Advent
December 9, 2018
Scripture Reading: Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. –Luke 3:1-2
I think we all tend to associate events in our lives when we try to recall when other things happen. What I have discovered is that as an adult there are fewer major events with which to link like births and baptism, starting school or getting one’s driver’s license, graduations and marriages. This results in time coalescing. I do not know how many times I have said something like “that happened a few years ago.” When I check the date of the event being described it may have happened 20 or 30 years ago. I am less likely to relate time to the tenure of leaders as I am to remember events related to leaders like the Kennedy assassination.
Luke apparently felt it important to be specific about when the word of God came to John but according to Roman records, Tiberius began his reign in 14 CE, some years after it is believed Jesus was born. I do not think the date is important to the story, but I do think it is crucial that we understand we may live through years doing ordinary things to the extent that our intentionality to be a part of God’s great vision of a world ruled by love gets lost in our routines.
This is a very busy time of the year. I find myself having to pick between various activities that are all scheduled at the same time most of which I would like to do; most of which have little or nothing to do with creating a more loving world except perhaps what grows from nurturing relationships with family and close friends. My opportunity to feed the hungry was canceled because of inclement weather. We were schedule to serve at 7:00 pm and the homeless must be checked in to most shelters by 6:00 pm to be assured that they have a warm place to spend the night.
The key word here is intentionality. We must make routine our acts of oneness in Kingdom building or they may get lost in the chaos.
Prayer: Lord, help me schedule time in my calendar to love my neighbors as I love myself, all my neighbors. Amen.