Advent - Making room part 5
Readings for this week December 18-24
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Day 1 – God’s Good Creation
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – John 1:1-3
The opening words of John’s gospel tell us that this is familiar territory, we have been here before; yet at the same time they hint at the strangeness of the ground we are traversing. “In the beginning”: the opening words of the bible itself, the very beginning of the book of Genesis, where “...God created the heavens and the earth.” John is situating his gospel as a continuation of that story, as the next phase in God’s unfolding scheme for his creation. This gospel is about God and his world, and the new way in which God is acting within his creation as he continues to lovingly shepherd it towards the climax he has always planned for it. The climax of the beginning of Genesis was God’s creation of human beings. The climax of the beginning of John’s gospel is the coming of the Word made flesh. The Word was and is God; all things were made through the Word. And now the Word has come amongst us, not as a spirit or a force, not as an abstract philosophical or theological concept, but as a person. The human being we know and recognise as Jesus is the Word in the flesh, the one through whom all things were made.
The world, the cosmos, the universe and everything in it is God’s. When it comes to caring for creation, when we think about how to look after this world of ours, we must remember that it is God’s world first. Yes, like life itself, it is a gift to us, but, also like life itself, it is a gift that needs to be cherished, looked after, tended, and offered back to the gift-giver in love and worship. We follow the one who made the world in order to love the world the way he did too – with love and care for all things and all people.
Question to Consider
What responsibilities come with accepting the gift of God’s creation?
Prayer
Lord God, all that is, is yours: this world, its plants and creatures, and people. Grow in us your heart for all things and all creation. Show me how to love creation the way you do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – The Light Shines in the Darkness
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – John 1:4-5
There is a lot that can be encompassed by the word “darkness”. The darkness prevalent in a broken cosmos that has fallen away from its Creator and no longer acknowledges his rightful Lordship over it. The darkness in a world of structures and systems that seem to crush and extinguish life rather than protecting it so it can flourish. The darkness of broken relationships and fractured lives that bleed out into the world around us. The private darkness of the heart, of those desires and inclinations that pull us away from God, however much we might long to be near him and obey him. The darkness of sin that cannot stand God’s presence and turns its face away from the source of all light and life.
But whichever way we choose to look at the darkness, whatever interpretive lens we use, the light still shines. The light of Christ cannot be extinguished. The darkness cannot overcome it. When God said “Let there be light”, there was light – and that light remains around us. When Jesus came, he was the light of the world, and through his Spirit – and through us – he remains with us. He brought life, abundant life, and that life is there for all who want it. Advent is the season when we celebrate the coming of the light into the world. Whatever struggles we are facing, whatever crises the world is dealing with – and there are many – as followers of Jesus we need to remember that we follow the one whose light shines eternally and who has overcome and defeated the darkness of our world.
Question to Consider
How have you experienced God’s light shining in your life recently? How have you been a source of God’s light shining in the life of others?
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for the light that is Jesus. Thank you for shining your love on all people and not leaving us in darkness. May I bring life and light into the lives of others this Christmas – and beyond. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Bearing the Christ Light
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – John 1:6-9
John the Baptist was a signpost, pointing towards the ultimate light that is Jesus Christ. Through his faithful obedience, the light of Christ – the light of the One John fearlessly attested to, that gives light for all to see – was made known to all. John was not the message, or the focus of the message, but rather was humbling himself in order to point to Jesus, the one who was the light. John was showing us what to do, how to live. We are also to be signposts like John, pointing to Christ as the true light of the world, but also allowing his light to shine through us. It is his light, not ours that we seek to magnify out into the world. We bear the Christ light; we do not create it or invent it, it does not originate with us but rather flows through us and shines from us. Too often we think that we are the source of the light, or that we are the light. No. Christ is the light who shines in us.
The purpose was that “all might believe” – that all might believe in the light, might come to know and believe in Jesus. So many people in the world today live lives of a darkness that is not of their own making. Grinding poverty and social marginalisation can make the world into a very dark place, a place that light seems impossible to reach. The light of Jesus needs to be seen in these places, as there is no place of darkness that his light cannot reach, if we will only, like John, put ourselves out there as bearers of Christ’s light. John was a witness to the light. We are to be witnesses too, for the sake of those trapped in poverty and darkness.
Question to Consider
What does it mean to be bearers of Christ’s light? What does this say about our relationship to the light.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, strengthen my faithfulness. Make me a strong, obedient beacon of your light and love in this world, so that through me, people will see you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – When We Didn’t Make Room
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – John 1:11
There are many sad moments recorded in scripture, moments of great anguish, loss, bereavement and pain. But I think that the verse we read today is one of the saddest in the entire canon. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” This can be interpreted as meaning the Jewish people rejecting their own Messiah, treating the Anointed One the same way many of their earlier prophets were treated. But ‘his own’ can also refer to the wider creation, to all of humanity, and the way in which the one through whom all was created fully entered into a human life, and was rejected by creation itself. God came to his creation in love; his creation was not just indifferent to him, but actively hostile.
God’s own creation rejected him, turned away from its promised King, its saviour, the very one who was to show the true extent of God’s profound, deep love for all of us. Our maker, rejected by all he made. Sometimes we don’t make room, and sometimes it is God himself we don’t make room for. He comes to us – and continues to come to us – but we aren’t looking, we aren’t waiting, we aren’t prepared. God seeks to gain our attention but we’re looking in the wrong places, or we’re limited in the ways we think he will speak to us or what he wants to say to us. Making room is about being ready to make room – as Mary was, as Simeon and Anna were – and actively seeking to hear God’s voice and follow the Spirit’s lead in everything we do.
Question to Consider
What are the consequences of not making room for God? If we don’t make room for God in our lives, how is this detrimental to others?
Prayer
Father God, forgive my blindness and my selfishness when I don’t look to give you room in my life. Help me give space in my life for your Spirit and for those you bring into my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – Moving Beyond Christmas
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – John 1:12-18
The story only begins at Christmas; the baby in the manger is just the start of God’s incarnational movement among us. What was birthed at that first Christmas has slowly but surely spread to impact the entire world. It is ongoing. The child grew up into a man and started a movement of love and redemption and belonging that is still spreading, still seeking to transform lives, banish hate and heal brokenness. It is ever growing. God is always moving; his Spirit is always hovering ‘over the waters’ looking to inspire, encourage, lead, create and grow. We celebrate the coming of Jesus but if his coming means something on this day then it must surely also mean something every day.
What will change for you after this Christmas? What new thing has God shown you and revealed himself in that he wants you to step into and continue with once you step beyond the tinsel and the turkey and the discarded wrapping paper? Advent prepares us for the coming of the King, and surprises us with the way in which the King chose to come. Now that the King is here, now that the incarnational part of the story has played out, the sacrifice made, the Son risen, the Spirit given, people called and the community formed, the stage is set for us to play our role. What will it be? What happens now? How will you carry the true Spirit of Christmas – and all that the story has promised – to others? What is God calling you to do in this Christmas moment that will resonate through your life – and the lives of others – into the future?
Question to Consider
What will be different for you moving forward from this Christmas season?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son and for the life that is now possible through him. May this next year be one in which I know your presence more, but also one in which I share you more with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)