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Friday, December 17, 2010

Passionate Urgency

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[December 17, 2010]   --"Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."-Matthew 24: 44

The first Gospel reading of Advent, which I will not be preaching upon this year for the first time, always references the second coming of Christ.  The second coming is an often discussed and often misunderstood element of Christianity, yet one which is incredibly important.  As we try to make sense of it, or shoehorn its markers into the current events of today, we often miss the point.  Christ tells us about what will happen in order to change what is happening.  We are not brought into this secret so that we may plan for it, or help bring it along, or lord it over others who don't believe it will happen.  We are told about it so that our lives might be changed. 

Proclamations of the second coming in the Gospels are nearly always paired with strong words regarding our own actions.  In the passage above, Jesus tells us to be ready.  What does this mean?  It means that we should be living with some urgency, some passion, and some determination when it comes to faith. Think of all the efforts many of us will put into our Christmas preparations over the weeks ahead.  We will cook, clean, shop, decorate, write, call, travel, and much more, all with a sense of urgency brought upon by the Christmas holidays.  What if we applied that same urgency to our lives of faith everyday?  How might our faith then look?  How might the Church then look?  How might the world?  Christ came once, and he will come again. He doesn't ask us to do anything about it except be ready.

 Prayer:  Holy God, help me love you and follow you with a passionate urgency.  Please give me the energy and enthusiasm to be your servant in this world every day of my life.  I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen

[Phillip Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]

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