Often times, we skip the necessary step of asking ourselves: Is this goal something that God intends for me?
Working with the story of the magi visiting Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12), Pastor Rob reflects on how we can discern God's purposes and will in our lives. It turns out that it isn't about a formula, but more like a recipe for a slow cook sauce, one that has a number of ingredients and takes some time.
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas continues to capture the imagination years after its debut. Might it be that the problem for the grinch -- that is heart is too sizes too small -- is something we fear might happen to us? Not only might our hearts be smaller, but as humans it is quite hard (impossible?!) to grow our own heart. We need a love outside of ourselves.
Fear not though, for love has come! As the Gospel writer Luke tells of the story
1) The love our hearts need has come into the world in Jesus Christ.
2) This love is for the world and also for you!
Joseph is, Pastor Rob offers, the Patron Saint of the Unappreciated.
Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25; parts of Matthew 2) is called to play a vital role in the Christmas story. Pastor Rob offers that each of us has a role to play - a holy calling - in the Christmas story in our lives this year.
Unfortunately, Joseph is not thanked in the Bible (or in some ways, in history) for his efforts. At the holidays, we can often feel unappreciated as the Christmas story plays out in our lives.
Joseph perhaps offers a way through the bitterness that can come when we are not thanked. For Joseph's story reminds us that although we have a role, the story is not about us. This can free us to serve in love, worship in joy and give thanks for those who have gone before us in faith.
"Your mercy is from generation to generation to those who fear you" Mary, in the Magnificat, from Luke 1
Today we have three generations meeting and interacting : Elizabeth, Mary and John. Each generation brings a different gift. Elizabeth brings the patience of one who has life's disappointment turn into celebration. John brings the joy of a child, simply enthralled with the birth of Jesus.
As Mary draws on the joy of John and the patience of Elizabeth, she breaks forth in a song of praise. This is a song that acknowledges the brokenness of life, but also the gift of the redeemer in our lives. This is a song that is not dependent on the circumstances in the world. This is song for you too, as you join with the generations: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior."
The Artwork comes from Grace Church, Dupage, IL.
“How can this be?” Mary asks. (Luke 1:26-38)
Mary has been asked to do the seemingly impossible: Become pregnant, suffer rebuke from her family and have the Messiah in her womb!
The angel gives her two things to equip her to move forward. First a friendship with Elizabeth. Second, the word promise that nothing will be impossible with God.
As we say to ourselves “how can this be?”, when asked to do the seemingly impossible, the angel of God points us to friends in faith, and offers us the same word of promise
The artwork is by African-American artist Henry Tanner, 1898.
This vision is so compelling that it brings into immediate contrast the world in which we live, where there is a constant stream of violence. What do we make of this disparity, this chasm between vision and reality?
Some Christians develop a way of understanding where Jesus becomes much like an alien who takes us away from the bad place of earth and puts us in the good place of heaven. But this vision from Isaiah suggests that God isn't in the business of getting people out of earth, but renewing it through Jesus, in the power of the Spirit. As Christians, we celebrate that love has come in Jesus, but we acknowledge that love must return to finish the work.
A reflection on how the Bible points toward the renewal of all things instead of the escape of people...and what this might mean for us this Advent, as we prepare for the coming of Christ.
Turns out the rest of the Bible also has some pretty negative things to say about human kings too.
So why do we praise Jesus Christ as King? It turns out that Jesus is not like other kings. The way in which he revealed to us his kingship on the cross casts judgment on all other kings and teaches all of us something about power.
The kings of this world use their power to create their own paradise, come what may for others. Jesus uses his power to create a paradise for others, come at the cost of his own life. And the power he uses to create that paradise, as it turns out, is mercy. And for this mercy, we can give thanks!
Art credit, Wikipedia, The Embarkation of the Pilgrims, an 1857 portrait by Robert Walter Weir now housed at Brooklyn Museum
