Third Thursday in Advent

Time of Celebration

We usually hear “Jingle Bells” earlier than we hear “Joy to the World,” as shopping centers put up Christmas decorations and play relevant music before Thanksgiving. Their doing so prepares a holiday atmosphere. The joyful colors have an impact on emotions and behaviors as the rich scents of fresh-baked cookies and sweets trigger holiday memories.

I once heard my friend say, “I plan Christmas before Thanksgiving, contacting friends, making small gifts, anticipating the party….”

Many of us find Christmas busy yet enjoyable.

But as Christ-followers, how do we celebrate this festival, the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the one who will come again and judge, making all things right?

Yes. When he comes again, he will “draw near to you for judgment” (3:5). We have to think seriously about what kind of sacrifice pleases him. While we sit comfortably in beautiful churches, do we reach out to the unsheltered or to victims of domestic violence? While we sing “Be Thou my Vision,” do we pray for the protection of the persecuted who speak for the gospel and stand firm in the teaching of God? While we share the gospel with non-believers, do we work for their justice and to alleviate poverty? While we enjoy celebrating Christmas, do we shift our spiritual focus away from Jesus Christ and look forward only to our earthly comforts?

The Lord says, “I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear me.” (v. 5).

The gold and silver and red ornaments, glass bells, and fairy lights on Christmas trees certainly attract us and give us the perfect festive finish. But these lifeless decorations do not advance our spiritual growth and do not help us to “stand when he appears” (v. 2) unless they serve to point us to him. Our earthly traditions cannot refine us like gold and silver, so that we “may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness” (v. 3).

What are you offering to God? Do you decorate yourself by fulfilling the external rituals and ordinances, or do you please him by entering the community and living a holy and fruitful life? —Bianca Chan

Prayer:

Lord, my savior. I repent that I have spent excessive time on earthly and meaningless events and have even forgotten the mission of the life that you give me. Please have mercy on me and forgive me. I worship you, the Lord who will judge. Guide my spiritual reflections. Help me to be fair and generous, especially to the low-wage earner, the widow, and the orphan. Help me to keep my word. Help me show justice and loving faithfulness to the resident alien, so that I might offer my best for you and welcome you at your coming. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Memory Verse:

“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap” (Mal. 3:2).

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

And his kingdom will have no end.

Photo credit: Sincerely Media on Unsplash