Advent 2021

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God; ³ all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. ¹¹ He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. ¹⁵ (John bore witness to him, and cried, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

John chapter 1

And, when you have your feet up with a mince pie later today, this irreverent but hilarious Nativity play is well worth watching:

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; ¹¹ for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”

We conclude our Advent thoughts with Luke 2:8-14

Sometime after midnight tonight a Baby will be born, and news of his arrival will be announced by Twitter, Instagram and telephone. As the mother recovers his father will want everyone to know the great news.

No such announcements were made after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but His Father wanted the whole world to know. He blazed the heavens with His angels who told the news to the local shepherds, and the light shone way out East and was seen by wise observers.

Let’s not forget the Mission Statement declared for Jesus at His birth, to be:

• a Saviour,

• Christ the Lord.

God’s heart was that there would be peace because of His birth

The mission is to save from the ravages of sin and destruction of hell

He does this by being the Messiah, the Anointed One (Christ) who will be the sacrifice

He is the Lord, the King of kings and the one to Whom all must bow

at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10,11)

Because of the birth of Jesus, it is the destiny of every human being to bow down to worship Him. Our call is to enable people to do this now, willingly and lovingly. Those who do not will do it in fearful reverence and the folly of their ways is finally revealed to them.

As you continue to pray in the weeks and months to come, a reminder that this book might be of help:

 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² They said to him then, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Then why are you baptising, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptise with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷ even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising.

Today’s reading is John 1:19-28

John became famous, people went out to see him and the Authorities went to quiz him. He did not forget his place “I am not the Person you are expecting, I am preparing you to meet Him”.

You might have great gifts, you might see the sick healed or even the dead raised but you are the signpost, not the destination.

Our world is no longer waiting for Jesus in the same way as the people of John’s day were, they were expectant of the coming Messiah. Our ‘civilisation’ no longer expects. We have become cynical and arrogant; that does not mean that those who believe should not be preparing the Way for Jesus is both here (by His Spirit in His Church/people) and returning.

Ask God to show you something new you can do next year (or something you have been doing to prioritise more) to make Him known and prepare people to meet Him.

O Lord, open thou my lips,
    and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

Psalm 51:15

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. ² And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” ⁴ Again he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And as I looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host.

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴ And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, says the Lord.”

Today we read Ezekiel 37

It is the Word of the Lord that brings life, it is the prophesying (preaching or talking about) the Word that brings the Spirit into a situation. It’s not something that God does, it is something He has given us to do. God could have brought those bones together, but He did not do it until Ezekiel had preached to them.

But if I talk about Jesus they won’t listen! Of course not, they are dry bones, they do not have ears, so go and preach to them.

But I will look foolish talking about God when no-one is interested. Dry bones are not interested, go – preach to them Ezekiel and see what I will do if you obey Me.

It’s always been the call, to preach where it is dry. In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea (Matthew 3:1)

Is God calling you to speak to some bones next year?

Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

³ A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Having prepared our hearts, minds and lives through Advent so far we now turn our attention to the coming King. Today’s reading is from Isaiah chapter 40

The call is to make a path for the King in the wilderness, in a land with no refreshment, no verdant pastures, no cities. In the Bible the wilderness is often a picture of a place where God is forgotten.

The great temptation in our day is to think we have lost. The Church is in decline, faith is shrinking, we are the minority, best keep quiet. That is not the thinking of this passage: in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.

That’s not something for someone else to do. What can you do to prepare His way next year? This week?

You may not be a preacher. How can you support those who preach?

You may not be able to evangelise on the street. How can you support those who do?

You do know people and you do know Him. How can you be a link between the two?

Perhaps we just need to be more excited about the Good News we have.

Apologies, this song got missed off the end of today’s post:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

We conclude our reading of Psalm 139 today with the last two verses

Search me, know me, see me and lead me.

Four short phrases that could well be made in to daily prayers.

Search me to find if there is anything not right and point it out that I might change.

Know me, I want to be intimate with You and hold nothing back from You

See me and do not let me forget that You see all that I am and all that I do

Lead me for I do not want to go where You are not taking me.

Here is a song that used to be sung every Sunday evening as the Choir came in at my church

Thou knowest me right well;
¹⁵     my frame was not hidden from thee,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
    in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
¹⁷ How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    When I awake, I am still with thee.

¹⁹ O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God,
    and that men of blood would depart from me,
²⁰ men who maliciously defy thee,
    who lift themselves up against thee for evil!
²¹ Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?
²² I hate them with perfect hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

We read again verses 15-22 of our Psalm

Which verse has spoken loudest to you this week?

Write it on a card or email it to yourself. Aim to read it several times a day and to learn it by heart.

There are many preparations to be made this coming week. Advent is a time of preparing for His coming. The world has replaced the person of ‘Him’, it is not Jesus but a man in a red coat with a white beard that they are preparing for.

Is there something you can do this week at work, in your neighbourhood or at home that makes it clear Who it is that we should be preparing to meet?

Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

Today verses 21 and 22 of Psalm 139 are our focus

WOT? Hate?

Aren’t we supposed to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us? HOw can we then boast that we hate those who hate God?

Firstly, the Psalmist makes his position clear: those who are God’s enemies are his enemies; he identifies completely with God. This will be costly for it is far easier to persecute a believer than it is to attack God: how would you even do that without hurting His followers? So to make this clear statement leaves no room for ambiguity. This person is on God’s side and if you hate God then you hate him.

Do we try to wriggle out of this? Are we sometimes silent when those who are against God are around? Do we fail to say “Well, I believe” when faith is being ridiculed? Would you or I stand with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when the tyrant king says “If you worship God you will die? (Daniel 3)

There are two words in this verse both being translated as hate. We could put it as Do I not loathe those who hate thee? I can’t stand those who hate You God, I hate them with perfect hatred.

When Jesus said “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …” (Matthew 5:43,44) He was showing something of the depth of God’s heart. God loves all, even those who oppose Him.

The Psalmist hates with perfect hatred, that does not mean total hatred but righteous hatred. It is an opposition to, not a desire to destroy.”I do not want them to succeed, I want them disempowered”. God hates sin but wants the sinner saved.

Can you pray for those who have opposed you, hating what they do and even what they are but seeking good and salvation for them?

O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God,
    and that men of blood would depart from me,
men who maliciously defy thee,
    who lift themselves up against thee for evil!

Today we reflect on Psalm 139: 19,20

There seems to have been a sudden change. The Psalmist suddenly seems to be exclaiming in exasperation. He has been focussed on God, now he is screaming out about the godless.

This often happens as we worship,the more we see God, His holiness, His purity, His love, His goodness then the contrast with either our own sinfulness or the lostness of the lost becomes almost unbearable. Can’t God do something about it?

We do not, though, lament enough in our corporate worship these days. Lament is to cry out to God over the state of the world or our own lives. The cry recognises fully God’s power, His goodness, His purpose and His love and yet bewails the fact that God does not seem to do anything about it.

The cry acknowledges, though, that it is God who is God, not us. His thoughts are unfathomable, He knows what He is doing. In the end, He has His way. Psalm 2 says:

Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us burst their bonds asunder,
    and cast their cords from us.”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord has them in derision.
⁵ Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶ “I have set my king
    on Zion, my holy hill.”

How do you reconcile this as you pray? In Romans 8 Paul wrote:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.