Series of posts for the Advent season

Ephesians 4:1-6 4Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to live in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called: 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, 3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; 4 one body and one Spirit (just as also you were called with one hope of your calling), 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. Unity and Peace # Once again I say “Praise God” this morning for more words of Scripture that succinctly highlight the beauty of the Gospel. “I, the prisoner in the Lord…” No one knows better than Paul that if Jesus says “Come to me” you have no choice but to obey. “with humility, gentleness, and patience put up with one another in love, be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. Christian community was literally the talk of the town in the early church - it was so odd that historia…

The reflection in the BP calendar for today was only verses 14-15 but they made no sense to me without some more context Ephesians 2:11-22 11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, the so-called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, 12 that you were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, not having hope, and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones who once were far away, have become near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition, the enmity, in his flesh, 15 invalidating the law of commandments in ordinances, in order that he might create the two in himself into one new man, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. 17 And coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace t…

Colossians 1:19-20 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. I feel like there’s so much that could be unpacked here… “all his fullness dwell him in” - so besides the entire Gospel of John how can anyone deny that Jesus is God? I don’t understand anyone who claims to take the Bible as an authority and then deny Jesus’ divinity. “through him to reconcile everything to himself” - not all people are saved, it’s a clear reality. So what does it mean for all things to be reconciled to God? Feels like that could go a lot of places. “making peace through his blood” - before the cross there was an absence of “peace”, and through Jesus’ blood peace has been made. Moreso than just that, the “make” (eirenopoieo: εἰρηνοποιέω) is in the aorist which I understand to be a tense that means a thing “has happened” and “is done happe…

John 16:33 I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.” It’s interesting to read a little context around this morning’s Advent reflection passage/verse… John 16:31-33 31 Jesus replied to them, “Now do you believe? 32 Behold, an hour is coming—and has come—that you will be scattered each one to his own home, and you will leave me alone. And I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.” It sounds to me like right on the heels of Jesus saying “hey, you’re gonna leave me alone for a minute out of fear” he says “I still love you, have peace, I am victorious”… I think he’s saying that the important thing isn’t the natural human response to pain and affliction to be to recede. Instead he’s saying that in his victory, by his love for us, the aff…

Zechariah 9:9-10 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king comes to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a male donkey, the foal of a female donkey! 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow will be cut down, and he will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. My king is indeed coming, and has already come. He is humble and he is victorious. Jesus can “announce peace” because the Kingdom is his - over which to announce whatever he wills. The rulers of this world fight for peace - they make announcements that reality is under no obligation to adhere to. “Peace through strength” is not a bad mentality from one nation to another, but within the nation the citizens are ruled by one king whose word either has weight or not. Often the weight of the word of the king is in the form o…

Isaiah 9:6-7 6 For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His dominion will grow continually, and to peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and sustain it with justice and righteousness now and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this. To Peace There Will Be No End # What a fantastic promise about what the King will do - to bring unending peace. I wrote about peace during Advent last year - Advent 2024 - Peace Things are as they are supposed to be What King Jesus will bring is a kingdom where every relationship is as it is supposed to be. There is something amazing and relieving about reconciling with a friend. Brokenness is everywhere, and that affects our relationship with everyone, from the best friend to the 3rd cousin of your boss’s secretary. The closer you are, the mor…

Isaiah 26:3 You will protect a firm inclination in peace, in peace because he trusts in you. This is reminding me of a blog post I’ve had in the queue for months [[autism-and-steadfast-faith]] which may never see the light of day but it ties in with this verse too well to not influence my reflection on it A Firm Inclination # What is this? I had to open another translation to get the idea, consider the ESV: Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. I’m not going to attempt to explain any Hebrew in this one, I’m not fluent in it and this looks like more than a 1 word translation to me So in observation “sa-muk ye-ser” is the man “whose mind is stayed on (Yahweh)” is “ the man with a firm inclination” So it’s an - an inclincation to trust in the Lord… I definitely want to avoid going down any theological paths about the order of salvation, but personally this is resonating deeply as I describe myself (as do others probably) as a man…

Romans 8:24-25 24 For in hope we were saved, but 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 await it eagerly with patient endurance. Q: What does it look like for you to actively but patiently wait for God right now? “What does it look like” often causes me to think about hwo someone else might observe my life in relation to the question. This comes up a lot in theology/fellowship discussions “what does it look like for…” and then we talk about practical things that humans can do that we can see with our eyes. But in my faith journey, as I have seen God’s faithfulness to me and my family, my mind is not immediately going to outward looking things… For example “What does it look like for Christians to live differently than others?” and the answers are always the same “we love our enemies”, “protestant work ethic - Christians should work harder since we work for an audience of One”, “We don’t cuss”… etc. Things that someone…

Romans 8:20-21 20 For the creation has been subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its servility to decay, into the glorious freedom of the children of God. I honestly do not spend a lot of time thinking about the specifics of god’s fully liberated and healed world… I do get emotional pretty much every time this passage and related ideas come up - freedom from sin and death certainly has specific consequenes for what daily life will look like. But I don’t actually want to think too much about what that life will be and here’s why… It’s like the “don’t meet your heros” mentality… It’s not that they’re actually a let-down, but we build up heros in our head only to realize that they’re just people too… Seems like this is a pretty common Canon event for a child in one way or another… Well let’s swap out my thoughts about my childhood hero with my thoughts about Heaven… What do I reasonabl…