From Beliefnet.com:
Advent Prayer, Day 20: Jesus is FamilyFriday December 18, 2009
Categories: Advent, Advent Prayer, Bible, Jesus, Prayer
By Claudia Mair Burney
Friday, the third week of Advent
"He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." John 1:10-12 NRSV
Recovery literature speaks of family dynamics, and the roles each member takes on. There is the clown, who takes the tension away by offering comic relief when times get tough, and there is the forgotten child who's, well... forgotten. Imagine being the forgotten God, the awaited Messiah that only a few recognize? But we can rejoice, because not everyone missed this loving God, so humble that he left his glorious existence to hang out with us mortals. And not only did he grace us with his presence, he made us into his family, insuring that we'd not only be God's people, but also his children.
Brother Jesus,
It's hard to believe that in you're so humble that you don't mind me saying you're my brother. You have come, and rather than hiding your identity from me, you've enlightened me.
"Come, Lord Jesus."
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/prayerplainandsimple/2009/12/advent-prayer-day-20-jesus-is-family.html#ixzz18R781H6Z
Day Twenty:
What Child Is This
Swift are winging angels singing,
Noels ringing, tidings bringing:
Christ the babe is Lord of all.
Anyone who has waited for the birth of a child knows the mixture of joy and nervous anticipation involved. As Christmas approaches, reflecting on the the new arrivals in our own lives can help us connect with the holiday's true meaning.
Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Advent/Advent-Day-20.aspx#ixzz18R7KrUwW
The Meaning of Isaiah's Prophecy
BY: Kathleen Norris
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Scripture: Isaiah 7:10—14; Luke 1:26—38
ISAIAH'S PROPHECY OF LAST SUNDAY RINGS OUT AGAIN TODAY: "the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." But we are farther along on our Advent journey, drawing closer to the true meaning of Isaiah's words. We hear them fulfilled in today's Gospel, the Annunciation of the good news to Mary. Surely the story sounded less than good to Mary's ears, and even frightening. Who is she, a peasant girl, that an angel of God should appear before her? Who is she, to bear the Savior God promised to Israel? Why should this great blessing, and burden, come into her humble life? Unlike Zechariah, however, Mary believes. For her question to the angel is not, "How will I know?" but, "How can this be?" She has already accepted the truth of what the angel tells her.
But Mary still has to assent to it, to answer "Yes." And on that our salvation hinges. Will the door open, or remain locked? Will we be subject to evil and death forever, or be led out into freedom? The answer depends on Mary, and it depends on us. As Denise Levertov writes in her poem "Annunciation,"
Aren't there annunciations
of one sort or another
in most lives?
Some unwillingly
undertake great destinies,
enact them in sullen pride,
uncomprehending.
More often
those moments
when roads of light and storm
open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from
in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.
The questions God asks us are always questions of being, rather than of knowing. And simply recognizing those moments, stopping for a moment because something, or someone, wants our attention, can matter. Chances are, we will not see or hear an angel—and if we do, beware; remember the desert monk who defeated a demon that appeared before him as an angel of light, by saying, "I haven't done anything to deserve an angel!" But it will be clear that we are being asked to say either "Yes" or "No," to embrace or ignore what God has set before us.
Like the ancient Israelites in the desert, we can long for the security of the world we knew in Egypt. Slaves, after all, have the security of knowing their place in the world. Or, like Mary, we can say "Yes" to the new, uncertain reality that promises true freedom. Saying "Yes" to God will always mean more than we can possibly imagine, both for us, and for others. Walls and stumbling blocks that seemed impassable crumble suddenly, as we let our fears go. Like Mary, we have no way of knowing any of this. We can ask for courage, however, and trust that God has not led us into this new land only to abandon us there.
Prayer
O Key of David, O royal power of Israel,
controlling at your will the gate of heaven:
Come, break down the prison walls of death
for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and lead your captive people into freedom.
Reprinted from God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas/Edited by Greg Pennoyer & Greg Wolfe Copyright 2007 by Greg Pennoyer Used by permission of Paraclete Press
Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2007/12/The-Meaning-Of-Isaiahs-Prophecy.aspx#ixzz18R7Xsp3P
Christmas: When Love Overcame Power
Christmas shatters the image of a harsh God. Out of love, God limited his power and chose to be born as a baby.
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Earlier this year, Beliefnet member "irishclarity"
posted
the following question on the Christianity message boards:
"How do I shed a [harsh] image of God? I try and I can't. This is the only God I know. I can't seem to find the loving God some speak of. And so....I wish I never knew God. I wish I was never raised to be a Christian.
"For me, God is a big entity somewhere out there. He is neither personal, nor caring, nor loving. Never has been. At least not for me. And the thought of ever reconciling myself to him and seeing him differently just seems an impossibility."
Tony Campolo responds:
Christmas shatters any idea that God is some kind of vengeful tyrant bent on smiting any who fail to live up to His expectations. The image of a harsh, punishing deity is contradicted when we discover that our God was incarnated in a baby in Bethlehem's manger.
What we realize with the birth of Jesus is that God is a loving person who was willing to give up power in order to express His love. At Christmas we are reminded, as it says in the second chapter of Philippians, that the same God who had the power to toss the galaxies into outer space and set electrons spinning in inner space loved us enough to set aside all that power in order to show that love.
Soren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth-century theologian and philosopher, once told the story of a prince who had fallen in love with a peasant girl. This prince knew that if he presented himself to her with all of his royal trappings, she would be overawed by him. His power and majesty would render her incapable of freely choosing to love him. Knowing this, the prince took off his royal garments, set aside his crown, and dressed himself as a peasant. He became a peasant in her eyes, so that in this guise she could choose to love him or not, for his own sake.
So it was with God at that first Christmas. If He had not been willing to put His power "on hold," loving Him would be impossible. We would not have the freedom needed to choose love if our God powerfully controlled everything. If all that we thought and did was under the control of His power, then love, freely given, would not be possible.
Sociologists who have studied personal relationships have long known that power and love cannot be simultaneously expressed. In any relationship, they point out, the person who has the most power is the one expressing the least love. Consider a married couple in which the wife loves her husband intensely, but he could not care less about continuing the marriage. Which of them has the most power? He does, of course. Her love has made her vulnerable to being exploited. Love does that! That is why Fredrick Nietzsche, the father of modern atheistic existentialism, sneered at love as he exalted "the will to power."
The good news is that 2,000 years ago, our God showed us His love by emptying Himself of power and coming into the world as a vulnerable infant child. The scandalous declaration of Christians is that the Bethlehem child is none other than the creator God, having become one of us. There is no greater love than this!
Sometimes it is hard to want a God who, for love, gives up His power. There are situations in which we might prefer a God with limitless power. When cancer strikes, or when evil enemies threaten, most of us, like the Psalmist, want a God who uses His power to provide deliverance and make things right.
But we can't have it both ways. Either we have a God who exercises limitless power or a God who limits His power so that love might live in His heart and in ours. God is love! That love has made Him vulnerable. We see that in the life of Jesus. That vulnerability was made brilliantly clear on Calvary. The Bible says that on the cross "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." On the cross we see how far God's love will go. He was willing to die an agonizing death rather than have those He loves endure harsh condemnation.
From Bethlehem to Calvary, we learn that God is not a condemning God, but a friend to sinners. In Scripture we read, "There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." This Christmas, be thankful for the God who comes to us in weakness because He loves; a God who annihilates any belief that He is a harsh and vindictive deity. His coming to us in Jesus is all the proof we need that in His love He wills peace on earth and good will for us all.
Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2005/12/Christmas-When-Love-Overcame-Power.aspx#ixzz18R7o5yat
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