A throbbing headache, pain shooting behind your eyes, pulsating in your temples. You see flashes, and light becomes unbearable. You lie down and break into a cold sweat. Then the nausea starts. Unless you’ve recently suffered a migraine, it’s difficult to understand the sensation of relief and freedom you feel when it’s finally gone. Joy, like many other things, is appreciated best in its absence. Read Isaiah 12:2-6. Isaiah is prophesying to a people who have sinned greatly against the Lord. Most of the first half of Isaiah is a message of divine judgment against Israel. The prophet continually beats them down with words of condemnation and retribution for their sins. But in the midst of this cosmic migraine, he gives them a chapter of relief. Actually it’s more than relief, it’s great joy. There will come a savior, a messiah, to save them from this condemnation!
We can know the joy and freedom of deliverance only when we’ve experienced the sorrows and pain of bondage. It is possible that God allows us to experience pain in order that we might understand the deep relief and exuberant joy of salvation that is only found in Him.
Just the other day my wife started a conversation with someone by simply asking how they were doing. The reply, “it’s been a bad year”, has become something of a refrain across many outlets and in many circles. Some have lost lots of money in the markets, some have lost jobs, some have lost loved ones and others have suffered in many other ways. And from a certain viewpoint it truly has been a very “bad year”.
During the Advent season we’re going to be taking Mondays to reflect on the previous day’s worship gathering. Take some time to talk about what was discussed at the worship gathering with family and friends.
A sermon on what it means to prepare the way of the Lord, preached from Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 1:68-79, Luke 3:1-6 and Philippians 1:3-11 on the second Sunday of Advent, December 6, 2009.
Today is the Second Sunday of Advent, and our day to practice worship together. Christ Church gathers at 5pm on Sunday evenings, and tonight we’ll publicly read the Scriptures we’ve been meditating on all week. If you’re not part of Christ Church, get together with a group of friends and practice the following exercises:
Today is a reflection day. Catch up on exercises you’ve missed and enjoy the day.
Read Luke 3:1-6.
To me these scriptures read like the beginning of a movie. Luke sets the story in its historical context by listing seven political and religious leaders of the time–the antagonists. Then he sweeps us up and plops us in the desert, where, in the midst of the politics and power at work elsewhere, the word of the Lord comes to John. The message is to repent (change how you are living), get ready, and prepare the way for salvation to come.
By listing the seven political/religious leaders, Luke is not only providing us with a time-frame but is also saying these are the forces that will oppose the advent of this salvation. In a short time one of them will behead John and another will crucify Jesus. But this will not and cannot stop the coming of God’s salvation to “all mankind”. Repent! Prepare! Get ready! There is a steamroller plowing through the desert, making a way for all to come dancing into the city of God’s salvation. Consider the following questions:
The world in which we live is a busy place. It’s a world in which business is transacted 24 hours a day. We’ve probably all have had the experience of calling the 800 number of a company with which we transact business, only to be placed ‘on hold’. While we’re waiting, we’re reminded that our ‘call is important…please stay on the line.’
Philippians 1:3-11, takes place during a time of waiting. Paul is most likely in Rome, waiting under house arrest, to be tried for crimes against the state. He is accused of saying subversive things like, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ when the ONLY personality which was permitted to be referred to as ‘Lord’ was Caesar. During this time of Paul’s waiting, he fills the time with words.
The Gospel of Luke is the first portion of a two part story. Luke and Acts (The Acts of the Apostles) are meant to be seen as one overarching account and not separated as they are in most English translations. The author’s literary skills (in the original Greek, Luke is the most intricate of the four Gospels and most of the New Testament for that matter) are on full display in these writings. Luke’s Gospel is often the most detailed providing vivid characters, elaborate parables, and thorough historical context. The events of Luke 1 are not found in any of the other Gospels and could be considered a prequel to the account of Jesus’s birth which is found in all of the Gospels except John.
The first reading for Advent 2C is from the last book of the Old Testament, the prophecy of Malachi. Read Malachi 3:1-4. If you can find the time, read the whole book to get the context of these few verses. Malachi is one of the shortest books in the Bible, is generally thought to have been written around the middle of the 5th century BC, and is probably the last of the OT books to be written.