Fourth Sunday of Advent

Christmas is the season that we rightly associate with joy because joy comes when we are in the Presence of the Lord. However, false expectations and our refusal to take God’s Word seriously robs us of both. God wants to so transform us that we will be able to live in joy despite our disappointments, hurts and sorrows.

Prepare the Way | Michael Kerem by Christ Church Jerusalem

The Day of the Lord is often described as a terrible day, a day of great fear and terror. And it will be a day of judgment. But instead of constantly watching the times Jesus told His disciples to watch themselves. It isn't the signs in the world we should fear but the one who will judge. We should also be grateful that He will come to redeem us. That is, if we are walking in his ways.

"My kingdom is not of this world.” So Jesus stated when He stood before Pilate, the Roman governor. The reality of God’s kingship and sovereignty in the world is best understood by taking into account the Jewish thinking of Jesus’ day. This will help every Christian come to a deeper understanding of the Kingdom of God as proclaimed, illustrated and demonstrated by Jesus of Nazareth. “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” (Luke 4:43)

[11/13/24, 10:21:58 AM] John Arnold: The readings today should remind us of true generosity. However, if we aspire to be hospitable and generous, both in our thanksgiving to God and our love towards our neighbours, we must also understand our own hypocrisy.

[11/13/24, 10:22:11 AM] John Arnold: Maybe?

In a day and age when sainthood seems impossible we must not lose sight of our ongoing relationships with those faithful Christians who have gone before us. While we do not venerate or pray to saints, those who died in Christ are still very much alive and their faithfulness continues to show us how it is possible to finish the race that is set before each one of us. This reality is strengthened when we remember that when the Church gathers we join them as they continually worship around God’s throne.

The road of recovery, whether personal or corporate, is not easy. Yet, the end result is well worth the sacrifice and the hardships we endure.

Many of us think of joy as a spontaneous emotion, and perhaps some of us recognize that it’s the mature fruit of the Spirit. Yet God commands all His people to be joyful during the Feast of Tabernacles as they remember His provision in the wilderness. Psychologists and therapists now recognize that joy comes to the grateful, something the Hebrew Bible has been teaching for millennia in the most practical of ways, showing us what it means to be made in God’s image.

The encounter between Jesus and a rich young man often causes Christians a good deal of distress. Over the centuries we have found ways to interpret this text so that it doesn’t apply to us. Whether we are rich, not so rich, or poor, the words of Jesus are a warning about those things that would hinder us from entering the Kingdom of God. Just as Jesus honestly but lovingly spoke to that young man, we also must allow Him to address us in the same way so that we can truly repent and fully enter that place where God can rule and reign over us.