Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
Reflection - Traveling God
Yes, it's true! Jesus has come! Our Advent wait is complete. Jesus Christ is born! God has come to this world throughout time and space. God has come from heaven whirling past and through the universe. Floating by all the stars and planets and galaxies that we could never imagine. God has past through the beginning and through the end of time and beyond all time to arrive on this small planet that has awaited his coming. Yes God has come not only to our world in flesh and blood and spirit but God has come to you!
Think of that! Think of God coming from a heaven beyond space and time. Think of the vastness of it all. And then pause for a moment and come to the realization that God came to this world, this planet earth. Pause for a moment longer and consider that God has come to you. Yes, you! To save you! You can't really grasp it at all. You can't get the full impact or even come near the impact and the wonder of the love God has for you.
A Light has come on in this world of sin and death. A Light that shines in the glory of a baby in a manger. A baby that has come to this earth through the humanity of Mary and in the obedience of Joseph. A baby that will live and die for you! A baby that will develop in the flesh like you and save you in body and spirit. Think of this gift for you!
Do you believe it? I can't! I can't by myself believe in Jesus or come to him. I just can't do it! It's beyond myself to believe in Jesus by my own effort or strength, no matter how hard I try, I can't believe in this thing that has happened on my own. But... the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith (Luther's Explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles Creed). Only through God can I believe. Only through this great Gospel of love which God has done can I believe. I can't believe on my own. I don't have the mind, the spirit or the imagination to believe what only God could fathom. But I have faith in what God has done. God sent his son, Jesus, as a baby, to save me and you and all people from sin, death and the devil. Jesus left heaven and traveled through the realms of time and space to come to this earth to me and to you right now. In this, I place all of my faith and hope. In Jesus I have faith that brings belief and trust in God.
Yes, read it! Read the Gospel of Love. Hear it this day. Hear it this night in services around the world. God has come! God has come to this world. Advent is here now. God is with us! You will hear the songs of joy and the proclamation of a Savior born to all the world. A Savior that has come not only into this world but into many of the hearts of believers all over this world and into the hearts of those who do not believe. Who can't believe on their own. These people will realize that this is all far beyond any thought a human can have. But God will grant them faith and they will hear God's call, they will receive the gifts and they will be sanctified and kept in true faith. Yes... they will believe! They will believe not because they have made sense of it all and now know the mind of God, but they will believe because they now know of a God that is so far beyond themselves that he loved them so much that he came to them in a form that all people can accept, to bring them to eternal life.
Yes, Advent is over... God has come... but Advent isn't over either... Jesus will come again. We have Jesus this day, this moment, this night, but Jesus will come again. The work is not complete. This world still suffers war, sin, death, tears, mourning, crime, hunger, pain, illness, blindness, and all sorts of ailments that I couldn't begin to list them all. Jesus will come again to this world to judge the living and the dead. It's still Advent. It's still a time of waiting. And we use those gifts we have been given through the Holy Spirit and work in Jesus' Kingdom day after day. We work towards that eternal hope when Jesus comes again. We work to alleviate the ills of this world and to bring peace and joy and live in the hope of what is to come.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
(Revelation 21:3-5)
You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
(Luke 12:40)
But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
(John 1:12-13)
Yes, Christmas is here. The Advent of this season is over. But, the Advent of our wait continues at the same time. The Advent of that great moment when Jesus comes again.
And to think it all began before time and after time and in space and out of space. It all began through the love of our God for the created. It all begins and ends in God. What a love! How do we express our gratitude? Any way we can... yes anyway we can... God loves us and I love God.
"Shepherds why this jubilee?" Come on! Think about it!
Joy to the world! The Savior has come!
Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Lord, you have come. You are flesh. You have come to save us. All of us. Oh how our lives have changed, all because you have come. It's not this world that rules our lives but your love and grace. You have changed us to look towards the heaven. You have changed our attitudes from sin and death to eternal life with you. Yes your coming has changed everything. You have changed us and now we live different lives. We live looking towards that second Advent. That second coming of Christ. We look to you and focus on you. For you alone are God... yes you alone! Thank you Lord for coming to me. And I look with great anticipation, hope and joy for your second Advent... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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