Christmas 2
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
We, who were first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
-- Ephesians 1:12
It takes a lot of trust to be a Christian. On this second Sunday after Christmas, consider the audacity of the promise of this season. Over 2,000 years after the birth of Christ, we still sing of peace on earth in a world torn by war. In a world that believes in power, we dare to claim that God came to us in the form of a fragile child. In a world that strives over wealth and fame, we seek the Christ born in a stable to peasant parents in an easily overlooked third-rate colony of the Roman empire. In a church that struggles to stay financially afloat, we claim God was made visible in poverty.
It all seems to challenge the logic of the mind. We are, as the early followers of Christ were called, people of the way. It takes a lot of trust to practice the Christian faith. The author of Ephesians said that those who trusted, "heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit" (v. 13).
Our hope is not in the logic of our minds but in a power from beyond us that interrupts our logic with continued experiences of redemptive hope. These experiences of God's Spirit are like down payments on "our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory."
Look at your church and notice the continual emergence of signs of God's grace. At times you feel almost overwhelmed by the challenges that threaten the church's existence, and then you find community in a world of strangers, forgiveness that interrupts judgment, healing that supports a frightened family, and strength in the midst of weakness. God seems to be especially inclined to be present to those most in need.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." There is reason to go forward in hope.
-- Ephesians 1:12
It takes a lot of trust to be a Christian. On this second Sunday after Christmas, consider the audacity of the promise of this season. Over 2,000 years after the birth of Christ, we still sing of peace on earth in a world torn by war. In a world that believes in power, we dare to claim that God came to us in the form of a fragile child. In a world that strives over wealth and fame, we seek the Christ born in a stable to peasant parents in an easily overlooked third-rate colony of the Roman empire. In a church that struggles to stay financially afloat, we claim God was made visible in poverty.
It all seems to challenge the logic of the mind. We are, as the early followers of Christ were called, people of the way. It takes a lot of trust to practice the Christian faith. The author of Ephesians said that those who trusted, "heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit" (v. 13).
Our hope is not in the logic of our minds but in a power from beyond us that interrupts our logic with continued experiences of redemptive hope. These experiences of God's Spirit are like down payments on "our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory."
Look at your church and notice the continual emergence of signs of God's grace. At times you feel almost overwhelmed by the challenges that threaten the church's existence, and then you find community in a world of strangers, forgiveness that interrupts judgment, healing that supports a frightened family, and strength in the midst of weakness. God seems to be especially inclined to be present to those most in need.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." There is reason to go forward in hope.
