December 25
December 24: Matthew 28:19
“Finding Christ at Advent” has been our theme this year. Since I can’t read your mind, I wonder which Christ you have tried to find this year. Probably the baby Jesus is a typical answer, since we think a lot about the birthday of Jesus, the angels, the wise men, and the shepherds. But Jesus was a preacher, a storyteller, and a miracle worker. If this were the Easter season, the crucified and resurrected Jesus might be your focus.
When I read Matthew 28:19, I picture the risen Jesus as a teacher giving a homework assignment to his students / disciples! Of course, as a retired teacher I might be biased. This verse is part of the “Great Commission,” the marching orders for the original disciples and for us. The words “make disciples of all nations” are challenging to most of us. Perhaps when you were a young person some mature Christian discipled you, helping you learn what being a faithful follower of Jesus entails. Or perhaps you have been a mentor for young believers. Thanks for your service! The “all nations” phrase is intimidating to some of us. Maybe you’ve never been on an international mission trip, but you’ve contributed to the Lottie Moon offering. You can pray for people such as our friends the Copelands who serve in another part of the world. Maybe God has placed you in a strategic place in Shawnee to minister to people who need to know Jesus.
For a long time, I’ve been touched by the words to an old song: “If you can’t preach like Peter, If you can’t pray like Paul, Just tell the love of Jesus, And say He died for all.” Witnessing about Jesus might involve a verbal testimony, performing acts of kindness, or praying for the many needs of our troubled world.
Warren McWilliams
December 23: Matthew 2:11
Matthew wrote his story of Jesus’ birth after he wrote his gospel. In the gospel, he quoted many prophesies from Jewish scriptures to establish that Jesus was the Christ, the expected Messiah.
In Matthew’s story of the Messiah’s birth, Jesus is born to common folk, but Mary is ”found to be with child of the Holy Spirit,” and Joseph is told by the angel in a dream how to respond.
The birth of the Messiah is also marked by a star which is noticed by Magi in the East. These astrologers arrive in Jerusalem asking for directions, and King Herod calls on priests and scribes for information. They recall a version of Micah 5:2 which prophesies that a ruler of Judah will be born in Bethlehem. The star, however, not the prophecy, guides them to the house where Jesus lay.
In Matthew’s story, the Magi come bearing gifts that would be suitable for a powerful and wealthy king, but they find Jesus in the house of common folks. Even so, the Magi fall down and worship him. The story tells us that the Magi offered precious gifts, but not that Joseph and Mary took them. The gifts, unexpected in common folks’ houses, play no further part in Matthew’s story of Jesus. Did the Magi return home with the gifts they had brought?
Sherman Johnson suggests that the story of the Magi is “a work of art which Matthew presents to the Christ child as his offering.” Matthew also offers the story to his readers as a gift in which the divine acts among common people, but at the same time shakes political and social expectations.
As in the story of the temptations, Jesus is offered desirable gifts, but he is not touched by the offers. Matthew’s stories tell us in memorable ways that gifts like gold, frankincense, and myrrh might be given with good intent, but have little to do with a gift like the divine in humble goodness.
Joe Hall
December 22: Romans 8:22-25
Advent anticipates Jesus’s birth December 25th. Any date will do because shepherds in Israel abide year-round in their fields. Christians didn’t celebrate His birth until 500 years after His death, therefore the date is arbitrary. But anytime is good to Celebrate Jesus’s life.
I’ll always remember the middle-class young woman who answered the door in Saline, Michigan years ago, and in response to my question about her church membership, replied, “We’re doing alright now and don’t need a church.” Those who feel safe and secure don’t feel they need saving. Saving from what—by whom?
Paul writes of hope in heaven and with a heavenly, healthy body. As Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Mark 2:17) That is true now; persons having decent jobs, health, families, and futures don’t feel hopeless and, therefore, aren’t motivated by hope, Now all persons and places face impending disaster. Asymmetric cold war is already in progress among the three global powers. Pandemic is ubiquitous and permanent. Global warming is past the point of no return causing crazy weather, rising sea levels, extinction of coastal cities, warming seas, and acceleration as methane escapes from melting arctic tundra. The ‘institutions” causing our abundance and global supremacy--religion, education, strong democratic, inclusive government--are malfunctioning. These global and national conditions are conflating and spreading hopelessness to “ALL creation” thereby increasing the need for the Hope Jesus brings. Paul couldn’t have anticipated these things except by inspiration.
We should look forward and rejoice in the hope of heaven and eternity through Him. Meanwhile, we should assume our responsibility to be good stewards of the physical universe and messengers of hope provided by Jesus’s birth.
Bob Allison
December 21: Matthew 11:28-30
The author and illustrator, Peter Spier, produced the children's book, People, released in 1988. In it, Mr. Spier brought the message that the world's inhabitants are indeed diverse, but indeed are all still human. In his book, by means of hundreds of sweet, little caricatures, he demonstrated that people dress differently, eat differently, live differently... look different.
The word "all" in the English language is as inclusive as the word "none" is exclusive. After reading and enjoying People, one comes away with the principled notion that God is inclusive. He's not white; He's every color. He not only speaks English, He speaks Farsi and Russian and Spanish and Japanese. He has provided all things richly to enjoy, even eels and crayfish and brussels sprouts and lima beans. He's not partial to one group over another, to one person over another, but does give grace to a particular people. "He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5... oh my)
As Paul asked in Romans, "Where then is boasting?" One might ask, after reading People, "Where then is 'exclusion'?" To which the reader can answer with emphatic irony, "It is excluded." "Exclusion" is often a practice of culture, a practice of individuals, based solely on differences between cultures and between individuals.
Someone "different"-- if that person also believes in Jesus Christ--is familiar with the Lord's words found in Matthew 11, "Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
It seems that the act of "coming" is itself an act of humility, an act wherein is the recognition of need, wherein is the readiness for acceptance of grace, wherein is the confession from the heart and the mouth that "I am lost" and that He alone can save me from being lost.
His Advent... His gentle yoke...His rest...for All...Amen.
Larry Inman
December 20: Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
I don’t know about you, but these last twenty-two months I have felt shaken. So many changes, worries, and fears. I have woken many times in the night with my heart racing, wondering what is going to happen next. When the pandemic first hit, we lost both of our incomes. It felt as if everything was out of our control and the only thing we could do is pray for the Lord’s provision. I love the image of casting our cares on the Lord. It doesn’t have to be a gentle and delicate hand-off. We can just throw them at His feet and trust His power and not our own. The pandemic, along with political unrest and division, has added to the fear of the future. I know we aren’t the first generation to have concerns about the future. I’m sure people in the time of Jesus’ birth were also dealing with their own worries about their world. I can imagine the great joy and peace the shepherds felt as they found Jesus in the stable and as the wise men finally found the promise for which they were searching. As we search for the hope of Jesus in this tumultuous time, I pray we will always remember we aren’t required to do it alone. We can cast our cares on Him and He will sustain us. Despite the “unprecedented times” we are living in, Jesus has already claimed the victory. The hope that comes with Christmas is such a welcome feeling. The hope He brings to us as the baby in the manger, the Savior of the world, allows us to stand firm and not be shaken.
Rebecca Timmons
December 19
December 18: Luke 6:38
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Growing up with brothers, I don’t remember many acts of generosity towards each other. We hid what was valuable to us, and sharing was not our favorite pastime. With a focus on getting the presents we wanted, and then guarding whatever we got from the others, my childhood memories of Christmas now seem to be a bit selfish. As we matured, we started noticing the sacrificial lifestyle of our parents. I can’t remember the first time it happened, but gradually, with their help, we experienced the blessing of giving. It may have started with a craft, like a painted rock, or a crayon masterpiece, but the experience of bringing joy to someone else was a new experience. Eventually, some of the gifts given were the result of a labored decision that involved the experience of sacrifice. It was then that this act of giving started teaching us lessons. Giving became a way of showing love. As love grew, the intensity of the planning, preparing, saving, searching, wrapping, and waiting for the gift to be received became a significant experience. Anticipation was hard to bear, and the drama of their excitement and appreciation of the gift was wonderful.
Luke 6 doesn’t refer to the gift that you give out of duty or custom—that gift made without real passion, cheaply or hastily tossed together—that gift given with a smile, but without real cost, given because you need to and without real love does not fulfill your need of responsibility. This line: “. . . good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over” refers to serious care that insists on giving all you can give, with nothing held back, or saved for something else.
If nothing else, Christmas should give us the overwhelming reminder of God’s Gift to us.
God gave us all that he was. The gift of Himself was the whole measure, pressed down and shaken together to be ALL that He had to give. It cost HIM everything. His love is running over. It should humble us and convict us to worship Him completely—to want to obey him constantly—to want to share it with someone else. HE is what they really need. What a great blessing we will be given when we give others the gift of the story, the testimony, and reality of God in our lives. It may cost us, but the blessing will be more than we can imagine.
Ford Mastin
December 17: Psalm 100: 1-2
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”
These are difficult times. In some ways this can always be said, but it rings especially true during a seemingly endless pandemic, social and political unrest, economic inflation, and trials of loss and uncertainty. Being joyful is challenging when navigating these issues of life and when one is weary from the journey. In this season of Advent, we may view joy as something approaching, something we anticipate, something that will find us in the future. But joy is not something for which we passively wait.
Rather, we are called to action. The Psalmist directs us to be joyful now and to bring that joy to the Lord. Not timidly or fearfully—but to SHOUT! We must proclaim this joy loudly, for all the earth to hear so that it may join our praise of God the Father. “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.” This praise is not solemn, muted, or dull, but is full of gladness, delight, and jubilation. It is our WORSHIP of our Lord—not because life is easy—but because He is Lord! We do not wait for some future moment; we are directed to COME before Him, to approach Him in His glory, and express our joy with song.
As the world waited for Christ’s arrival long ago, we now wait for His return. But His joy is not something for which we wait. With joy, we act: SHOUT – WORSHIP – COME – SING!
Michael Dean
December 16: Isaiah 42:1-7
He was chosen by God to save a people and nation. He was not what the people expected: He was not a mighty warrior, nor was he a powerful earthly king. He was a servant.
The hands:
The rough calloused hands of a man who knew physical labor.
The hands of a carpenter who worked with wood.
The gentle hands of a man who could heal physical and emotional scars with a touch.
The hands of a teacher who used everyday objects to teach a lesson.
The hands of a healer that caused blind eyes to open and see.
The hands of an itinerant preacher who took the scroll of Isaiah and read to his hometown crowd.
The hands of a busy man who took time to bless little children.
The hands of a man who directed a little donkey through the streets of Jerusalem.
The hands of a friend who served the bread and wine.
The hands of a servant who washed and dried tired, dusty feet.
The hands of a man in prayer, bowed down with sorrow, as he waited in the garden.
The hands pierced by nails.
The hands, Jesus’ hands.
God chose to send Jesus as a servant—a helper who used his hands in so many ways to alleviate the worries, sorrows and cares of a people overcome by oppression. Jesus walked the dusty roads and lived among the very people he came to serve. He restored life and health and transformed lives by his very touch. Those whom he touched were never the same.
As we again anticipate the birth, let us remember that we still find comfort in Jesus’ hands today. His hands are open, beckoning, inviting all who come. We are redeemed by the precious blood of God’s chosen one—Jesus!
Marguerite McDowell
December 15: 2 Corinthians 3:18
Christmas is a time for joy, happiness, and memories. Of course, Christmas isn’t just about peppermint flavored beverages and hoping for snow. It’s about sweet baby Jesus being born in the manger and coming to save us all from sin. Yet sometimes we forget about that. I mean, I would say that it’s easy to forget how we are made in His image. We are supposed to live our lives like Jesus, and sometimes I think we forget that. I certainly do. 2 Corinthians 3:18 reminds us that we have an unveiled face that reflects God’s glory, and we are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory. The more I think about that, the more it absolutely amazes me. When Christ died the veil was torn. Humanity was able to have a closer relationship with God and approach His throne. Not only is it absolutely amazing that we are being transformed into His likeness, but it doesn’t matter who we are. He can still use us. And lastly, with ever increasing Glory, things are only getting better because we know Christ has done the hard part for us, all we have to do is accept Him. See, with all these extraordinary things in this verse alone, how is it that we so easily forget it? Especially around Christmas? Advent is always an interesting time for me: the count down, the excitement, the endless candy canes received. Even in the most random verses like this one, we are shown over and over again the love of God; that a really long time ago He sent this little baby to save us all so we could one day get to enjoy His company in Heaven.
Clara Timmons
December 14: Hebrews 11:17-18
Advent is perhaps about nothing if not about faith—believing in and waiting for what may come to be. And the book of Hebrews is written to early Christians as a reminder of and exhortation to faith—to remember the faith of past “heroes” and to renew the call to continued faith in God’s promises.
This could hardly be clearer in Hebrews 11 & 12. Chapter 11 is a catalog of examples from the Old Testament, and it is followed by a call to be aware of this “cloud of witnesses” from the past as they watch over the current inheritors of God’s covenant as they seek to live their own faithful lives.
But as the writer recalls the stories of Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Moses and others, he is aware not only of their having thought to have received a promise from God, and of having presumed that they had acted as asked, but also of the fulfillment seeming a bit muddled, certainly less than complete. The narrative structure of promise, action, and reward doesn’t always follow a simple line.
As in the case from the verses above (11:17-18), what sort of crazy must Abraham have thought about God when, after believing he had a promise to build his legacy on the offspring of Isaac, the son of his and his wife Sarah’s elder years, there comes an order to take Isaac into the bush and kill him. No living legacy there. But for the writer of Hebrews, this is not a story about Abraham complaining that “this isn’t what you told me, God!” It is a reminder that Abraham had acted as he was told to act—to offer his only son as sacrifice, however crazy that must have seemed. If there’s a lesson here, maybe it’s “there’s more to God’s promise than you understand.” The faithful Abraham is provided a scapegoat, an alternate sacrifice, at the last moment, but for the writer of Hebrews, he is a hero because his faith led him to obedience.
I confess that I’d like the promises I am given to be clear and reasonable and kept. I’d like the consistency of a contract fulfilled according to its agreed-upon terms. I do like order. But maybe that’s too human for a promise from God. Maybe that’s not enough faith for Advent. The writer seems to say that if we will live in faith, even when we fail to understand fully where that may lead us, then God will fulfill his promise in ways that are beyond our imagining, in a time we cannot fathom, in a form we may not recognize. It’s not a simple line. The road to our own Advent may involve more than order and reason. It may require the miracle of faith.
Doug Watson
December 13: Matthew 7:20
One year an unfamiliar vine appeared in our garden. I had built a simple, lattice-like wooden structure for our snow peas to climb, but now a strange “volunteer” was there among the young pea plants. We hadn’t planted it and had no idea what it was, but it looked healthy and green. Week after week it stretched its tendrils from one slat to the next, and eventually it spread its broad leaves over the whole structure. What could it be? Evidently some seed had survived in the compost pile and been mixed into our garden soil. Finally, the plant’s flowers turned into small green bulbs, which grew and grew until they hung weightily from the vines: we had unwittingly grown cantaloupes.
In Matthew 7, Jesus uses an analogy that reminds me of this experience. Good trees, he explains, are recognized by the good fruit they produce; bad trees are recognized by their bad fruit. Just as I had to see the cantaloupe to know what kind of plant was taking over our garden, sometimes we must see the “fruit” of a teaching or experience to fully understand it. This passage comes toward the end of the famous Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus is warning his followers about false teachers or prophets. No good tree will produce bad fruit, while no bad tree can produce good fruit: “So you will recognize them by their fruit” (Matt. 7:20).
To connect this passage to Advent, it may help to imagine ourselves in Jesus’s original audience, gathered on the hillside, listening to a carpenter-turned-rabbi whose teachings sound, by turns, revolutionary or profoundly simple. Is this Jesus, an humble man from the outpost of Nazareth, to be trusted? What if he himself is a false prophet? Is he a good tree or a bad tree? A judicious listener would have to wait and see what fruit he bears. And so it is at Advent: we watch and listen, waiting for the appearance of the Messiah, waiting for the fruit to be borne.
Brent Newsom
December 12
December 11: I Corinthians 13.13
“And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
Just as Jesus sums up the teaching of the law and the prophets in the two great commandments to love God wholly and to love our neighbor as ourselves, so the Apostle Paul here summarizes the Christian life as one of faith, hope, and love. These pronouncements help us put first things first, and avoid distractions, however “spiritual” they may be.
In their zeal for a higher spirituality, the Christians in Corinth had become disordered. Wishing to identify with their heroes in the faith, they fell into factionalism. Wishing for higher understanding, they connived at gross immorality and treated with supercilious condescension other believers whose opinions differed from theirs. Wishing for spectacular gifts, they forgot that the purpose of any gift is to build up the body of Christ. Paul must correct their excesses and immaturity, and he does so by redirecting their zeal toward what matters most: faith, hope, and love.
These three “virtues” are consistently linked in Paul’s thinking. For example, he tells the Thessalonians that, as he prays for them, he remembers their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope” in the Lord Jesus (I Thess. 1.3). He gives thanks for the Christians in Colossae because of their “faith in Christ Jesus” and their “love ... for the saints,” and because of “the hope laid up in heaven” for them (Col. 1.3-4). He makes similar statements elsewhere, linking these three virtues (Galatians 5.5-6, Romans 5.1-5).
However, even among these three fundamentals of the Christian life, there is a hierarchy to which we must attend. Our faith will ultimately be turned to sight, and our hope will be made reality, but love will never end, and for that reason it is the greatest of the three. Paul can thus conclude his instructions by saying, “Let all that you do be done in love” (I Cor. 16.14).
Charles Swadley
December 10: Hebrews 13:1—” Let brotherly love abide”
To abide, to remain, to continue on. As Christ’s followers, our care for one another is assumed, admonished in the now, and expected in the future. The Pastor exhorts that His own will be known by their love (John 13:35). We are to forebear (Ephesians 4:2), be devoted to (Romans 12:10a), honor (Romans 12:10b), instruct (Romans 15:15:14), serve (Galatians 5:13), uphold (Galatians 6:2), submit to (!) (Ephesians 5: 21), comfort (1 Thessalonians 5:11), speak only good of (James 4:11), confess to (James 5:16), pray for (James 5:16), and forgive one another (Colossians 3:13). Is there an ending to forbearance? Is there a boundary at which abiding in care for one another demarcates when it is time to cease that care? Certainly, there are times where care endures despite sin and is even revealed in discipline. After all, we are to admonish one another to not be idle in doing good (Colossians 3:16).
Before this simple admonition is a grand and powerful description of God’s reach and scope among us: “Our God is a consuming fire.” Does our dislike of the behavior of our brother or sister in Christ dictate the limits of our responsibility or our love for one another? Sometimes our dislike of another becomes our “consuming fire” rather than love. Our God of all-encompassing love does not stop short, does our “brotherly love”?
Mike Copeland
December 9: Luke 2:14: Finding Christ Through Obedience
After the Angel declares the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, the heavenly host in Luke 2:14 praises God and offers peace to those on earth “with whom [God] is well pleased” (Amplified Bible). The phrase “well pleased” appears with two other significant events of Jesus’ life: his baptism and Transfiguration. At each event, God claims Jesus as his son and says “with him I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22; Matthew 17:5). God’s “well pleased” response is reserved for those who seek and obey him, just as Jesus did.
Throughout Luke 2 obedience and finding Jesus are connected. Mary and Joseph show obedience to God by honoring the census decree of an earthly government. As a result, Jesus is born in Bethlehem, in fulfillment of prophecy. In obedience Mary and Joseph left the comforts of home, but the result was others found Jesus.
Next, those last in the social order are the first to hear the Messiah has arrived. While the shepherds find Jesus in an unexpected place, a stable, they leave changed. Luke 2:18 says the shepherds shared the message of Jesus’ arrival, and all who heard the news were “amazed.” Obedience can lead us to find Jesus in unexpected places and through unexpected people.
Eight days after Jesus’ birth, in obedience to the Law, Mary and Joseph present Jesus at the Temple. Obedient God believers, Simeon and Anna, find Jesus in the Temple and praise God for allowing them to see the arrival of the Messiah. Years later Mary and Joseph, who obediently raised their son in accordance with God’s ways, find 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Obedience leads us to finding Jesus in places of formal worship.
As we enter this season of social events, shopping, sentiment, chaos, joy, peace and love, let us live obediently and anticipate finding Christ outside our comfort zones, in unexpected places, through unexpected people, and in places of formal worship.
Kaylene Barbe
December 8: Psalm 144:2a
Psalm 144:2a: ‘He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer.’
One of the great joys of the freshman English curriculum is teaching “The Odyssey.” I truly enjoy every aspect of it, from the introduction work of building information about culture and history, to the students’ reactions at the victory in the end of the story. One part that always sticks out to me is the battle of Troy (although taking place in “The Iliad,” the actions of this battle act as a sort of prequel to “The Odyssey.”). Odysseus, our epic hero, finds himself in a ten-year stalemate during the Trojan War. Though fighting on the side of the well-prepared and seasoned Spartans, Odysseus and his men are in a holding pattern because the Trojans are protected within their walled city. This always makes me think of the battle of Jericho, where out of the box thinking and a clever plan are more valuable than brute force. It is only the people’s own foolishness that loses them the protection of the fortress; the stronghold does not fall in Troy.
When we think about Advent, war is probably not fresh on our minds (family battles over the wishbone notwithstanding). However, personal battles can plague our thoughts and prevent us from remembering the true purpose of Advent. The relationship that we have with God is our own personal fortress against all that would come against us, and not only does He promise to protect us, but He promises to deliver us, as well. No matter what trials and attacks we may face, God is our strength in every situation. “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing,” sings the old hymn. Unlike the stories in “The Odyssey” and even the Bible, this fortress can never fall, can never fail. Our weary world can truly rejoice in the good news that Jesus came to save us, and that salvation stands the test of any battles we face!
Linsey Mastin
December 7: 2 Corinthians 5:17
2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Natural human tendency is to be concerned with self, then family, then tribe – applying our talents and resources to benefit those we most care about, sometimes to the detriment of others. We love those who are close to us and want to protect them. Others matter less, even to the point of using or enslaving them for our own benefit. We can take advantage of others by providing minimal support to those who we use to amplify our efforts in acquiring resources for ourselves.
Christ generates a renewal of our basic nature. When we accept Christ, He re-creates us as children of God and we begin a journey of obedience and (as far as is possible) understanding how God would have us treat others and what we should do. We have a new family of all other believers, and the example of the life of Jesus in how to relate to humankind and the world.
There is still a responsibility to support our family and tribe, but the family is now much larger. The guidance of the Holy Spirit should help us to sort the competing responsibilities in a manner consistent with the love of God.
So, how are we doing? Are there ways that we still participate in the unfair use of others? Are we entangled in systems that are unfair to some to benefit our own tribe? It can be difficult to cut through the norms of our culture to identify those areas that we may still need to address. The new has come, but the old may still wrap itself around our feet and impede our progress.
Christ came to make creation new, providing an alternative to the old broken ways of treating each other and the world. We can play a part in that new creation.
Mike Atchley