December 10 - Advent

Isaiah 26:20-27:13 - Again we see God's powerful judgment executed to "punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity". Yet with regards to His people, God has not struck them as He struck those who struck them. He has not slain them as He has their slayers (v. 7). God contends with His people in the exile. He disciplines His people by His judgment. And in the end He will thresh out the grain and glean His people one by one. In what way does God's way of judgment reveal His absolute goodness? Though we often think of God's law as a source of condemnation, in what sense can we declare with the Psalmist that we delight in God's Law?


1 John 4:1-21 - Here we see God's love as the engine which drives the entire Christian life: the life we live before God and the life we life before our fellow man. Of particular significance is the fact that God's love is "made manifest among us" in His sending His only Son into the world. Christmas is the story of the embodied (incarnate) love of God brought to earth. The love of God abides in us as we abide in God's love. But God's love perfected through us manifests itself in different ways. Before God we "come to know and to believe the love that God has for us." Before God our standing is determined by Faith alone. Before our neighbor, God's love is perfected as we are sent out to perform good works. Before our neighbor, our standing is determined by our active righteousness in the realm of vocation.

In vocation divine love takes on concrete forms (a hug, a word of encouragement, a special Christmas gift). One implication of this is that we ought to be careful before we attempt to "spiritualize" Christmas. It is easy to get cynical as we fall prey to commercialism and ring up the credit card debt. But let us not forget that the God who is present but hidden in the family as they gather around their Christmas tree opening gifts is the same God who took on flesh and lay in a manger 2,000 years ago. So Advent is indeed a fascinating time to be a Christian. As we look around our homes at our decor, our Christmas trees and the gifts beneath them - we are reminded of the loving God who has hidden himself in the family. As we look around our cities and towns at the gatherings and festivals filled with warmth and good will - we are reminded of the loving God who looms hidden behind all earthly authority and community. But more than all that - Christmas is the story of the loving God who resolved not to remain hidden. The God who permanently came out of hiding in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem. The one they called Immanuel.