Thursday in the Third Week of Advent

Thursday in the Third Week of Advent

Read Matthew 25.1-13
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025.1-13&version=ESV

According to the study notes in the ESV Bible, "it was the Jewish marriage custom for the groom and his
friends to heave his home and proceed to the home of the bride, where the marriage ceremony was
conducted, often at night.  After this, the entire wedding party returned to the groom's home for a celebratory
banquet."

It's not too hard, is it, to see the direct correlation between this parable which Jesus tells and the imagery
of the Lord as groom and His Church as bride.  The Lord (groom) comes to the home of the Church (bride)
to take the Church to the great heavenly banquet, at the end of the age.  And the admonition is for all those
joined to the fellowship of the Bride of Christ to have their lamps ready for the journey out to meet the Lord
at his arrival.

These lamps mentioned were like torches, used for nighttime journeys.  They required refilling with oil, and it
was expected that each person would keep enough oil with them to keep their torch lit for their journey.  So
it is with each of us as we stay prepared for the arrival of the Lord.  Each of us has a personal responsibility to
be prepared through study of the Word, worship, prayer, and any of the other spiritual disciplines which have
marked the lives of Jesus' disciples from the very beginning.  While we are definitely called to do these things
together with other brothers and sisters in Christ, and to encourage one another, none of us can lean on the
actions of another when it comes to being prepared.  We do not do discipleship by osmosis!!

Think about the ways you may have left the work of discipleship to "the professionals", rather than taking an
active role in developing your own discipleship.  Ask God both for forgiveness in presuming on His grace and
for the resolve to begin today a new commitment to follow Jesus with your whole self.

Wednesday in the Third Week of Advent

Wednesday in the Third Week of Advent

Read Matthew 24.45-51
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024.45-51&version=ESV

The fate of the wicked servant in this teaching of Jesus parallels the fate of the wicked tenants
(Matthew 21.33-46) and the unprepared wedding guests (Matthew 22.1-14).  Killed, cast into
outer darkness, or cut into pieces and placed with the hypocrites, the end is not pretty for those
who do not act faithfully or wisely.

In this short teaching of the Lord, faithfulness and wisdom consists in being prepared, and doing
what a servant is supposed to be doing when the master shows up.  These seven verses are really
the conclusion of the passage which began at verse 36, when Jesus reminds the disciples that
the return of Christ will be sudden and without warning, and that the faithful disciple must always
be ready - "Stay awake!" is our standing order!

It's easy to be lulled into complacency when it comes to our discipleship, especially living as we do
in a culture of relative ease.  For one reason or another, we don't feel the same urgency of living
our faith out as other of our brother or sister Christians around the world do.  And it's not much of
a stretch to say that even Christians end up "beating up" our fellow servants or casting our lot with
the drunkards, if only metaphorically.

Pray today for a sense of urgency in living out your discipleship.  Ask God to help you see that
there is a witness for you to give in our world, that there are people to feed with the good news of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that you desire to be found prepared when the Master comes.

Tuesday in the Third Week of Advent

Tuesday in the Third Week of Advent

Read Matthew 24.32-44
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024.32-44&version=ESV

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."  There is a permanence to Jesus that
transcends all that we can see, and even what we cannot.  In the middle of his discourse on the coming
end of the age, and the judgment of all over which he will preside, Jesus makes this statement about the
eternal nature of his witness.

We tend to assign permanence to things which are transitory.  Sometimes we assign permanence to these
things (or even people) because we hope that they will be anchors for us - things on which we can depend
for security or even identity.  In our Western culture, we tend to assign such value to the things which we
accumulate.  Yet we know that even the most sturdy of buildings will someday need shoring up, and the new
car we bought last year will need replacing sometime in the future.

Amidst all the changes and insecurities of life, we are encouraged by the Lord to depend upon Him, and Him
alone.  When the New Heaven and the New Earth come to be (Revelation 21), it is the Lord Jesus who will be
the light by which we see.  We will need neither lamp nor sun, so John's vision tells us.

On what or whom do you depend for security and strength?  Consider whether you may put everything (and
everyone) else behind your dependence on the Lord, and live according to His presence and His promises.

Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent

Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent

Read Matthew 22.34-46
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022.34-46&version=ESV

We read in this gospel passage the great Summary of the Law from the lips of Jesus.  While the scribes and teachers of the Mosaic tradition had identified 613 commandments (and a 614th - "Don't forget the first 613") to define the life of the righteous Israelite, Jesus boiled it all down to two:  love of God, and love of neighbor.

Love of God comes first - we orient our lives by ascribing to God the greatest devotion.  From God we receive life itself - and all the blessings and challenges that come with living according to His will.  In practical terms, we love God by living in humility and obedience, as Jesus shows us in his life as the Son of the Father.

Love of neighbor flows from our love of God - but Jesus suggests there is an intermediate step.  For he says, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Some have suggested this means, 'You should love your neighbor as much as you love yourself."  Maybe.  Or maybe what Jesus means is that when we love God with all our being - heart, soul, and mind - we come to understand that we are beloved children.  As followers of Jesus, who put all our trust and faith in Him, we know we have been adopted as very sons and daughters.  If we accept that gracious truth, then we are able to look at our neighbor and also see one who is loved by God with an everlasting love.

Today, consider the earth-shattering truth that you are, by your faith in Christ, adopted into God's family.  Then let that truth overwhelm you.  And, as you encounter people today, ask God to help you see them in the way that He does.

Monday in the Second Week of Advent

Monday in the Second Week of Advent

Read Matthew 22.23-33
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022.23-33&version=ESV

We read today a story which shows it was not only the Pharisees who attempted to trap Jesus in a theological corner.  The Sadducees concoct a ridiculous scenario, with seven apparently extremely unhealthy brothers who all end up married to the same woman.  And the Sadducees ask Jesus to resolve a question about the resurrection - something about which they don't even believe.  Perhaps they ask the question expecting that Jesus' answer will illustrate what they perceive to be ridiculous about belief in the resurrection of the dead to judgment.

Jesus, as usual, confounds his critics.  He makes a point about marriage (it is, as a sacrament of God's grace,
provided for us here on earth - when we are in heaven, we will not need sacraments as we will be in the presence of God Himself!) and also makes an astonishing statement about the patriarchs of the Faith - that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living and not dead.  It's a statement that Jesus makes as someone with firsthand knowledge, as if he says: You believe these ancestors are dead, but you are wrong - they are alive to God!

Jesus corrects the Sadducees for both their lack of understanding and their inability to let God be God!  Perhaps we can accept the Lord's correction as one directed at us as well, but as an incentive to do the opposite.  That is, use our time well in seeking to understand the Scriptures; as the Anglican collect says, to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word!  And also, to always live in awe of God's power; we must accept that God is God and we are not!

As this second week of Advent opens up to us, pray for the grace to understand the Word as we have received it, and for the humility to be awestruck by the God who comes to our rescue at Christmas.

Second Sunday of Advent

Second Sunday in Advent

Read Luke 1.57-68
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201.57-68&version=ESV

The collect for this Second Sunday in Advent reads as follows:  Merciful God, who sent your messengers
the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation:  Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

This second Sunday in the season of Advent turns our attention to the role of the prophets in preparing the way for the coming Messiah.  The background of this passage from Luke's gospel has Zechariah, a priest in the Temple and the husband of Mary's cousin Elizabeth, stricken dumb by the angel Gabriel for refusing to believe that God would bring a child to them in their old age (Luke 1.18-23).  It's clear in this later part of the story that Zechariah and Elizabeth have had some conversation about the boy and his identity, for it's Elizabeth who first proposes the name John for their son.

When Zechariah confirms Elizabeth's choice by writing "His name is John" on a tablet, his tongue is loosed
and he is able to speak - his doubt has given way to faith, and he is free to proclaim the goodness of God's
promises.  Zechariah's prophecy in verses 68 and following has become known in the Church as the "Benedictus", and is the usual gospel canticle recited at Morning Prayer.

The arrival of John the Baptist on the scene tells us the time is drawing near.  Like the prophets of the Old
Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest), John understands his role to be a voice which calls people back to
the Word of God, and the ways of God.  John's ministry is to point to Jesus, the fulfillment of all the longings
of Israel and all the promises of God.

Today, rejoice in the truth that God always keeps His promises.  Thank the Father, in your prayer time, for choosing to send His Son to redeem us and all the world - not because of our deserving, but because of His mercy.

Saturday in the First Week of Advent

Saturday in the First Week of Advent

Read Matthew 22.15-22
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022.15-22&version=ESV

Those wily Pharisees - they seem to delight in trying to catch Jesus in a bind.  His popularity with the people
is a source of anxiety to them, and we can imagine them wringing their hands in secretive meetings wondering
how best to turn the tide against him.  While they were outwardly motivated by the meticulous keeping of
God's law, they were surely inwardly motivated by insecurity and perhaps even jealousy for the way in which
the Lord attracted people to himself.

Of course, we know that that attractiveness was more than human charisma - Jesus spoke and lived out the
Truth, and he shared the grace and compassion of God.  His power to heal, and his authority to correct and
teach all came from the same place:  his identity with the Father as the only-begotten Son sent to bring healing
and redemption to the world.

In this exchange with the religious leaders, Jesus calls them and us to be good citizens of the state in which
we live.  We are to obey the laws of the state to the extent to which they do not conflict with the laws of God -
we are to give Caesar his due and we are to give God His due.  While we recognize that those dual allegiances
may at time cause us conflict, we also accept the teaching of the Lord to be mindful of our civic duties while
we seek to be faithful to Him.

As we close this first week of Advent, perform a little week-in-review.  In the past week, as you've read these
Gospel passages, how has the Lord come closer to you?  How has prayerfully meditating on these portions of
Scripture helped you to prepare for the Lord to come once more into your life?

Good Stuff from "The Jesus Manifesto"

The fact is, Jesus was the greatest human being who ever lived, and if all we have to look forward to in life is the frustration of trying to be someone we are not, then we've got better ways of enjoying the interval between birth and death.

But the "good news" is that Jesus doesn't want us to be "like" Him. He wants us to share His resurrection life with us. He doesn't want us to imitate Him; instead, Christ, the Unspeakable Gift, wants to live in and through us.

The gospel is not the imitation of Christ; it is the implantation and impartation of Christ. We are called to do more than mediate truth. We are called to manifest Jesus' presence.

p. 71

Friday in the First Week of Advent

Friday in the First Week of Advent
Read Matthew 22.1-14
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022.1-14&version=ESV

"...invite into the wedding feast as many as you find."

Yet another parable told by Jesus on the Temple grounds about unfaithful and wicked servants,
Tenants and caretakers who are found unworthy of their master's calling.  Yet another picture of
Kingdom boundaries - some are in and some are out. And yet tucked into this parable is a word
of hope, as the king sends his servants out into the roads to invite everyone they meet into the feast. 

Perhaps as much a word of prodigality as it is hope, this part of the vignette is intended to show the
abundant grace of God, who will invite all to participate in the joy of His presence.  We are told in
Scripture that God does not wish that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3.9).
When the king in Jesus' story does in his wicked subjects, he quickly turns his attention to others

to whom he can extend the gracious invitation to share in the wedding banquet. 

And so the servants invite as many as they find - both good and bad, so the story goes.  And there
are some who accept the king's invitation who are not prepared to sit down and eat - they do not have
the proper garment.  We are not told why - simply that they are not prepared.  This resonates with our
Advent theme of preparation - be ready!

So we have accepted the king's invitation, the Lord's invitation to follow Him.  We know that our God is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and yet that he demands justice for the
ways in which we have disobeyed.  As we await the coming King, we give thanks with great joy that He
who comes is the very One who gives us the garment of righteousness, through our faith in Him, so
that we may sit down and enjoy the abundance of God's feast. 

Today, prepare for the coming of the Lord by giving gratitude to God that he has invited you into his
family, and that he has adopted you as a son or daughter.  Rejoice that you are washed by the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, and that through Him you are a worthy guest.

Thursday in the First Week of Advent

Thursday in the First Week of Advent

Read Matthew 21.33-46
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021.33-46&version=ESV

Despite the inclination of our modern culture to paint Jesus as a meek and mild Gandhi-like mystic, we are often confronted in the gospels with a man who did not shy away from saying hard things.  Here, as in many other places, Jesus articulates the reality of a Kingdom which has boundaries.  Some will be in the Kingdom, some will not.  These repeated sayings of Jesus argue pretty convincingly against a universalism which is very popular these days, even among some Christians.

Yet, as is the case always with Jesus, saying the hard thing is often the same as saying the right thing.  Jesus always spoke the Truth of God - he was incapable of doing otherwise.  He always bore witness to the Truth, for he was and is the Truth of God.  When Jesus challenged the Pharisees in this parable, clearly identifying them as the wicked tenants of the vineyard, he expressed a remarkable truth:  God will make a way for his kingdom to flourish.  He will find people who will bear witness to the ways of God and live according to His precepts.  The Way that God chose was, of course, to send his very own Son to inaugurate the Kingdom in a way that would endure until the end of time itself.  The Kingdom takes root in the hearts of all the faithful, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

What kind of tenant have you been of God's vineyard?  Take a moment today to prayerfully ponder on how you have tended the gift of the Gospel in your own life.  How have you nurtured the Truth of Jesus Christ in your daily disciplines of prayer and study of the Word?  How have you lived out the Kingdom principles of mercy and compassion in your interactions with others? Pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to be more and more like the One by whose name you are called:  Christian.

Jesus Manifesto

I'm really enjoying Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola's "Jesus Manifesto.". A fantastic book that serves to remind us it's all about Jesus! Probably will be posting my favorite quotes here from time to time.

Wednesday in the First Week of Advent

Wednesday in the First Week of Advent

Read Matthew 21.23-32
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021.23-32&version=ESV

Walk the talk.  So Jesus says in telling this parable of the two sons to the questioning Pharisees in the Temple. They have publicly challenged Jesus' authority to teach and heal, not to mention his driving out the moneychangers just before this scene in Matthew's gospel. Jesus very clearly draws a contrast between those who seemed to say "no" to God (i.e., the prostitutes and tax collectors) yet ultimately turned to Him, with those who seemed to say "yes" to God (i.e., the Pharisees and scribes) but who failed to live up to their talk.  Those who walk the talk, even if they have at first rejected the ways of God, are those who have done the Father's will.

As we continue to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, it's a good time to examine our lives and ask ourselves the question - how are we responding to God's call on our lives?  When have we said "yeah, yeah..." to God, offering only lip service without following through on our promise to obey?  Can we accept that we have at times said a direct, or perhaps even an indirect, "No" to God - then test our hearts to instead turn and go in the way that He has called us?  Now is the time to turn toward the Lord and follow where he leads us.

Today, November 30, is also the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle.  His is a good example of joyful obedience to the Lord, and he models for us the way of walking the talk.  He is best known for bringing his brother, Simon Peter, to meet the Lord - and the rest, as they say, is history.  Today, let us look to Andrew as a great father in the faith, who let his "yes" be "yes".

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him; Give us, who are called by your holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Tuesday in the First Week of Advent

Tuesday in the First Week of Advent

Read Matthew 21.12-22
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021.12-22&version=ESV

The Lord whom we prepare to meet in Advent appears in this scene as one who is prepared to pronounce

words of judgment.  In liturgical time, we are preparing this season to welcome the Lord in his first Advent,

as newborn king.  In actual time, we are always to be preparing to welcome the Lord in his second Advent,

when he shall appear to judge the living and the dead.  In both the scene on the Temple grounds as well

as by the fig tree outside the city, the Lord exercises his role as judge of all.

Money changing in the Temple, a way of allowing pilgrims from throughout the Jewish diaspora to exchange

their foreign currency for temple currency - in order to purchase animals for sacrifice, had become a system

of money-making for those involved in the transactions.  The offering of prayers to God had become

commodified, and those in the system were benefiting at the expense of the faithful.  For Jesus, this was

an occasion for righteous anger.

Outside the city, Jesus passed a fig tree which appeared to be fruitful.  Fig trees tended to produce fruit at

the same time as the leaves, and so a tree with leaves was usually also bearing fruit.  This tree only appeared

to be fruitful, when in actuality it was not.  It was all show - no fruit.  Jesus pronounced judgment - as he does

elsewhere in decrying the hypocrisy of "religious" people who only appear to be performing the duties of

their faith, while neglecting the important matters like justice and mercy.

So - how do we prepare to welcome the Lord Jesus Christ as judge of all hearts?  The babe who lies in the

manger at Bethlehem is the same king who will divide sheep from goats at the end of all days, the Lord of

love and peace is at the same time the Judge of justice and mercy.  Pray today for the Holy Spirit to guide

you in a life of discipline and faithfulness to the ways of God, that you would bear fruit worthy of the disciple

of Jesus.

Monday in the First Week of Advent

Monday in the First Week of Advent

Read Matthew 21.1-11
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021.1-11&version=NIV

It's interesting to be reading this passage during the Advent season - it's one of the Gospel accounts that is assignedfor the Liturgy of the Palms on Palm Sunday.  In fact, it's the passage we read at St. John's this past April as we opened our observance of Holy Week.

In this liturgical season, we prepare to mark again the Incarnation - the first Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Near the end of his earthly life, Jesus encounters in Jerusalem the cheering crowds who wish to hail him as king who would conquer the occupying Romans and restore the Davidic monarchy.  Of course we know that just a week later, these same people who shout "Hosanna!" are crying "Crucify!"  The kingship of Jesus, while absolutely real, is not modeled on the flawed systems of power which predominate in our world - then as well as now.

Were Jesus to show up today (which is of course possible!), those who would acclaim him as king would just as likely expect the wrong things of him.  The kingship of Jesus is one of servanthood - he came not to be served but to serve. This reality goes against our fallen human instincts, and it still leads people to say "Who is this?"  The person of Jesus is so compelling that his presence compels people to take stock of who he is - and we who follow Him are called to witness with our lives as to His identity as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

Today, as you contemplate how you will prepare the way for the Lord this Advent season, answer for yourself the question of the crowds:  Who is this?  When have I turned my "hosanna" into "crucify"?

First Sunday of Advent

Welcome to Advent!  I'll be sending out these daily reflections by email during this season of
preparation.  I invite you to use them in your time of daily prayer.  Each reflection will begin with
a reading from the Gospels in the Daily Office Lectionary (Year 2), and then a few comments and
questions to direct your personal time of prayer and meditation on the Word, as prepare for
the coming of the Word Made Flesh.

First Sunday of Advent

Read Luke 21.5-19
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2021.5-19&version=ESV

"By your endurance, you will gain your lives" (Luke 21.19).  Sometimes the season before Christmas
seems like an endurance contest, doesn't it!  Enduring the lines at the grocery store, the department
store, the gas station.  Making it to Christmas is a goal we set and hope to achieve - if we can only
manage to get everything on our list successfully crossed off!

The season of Advent is supposed to be a time of peaceful preparation, though our culture would press
us to greater frenzy rather than greater calm.  We can, however, resist the pressure and make ourselves
still before the Lord.  Jesus in this gospel reading tells of great tribulation - the destruction of the Temple,
warring nations, earthquakes and famine, terrors and persecutions.  He warns his followers that they
will be brought before authorities and turned over even by their own family members because they are
witnessing to the Truth of the Lord's identity and mission.  And that they should not shrink back from
this opportunity to bear testimony in the face of great pressures.

It's unlikely that any of us will face the threat of persecution for bearing witness to Jesus during this
season of Advent.  But do take a moment as this season begins to ask yourself the question:  how
can I mark this season differently this year as a time of testimony to Jesus Christ the Lord?  How can
I approach the coming of Christmas in such a way that others see my faith in action - not for the purpose
of calling attention to myself, but for the purpose of pointing attention to Him?

Advent Reflections

So I've been encouraged by our Ministry Council to start blogging again.  It's been over a year since my last attempt.  Going to be posting here my daily Advent reflections that are going out to the parish, as well as occasional other thoughts related to the season.  We are diving into the Advent Conspiracy (www.adventconspiracy.org), so there will probably be some items related to that as well.

Blessings,
Darin+

Deer Valley Getting Ready For Skiers

Looks like the mountain is getting ready for skiers!