Advent

December 16, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
   but a body you have prepared for me;
in burnt-offerings and sin-offerings
   you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, “See, God, I have come to do your will, O God”
   (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).’
When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt-offerings and sin-offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘See, I have come to do your will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Civilization from its inception seemed to intuitively understand that there was something more powerful than individuals and even clusters of people, so they identified gods for all occasions.  Our ancestors in faith were among the first to recognize that there was one supreme God who created them and set the ways for them to live successfully. Yet, they struggled to know God more nearly as they discerned their imperfections in following God’s ways and sought a means to rectify their failure by offering what was of value to them. Eventually, the prophets helped them understand that they were valuable to God. God did not want their perfect sheep or even a turtle dove. God wants loving relationships with each and all of God’s children, and among them, in a world, God created to meet their every need. He made that clear in accepting the utmost offering of Jesus in his death on the cross.

Once we learn that we cannot buy God’s grace, that it is a gift, we are forced to deal with living a life of loving God and loving others in times when we may not want to love some of those others at all. God indicates, however, that the best way to show our love for God is to love all others just as they are. People we encounter who, in our opinion, are harming themselves and others need even more of our love. I do not think we can individually change anyone, but we can plant seeds to open their minds to new ideas and their hearts to receiving love by walking beside them as we all grow toward the perfection Paul describes in his writings. The hard part for us is that we must follow Jesus’s instruction in Luke 6:42, how can you say to your neighbor, “Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I am more self-righteous than righteous. Help me to see the image of God in each of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.