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Daily Devotions for the Advent and Christmas Seasons
Saturday, December 12
Revelation 3:1-6
by Carl Quong
The message to the church in Sardis strongly suggests that this church has enjoyed a reputation for success and accomplishment, but it is admonished for being spiritually dead and ineffective.
How could this be? Perhaps it was because the church had focused on the symbols of success and past accomplishments rather than the creativity, work, excellence, and vision that led to the accomplishments. Churches do often seem to care about their beautiful buildings more than the programs being conducted in those facilities, about program form more than program content, about following tradition more than understanding it.
Through the message to Sardis, we, as a church and as individuals, are warned that past successes are no guarantee of spiritual vitality. Blindly repeating programs and activities that were once effective without evaluating them can lead to a loss of creativity, innovation, and excellence.
The season of Advent, of the coming of the Christ, tells a different story. It is a story of hope and renewal, not of restoring old glories of the past as many may want. The coming of the Messiah is the time of a new beginning, of a new creation. We are not to be imprisoned by the past.
As we try to understand the traditions and meaning of this season, as we listen to the “angels singing,” as we free ourselves to be open to the hope that comes to us in unexpected ways, we are able to proclaim that hope through Jesus and to be part of the new creation that God has promised. The promise is still present. The new creation is ongoing. We are called to be participants in God’s work to bring hope and reconciliation to the world.
So celebrate. Celebrate the miracle and mystery of the birth of Jesus, Son of God, through which God fulfills his promise of constant hope and renewal for us and for the world.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for our joy as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ. Sustain and renew us by your continued presence among us so that we may be agents of your work in bringing peace to the world. Keep us mindful that we are part of your new creation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.