The joys of Advent

     Christianity Today has done it again with a timely reminder in an Advent devotional booklet that this time of year is not just for us, but is a message of “great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). It celebrates good news that’s meant to be shared. 

Editor Kelli Trujillo expresses the hope that as readers reflect on God’s Word each day during the four weeks of Advent, they will engage afresh with core truths of the gospel. Like the shepherds who encountered the Christ child, they will glorify and praise God for all the things they hear and see (Luke 2:20). 

Trujillo goes on to suggest that Advent startles us in just the right way; jolting us out of our comfortable Christianity and familiar discipleship, and drawing us into deeper repentance, devotion, and hope.

In this special Christianity Today devotional, several well-respected religion writers and public speakers contribute their insights into the Bible passages that have been selected and recommended for study.

Rachel Gilson reminds us that Jesus taught plainly, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matt. 12:50). No matter a person’s station, ethnicity, gender, or nationality, if they are united with Christ, then caring for them is caring for Jesus himself.

Richard Bauckham of Ridley Hall, Cambridge (England), focuses on the anxieties thrust upon us by the pandemic and how we can be helped by the book of Revelation.

He writes: “As only God can create, only God can renew his whole creation. It started with the resurrection of Jesus—one new thing that changes everything. In lives transformed by the Spirit of Christ, we have a foretaste of the new future. That future itself goes far beyond what we can imagine.”

Jonathan Pennington, a New Testament professor at Southern Seminary, turns to the book of Luke and the challenges faced by the “faithful and godly” priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. They longed for the blessing of a child, and in due course learned that “God is always doing a thousand good things in every situation, even if we can’t see them.” 

Pennington observes that Zechariah’s stumbling faith was no hindrance to God’s power. Though the priest’s experiences were often frustrating and humbling, in reality, they were a gift.

“God showed Zechariah and the world that these events were not mere coincidences. [They] demonstrated that God was on the move in a new and powerful way to bring life into the world.” 

Jen Pollock Michel, an American author living in Toronto, Canada, makes the point that to follow Jesus is not simply to be saved by him; it’s to be changed by him.

According to Paul, she says, the gospel tells us that Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14). 

She concludes: “We know the working of amazing, saving, cleansing grace when God’s people turn from sin and surrender themselves wholly to God. If Advent is the dawning of light, repentance is the daily habit of walking in it.” 

To which I would add from my own walking experience that this spiritual illumination helps to heal hardness and the deepest wounds, and brings comfort and salvation to people everywhere—at any time of the year.