ADVENT • 8

How are we to follow and respond to Jesus who has come and will come again?

How are we to follow and respond to Jesus who has come and will come again?

reading for: 15 Dec

Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

Who/What is our faith based on?

  • READ

Even as we looked at John the Baptist in last week’s gospel reading, we see him again proclaiming the promised King as a baby through leaps of joy in Elizabeth’s womb. This week however the camera pans towards the inner life of Mary highlighted by the Holy Spirit’s proclamation through Elizabeth, ‘Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil His promises to her!’.

This was a very specific spirit-led blessing because Mary was not blessed simply because she happened to be Jesus’ mother or that she stuck the lottery for being the vessel to usher the second person of God in the flesh into the world, but because she ‘believed that the Lord would fulfil His promises’. We see more glimpses of the faith at work within Mary’s life through her prayer when she said, ‘From now on generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is His name!’ (v48-49).

Having gone through the pain of the passing of my first born through a miscarriage, I would say that apart from faith in God, declaring such a thing would be putting the carriage before the horse – minimally naïve to the harsh realities of the world we live in.  I mean, even if the child’s birth went smoothly, how would I know that I would not screw up as a parent, or that nothing will happen to him or a myriad of other murphy things that could go wrong? I mean we know through scripture that Herod could very well have found and killed Jesus as a baby if it were not for God’s protection.

Despite the very real scepticism and common-sense reality checks, we know that God did fulfil His promises in Jesus Christ. Mary’s posture of faith founded on God’s character and promises recorded for us through this Holy-Spirit-inspired-scripture was validated to be the very posture we ought to have towards God and His promises.

  • REFLECT

    Mary’s posture of faith serves as a mirror for us to examine our own faith. In the modern world today as we are also preparing for the coming of Christ, his second coming, will we be found to have a faith found to be grounded in our Lord and His promises? Or have our security and refuge fallen onto different places of wealth, status, power, position, relationships, technology, or others?

    This advent, let us allow the Holy Spirit to re-posture our hearts afresh. Let us pray just as David did in Psalm 51, that God renews within us a steadfast spirit. All else is sinking sand. Let us come back to our pursuit of Jesus and begin casting aside all other things as rubbish (Phil 3:8). Jesus Himself reminds us that ‘one thing is necessary… and it will not be taken away from her’ (Luke 10:42). May we take heed and ask God for His grace, His mercy and His discipline that we may not lose sight of the one thing necessary. He is the one true vine and apart from Him we are nothing (John 15).

reading for: 16 Dec

Micah 5:2-5a

An invitation to faith in Him amid our sin, brokenness, pain and suffering

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    Today’s reading is an Old Testament prophesy of Jesus’ Messianic coming and reign as God’s hope and response to the sin, brokenness, and evil that had become rampant in Israel during Micah’s time. The rulers of Israel despised justice, distorted what is right, and built their kingdom on bloodshed and wickedness (Micah 3:9-10). The leaders judged for a bribe, the priests taught for a price, and the prophets told fortunes for money (Micah 3:11). All this is but a snapshot of the height of Israel’s rebellion and fallenness from God.

    As a result, Micah prophesies that through the Assyrians and subsequently Babylon Israel would eventually be stripped and brought to nothing before God’s restoration comes (Micah 4:8-13).

    It is in such a context, that Micah 5:2-5a sits as a message of hope and reassurance based solely on God’s character and promises. Even amidst smallness and nothingness (Bethlehem Ephrathah - v2), ‘abandon-ness’ (v3), and painful judgement and discipline from our Lord, we are reminded that God’s covenant love and promises is greater still and is what we ought to hope in and hold on to in our very own realities of sinfulness, evil, brokenness, pain, and suffering that plagues us all (Micah 7:18-20).

  • REFLECT

    Pay attention to the present details of your life and ask the Holy Spirit to give insight to His fingerprints and on-going work in and about us. Perhaps you maybe having your own Bethlehem Ephrathah moment where God is bringing about a sense of smallness and nothingness through God’s judgement and conviction in your life. Perhaps you are feeling a shaking that threatens to take away things that you have been holding on tightly to. Or perhaps God is bringing you through a place where you maybe feeling abandoned and alone with no one that understands you or in your court – even God is silent. Or perhaps you are reaping the consequences of bad choices or sin in your life, and the suffering and pain seems too much to bear. No matter our circumstances and the extent of our sin and suffering, today’s reading challenges us to cling on to God’s character and promises.

    ”Who is a God like you,
        who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
        of the remnant of his inheritance?
    You do not stay angry forever
        but delight to show mercy.
    You will again have compassion on us;
        you will tread our sins underfoot
        and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
    You will be faithful to Jacob,
        and show love to Abraham,
    as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
        in days long ago.”
    – Micah 7:18-20

    ”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
    – John 3:16-21

reading for: 17 Dec

Hebrews 10:5-10

Faith is a matter of both will and body

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    Even as we look at today’s reading of Hebrews 10:5-10, one should be careful not to gloss over it to be a matter of doing away with Old Testament Levitical practices for righteousness in place of Jesus’ sacrifice as an everlasting atonement for our sins. Rather, the writer of Hebrew is actually giving us a wholistic explanation of Christ’s priestly act. If we look at the context, what is said about Christ is in response to the insufficiency of the Levitical sacrificial system in cleansing our conscience (Hebrew 9:14).

    Why is understanding Christ’s priestly act important? 1 Peter 2:9 comes to mind, exhorting us that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession that we may declare praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.

    What then do we see in today’s reading? Firstly, its important to note that this portion of scripture quotes Jesus directly and is ascribed to Him ‘when [He] came into the world’ (v5). Thus the author, is already pointing us away from just focusing on His death and sacrifice but also His entire life of obedience and submission to God’s will in the body (v5, 7, 9). The reference to ‘body’ here speaks about His incarnation but also the importance of our lives lived out reflecting our obedience and submission to God’s will. Secondly, it intentionally contrasts the old Levitical practices which was external with faithful obedience which is internal. It is this internal transformation and alignment to God that the author wants to highlight as the true essence of worship. God does not desire sacrifices and takes not pleasure in sin/burnt offerings (v5-6). Rather the sacrifices of the Lord are a broken and contrite spirit (Ps 51) which again points towards one’s inner being/ heart’s posture.

    Lastly, Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice once and for all for us. It is truly by His grace and is the gift of God. Not of our own strength that should boast of it but an undeserved gift paid for by Jesus’ perfect life and sacrifice.

    Therefore, today’s scripture exhorts us to take stock of our faith as an inside out expression of our obedience and worship onto God. It is in that way that God is pleased, and that we will bring praise and glory to our Father in heaven as His royal priesthood on Earth.

    “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” – Rev 1:5-6

  • REFLECT

    Another poignant scripture that calls us to examine our faith and worship. Has our lives and worship been unconsciously reduced to external activities devoid of power and life? Even as we respond to God’s call for CNL as a church into the Gek Pok community or even simply as we begin a new Christian year with advent, it is all the more important to re-posture and remember why we are doing the things that we are doing. Take time to ask and answer fundamental questions of why things like service, life group, prayer, reading our bibles, spending time serving the community and etc. important. There is only one true vine by which we may have life and bear fruits that will last – without Him we will amount to nothing. Jesus has paid the price for reconciliation, let us then take heed not to be found apart from Him. 

reading for: 18 Dec

Psalm 80:1-7

The Presence of our faith

  • READ

  • ‘Make your face shine on us that we may be saved’. This phrase is repeated twice in this very short portion of scripture (v3, 7) and hints us to consider what this means and why it matters. The word for ‘face’ in Hebrew is the word ‘panim’ / ‘paneka’ which appears several times in relation to God or the Lord. In most cases, the face of the Lord/ God is used to reference God’s presence. For example, in Exodus 33:14, when God tells Moses, “My presence will go with you” (ESV), the word presence is actually ‘panim’. That is why other older versions like the DRA write, “My face shall go before thee” (Exo 33:14).

    Additionally, the word ‘panim’ used in reference with the face of God / Yahweh is largely in the context of blessings or divine favour. The face / presence of Yahweh is the gift of grace to His people. In Deuteronomy 4:37 Moses told the people of Israel that God led them from Egypt by His face / His own presence (both panim). According to Moses here, God’s face is also associated with His power and His means of bringing about His mighty works of salvation.

    These are exactly what we see here in this Messianic Psalm. ‘Awaken your might; come and save us (v2)’ is followed up immediately with ‘Restore us, O God; make your face (panim) shine on us that we may be saved’. The Psalmist here draws a direct association that with His face (or presence) comes the might or means by which they are to be saved. Later on verses 4-6 highlights God’s anger, lack of answer to their prayers, and withholding of blessings and protection to their enemies. This again leading to v7 which is a cry for ‘God’s face to shine on them’ is associated to God saving them and lifting them from their expressed plight. On can easily associate favour instead of anger, lack of answer and blessings with answer and blessings, and of lack of protection for protection instead.

    Psalm 80 reminds us of the importance of God’s presence in the reality of our faith for it is the power and grace of God for our lives.

    2 Timothy 3:5 warns us of the state of our Christian walk where we have an outward form of godliness without power that comes from a life without God’s presence.

  • REFLECT

    Emmanuel, ‘God with us’, very aptly carries the heartbeat of Christmas. God is with us in a way more intimate than we can imagine because of Christ’s finished work. Let us then not settle for a life without Him. Take time to come back to the place of living in His presence. Recommit to the rhythms and disciplines set before us by our pastors even as we cultivate His presence in our lives through our choices and actions that our faith in action may test and approve His good and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2). Let us make every effort to confirm our election and calling (2 Peter 1:10) lest we stumble and become blind in our ability to know Jesus. He alone is the basis of our faith and the one true Vine from which all good things come (John 15).

Season of AdventCNL