From December 2014 Bethel Bell Tower newsletter
1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 2:1-5
Throughout the season of Advent, we hear the familiar themes through the Scriptures and hymns: watching, waiting, hoping, praying, and preparing. If I were to ask you: “What are you watching, waiting, hoping, praying and preparing for?” What would you say?
I think our minds are naturally drawn to say that we’re waiting for Jesus to return or for the time we die and go to heaven. I think Advent is about that, but more. If my entire life is about waiting around until I either die or Jesus returns, is that what God means by “I came that [you] may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10)?
Perhaps the best-known prayer is the Lord’s Prayer. In it, we pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Luther writes in the Large Catechism (a collection of his sermons on each of the elements of the Small Catechism) that we pray these things not because we believe that our prayers will bring about God’s kingdom coming or God’s will being done, but that God’s kingdom would come and God’s will would be done in and through me! Ok … does that now reframe how we watch, wait, hope, pray and prepare? Those Advent themes become much more immediate, don’t they? God’s kingdom comes and God’s will is done now … in our lifetime … right in front of us. God’s kingdom and will are not things that happen to us. Rather, we are active participants – that takes preparation and prayer – that takes waiting, watching and hoping.
After Jesus’ crucifixion, His disciples were locked behind closed doors because they were afraid (John 20:19-23). Jesus took the first step toward them by coming into the locked room where they were filled with fear. He spoke and said: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He spoke to His disciples, who, even though they followed Jesus for the three years of His public ministry, still felt unprepared and afraid. Yet, Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit and sent them anyway.
At Christmas, God takes another first step toward us. Many of us have had it drummed into our heads that “Jesus came into the world to save us from sin, death and the power of the devil.” This is a powerful sentence, yet many of us can say it without even thinking much about what it really means. Jesus came into the world because of love. Love motivated Jesus to sit at meals with tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners. Love motivated Jesus to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8) by lifting up the lowly (Luke 2), confronting and forgiving the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), restoring to health those who were ill, restoring status in community, challenging the religious and political establishment, and so much more. God’s mission is motivated by love. As God the Father sent Jesus, so He also sends us … to love.
As you and I go through this Advent season, I pray that our watching, waiting, hoping, praying, and preparing will not only be about experiencing heaven at some unknown point in the future. I pray it would be also about living a life motivated by love.
And so, we prepare. We celebrate. We keep awake. We remain alert and vigilant.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Epicurious Lutheran 