Advent reminds us of the ways Jesus comes into our lives. Actually, the ways Jesus intrudes into our lives. He calls us from comfortable situations and leads us into the uncomfortable and uncertain. He expects us to live in both expectation and uncertainty, taking risks and knowing that life forever changes. Someone has said Jesus comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.
The text for the first Sunday of Advent Nov. 29 took us to the Mount of Olives, where the country-boy disciples looked down with awe on the indescribably magnificent temple complex. Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t get too attached to it. The day is coming, in your lifetimes, when it will be completely destroyed and no stone will be left on top of the other!”
Of course the young men, now in their early 20s, were shocked out of their minds. The center of their religious universe was to be leveled and never restored. Jesus used strong, colorful language to describe the significance. Sun darkened, moon not shining, stars falling from the sky. In Hebraic metaphor he means the event will change their lives forever. Drastic, catastrophic.
Jesus told them that in the midst of that upheaval he would “come.” It would be the “day of the Lord.” He had already told the arrogant Sadducees, priests, elders, and keepers of the temple, “Today the kingdom of God is taken from you and given to a nation who will bear the fruit thereof” (Matt. 21:43).
Yanking stewardship of God’s kingdom from the Jewish temple hierarchy meant doing away with the Jewish temple. It would no longer be needed. The once-for-all sacrifice Jesus made of himself at the cross did away with the need for ongoing animal sacrifice. God would now dwell in a new kind of temple, a temple not made with hands (Acts 7:48; 17:24). The temple made up of those who follow Christ Jesus.
While we no longer worship with animal sacrifice, sacrifice as the center-piece of worship continues. Paul reminds us to present ourselves living sacrifice, untainted from the world (Rom. 12:1, 2). Through our baptismal covenant we follow Jesus into sacrifice by taking up our own cross and following him in discipleship (Matt. 16:24). We remind ourselves of his sacrifice -- and ours -- through frequent observance of Holy Communion.
While some are content to redefine discipleship as gathering a large number of people into a service they enjoy, discipleship described by Jesus involves forsaking personal enjoyments and living a life of total sacrifice, a continual expression of worship. Baptism and Holy Communion, sacraments of the church, remind us of these commitments.
Advent is a great discipleship tool because it gives us cause to hold back on excessive celebration we often see during the holidays. It calls on us to pause to reflect on how Jesus abruptly comes into our lives, changes our entire world, and sets us on the path of genuine worship through sacrifice and life-commitment.
A disciple-making church will keep this in mind as it seeks to win the world to Jesus.
The text for the first Sunday of Advent Nov. 29 took us to the Mount of Olives, where the country-boy disciples looked down with awe on the indescribably magnificent temple complex. Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t get too attached to it. The day is coming, in your lifetimes, when it will be completely destroyed and no stone will be left on top of the other!”
Of course the young men, now in their early 20s, were shocked out of their minds. The center of their religious universe was to be leveled and never restored. Jesus used strong, colorful language to describe the significance. Sun darkened, moon not shining, stars falling from the sky. In Hebraic metaphor he means the event will change their lives forever. Drastic, catastrophic.
Jesus told them that in the midst of that upheaval he would “come.” It would be the “day of the Lord.” He had already told the arrogant Sadducees, priests, elders, and keepers of the temple, “Today the kingdom of God is taken from you and given to a nation who will bear the fruit thereof” (Matt. 21:43).
Yanking stewardship of God’s kingdom from the Jewish temple hierarchy meant doing away with the Jewish temple. It would no longer be needed. The once-for-all sacrifice Jesus made of himself at the cross did away with the need for ongoing animal sacrifice. God would now dwell in a new kind of temple, a temple not made with hands (Acts 7:48; 17:24). The temple made up of those who follow Christ Jesus.
While we no longer worship with animal sacrifice, sacrifice as the center-piece of worship continues. Paul reminds us to present ourselves living sacrifice, untainted from the world (Rom. 12:1, 2). Through our baptismal covenant we follow Jesus into sacrifice by taking up our own cross and following him in discipleship (Matt. 16:24). We remind ourselves of his sacrifice -- and ours -- through frequent observance of Holy Communion.
While some are content to redefine discipleship as gathering a large number of people into a service they enjoy, discipleship described by Jesus involves forsaking personal enjoyments and living a life of total sacrifice, a continual expression of worship. Baptism and Holy Communion, sacraments of the church, remind us of these commitments.
Advent is a great discipleship tool because it gives us cause to hold back on excessive celebration we often see during the holidays. It calls on us to pause to reflect on how Jesus abruptly comes into our lives, changes our entire world, and sets us on the path of genuine worship through sacrifice and life-commitment.
A disciple-making church will keep this in mind as it seeks to win the world to Jesus.
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