Advent 1
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
-- Romans 13:14
To "put on Jesus" is contrasted with gratifying the desire of the flesh. To live according to the flesh is to allow ourselves to be controlled by our feelings. Feelings are mercurial. In an instant, we can move from elation to despair, from confidence to fear. Paul spoke to the church in Rome. His image of the church living according to the flesh was very physical. He described it as "... reveling and drunkenness ... in debauchery and licentiousness ... in quarreling and jealousy." All of these images are based on a person responding to the feelings of the moment and not taking concern for those around them. Apply that image to the church. If the body of Christ is guided by the desires of the flesh, it makes its decisions according to what pleases its membership or, at least, what avoids the fears of the membership. The church that acts on its feelings will rarely act in a way that is controversial or that challenges the status quo. To put on Christ is to allow Christ to be the head of the body of Christ. To discern what we should do, we examine the life of Christ who challenged the accommodation that religion had made with society and emphasized the grace and forgiveness of God. Pray to imagine how your church would relate to each other and to the world if it were not guided by its feelings but rather by the mind of Christ. As we begin Advent, consider what your church needs to do to emphasize God's grace to those who feel excluded in your church or our world. "For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is gone, the day is near."
-- Romans 13:14
To "put on Jesus" is contrasted with gratifying the desire of the flesh. To live according to the flesh is to allow ourselves to be controlled by our feelings. Feelings are mercurial. In an instant, we can move from elation to despair, from confidence to fear. Paul spoke to the church in Rome. His image of the church living according to the flesh was very physical. He described it as "... reveling and drunkenness ... in debauchery and licentiousness ... in quarreling and jealousy." All of these images are based on a person responding to the feelings of the moment and not taking concern for those around them. Apply that image to the church. If the body of Christ is guided by the desires of the flesh, it makes its decisions according to what pleases its membership or, at least, what avoids the fears of the membership. The church that acts on its feelings will rarely act in a way that is controversial or that challenges the status quo. To put on Christ is to allow Christ to be the head of the body of Christ. To discern what we should do, we examine the life of Christ who challenged the accommodation that religion had made with society and emphasized the grace and forgiveness of God. Pray to imagine how your church would relate to each other and to the world if it were not guided by its feelings but rather by the mind of Christ. As we begin Advent, consider what your church needs to do to emphasize God's grace to those who feel excluded in your church or our world. "For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is gone, the day is near."
