Advent - Day 16
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
Luke 2:6-10
We are anticipating the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is advent. And this year we are following Luke’s gospel as he passes on to us the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life.
I want to talk about power today. One thing most people don’t like doing is giving up power. We’ve had recent high-profile examples of this principle in South Korea and Syria. But to be honest, you only need to look at your workplace or your extended family. People don’t like giving up power.
Why? Well, power means control. Power means getting your way. Which also suggests why the disempowered are often the most frustrated or cranky or depressed in life. Think of the elderly, once they had significant control over their lives, now, they require people to wheel them around, feed them and bathe them.
I want you to imagine this today. Imagine you had no choice about what happened to you. No choice in your lunch. No choice in whether you head out or stay in. What you wear. Bed time and so on. Now, some of you might think that sounds pretty great. You are tired of making decisions. I reckon it would get old really quick.
Which leads us to consider this moment. When the God of the universe, the Almighty, the most powerful. Takes on vulnerable human flesh. God, the Son, comes as a child who needs swaddling and feeding. He doesn’t get to choose where He goes or doesn’t go.
And remember, power is about options. Jesus was within His rights to come in the fullness of His power. He could have arrived as, essentially, Superman. He could have exercised the fullness of His power in the most aggressive of ways. But He didn’t. Here we see the humility of Christmas.
And it’s a reminder to us. We have a lot of power. Oh, you might not think that you do. But you have a bunch. You aren’t a slave. There are many hours in the day where you have options. You can make choices. But what will you do?
Will you be like Jesus? Will you give up your control for His sake? What does that look like? Well, it looks like allowing Jesus to be Lord. Will you say, even though I want to do this thing and have the power to do it, instead I’ll give myself up to Jesus’ desires for the sake of others.
For Today:
Pray:
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
Luke 2:6-10
We are anticipating the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is advent. And this year we are following Luke’s gospel as he passes on to us the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life.
I want to talk about power today. One thing most people don’t like doing is giving up power. We’ve had recent high-profile examples of this principle in South Korea and Syria. But to be honest, you only need to look at your workplace or your extended family. People don’t like giving up power.
Why? Well, power means control. Power means getting your way. Which also suggests why the disempowered are often the most frustrated or cranky or depressed in life. Think of the elderly, once they had significant control over their lives, now, they require people to wheel them around, feed them and bathe them.
I want you to imagine this today. Imagine you had no choice about what happened to you. No choice in your lunch. No choice in whether you head out or stay in. What you wear. Bed time and so on. Now, some of you might think that sounds pretty great. You are tired of making decisions. I reckon it would get old really quick.
Which leads us to consider this moment. When the God of the universe, the Almighty, the most powerful. Takes on vulnerable human flesh. God, the Son, comes as a child who needs swaddling and feeding. He doesn’t get to choose where He goes or doesn’t go.
And remember, power is about options. Jesus was within His rights to come in the fullness of His power. He could have arrived as, essentially, Superman. He could have exercised the fullness of His power in the most aggressive of ways. But He didn’t. Here we see the humility of Christmas.
And it’s a reminder to us. We have a lot of power. Oh, you might not think that you do. But you have a bunch. You aren’t a slave. There are many hours in the day where you have options. You can make choices. But what will you do?
Will you be like Jesus? Will you give up your control for His sake? What does that look like? Well, it looks like allowing Jesus to be Lord. Will you say, even though I want to do this thing and have the power to do it, instead I’ll give myself up to Jesus’ desires for the sake of others.
For Today:
- What’s one thing you enjoy the freedom to do?
- Are you willing to give up your freedom for Jesus?
- What’s one area of your life where you would really like to hang on to control?
Pray:
- Praise the Father that He is in control of all things.
- Give thanks for Jesus who gave up control in His humanity.
- Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others trust Him and submit to Jesus’ rule.
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