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Leading Through Advent: Accepting God’s Promise

Merry Christmas! You have been discovering new ways to lead through Advent. So, as you model what it means to be a follower of Jesus, remember that you are loved and appreciated for who you are and for your leadership. 

Let me remind you to focus first on the people around you. Whether they are the people entrusted to your care or people who need special care, you are God’s instrument of love and peace both as a follower of Jesus and as a leader.

It is my prayer that you experience the joy of Jesus this week. Before reading the Christmas story with family, read this story that gives some context to the birth of Jesus.

Read Luke 1:39-45

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Reflect

With this scripture, two birth stories come together: the birth of John, son of Elizabeth (Elizabeth is married to Zechariah) and the birth of Jesus, son of Mary. The first is the story of a woman who is older. Her son will be the last of great prophets.

Zechariah and Elizabeth have been praying for a child. Zechariah learns that their prayer has been heard. The child will be named John and will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. This is important to Luke. He understood that the power of the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets. For Luke, John is the last of the great prophets.

The announcement that John would be a Spirit-filled person was not a matter of personal spirituality, but a gift of God. It is Luke’s way of announcing that the time of the Messiah was on the horizon. A new day was dawning.

Although Zechariah had been praying for a child, he could not believe the birth would happen without some additional evidence. Luke reveals his understanding of how faith is generated, validated, and maintained. Here the message seems to be that even an angel telling us our prayers are heard does not necessarily result in faith.

Mary’s Response

The second story is about a young woman whose son will usher in the kingdom of God. God chooses a young unmarried woman from an obscure village to be the mother of the Son of God. Although Mary’s response is that of a model believer, she asked questions like Zechariah. The difference is, asking questions is not itself a mark of unbelief, but to ask for signs is an indication of lack of faith. Mary has a questioning faith; Zechariah wanted a sign on which to base his faith.

William Barclay said, “God does not choose a person for ease and comfort and selfish joy but for a task that will take all that head and heart, and hand can bring to it. God chooses a person in order to use him or her.” Someone said, “Jesus Christ came not to make life easy but to make us great.”


Chosen By God

When Mary realizes she has been chosen by God, she praises God. She says, “With all my heart I glorify the Lord! In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior…because the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name.” Luke 1:46-47).

So, Luke brings the two stories together. He tells of Elizabeth, moved by the Holy Spirit, recognizing that Mary is pregnant. He interprets the event as God’s saving act. The same Holy Spirit interprets the movement of the unborn John. This is Luke’s way of putting John and Jesus together for the coming of the Messiah. It is his way of saying that Mary and Elizabeth had an influence over their two boys as they began their ministries. It is his way of showing how God worked in and through John and Jesus to fulfill his promise of the messiah, the anointed one.

Then Mary says:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name; indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has come to the aid of his child Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Relationship Between Elizabeth and Mary

When John comes on the scene preaching, “prepare the way of the Lord,” he uses the words of Isaiah (40:3-5) which are closely related to Mary’s words. Could it be that the relationship between Elizabeth and Mary influenced John’s preaching and his announcement of the coming Messiah?

I believe that is what Luke wants us to understand. There are always those who shape our values and guide our decisions. Luke wants us to know that Mary has helped pave the way for the anointed one. She models for us the faith needed to accept and receive God’s promise.

Respond to Luke 1

This Christmas take time to think about the people who have shaped your values and influenced your decision making? Who are the people who make the greatest difference in your life? Send an email or a text letting them know that you appreciate them and are grateful for their influence in your life?

Who are the people you influence? Be mindful of the difference you make in their lives. Make a special effort to show them your care and support.

Your life intertwines with other lives. Be aware of how you affect the people around you and what you might do to be a positive and loving presence in their lives.

Howard Thurman expressed it in “The Mood of Christmas”:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone

When the kings and princes are home

When the shepherds are back with their flock

The work of Christ begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among people,

To make music in the heart.

Return

Give God thanks for the people you encountered today. Where did you meet Jesus? Who helped you experience a new way of living and leading? How did you express God’s love today? With whom do you need to celebrate the hope, the love, the new life you experienced? How will you prepare for God’s presence and power tomorrow? Ask God to give you the faith to be the leader God has created you to be.  

Prayer – The Wesleyan Covenant Prayer

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by you or laid aside for you,
Exalted for you or brought low by you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Have a blessed Christmas and remember, who you are is how you lead!
     

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Leading Through Advent: Preparation to Lead – Part Two

During the season of Advent, you have the opportunity to become the leader God has created you to be. Being the leader needed at any given time is not easy. If you are not secure in who you are and how you are leading, you often try to overcompensate or micro-manage. Advent provides you the opportunity to examine your leadership and to change whatever you might need to change to be the leader needed for the people entrusted to your care.

So, as you are preparing to receive Jesus, keep in mind what you need to do to be the leader God has created you to be. What is crooked that needs to be straightened? What needs to be brought down and what needs to be lifted up? What rough places need to be smoothed out?

During this third week of Advent, Luke continues to offer direction in and through his story of John, the Son of Zechariah.

Read Luke 3:7-18

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?” 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

15 As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

18 So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Reflect on Luke 3

As we said in part one, Luke devotes the third chapter of his good news to preparing for the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. He places the coming of Jesus, the anointed one, in a particular time in world and religious history. His preciseness of history tells us that context is important to him. So, the setting of Luke’s good news is not a “once upon a time” context but is in real-world history. It tells us that Luke is attempting to bridge the gap between what has been and what is coming. He is laying the groundwork of putting Christ against Caesar, the Kingdom of God against the kingdom of Rome. (Read Leading Through Advent: Preparation to Lead Part One). 

Produce Fruit Worthy of Repentance

In preparation for recognizing and receiving the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed One, John confronts the crowds with the urgent need to “produce fruit worthy of repentance.” He warns them that baptism without a change of lifestyle is worthless. He tells them that they can no longer rely on their heritage, for being children of Abraham, because this preparation for the Messiah does not depend upon them having the character of Abraham. His challenge is to produce genuine, fruit-bearing repentance which will be revealed in concrete ethical actions.

So, in response to his call to repentance, the people ask him the same question they asked Simon Peter on the day of Pentecost, “What, then, should we do?” John gives them clear direction: Be generous and share what you have. Be fair and honest. Don’t use your position to take advantage of people. And be satisfied with what you have.

Care for People

Underneath John’s teaching is a focus upon and care for people. So said another way, don’t use your position to take advantage of people. Treat others the way you want to be treated and be generous with the people around you.

When he says, “…bear fruits worthy of your repentance,” he is saying, “Live your life the way God intended for you to live. So, be yourself. Care for people as you have been cared for.” In other words, take advantage of the opportunity to be who God created you to be.

John modeled his teaching in such a way that people saw the anointed one in him. His teaching and action were so different from that of other teachers that the people thought he might be the Messiah.

So, in preparing for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, John is calling people to turn from their old ways of thinking about relating to people and turn toward living as God has created them to live. It is in their turning that they will experience God’s promised messiah. 

Respond to Luke 3

Tony Campolo tells the story of a pastor friend of his in California. He said she loved to go to Nordstrom department store in Bel Air during the Christmas season. She told him she couldn’t buy much but enjoyed going for the decorations and the live music.

On one of her visits, she said she was on the top floor of the store looking at some of the finest dresses in the world, when the elevator doors opened, and an out stepped woman clearly out of place. Her clothes were dirty, and her stockings were rolled down to her ankles. She just stood there holding a shopping bag in her right hand. The bag contained all her earthly possessions. It was obvious she was out of place. The dresses on that floor were in the thousand-dollar category, and this woman did not seem like the kind of person who would have that kind of money.

Campolo said his friend told him that she expected a security guard to promptly arrive and escort the woman out of the store. But instead of security guards, a well-dressed stately saleswoman came over to her and asked, “May I help you, madam?”

The woman said, “Yeah! I want to buy a dress.”

In a polite and dignified manner, the saleswoman asked, “What kind of dress?”

The woman answered, “A party dress!”

The saleswoman replied, “You have come to the right place. I think we have some of the finest party dresses in the world. Just follow me.”

The saleswoman then spent more than ten minutes matching dresses with the woman’s skin color and eye color. She did her best to match each dress with the woman’s complexion. After selecting three dresses, the saleswoman asked the woman to follow her into the dressing room.

The woman tried on the dresses with the saleswoman’s help. But then, after a few minutes, the woman said, “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to buy a dress today.”

“That’s okay,” the saleswoman said gently. “But here is my card. Should you come back to Nordstrom department store, I do hope that you will ask for me. I would consider it such a privilege to wait on you again.”

What, then, should we do?

The saleswoman is an example of John’s response to those asking, “What, then, should we do? She was who she was created to be in caring for the woman. Even though she seemed out of place, she was treated with respect and dignity, with love and care.

Listen to John, “…the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” This is John’s way of saying that you have the opportunity to be who God has created you to be, whether as a human being or as a leader. What do you need to do to be the leader God needs you to be at this time in history?

Take notice of the people around you today? What needs to change for you to love and care for people the way God loves and cares for you?

It is in your preparation for the coming Messiah that you can keep in mind that who you are is how you lead.

Return  

Give God thanks for the people you encountered today. Where did you meet Jesus? Who helped you experience a new way of living and leading? How did you express God’s love today? With whom do you need to celebrate the hope, the love, the new life you experienced? How will you prepare for God’s presence and power tomorrow? Ask God to give you the faith to be the leader God has created you to be.  

Prayer

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie; above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above, while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love. O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth, and praises sing to God the King, and peace to all on earth!

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given; so, God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray, cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.  Amen

A related blog is “Leading Through Advent: Rethinking Preparation” based upon the good news according to Mark.

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Leading Through Advent: Preparation to Lead – Part One

Have you ever felt like you were wandering in the wilderness? Sometimes, it is a feeling of being lost and at other times it is the feeling that there is more to life than you are experiencing. Have you ever felt alone when you are surrounded by people and that there must be more to your relationships than you are experiencing?

It seems that the more we explore the mystery of our lives, the more we learn about ourselves, and the more mysterious we become. We are seldom content with what appears to be on the surface. We are not at ease because we sense that no matter how full our lives, there is more. 

Advent is about preparing to receive what is missing. It is about preparing to receive Jesus who can meet our search for meaning and direction at any given moment. Jesus, in his weakness and vulnerability, stands with us in the midst of our misunderstandings, misconceptions, and broken relationships. The question is, how do you lead through this wilderness into new life?

During this second week of Advent, Luke offers direction in and through his story of John, the Son of Zechariah.

Read Luke 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Reflect on Luke 3

Luke devotes the third chapter of his good news to preparing for the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. He places the coming of Jesus, the anointed one, in a particular time in world and religious history. His preciseness of history tells us that context is important to him. So, the setting of Luke’s good news is not a “once upon a time” context but is in real-world history. It tells us that Luke is attempting to bridge the gap between what has been and what is coming. He is laying the groundwork of putting Christ against Caesar, the Kingdom of God against the kingdom of Rome.

Luke and the Old Testament

As you read Luke, you find that he holds together what we know as the Old Testament with the coming of a new day. So, he uses Old Testament imagery to connect the past with the present and the future. With this in mind, it is interesting that he does not refer to John as “the Baptist” but as “Son of Zechariah.” 

He wants to portray John as the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets, a transitional figure who ushers out the old and announces the new. So, Luke presents John in the role of the prophets of Israel with John’s message of social justice and his resistance to the oppressive establishment of Herod and his soldiers.

Temple Piety

In that same line of thinking, Luke presents John as being from a priestly family devoted to the temple life. He places Jesus’ life and ministry within the context of temple piety. For Luke, the announcement of forgiveness of sins makes John a witness to the salvation announced in Luke, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” (Luke 1:76-77). With those words, Luke connects John to Jesus as the one who brings forgiveness.

A Baptism of Repentance

John’s ministry is conducted in the desert near the Jordan River. He preaches “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. This was not merely a ritual washing but involved a definite break with sin. Luke sees John’s ministry as a “new exodus” to enter the land of promise. Spiritually, Israel needed to come out of the wilderness, pass through the Jordan, and enter the land of promise. John is the transitional prophet between the old and new eras and is preparing all people for God’s salvation.

So, you might think of it this way. John is the prophet whose voice is heard in the wilderness.  The wilderness being a reminder of the forty years wandering before coming to the promised land. John’s voice is calling for repentance and baptism. Repentance and baptism are related to the new life. The wilderness being the old life and the Messiah being the new life. For John, this new life is in preparation for the Messiah, the new promised land.

Respond to Luke 3

For Luke the message is clear, a voice in the wilderness, the old life, is crying out to be prepared for the new life. The new life is a new orientation. It is a new way of thinking and of perceiving people and the world. The act of repentance and baptism helps to break with the wilderness past and to step into the new day Christ.

So, Advent provides you the opportunity to lead into the new life provided by God’s Christ, Jesus.

An Unlikely Offering

Don Shelby, a retired United Methodist pastor, tells the story of the morning he came to his office at the church. He said, as he arrived, the custodian called him into the sanctuary. He wanted Don to see a strange offering which had been placed at the very center of the altar.

As Don and the custodian examined the offering, they found a pair of brown corduroy trousers, a belt, a white T-shirt, a pair of tan suede boots, and a note. There were blood stains on the shirt and on the note. The note had been written on one of the pledge cards which we had placed in the pews for that years’ Loyalty Sunday. A name was written large and underlined three times. Then the plea, “Please listen to God.” On the reverse side was an address and a phone number. And where a signature was called for, a name had been signed.

Don Shelby made a phone call to the number listed. He reached the man who had written the note. He found out the man was 19 years old. After a long wandering in a wasteland of drugs, dropping out of sight, severing contact with his family, and getting involved in one mess after another, the young man had decided to come home.

The night before he had finally reached bottom. He had been involved in a fight and almost beaten another man to death. Don said, the young man, when he realized what he had done. helped the man he had beaten to a nearby emergency room.

After leaving the hospital, the young man came by the church, found an unlocked door, and went into the sanctuary. He stayed there the rest of the night, praying and pondering. He said he asked God to forgive him and to show him the way to go. He said all at once the presence of God became very real. He knew he had been forgiven. A wonderful peace came. He committed himself to follow Jesus.

At that moment, he said he was determined to make things right. To symbolize his commitment, he had put on some clean clothes he had in his bedroll and left the others as an offering. It was like giving God his old life. He said he walked out the door a new person with a new vision and a new hope.

The Wilderness

I am sure you are not living in the wilderness that the young man was living in, but you have a wilderness in which you are wandering. So, today, be aware of the wilderness in which you are living and leading. Listen closely to the people around you. How are you being called out of the wilderness and into a new life? Take notice of people around you. Who is inviting you to reorient your life and to step into a new way of living and leading?

Stepping out of the wilderness and into the light of new life is one way of becoming who God has created you to be. So keep in mind, who you are is how you lead.

Return  

Give God thanks for the people you encountered today. Where did you meet Jesus? At what moments did you feel you were living in the wilderness? Who helped you experience a new way of living and leading? How did you express God’s love today? With whom do you need to celebrate the hope or the love or the new life you have experienced in and through them? How will you prepare for God’s presence and power tomorrow? Ask God to give you the faith to be the leader God has created you to be.  

Prayer

Come, Thou long expected Jesus born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. 

Born Thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious kingdom brings.
By Thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Looking for more? 

Enjoy a related blog, 

Leading Through Advent: Rethinking Preparation

based upon the good news according to Mark.

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Leading Through Advent: Leading with Anticipation

Have you given thought to how you will lead through the season of Advent? As a Christ centered leader, you have the opportunity to teach, lead, and model what it means to be a Jesus follower in uncertain and challenging times.

Because we are living in a time of conflicting values, when people are confused and looking for certainty, your Christ-focused leadership is needed. You already know that some people, to address the uncertainty in their lives, have become overconfident, brash, and insensitive, while others have withdrawn in anxiety and fear. As a Jesus follower, gifted to lead for this time, how will you lead in the midst of the challenges?

Advent Waiting

To help get a handle on the leadership needed, it might be helpful to begin with an understanding of Advent.

Advent began with watching and waiting for Jesus to return. Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles, that when Jesus ascended, the message to his followers was, “Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Preparation and Waiting

As the centuries have passed and the church has grown weary of waiting, Advent has become more focused on preparing for the birth of Jesus with one exception, the first Sunday in Advent which focuses upon what is known as “the second coming” of Jesus.

With the focus being on the energy-draining activities of preparing for the birth of Jesus, we have little capacity to address the chaos and confusion around us with the promises of God. I know that sounds negative, but as a Christ-centered leader, you have been gifted and equipped to face the negative forces of evil and wickedness that are presenting themselves in our culture today. Be aware of the opportunities you have to teach, lead, and model God’s promises.

The Discipline of Waiting

Advent provides you with the time and space to practice the discipline of waiting in hope while you anticipate the fulfillment of God’s promises. You can model the discipline of waiting as you participate as a member of the community of faith.

In our culture, waiting is a challenge. Most of us are not very good at it. We live in a time when we want what we want when we want it. And we want it on our own terms, exactly the way we perceive it. We have not had training in waiting. Yet waiting is a necessary aspect of life and a valued characteristic of Christ-centered leaders.

Anticipating God’s Presence

Neither have we had training in anticipating God’s presence and power. So, how do you lead others in something you are not very good at yourself? Well, because most of us learn either by experience or by practice, take advantage of the Advent Season to practice waiting in anticipation.

To help focus, take a few minutes to read Luke 21:25-36. Reflect upon it from the context in which it was written, respond to it by thinking about the implications of its truth, and return at the end of the day to focus on how the scripture came to life for you. This practice of “Read, Reflect, Respond, and Return” will help you not only rethink the coming of Jesus but anticipate his coming. This practice can assist you in becoming the Christ-centered leader needed at this time.

Read Luke 21:25-36

25 “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Reflect on Luke 21

Luke weaves together material from Mark and from Matthew to provide a sketch of how things will happen in the end. First, Jerusalem will be overrun by enemies. Then, all of nature will erupt and shake the world powers. And finally, the son of man will come in power and glory, bringing redemption for his people.

Because Jesus frequently talked about the destruction of Jerusalem, Luke puts Jesus’ teaching into context. Luke understands the destruction of Jerusalem to be a fulfillment of prophecy.  He incorporates the tragedy into the overarching purpose of God and affirms that God is the God of all history.  So, instead of predicting the future, he is proclaiming the work of God in the present.

Be Alert!

Then he describes cosmic upheaval, “…there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars.” It is an age of great natural disasters which will afflict all the world, even the Gentile world. The “roaring of the sea and the waves” suggests the chaos of all nature”. The power of the heavens will be shaken.

So, he is reminding his readers of the reality of God’s judgment and the certainty of Christ’s return. He offers hope and assurance to those who remain faithful and alert, encouraging them to live with for the fulfilling of God’s purposes.

In other words, when the earth seems to be moving under your feet and you are in the midst of chaos and confusion, be alert and anticipate the presence and power of God, your redemption is near. in the midst of all the chaos and confusion and tragedy and turmoil, be alert, your redemption is near. So, be who you are supposed to be. Stay alert and pray. God’s presence and power is on its way.

Anticipating Hope

Regarding the coming of Jesus, it matters where you start. If you start with the preconceived idea of the coming of Jesus, you get caught up in a desperate attempt to know the future. So, you miss the point of the hope Luke is providing.

The imagery is just that, imagery. It is used to help you get the point of the coming of Jesus. Luke uses imagery as a backdrop to understand God’s promise of hope. Despite all signs to the contrary, all the hurt, chaos, wars, separation, and uncertainty, there is hope. Hope centered in the living God you know in and through Jesus. Hope that comes in the anticipation of the presence and power of God.

God’s Hope

This hope is not a domesticated political agenda or some form of a doctrine of progress. God does not provide happy endings for the futures we are engineering. God provides a future beyond our knowledge and control.

But even with this caution against wanting to know too much, we are still left with too little. We still have the question of how to hope in the meantime when nothing ever happens. And that is why the writer of Luke uses the story of the fig tree.  

Power to Be Witnesses to God’s Work

The fig tree blossoms in late spring, so that when its leaves appear, summer must be very near. You can see for yourself when God is near.

With that in mind, the good news in Luke is “Jesus not only possessed the Holy Spirit but promised the Holy Spirit to his followers.” What does the coming of Jesus in uncertain times mean within the context of Luke’s good news”

You have received power to be a witness to God’s work of salvation in the world. Whether it be with those who are theologically and religiously misguided (Acts 9:1-22), those who were marginalized because of race, nationality, or condition (Acts 8:14-39), or those who were culturally and religiously different (Acts 10:1-48), Luke has woven into the fabric of his gospel the possibility that every encounter is a possibility of the promise of God’s future. Again, in whatever situation or circumstance, you can anticipate the presence and power of God.

Those who trust the promise are able to see signs of its coming (fig tree). Those who have received the power of the Holy Spirit anticipate that something is about to happen, and it is happening now.

Keep Alert & Stay Faithful

So, Luke says, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down…” and “be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place…”

The anticipation of the coming of Jesus should keep you alert, and faithful to being who God has created you to be.

Respond to Luke 21

Advent provides the opportunity to become the leader you are created to be. So, give yourself the space to grow in faith as you keep watch for Jesus. Be aware of how you model waiting in the difficult moments of your life. Take notice of how you teach others how to respond to the power of the Holy Spirit when they face barriers of race, nationality, gender and disagreements.

Throughout this day, be aware of how you respond to the people who are theologically and religiously misguided. Think about how you will engage in conversations of hope. Take notice of how you respond to people who are racially marginalized. Think about how you will lead with courage. Be aware of how you respond to people who are culturally and religiously different. Think about how you might model developing relationships

It is as you wait, trusting God’s leading, that you experience the grace to step out in faith and to lead with courageous action. As you learn to wait on God, God provides clear direction. It is at that point that you have the courage to act when the time is right. Christ-centered leadership is about knowing when to wait and when to act. It is about responding to God’s promise in Jesus that allows you to anticipate his presence and power in every situation and circumstance.

Return

Give God thanks for the people you encountered today. Where did you anticipate God entering your life with love, hope, and peace? How did you respond in tough situations? How did you care for people around you? How did you allow others to care for you? What did you do to allow God’s love to flow through you to the people around you today? With whom do you need to celebrate the hope you have experienced? How will you practice waiting and anticipating tomorrow? Ask God to give you the faith to be the leader God has created you to be. 

Click to read a related blog, “Leading Through Advent: Rethinking the Coming of Jesus” based on the good news according to Mark.