Prayer

Unexpected God,

your advent alarms us.

wake us from drowsy worship,

from the sleep that neglects love,

and the sedative of misdirected frenzy.

awaken us now to your coming

and bend our angers into your peace.  Amen

 

Scripture

John 1:19-28

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Meditation

Have you ever been confused for someone else?  When I was a teenager many people confused me for Anthony Michael Hall AKA Farmer Ted from the movie Sixteen Candles.  I actually had people follow me around Disney World.  We don’t look anything alike today and our lives have taken very different tracks.  I think he just got arrest for assaulting his neighbour.  But at one time we looked similar.

John the Baptist was asked if he was the Christ or Elijah or the prophet.  His answer is no, I am just pointing the way of the one I am not even worthy to serve.  I am sure you feel like you would never be confused for Jesus.  People can’t possibly look at you as an example so different in this world that you would be confused in that way.

But in the inbetween, the now and not yet, we can do things for people in order to receive recognition, praise or approval.  We aren’t acting out of love for them or a desire to serve but because we long to be needed and seen as that special person who can get things done for them.  We desire to be looked upon as the answer for those around us.  We begin to think, “What would they do without me in their lives?”  We build our identity on how we are perceived and our own value rest on the recognition of something we have done for them.

We are worthy because Christ came not because of the things we do for others or the amount of recognition we get for said things. We are worthy because Christ steps in to the in between, the now and not yet, to provide assurance of our place in His family.  We act in love and service because it is the worshipful response to the generous gift from God.  We are not Christ to anyone and we need to stop thinking we can be.  Let Christ be Christ and you be who He has created you to be.  He makes you worthy.

Prayer

Unexpected God,

your advent alarms us.

wake us from drowsy worship,

from the sleep that neglects love,

and the sedative of misdirected frenzy.

awaken us now to your coming

and bend our angers into your peace.  Amen

 

Scripture

Isaiah 4:2-6

In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. ³ And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,⁴ when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.^[a] 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. ⁶ There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

 

Meditation

We are learning to be beach people.  This will be our second summer in Fremantle and we are beginning to understand that there are necessities for a trip to the beach, at least a trip that is more that looking at the sunset.  We have never been beach people, hard to be a beach person when you live in Indiana.  Sure the Michigan coast line is a few hours away but that does not make you a beach person.

One thing we have noticed is that the sun is hot when it is shining down on the beach.  You can really feel the heat.  So after a few trips to the beach last summer we began to notice beach tents that people would set up to shade themselves from the sun.  We knew that if we were going to be beach people we would need a sun shade tent.  Our first trip to the beach this year revealed that we are really not beach people yet.  I just set up the tent.  There it was done now to enjoy the beach, but the sun located in the sky at the perfect angle to shine right in my tent rendering the tent useless.  I must admit that this is user error.  I need to pay attention to where the sun is located and track where it is heads to make the appropriate set up and adjustments that are needed for the tent to be all it can be for us.  I have high aspirations for that tent.

The Lord provides a tent for the heat of the day and a refuge from the storm.  In the in between, the now and not yet, our lives can seem to be a continuous trip on a hot beach with the sun beating down on our backs and no tent in sight. Sometimes we have the tent but it doesn’t seem to be facing the right way to cover us.  We call out for cover.  God hears us and provides.  His Son Jesus is our tent.  He covers us from the heat and storm.  He covers us with His righteousness.  He covers us with His hope.  He covers us with His love.  He does this in the Spirit, through His word and His body the church.  We, in Christ, are the tent for each other.  He has fashioned us into the cover in the hard and hot times.  We cover each other because we have been covered by Christ.