at the Father and with a sparkle in His eye, say, “It’s time” and in a moment, find Himself defenseless, in the womb of a young woman?
The mission was always bigger
As we travel through Advent, that is what we must see, this deep desire of the Father, of the Son and of the Spirit to rescue us from the death that is life apart from God?
We see this in the old testament reading – the absolute exhaustion that Isaiah prophetically sees in Christ. He’s been born, struggled with our rejecting Him, dealt with people like the sons of Thunder, those people who act so brashly and loudly… he’s dealt with Pilate and Matthew, with Judas’s betrayal, and perhaps more painfully Peter’s betrayal.
He knows that those are just foretaste of ours, the days when our behavior, our thoughts and words do not reflect our love for God. The days when our resentment and desire for revenge and our own self gratification seems to dominate.
He knows this pain – but the mission He was sent on by the Father, that they planned together – the time to that point is now gone… and the knowledge is seen. Hear Isaiah’s prophecy about Christ’s attitude:
.” 5 Even before I was born, the LORD God chose me to serve him and to lead back the people of Israel.
He will go on..
Now the YHWH – God the Father says to me, “It isn’t enough for you to be merely my servant. You must do more than lead back survivors from the tribes of Israel. I have placed you here as a light for other nations; you must take my saving power to everyone on earth.”
He comes – just as planned – to save Israel, and to save all nations. Not just our friends and family, but our enemy. Not just to forgive our sins, but the sins committed against us. To free us from all of that… for that was the plan, even before His birth.
Why?
The gospel, in its simple yet profound language tells us.
. 57 In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me.
In the same way our meal over on that side of the room shows our life together, so this meal here does. They are, in many ways, the same thing. Our fellowship here with God, reflected there.
He came to give us life, to redeem us and return us to the Father, to bring us back Isaiah says. To have life because His saving power, this love and mercy, this invitation to communion, to fellowship, to living with Him has been His plan since before He entered Mary’s womb.
For we live with Him, because we have died with Him.
As Jesus stood there, ready to enter time, ready to leave heaven, ready to be born of Mary and live among the sin and brokenness, the stench of sin and the horror of lives that are spiritually rotten.. He heard the Father’s voice… and loving the Father, loving us, became Immanuel
God with us… The Lord God Creator, Savior, Redeemer Re-Creator.. has come to us….
It was what they wanted.. it is what changes everything…
With Him, having been rescued from darkness, let our lives reflect His glory and mercy and peace to this world. AMEN?
Related articles
- A Celtic Advent: The Trinity’s Look Towards Christ’s Birth (justifiedandsinner.com)
A Real God Addressing Real Brokenness through and in us = Real Church
English: A homeless on the corner of Cologne Cathedral, Germany, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
35Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. 36 When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. 37 “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! 38 On your knees and pray for harvest hands!” Matthew 9:35-38 (MSG)
744 You don’t have an ounce of supernatural vision and it is only their social standing that you notice. Souls mean nothing to you at all, nor do you serve them. That is why you are not generous… but live far from God with your false piety, even though you may pray a lot. The Master has said very clearly: “Depart from me … into that eternal fire … for I was hungry … I was thirsty … I was in prison … and you did not care for me.” (1)
It is the time of Advent, a time where our readings in Church traditionally deal with the brokenness of people.
It’s the days before Christmas, and for many people i know, it will be a hard one, as they grieve. I don’t even like writing this, for it causes me to face my own grief, and the burdon of knowing so many who will be grieving as well. Others wonder about their own future, as health or finances are limited, as anxiety builds. Students in college are facing finals – a particular pressure to perform, and papers that must get done. We deal with our own brokenness, our own loneliness. The darkened days result in a physical drain as well. For many, this season of Peace and Joy becomes one of questioning – why can’t I feel that joyous? Why can’t I know that peace everyone else seems to know so well?
With all of this going on, for the church, for all believers I raise a question.
Will you see those around you? The hostess at the restaurant whose smile is forced, the person at the office party who doesn’t quite engage everyone else, but leaves as soon as possible. The single-mom who is struggling with trying to figure out how to make all the ends meet and still have something for her children for Christmas? The people that you know who’ve lost someone in the last year or two… who will be alone this Christmas? The homeless person – who is sick because there was no room at the rescue mission?
Will they see you? Not just as another person who doesn’t care, but as someone who will at least acknowledge the brokeness and spend time with them – even if they can’t materially help. Will you be there for them. Will you allow God to work through you to bring them some peace, some knowledge that they are loved? Will you know the joy of imitating Christ, of represnting Jesus to those He has sent you to, even as the Father sent Him to us?
Will we care for the people who are without shepherds, who are lost in this crazy world? Will our heart break over the trauma, physical, emotional, spiritual, that is all around us?
As we talked last night in the class I am teaching, we talked about how evangelism is not just a 5 minute chat with someone who doesn’t know Christ. It’s about being alive in Christ, of realizing that love, of knowing that others desperately need to know it – and that they are all around us. Even those sitting in Bible Study with us, even those leading worship up front. THis morning as I visited with some friends, I was amazed to hear of their care for me and for others in our church, even as they faced their own challenges. They minister to others incredibly, even as they minister from their own weakness. Saturday, I was blessed by a friend, who wanted to check up on me, to know how/if I was handling my own grief, and dealing with the “burden” of caring for others. This is church. Real church, The people of God who are willing to let a real God be God, and minister to them, and through them. I can go on and on, but ministry, real ministry is seen in our relationship with God, that interacts with our relationship with each other.
We all need a real God, we all need to know He is with us as we face real challenges, and our own real brokenness, as we help others find His healing as well. That is when “Church” (those gathered/called together by God to be His people) is “real church” When we take the time to spend it with those who need it, even if it makes us late. Even if it costs us a little time and money. For then we see them… and they see us… and we, together, see Christ revealed in our presence.
So take time – invest it in those around you. Not just those that will left you up, but those that need to be lifted up.
You would be amazed at the depth of peace and joy that comes from seeing God with us…..
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3102-3107). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Burdened? With those of Christ, or Those of the World? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Will you let them see you…. (justifiedandsinner.com)
- I’m Getting Tired of “Cool” Churches (donraypratt.wordpress.com)
- Have you been neglecting yourself? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Will God hear even me today, in this mood I am in? (justifiedandsinner.com)
Where He Lives (with us) Is Glorious!
Where He Lives Is Glorious!
Isaiah 11:1-10
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
As you experience the grace and mercy of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, may you realize you dwell, even now, in His glorious presence!
The Irony of Looking for What is Already Here…
It’s time for another of Pastor Parker’s Parables.
The Kingdom of God is like setting up a Christmas tree a couple hours before the company arrives.
You have set it up every year in the same place, and you know how it all fits together! You get the stand to work this time, on just the 6th attempt. You place the lights on it carefully, having laid them all to test them. On goes all the ornaments, even that ugly indestructible, hideous one you got years ago. It was your Christmas present as a married couple from that one friend, so you put It on. (Maybe this year it will finally be crushed when you take the tree down!)
You finished decorating, you go to plug it in, and somehow the cord is 6 inches short… it won’t reach the wall outlet! In 10 minutes, your company is due to arrive! You head out to the garage; absolutely, positively sure there is a power strip right on the workbench, where it is supposed to be! You look, it is not there, you start to move things around… and…where is it! Anxiety starts to build!
You hear a car stop at the curb, oh no! You will never get it find it now! You look out, whew! It isn’t’ your guests, it’s the neighbor’s kids and grandkids. (you don’t even complain that they are parked in front of your house, you are so relieved…) You go back to the work bench – still trying to figure out where that dang power strip is…
And you realize it is in your hand. You picked it up, to move it out of the way so that you could find it….and it never left your hand…
Now the car with your friends arrives, as you are laughing maniacally, half embarrassed, half relieved, completely drained by the stress that leaves you…
Ready to enjoy the friends that you’ve been working to prepare the house for.
That’s the kingdom of heaven, that moment where the realization that what you need is here….right here.. even though you couldn’t see it.
That is our message of advent, as we focus on the peace and rest we have been given, because our long expected Jesus, is here. The rest and peace and glory that was prophesied to arrive with Him, that we struggle to remember is here…..
The struggle with Injustice in a dog eat dog world
As we look at the message in Isaiah, we begin to see what the Jewish people were expecting in the coming of Christ. I love the description of the peace that will exist between natural enemies, and predators, and even those who would innocently invade the area of others.
There is no more dog eat dog world, it is gone. There is no need to be on the defensive, to be anxious over those who could get hurt. There is no need to guard what we say, wondering how others might use it against us.
There is peace, and there is rest. It is a way that is foreign to us, for we will truly be able to be still, and just know that He is God….
Think about it, we will not have to worry anymore if our rights are going to be violated, or if someone is going to make our life more of a challenge. How many of us are ready to have nothing to complain about? No one to blame for why our lives are not as wonderful as they could be. Nothing holding us back.
I almost wonder how we will adjust… ( I mean – what will we post on facebook !)
Cynicism is no longer an art form, for many it is a survival mechanism. To throw away everything Luther told us about putting the best construction on what other’s say and do – and assume what they say and do is about their best – not our best interests. Of course, should someone point out that our words and deeds aren’t so loving, we might get upset.
And the Israelites were expecting the Messiah to change all that! They needed to someone who had all the wisdom, all the knowledge, the understanding and the ability to make this all right. Someone not just as wise as Solomon, or as aware of God’s heart as David, or with the gift of miracles like Elijah, but the one who they pointed to!
I love how Isaiah describes Jesus, 700 plus years before He is born of Mary
3 He will delight in obeying the LORD. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. 4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited.
That’s the promise of the word of God, promised to be fulfilled when the Messiah arrived on the scene…
So two thousand years later… why don’t we live in this peace? Why do we struggle with things that destroy it? Paranoia, Defensiveness, anxieties, resentment and thirst for revenge?
Simply put, it’s because the Kingdom of God is like putting up a Christmas tree…
Has this happened yet?
You have been baptized (if you have not – we can take care of that!) you have been welcome into the community of God’s people. Your sins have been forgiven and you are reminded of that quite often around here, because we need to be.
We, especially here at Concordia realize what a great God we have, for He has been lifted up on a cross, our flag of hope – our banner of victory, and we have seen the nations rally around Him, proclaiming His glory.
We live in God’s Kingdom, so why aren’t we aware of life being the way Isaiah prophesied? Why do we live still on edge, on guard, and battling anxiety? Why do we resent other, and desire revenge? Why do we feel we have to protect what is ours? Why can’t we see this Kingdom of God?
I suppose it is gooder grammar to ask why don’t we see this Kingdom of God?
It is here, you are reminded of it when you pray, which is why St Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. You can’t deny someone being there..if you are having a conversation with Him!
You know you are baptized, so heed Martin Luther’s advice and start each day knowing what is yours – the very gift of the Holy Spirit, the wiping away of all sins from your life, the healing of heart and soul. End each day as well remembering your baptism, for then you will know God is with you, and that you can sleep in peace.
Come to His table, and as one song tells us, taste of that glory, the bread of forgiveness, the win of His peace. Know that all struggle with can be left here as well.
Fellowship with others, as we learn the scriptures together, as we measure the height and depth of width and breath of His incredible love for us.
Know He has come, He is here…realize that you can entrust God with the world, with the justice He has promised, with the fact that nothing can prevail against His love. Be free to love those around you, even those you struggle with whom you struggle. God is here…right here… all the time.
That is why you live in the peace of God, which will guard you heart and mind in Christ Jesus. AMEN?
A Celtic Advent: Looking at God’s Expectations about Jesus Birth
Devotional Thought of the Day…
6 I chose you to bring justice, and I am here at your side. I selected and sent you to bring light and my promise of hope to the nations. 7 You will give sight to the blind; you will set prisoners free from dark dungeons. Isaiah 42:6-7 (CEV)
Tommorow night at Concordia Lutheran Church, we take up again our tradition of mid-week worship services and a meal of fellowship. All are invited as they are every Wednesday Night until Christmas!
We’ve taken a different approach this year, rather than our usual look at how Israel was looking forward to the Messiah. For that is what Advent is, taking lessings from Israel’s preparation (and lack of preparation) for the arrival of the promised Deliverer, the One chosen by God our Father to free us from the things of life which crush and smother us. The hope is, learning those lessons, our celebration of Christmas, our understanding of how God the Father kept His promises, will help us prepare for the joyous Day when Christ returns, to bring us into the Father’s presence.
Like I said, this year we are going to look at it a little differently, as we take a Celtic approach to it, and look at the Birth of Christ from God’s view, from what He expected, from what He planned.
To see His joy, as He patiently waited for the right time, as the Father sent messengers to give us inklings of what to expect, as the Son looked through the manger and the muck and crud He would be born to, to the Cross where everything would be cleansed. As the Holy Spirit would come and breathe life into a spiritually dead people, and bring them to life and make them aware that they walk with God, that they are His people.
In the process, we will see why the angels sang at the birth of this baby, why the lowest of the low went and were the first of the New Testament evangelists, sharing the incredible news that God is with us. We begin to understand why the wisest of the wise would journey, to lay gifts at His feet. We begin to understand why we sing Joy to the World, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing…
For God so loved the world….
Come join us!
6:30 at Concordia Lutheran Church, 13633 183rd Street, Cerritos, Ca
Advent Devotion: Convenient, Comfortable Christianity? Hmmm…
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) – The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1880) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
But when the Son of man comes, will he find any faith on earth? Luke 18:8b (NJB)
57 As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58 Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59 Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me,’ replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ 60 But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’ 61 Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say good-bye to my people at home.’ 62 Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’Luke 9:57-62 (NJB)
650 When will you realise that your only possible way is to seek sanctity seriously. Make up your mind—don’t be offended—to take God seriously. That levity of yours, if you do not fight against it, could end up by becoming a sad and blasphemous mockery. (1)
Yesterday we began Advent, that time of year where we build expectation of Christ’s return, as we consider life prior to the Incarnation.
It is hard to look back, without considering the voices of the prophets, and their call on the people of God to take their relationship with God seriously. Their reminders that we have a relationship with God who has made it possible, and that we should neglect that relationship.
Yet too often we do.
Advent seeks to shake us from that – to prepare us for Christ’s coming – not just the 6 lbs 8 oz Baby Lord Jesus, lieing in a smelly feeding trough, but the returning Lord who gave it all, for us.
It’s a startling image in this day where peopel are put out if they are asked to pay more in taxes, or meet the expecations others place on their time and their lives. We want to be served instantly, we want it our way, we want things to be convenient, and comfortable, with no sacrifice and no cost.
We hear that salvation is free, that God paid all the cost for our sins, with Christ dieing on the cross, and we rejoice. We focus on that part of the message of God. We love it, rejoice in it, willing share that part with others.
But we don’t want the inconvenience of being in a relationship with God. It might be uncomfortable, He might ask us to sacrifice something, to downscale our lives in order to help others. He might ask us to spend time with Him, and with those people at church that aren’t like us. He may ask some of us even to suffer for the faith, and how many of us are really willing to do that?
SO the prophetic question is asked – do you trust God? Are you willing to trust Him, even if it seems to mean some personal cost? What if it means giving up a personal dream, or embracing discomfort? What if it means being alienated from family? What if it means our friends turn their back on us, because we won’t be there when they want us to be, because of our commitments to serve others, especially those others they might consider “less deserving”? Will you trust God, when it costs you a little of what it cost Jesus, the shame He embraced on the cross? Are you willing to trust Him enough that you would embrace suffering, if it meant one more person would know Christ?
Remember why – it was for the joy awaiting Him, the joy of sharing His glory with you! The joy of bringing you into the glory and love that is shared between this Triune God we worship.
Is your trust in Him, your love for Him enough to embrace a inconvenient, uncomfortable messy way of life?
Look beyond the manger, and the shining stars and “cute” depictions of the birth of Christ. Look at the rejections He endured, Look at the cross He bore, and the investment He’s made, promising you the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. KNow His faithfulness, His trustworthiness, His love and mercy….
and embrace a life of faith and trust…. knowing that no other life is worth living.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2728-2731). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- You Must Be Ready…but How? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Sacraments and Sacramentals: Advent (simonebrosig.wordpress.com)
- How to Build the Church (justifiedandsinner.com)
- “We’ll get together then, God. You know we’ll have a good time then! (justifiedandsinner.com)
