Advent 1
Devotional
Pause Before The Pulpit
Personal Reflections For Pastors On The Lectionary Readings
Mark 13:24-37
As we begin not only the Advent Season, but also another church year, this Gospel Lesson implores us to be watchful and alert. I don't know how it is for every other pastor in the world, but I know how difficult it is for me (and some of my colleagues) to be as alert and watchful as we should be. I'm referring to not only the end times (which our text is in reference to) but also to our everyday life.
Ministry can be all consuming. Our heads are spinning with the needs of people, upcoming meetings, tensions that may exist in the church, a building program, sermons and Bible studies, and the list goes on and on; all of it consuming our thoughts by day and our dreams by night. On top of this, we are supposed to be alert to new needs and potential problems in the church. We are to be alert to the needs of our family, and we're expected to be alert in our driving and everyday activities. If we aren't, something or someone will probably catch us off guard.
The point I'm trying to make is this: When we are at our busiest in ministry (and we are beginning one of the busiest seasons of the church year), it is extremely difficult to be as alert and watchful as we should be toward everyone and everything around us. A failure to do so can prove to be painful and even fatal! This certainly is true in regard to the point our Lord was making in this text.
As he pointed out, an event is coming in the future which requires us to be alert and watching, for if we are not, it may well catch us off guard and possibly unprepared. This event is, of course, his Second Coming (or Second Advent). It will come on a day and time when we least expect it -- sort of like a car suddenly coming out of a side street or some family crisis -- catching us totally by surprise.
Could verse 34 also apply to pastors? After all, it was spoken to four of Christ's key disciples.
It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Jesus is the man who went on a journey. The slaves who were put in charge make up the church. Now my question is this: Are we, as pastors, the doorkeepers?
Are pastors not the ones who have a better sense of who comes and goes from our churches? Are we not often the one constant figure who greets people at the door -- if not when they arrive for worship, most often when they leave? Are we not the ones who watch over many of the affairs of the church, the most important being its spiritual affairs? In most of our church traditions, the answers would be affirmative.
Who then, above all people, is to be alert and watching?
We are. And in order to fulfill our Lord's urgent plea in this regard, we may want to make some changes in our own lives. Perhaps we will want to remove some distractions, simplify our lives, and delegate some duties.
If we are too busy and our minds too consumed with ministry problems, preparations, and details, so we cannot truly be alert and watching for our Lord's return, then we are doing our parishioners and our loved ones a great disservice. We cannot effectively preach alertness and watchfulness to others unless we are alert and watchful ourselves. Perhaps our Lord is asking us today, to free up some time in our busy schedules so that we can pay closer attention to this most important of all ministry tasks.
Has your life become too busy to even think about our Lord's return? If so, I urge you to take steps right now, today, with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, to become a doorkeeper who is alert and watching for our Lord's Second Advent.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
You know how busy this time of the year can be and how much is on my mind. Please help me to know how to readjust my schedule and lifestyle so that I can pay closer attention to what is most important: that of being alert and watching for your return. I ask this, not only for my sake, but also for the sake of my parishioners, so I can help them learn this important discipline as well. Thank you. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
What a wonderful, pastoral greeting our Epistle Lesson is! It would be a great way to greet our worshipers each Sunday.
It is also an Advent text due, no doubt, to Paul's reference to the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ and the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, both referring to his Second Advent. However, let us focus not so much on this theme as on the theme of "what God has given us" so that we can see the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To help us focus on this theme, I want to personalize this text in a way that hopefully will not take it out of context or change its meaning. I believe we can reread it in such a way that we will more clearly hear the wonderful promises to us personally, as we begin this busy and festive Advent season.
Grace to [me] and peace from God [my] Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for [who I am] because of the grace of God that has been given [me] in Christ Jesus, for in every way [I] have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind -- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among [my congregation] -- so that [I am] not lacking in any spiritual gift as [I] wait for the revealing of [my] Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen [me] to the end, so that [I] may be blameless on the day of [my] Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him [I was] called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ [my] Lord.
Please forgive me for taking such liberties with the text, but I hope you will agree with me, by reading it this way it becomes very personal. It no longer is merely a cordial greeting by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church, or a moving and heartfelt greeting that we might express to our congregation. Suddenly it becomes an intimate look at who we are, as servants of Christ Jesus in the ministry of the word.
Let me ask you: Are you going into the Advent season a bit "under the weather" spiritually? Sometimes this season sneaks up on us and we are not as prepared, inwardly or outwardly, as we would like to be and as others might expect us to be. Perhaps our own inadequacies or secret sins tend to get us down, and we feel less than excited about proclaiming the wonderful truths of the gospel during this season.
If I have just described you, allow me to cause you to pause and consider some wonderful truths from this text.
When was the last time you thanked God for who you are because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus?
When was the last time you reflected upon all the ways you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind?
Have you taken conscious note of how the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among your "flock" due to your faithful proclamation of his word?
Are you more apt to complain to God about the spiritual gifts he doesn't seem to have given you, rather than praise and thank him for the fact that you really are not lacking in any spiritual gift according to the ministry he has called you to and equipped you for?
As you face the Advent season and the coming church year, are you going into it trusting in your strength, or trusting his promise to you that he will also strengthen you to the end?
What does it mean to you that you will, simply by faith in Christ Jesus, stand blameless before God on the day of Christ's return?
When was the last time you thanked God for calling you into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ?
I hope you agree with me that now is a good time to pause and pray a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for who you are in Christ Jesus, and for what he has done, is doing, and will continue to do through your faithful service on his behalf.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
(you fill in the rest as you feel led, based on the above questions)
Amen.
As we begin not only the Advent Season, but also another church year, this Gospel Lesson implores us to be watchful and alert. I don't know how it is for every other pastor in the world, but I know how difficult it is for me (and some of my colleagues) to be as alert and watchful as we should be. I'm referring to not only the end times (which our text is in reference to) but also to our everyday life.
Ministry can be all consuming. Our heads are spinning with the needs of people, upcoming meetings, tensions that may exist in the church, a building program, sermons and Bible studies, and the list goes on and on; all of it consuming our thoughts by day and our dreams by night. On top of this, we are supposed to be alert to new needs and potential problems in the church. We are to be alert to the needs of our family, and we're expected to be alert in our driving and everyday activities. If we aren't, something or someone will probably catch us off guard.
The point I'm trying to make is this: When we are at our busiest in ministry (and we are beginning one of the busiest seasons of the church year), it is extremely difficult to be as alert and watchful as we should be toward everyone and everything around us. A failure to do so can prove to be painful and even fatal! This certainly is true in regard to the point our Lord was making in this text.
As he pointed out, an event is coming in the future which requires us to be alert and watching, for if we are not, it may well catch us off guard and possibly unprepared. This event is, of course, his Second Coming (or Second Advent). It will come on a day and time when we least expect it -- sort of like a car suddenly coming out of a side street or some family crisis -- catching us totally by surprise.
Could verse 34 also apply to pastors? After all, it was spoken to four of Christ's key disciples.
It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Jesus is the man who went on a journey. The slaves who were put in charge make up the church. Now my question is this: Are we, as pastors, the doorkeepers?
Are pastors not the ones who have a better sense of who comes and goes from our churches? Are we not often the one constant figure who greets people at the door -- if not when they arrive for worship, most often when they leave? Are we not the ones who watch over many of the affairs of the church, the most important being its spiritual affairs? In most of our church traditions, the answers would be affirmative.
Who then, above all people, is to be alert and watching?
We are. And in order to fulfill our Lord's urgent plea in this regard, we may want to make some changes in our own lives. Perhaps we will want to remove some distractions, simplify our lives, and delegate some duties.
If we are too busy and our minds too consumed with ministry problems, preparations, and details, so we cannot truly be alert and watching for our Lord's return, then we are doing our parishioners and our loved ones a great disservice. We cannot effectively preach alertness and watchfulness to others unless we are alert and watchful ourselves. Perhaps our Lord is asking us today, to free up some time in our busy schedules so that we can pay closer attention to this most important of all ministry tasks.
Has your life become too busy to even think about our Lord's return? If so, I urge you to take steps right now, today, with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, to become a doorkeeper who is alert and watching for our Lord's Second Advent.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
You know how busy this time of the year can be and how much is on my mind. Please help me to know how to readjust my schedule and lifestyle so that I can pay closer attention to what is most important: that of being alert and watching for your return. I ask this, not only for my sake, but also for the sake of my parishioners, so I can help them learn this important discipline as well. Thank you. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
What a wonderful, pastoral greeting our Epistle Lesson is! It would be a great way to greet our worshipers each Sunday.
It is also an Advent text due, no doubt, to Paul's reference to the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ and the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, both referring to his Second Advent. However, let us focus not so much on this theme as on the theme of "what God has given us" so that we can see the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To help us focus on this theme, I want to personalize this text in a way that hopefully will not take it out of context or change its meaning. I believe we can reread it in such a way that we will more clearly hear the wonderful promises to us personally, as we begin this busy and festive Advent season.
Grace to [me] and peace from God [my] Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for [who I am] because of the grace of God that has been given [me] in Christ Jesus, for in every way [I] have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind -- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among [my congregation] -- so that [I am] not lacking in any spiritual gift as [I] wait for the revealing of [my] Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen [me] to the end, so that [I] may be blameless on the day of [my] Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him [I was] called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ [my] Lord.
Please forgive me for taking such liberties with the text, but I hope you will agree with me, by reading it this way it becomes very personal. It no longer is merely a cordial greeting by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church, or a moving and heartfelt greeting that we might express to our congregation. Suddenly it becomes an intimate look at who we are, as servants of Christ Jesus in the ministry of the word.
Let me ask you: Are you going into the Advent season a bit "under the weather" spiritually? Sometimes this season sneaks up on us and we are not as prepared, inwardly or outwardly, as we would like to be and as others might expect us to be. Perhaps our own inadequacies or secret sins tend to get us down, and we feel less than excited about proclaiming the wonderful truths of the gospel during this season.
If I have just described you, allow me to cause you to pause and consider some wonderful truths from this text.
When was the last time you thanked God for who you are because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus?
When was the last time you reflected upon all the ways you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind?
Have you taken conscious note of how the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among your "flock" due to your faithful proclamation of his word?
Are you more apt to complain to God about the spiritual gifts he doesn't seem to have given you, rather than praise and thank him for the fact that you really are not lacking in any spiritual gift according to the ministry he has called you to and equipped you for?
As you face the Advent season and the coming church year, are you going into it trusting in your strength, or trusting his promise to you that he will also strengthen you to the end?
What does it mean to you that you will, simply by faith in Christ Jesus, stand blameless before God on the day of Christ's return?
When was the last time you thanked God for calling you into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ?
I hope you agree with me that now is a good time to pause and pray a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for who you are in Christ Jesus, and for what he has done, is doing, and will continue to do through your faithful service on his behalf.
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
(you fill in the rest as you feel led, based on the above questions)
Amen.
