Advent 4:
What does it look like when God comes?
December 12-18
We’re more than halfway through Advent at this point. This coming Sunday (the 18th) is the final of the four Sundays. Christ has come...Christ is coming again!
Our main passage this week is 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16.
God is full of surprises. Time and again in the scriptures, God does or says other than that which humans would expect. This passage is from the history of Israel during the reign of King David who, having had many military conquests, has settled in comfortably in a new home at this point. Seemingly admirably so, he suggests that God too needs a better home in which to abide. But God is never to be told what to do or where to reside. That is up to God!
The details of the Christ-child’s entrance into the world are perennially notable during this season: difficult circumstances (a long journey for his father and pregnant mother, genocide), humble characteristics of the “royal” family (baby-child, an unknown mother & father), and the motley crew that came to worship (blue-collar shepherds, educated wise men, asses & sheep, and an angelic choir).
Apparently, God’s continued demonstration to the world when showing up is that grandeur, organization, and human pomp take a very distant back seat to humility, simplicity, and a general spirit of liberty. Palaces, temples, and monuments might send human masses into awe, but God has none of it. God would rather his creation be awed by the relational things of hope, love, joy, and peace, all of which point to a nature of power beyond human desire and display.
May the Lord bless you as you seek his Word this week!
Monday, December 12 - 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Tuesday, December 13 - Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
Wednesday, December 14 - Luke 1:39-45
Thursday, December 15 - Luke 1:46b-55
Friday, December 16 - Romans 16:25-27
Saturday, December 17 - Luke 1:26-38
Sunday, December 18 - Come to worship with your church family!
