Dearest e-votees-
On this 12th day of the 12th month of 2012 we have 12 days left until Christmas Eve (or still fewer days left of the world at all if you buy into the hype about the Mayan calendar).
How shall we be as we wait for Jesus to come to us again in the manger or as we wait for Jesus to come to us anew at the end of the world as we know it?
Peace,
Karl
-------------------------
2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Our appointed Old Testament text for this coming Sunday has some insights into how we might be during this time for waiting.
1. Fearlessly trusting in the salvation from the Lord God
2. Joyfully drinking in salvation of our Lord God
3. Thankfully making our Lord God’s deeds known
4. Musically praising the glories of our Lord God
5. Enthusiastically extolling the Lord God
We are saved. God has done this. We could not do it. Even if we could we could not do it reliably. If our salvation rested on our shoulders we would have every reason to be fearful. If we were in this world without God we would have good reason to be afraid. We are saved by grace, accepted by faith, through the work, life, ministry, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Jesus’ promises of salvation and deliverance are sure. Therefore we are sure and free from fear.
We are saved by the promises attached to the waters of baptism. Our spiritual thirsts and our parched souls are slaked by the living waters that are our Lord Jesus. It is cause for great joy that we have been saved. We can daily revisit the waters of our baptism and drink from the well of salvation. We are free to approach and be made new. We are called to bring others to these waters as well. We are called to invite others to “Drink and see that the Lord is good.” We are called to beckon them to rejoice with us.
We are witnesses to the deeds that the Lord has done. We are not to grudgingly hoard the goodness that the Lord has done but rather to thankfully share that good news with all. We are called to evangelize (to “good news”) people about what God has done. We are to be thankful in spite of the challenges that have beset us. We are to be thankful in a world that cultivates envy and dissatisfaction. We are to be thankful and call on the Lord God’s name. We are to be thankful to Jesus and proclaim his name.
With music and voice we are to praise the Lord God. Our praising transcends purely the spoken and written word. With rhythm and notes, harmony and crescendo we remember how the Lord God has treated us gloriously even when we treated him with shame and scorn. God’s glory trumps our tragedy. God’s love trumps our contempt. And so we sing and praise and glorify and exalt so all the earth--neighbor, enemy, those far away, creatures, plants and all others--might be aware of our praises to the Lord God.
With shouts and joyful song we extol the Lord God. More than writhing, adoring crowds in the largest of athletic venues we proclaim the greatness of our Lord. Overwhelming the stadia full of lighters and cell phones paying homage to earthly idols we let our lights so shine before humanity that our good works might be seen and glory given to God. With all that we are and have we pour ourselves into extolling the Lord God. The Lord of our salvation.
God, we wait for Jesus to be born again. Draw us to that silent night. We wait for Jesus to come again. Temper our fears, renew and inspire our faiths and receive our praise. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment