Fourth Sunday in Advent - LOVE

On the fourth Sunday in Advent we think of the Spirit of Christmas as the Spirit of Love. It was the love of God for his world and his people that brought about the miracle of the incarnation. Deity became flesh and lived among the people of the earth and it was a life of love that found its expression in the Son both emptying and humbling himself and maintaining that he had come, not to be served, but to serve and give his life for the salvation of the world. It was a sacrificial love that saw him lifted up and given a name above every other name; a name at which we are forced to bow.

The reality of the Christmas story is that it has eternal significance for each of us and it demands a response because we can be an on-going part of the story. We are the next chapter of a never ending story and the immeasurable value of Christmas means we are called to see our place in it

At Christmas we see God demonstrating reckless extravagance for you and me and in turn we need to risk our reputation if necessary, in order to love, to give, to care, to feed, to help a loveless world.  As Christ bridged the gulf to meet us, we are called to scale the barriers of our society and meet people where they are.  Christ demanded, ‘lay down your life for my sake’ or put another way, ’let my love take over your life’

In 1965 Hal David and Burt Bacharach wrote a song in the form of a prayer. The words of the chorus read,

 

What the world needs now is love, sweet love,

It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of,
What he world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone

Throughout Christmas 2014 and the New Year of 2015, let us, through Christ, be that love to the world

 

Read; Philippians 2:1-18

Thanks to Lieut-Colonel Robert McIntyre for these Sunday in Advent posts.

 

Third Sunday in Advent - Joy

The Spirit of Christmas is a Spirit of Joy and is the focus for us today on the third Sunday in Advent.  It is rightly spoken of as the Joy-bringer or the Life-bringer reminding us of newness of life that comes to us, not just when the Christ Child is welcomed into the life of a believer, but by the renewing joy that is promised daily by the ever present joy-bringer

When young Mary was visited by the Angel Gabriel and it was announced that she would bear the child who would be the Son of God, her response was a song of joy to the Lord which begins, ‘My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’.  Mary’s song, referred to as The Magnificat declares forcibly the greatness of God and the joy there is in finding him.  The song ends by affirming that ’this promise is to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever’

In the song Deck the Halls we sing, ’Tis the season to be jolly, fah la la la la la la la la’ and we conjure up in our mind pictures of people with happy faces having a happy time.  And where there are people who frown on it all we are quick to call them kill-joys who mumble 'Bah humbug' 

 
Christmas is special when we recognise that at the heart of it is the Spirit of God coming to man with unspeakable joy.  May we experience again the miracle of joy incarnate and be prompted to sing of our joy just like Mary.  In fact, read the lyrics of her song now for yourself and sense the joy it portrays

 Read:

Luke 1: 26-38

 

Second Sunday in Advent - Peace

Look at our world and it is hard to see where good is overcoming evil.  Darkness is an integral and intolerable part of our world and we often ask ‘Where is God in this and that?’ or ‘Why the suffering and the sorrow, the hatred and war which is so prevalent?’

But the truth is that in the Christ child of Bethlehem the Inextinguishable Light has dawned on our world and however great that darkness, it will never snuff out the light of God. You may have to look long and hard at times to see where the Light is shining, but it is there because he is there Identifying with us where we are, however low, however sad, or however needy his people are.

In former times the prophet Jeremiah had called the people of God to seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which they had been exiled. With the coming of Christ, that call to be peacemakers in a dark and broken world is intensified, and we can be the very means by which that world is made aware of the Prince of Peace. We may not easily see how we could do that in the wider world of war and injustice but we can be lights strategically placed, intentionally reflecting the Light that can chase the darkness around us. 

The Spirit of Christmas is a Spirit of Peace and to possess it is not just the means by which we can live at peace with God and the world, we can share it in a myriad of ways with those who around us.  God helping us, may we truly be peacemakers.

Read:

Jeremiah 29: 4-14

John 1:1-14

 

 

 

First Sunday in Advent - Hope

Many thought that John the Baptist would fulfil Israel’s hope of a Messiah.  Expectations for a better future were high when they saw and heard him. He seemed to fit the image well of the kind of person people would follow.  Hundreds came to see and hear him and he was asked frequently by religious leaders if he was indeed the expected one who would bring new hope to a hopeless world

However, he was quick to tell them that he was not the Messiah but one sent to prepare for his imminent arrival, adding that everyone was to get themselves sorted out for his coming.  He called people to repent and used baptism as a symbol of that repentance. This would have come as an initial shock to a Jew, as this was the means by which a Gentile was converted to Judaism.  Nevertheless many people from varied backgrounds responded to the Baptist’s simple but clear call 

When Jesus, the true Messiah arrived, John pointed to him, declaring that here was ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’.  It is worth noting that of all the descriptions that could be given to the Messiah, John speaks of the Lamb of God

As we journey through Advent we can listen well to the Messiah Lord as our Teacher, follow closely as our Example, offer allegiance as our King and serve him well as our Master, but never let us lose sight of him as the willing Sacrifice who is the Saviour for a hopeless world — a message we need to know and share in whatever way we can this Christmas

 Read John 1:29-34