God is Determined

Scripture:  Isaiah 64:5-9

So, how is determination related to this passage from Isaiah?  The verses are part of a subsection (chapters 63-64) that recalls the mercy of God, the confession of sin by His people, and their appeal for pardon and restoration.  Specifically, verses 5-9 read as follows in the New Living Translation:

You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways.
But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly.
We are constant sinners;  how can people like us be saved?

We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy.
Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.

Don't be so angry with us, Lord.
Please don't remember our sins forever.
Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.

Obviously, these verses contain much evidence of our need for salvation:

- we are constant sinners
- we are all infected with sin
- no one calls on God

...and asks directly the obvious question:  how can we be saved?  The obvious answer:  by God.  Nothing in these verses speaks of how we can save ourselves, which is where the determination comes in.  No matter how determined we may be (as determined as, say, a Black Friday shopper in search of a good deal), we are powerless to save ourselves.  That can only be accomplished by the Christ child of Christmas, who becomes the sacrificial Lamb of Easter that suffers and dies for our transgressions.

Let God transform you through the sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Put your faith in Him and you will be saved.

To read today's devotional, click here.

Let God Do the Work

Scripture:  Isaiah 64:1a

So, when was Christmas "easy?"  The author of my Advent devotional nails that answer on the head:  when we were kids and we didn't do any of the prep work.  Isn't that true?  Isn't it always easier when someone else does all the work and all we have to do is show up?  And how many times do we complain even about the effort it takes to do that?

Christmas can be a lot of work, depending on how much we choose to include in our celebration.  For example, I like to decorate the house, send out greeting cards, make delicious (and wonderfully decorated) cookies, tag a tree the day after Thanksgiving, erect that tree ten days before Christmas so it is still very fresh when decorated with my antique ornaments, yada, yada, yada.  Notice I said that is what I like to do.  What actually gets accomplished is another story.

For the past several years, I have only managed to finish the Christmas tree and that not very well.  Two years ago, I had to give up the fresh tree altogether due to allergies and the fact that my husband wasn't all that keen on wrestling with a tree anymore.  Now, I have a beautiful, pre-lit, artificial one from Balsam Hill.  I haven't sent greeting cards for years, either.  In fact, it has been so long since some of my friends and family have heard from me at Christmas that they probably think I died.  My beautifully appointed cookies have gone by the wayside, too.  A busy Christmas music performance schedule (and lack of freezer space) worked to eliminate them from the list of holiday activities.

Do I miss all those things?  Sure.  But they aren't the heart of Christmas preparations.  Why?  Because they don't prepare the heart for Christmas, whether for the commemoration of the first coming of our Savior, or for the anticipated second coming of our Lord, whenever that might be.  Only God can accomplish such preparation and He does so by calling us into a state of repentance.  Frederick Buechner and Luther describe it this way:

To repent is to come to your senses.  It is not so much something you do as something that happens.  True repentance spends less time looking at the past and saying, "I'm sorry," than to the future and saying, "Wow!" --- Frederick Buechner

God created the world out of nothing.  As long as I am not yet nothing, God cannot make something out of me. --- Martin Luther

The scripture passage for today is part of a prayer of repentance (or penitence).  The prayer actually begins in Isaiah, chapter 63 and continues into chapter 64.  The prophet Isaiah is asking God to look down from Heaven and make note of the wretched state of His people.  Isaiah reminds God that He is their Father and their Redeemer, and confesses that the people have turned away from Him.  He pleads with God to remember that they are His, ostensibly so He can again restore them.

Allow God to restore you this Christmas;  allow Him to do the work.  It may make for an easier holiday, one filled with wonder like then you were a kid.

To read today's devotional, click here.

Same Old, Same Old?

Scripture:  Psalm 80:1-7

So, what is "the same old Christmas?"  According to my Advent devotional from Lutheran Hour Ministries, it is holding expectations of the perfect Christmas, only to have them dashed by the reality of the Christmas that unfolds in your life.

Are you hoping for the perfect, fairy-tale Christmas this year?  You know, it's the kind with award-winning decorations inside and outside your house, family gatherings and parties filled with laughter, everyone excited about your presents and keeping your budget from sinking in the process.

Odds are the next 28 days aren't going to run smoothly.  There never seems to be enough money;  gatherings and parities often have more tension than laughter;  and those presents your kids wanted on December 7 aren't always the same ones they want on December 24!

So, does the "perfect" Christmas exist?  Is it even possible?  Can we avoid the problems that arise in trying to "pull off" the perfect holiday?  I don't think so, at least not this side of Heaven.  We live in a fallen world, which means every Christmas will be fallen in some way, especially if we focus on temporal, earthly things like imaginatively wrapped presents, a beautifully set dining table, or a gorgeously decorated home.  Arguably, those things will all make Christmas look great, but is that the heart of the holiday, or "holy day?"  No.  Jesus is the heart, the center, the life-blood, if you will.

The scripture passage for today is a prayer, a calling out to God for restoration.  Three times, the Psalmist asks God to act and to save:

Restore us, O God;  let your face shine, that we may be saved. (verse 3)
Restore us, O God of hosts;  let your face shine, that we may be saved. (verse 7)
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;  let your face shine, that we may be saved. (verse 19)

Maybe that is the embodiment of the "perfect" Christmas:  restoration?  To be brought back, transformed?

Yet, even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;  rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. --- Joel 2:12-13 (NRSV)

May God transform you and your Christmas this year.

To read today's devotional, click here.

First Sunday in Advent

This morning, while I was studying my service bulletin before church, I noticed the Collect (or prayer) for the day:

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the way of Your only Son that, at His second coming, we may worship Him in glory for all eternity.  He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

That is a bit different than the traditional wording from the Book of Common Prayer, 1549:

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy people;  that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Historically, the latter prayer was said on the last Sunday before Advent, so it should have been said last week, not this week.  That got me wondering if "Stir Up Sunday" (another name for the last Sunday before Advent) is a fixed feast on the Church calendar.  Apparently, it isn't.  Some churches include the aforementioned Collect in worship on the first Sunday in Advent;  others place it on the third Sunday of the season;  still others say it, or some other prayer that begins with the words "stir up," on the second Sunday in Advent.  Personally, I prefer the traditional schedule, that of reciting the prayer on the last Sunday before Advent.  It seems to make more sense there, asking God to motivate us, His people, to acts of love and service before the season actually begins.

That said, the former prayer reminds us of the true "reason for the season," if you will:  to prepare for the second coming of Christ.  Yes, we commemorate the first coming of Christ, His birth in Bethlehem, because without that birth Christ could not die for our sins at Easter;  but the actual purpose of Advent is to engage in a period of self-examination, an annual check-in, if you will, to see how each of us is doing in our walk with Christ.  Are we loving God with our whole heart and are we loving our neighbors as ourselves?

Advent is twenty-eight (28) days long this year, one of the longest possible time spans, because Christmas falls on Sunday.  Rather than viewing the season as a count down to one day, December 25th, try viewing it as a count up to Christmastide, the twelve days from December 25th to January 5th, a time of celebration after the quiet self-reflection of Advent.  Consider holding your holiday get-togethers during that later time so your schedule will be more open to engage in some self-examination.  It may seem unnatural to eschew the festive atmosphere of December, but the party is only delayed...and it may be all the sweeter for it.

Read more about Stir Up Sunday.