December 15 – Micah 5 : 2-5a
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.
All of us are called by a name. Some are called by multiple names. To most I am Jordan. To my Nephews I am Uncle J.J. When I got in trouble I was Jordan James. To some I’m Mr. Hofmeister (although I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being called that). Some of us are called Mom or Dad, Grandma or Grandpa, Doctor, Nurse, and even Pastor. There was Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible and Richard the Lionheart. Jesus was called many things. He was called Immanuel, Lamb of God, Light of the World, the Messiah, the Savior, the Almighty One. Before his birth, the great prophets predicted his coming.
The Prophet Isaiah 9:6 proclaims:
“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
He is the Prince of Peace. What does that mean? Will he end all conflict? Will he bring the end of war and bring peace to the world? The Jews wondered the same thing. The prophet Micah does not say that he will bring peace but that he will “be our peace”. He is the peace within us. He brings us into a spiritual harmony with God and helps us to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. He lives in our hearts and listens to our prayers. The peace of a baby born in manger and who died on the cross. The peace that comes with knowing he saves us from our sins. The peace of grace.
May the peace of the Lord, Jesus Christ be with you.
Written by Jordan Hofmeister, HPC Choir Director and Elder
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
“Helping to lead the congregation in worship through music.”
December 14 – Philippians 4 : 8-9
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
My grandfather was a fan of poetry, and almost every visit would pull open an anthology and have me read, out loud, one of his favorites. Usually it was Robert Frost, but occasionally he delved into other writers, like Frank Lebby Stanton, a longtime popular editorial columnist for the Atlanta Constitution who was named Georgia’s first Poet Laureate in 1925. Among his many writings is a turn of the century poem titled, “Keep a’Goin.” It reads:
Ef you strike a thorn or rose,
Keep a-goin’!
Ef it hails, or ef it snows,
Keep a-goin!
‘Taint no use to sit an’ whine,
When the fish ain’t on yer line;
Bait yer hook an’ keep a-tryin’—
Keep a-goin’!When the weather kills yer crop,
Keep a-goin’!
When you tumble from the top,
Keep a-goin’!
S’pose you’re out of every dime,
Bein’ so ain’t any crime;
Tell the world you’re feelin’ prime—
Keep a-goin’!When it looks like all is up,
Keep a-goin’!
Drain the sweetness from the cup,
Keep a-goin’!
See the wild birds on the wing,
Hear the bells that sweetly ring,
When you feel like sighin’ sing—
Keep a-goin’!
Stanton’s poem is encouraging and uplifting, a reminder that no matter what is stacked against you, to keep moving forward. This, too, is the message Paul brings to the early church in many of his letters, including the one to the Philippians. Our verses for today come from the end of his letter, and are some of the last instructions Paul gives to the faith community. He urges them to be grounded in their faith, and to cling to those lessons they have learned to center them in this crazy world. Verse 9 calls them to “keep a goin.!” in confidence that God is with them.
Advent is our call to keep going towards those grand promises God has made. This week we contemplate the notion of peace, which can seem far off in a world fraught with conflicts big and small. And yet, we are moving toward a night when the angels will proclaim “peace on earth, good will to all people.” In anticipation of that night, we must “keep a goin’” towards that lofty goal. Paul’s verses give us some excellent ways to get there – truth and honor, pure and pleasing, praise. If these are the central core values we carry, and if we continue to seek to follow Christ’s example, there is hope for peace. It is hard work, but step by step we can live into its reality, with God’s help.
So keep a goin’, friends, especially in this busy Advent season, step by step moving closer to the manger that will be home to the prince of Peace, our Immanuel, God with us.
Written by Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
I love seeing how much FUN our members and friends have serving together. This week we are preparing to help 182 children in our area with gifts and food through our Santa’s Caravan, and every time I have encountered volunteers, the room is full of smiles and laughter. Heritage is brimming with JOY as we share God’s love with others, and it’s contagious!
“Unheralded Moments” – December 13 – Psalm 85 : 8-11
Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
June, 1974, Susan and I packed our household. We sold our house. We left good friends. We left our beloved church. We left jobs. We left security. With three children and a fourth due any moment we began a new adventure, a new life. We left Tallahassee, Florida for Decatur, Georgia to begin Greek school and four years of grueling study at Columbia Theological Seminary. A new daughter breathed her first one week later.
Excited, but unprepared for the challenges ahead, we stepped into our new adventure. Columbia extended some financial aid. Our church pledged monthly financial aid. Susan kept children in our apartment. We used food stamps. It wasn’t enough.
At times, we looked at a pantry bare. We stared at a checkbook empty. We experienced food stamps run out. We experienced new levels worry. We knew the desperation of millions facing no food for their children. We prayed. We prayed hard.
Suddenly, someone knocks at the door. Someone we don’t know brings bags of food. “You were in our thoughts and prayers today. We hope you will accept our help.” Other times, mail arrives with a check from strangers. “Your names were in our bulletin to pray for Sunday.” In the same way, these miracles happen to classmates.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
It’s easy to recognize miracles in needful moments when urgent prayer streams to heaven. Other moments happen when, I think, recognition comes later, in less dramatic ways, or maybe not at all. Simple acts of kindness revealed far ahead, maybe years ahead, to be “salvation at hand.” Friends turn around after just arriving for vacation to sit with us in loss of a loved one. “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet…” The sudden feeling of peace when yielding to a nagging feeling to take an extra angel from the Angel Tree. “Righteousness and peace will kiss each other.”
Can you recall unheralded moments in your life when “faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky”? Miracles are easy. But unheralded moments, unrecognized moments?
Written by Rev. Cuyler V. Smith
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
The mission and outreach programs of the church that meet the New Testament imperative to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners,” etc.
December 12 – Isaiah 11 : 6-10
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
There will be peace in the valley for me, someday.
When I read these verses from the prophet Isaiah, I am always taken back to this old gospel tune. Elvis and Randy Travis remind me of the hope of the old gospel melodies. I was raised as a Bapto-Presbyterian. My formal religious education was straight from the books of the frozen chosen but my spiritual upbringing came from the gospel roots of our family reunions. After eating and catching up with the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grand-folk, we would all gather under a tree, around a piano, near a bench with a couple of guitars and belt out those songs of hope.
Today we often dismiss the country gospel theology as a harsh “repent or burn in hell” philosophy designed to scare people into worship. I would tell you that at every tent revival, reunion, or gospel jubilee I ever attended, it was these songs of hope that echoed through the air and were remembered and taken home. I’ll fly away, He touched me, It is well with my soul… Just a few examples of that message of comfort and hope that Isaiah pronounced to the Israelites of ancient days, to the sharecroppers, black dirt farmers, and millworkers of my family, and to the salesman, doctor, lawyer, and checkout clerk of today.
The root of Jesse brings that promise of a bright future where peace and joy are not the exception, but the rule and all of God’s people are reclaimed to “glorify God and fully enjoy him forever”.
Written by Ben Atha, who has served as elder, teacher, and on many committees at Heritage.
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
“Heritage is a family, open to anyone, where we seek to serve the Lord through serving his world.”
December 11 – Sunday’s Sermon – “Christmas Dreams” – Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
What do you want for Christmas? A question you’ve probably been asked more than once already this holiday season. And, just in case you don’t have a ready-made answer, retailers have plenty of ideas. Amazon and others have even taken the time to sort them out by “type,” ensuring that you can access the best gifts for everyone on your list from your mother to your coworker to that elusive teenage nephew. Ask a child this question and you’ll likely get a wide range of answers, which might include something called a Hatchimal, which are impossible to find, or other items that are equally confusing or challenging to acquire. I love the song that goes “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!”(1) It seems the more we think about it, the bigger and longer our lists might get, and the more audacious they become. Rightly, so, you can imagine a parent or other gift giver seeing a request and responding “In your dreams!”
Wishes often lead to dreams and hopes, though, and our Christmas ones are no exceptions. This season offers us the opportunity to dream a little. But more than the “stuff” that makes up shopping lists, I think we are invited to consider what kind of lofty wish lists or dreams we might have for our world. This is what our liturgical season would have us do. Advent implores us, in fact, to consider those kind of hopes during this season of waiting, when we eagerly anticipate a world that will be changed. This week, we proclaim that Jesus is bringing peace to the world. Is this just some pie in the sky dream? Our songs resound with cries for peace on earth, but the world echoes back news of continued conflicts and struggles, like ongoing conflict in Aleppo from a civil war in Syria that is a humanitarian heartbreak. Christmas cards depict doves holding olive branches with Peace in beautiful script below them, yet we have family and friends who cannot bear to speak to each other, perhaps can’t even bear to mail a holiday card because of political and ideological divides that have led to broken relationships. But this week in Advent, we dare to dream that peace, in these and every circumstances, is a possibility.
Fortunately, we have a wonderful story in Matthew’s gospel that helps give us permission to dream such an audacious dream, because it recounts an even loftier and unlikely scenario that is about to unfold for a righteous man named Joseph. We don’t know a lot about him from the biblical text, although Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in The Message gives a great description, calling him “chagrined but noble.” We piece together that he was a carpenter by trade, and was following the traditional pattern of Jewish culture, betrothed to Mary, likely from a pretty young age. All in all, we might imagine a man who was, well, ordinary. His life was “on track”; all of his ducks were in a row. His path was laid out clearly before him, and he was faithfully following it. And chances are, day by day, he pretty much knew what to expect. Until, of course, his fiancé Mary comes to him with news that she is pregnant, news he knows is not anything he brought about.
You can imagine him stammering, stuttering, holding back all sorts of emotions – anger, fear, sadness, frustration – trying to make sense of this news. And then, considering what to do next, the question arises of whether or not they are still engaged, and Joseph might have thought “in your dreams!” But he does act with compassion, perhaps swallowing those emotions that would lead him to be vengeful, or even simply follow the Levitical code for a woman who appears to have committed adultery. He decides to dismiss her quietly, in essence to get a divorce, probably to not have anything more to do with her, but to spare her from the public disgrace. His decision is truly an act of mercy. And we might look at this move as more of a faithful response to Mary than simply what the letter of the law demanded. His decision is counter-cultural, a sort of civil or social disobedience. And yet, Joseph did not violate convention to be a political rebel, to make some sort of statement about the laws, or even to demonstrate what a kind and merciful man he was. He planned to do this quietly, without show.
That could have been the end of the story, but it wasn’t.
If I could insert a line for Mary here, I would add “well, dear, why don’t you sleep on it?,” in anticipation of the story that follows.
Throughout the biblical narrative, God uses dreams to illumine and inspire our understanding of our lives and the world. It’s not an aspect of our faith that we highlight a tremendous amount, most likely because it delves into a realm of mystery that makes us uncomfortable or confused at best. But nevertheless, it is a part of how Scripture explains how God’s work. Walter Brueggemann writes:
The ancient world and the biblical tradition knew about dreams. The ancients understood that the unbidden communication in the night opens sleepers to a world different from the one they manage during the day. The ancients dared to imagine, moreover, that this unbidden communication is one venue in which the holy purposes of God, perplexing and unreasonable as they might be, come to us. They knew too that this communication is not obvious. It requires interpretation.(2)
Stories in the Hebrew Scriptures highlight the dreams and interpretations with characters like Daniel, Joseph, and Jacob. The visions and images God gives to prophets like Ezekiel and Isaiah are further testimony to dreams being a vehicle God uses historically to communicate. So it would have not been that surprising to the early gospel audience that such news came via a dream. The news itself, however, would have been quite shocking. And, as any dream requires, it would have taken quite a bit to unpack and interpret the meaning of such a message.
An angel brings a message to Joseph of an even more radical alternative path to take; continue in relationship with Mary, taking her as his wife, baby on the way and all. The writer of Matthew breaks into this message with the reminder of that promise from Isaiah. Another name for this child, Emmanuel, “God with us.” It is clear that something incredible is on the horizon, not only for the faithful man called Joseph, but for all of God’s people. The tension in the story builds with the reminder of just how important this particular child is. Joseph’s dream puts everything into perspective – the perspective that this isn’t just some tabloid-cover scandal after all – it’s a story about the coming of the Savior.
For Joseph, this dream became a call and helped him understand his place in a much bigger story. His pattern of life as a righteous man was being taken to an entirely new level. To step into this role as the father of the one who has been sent to redeem the world, this child that he has not fathered and now does not even get to name. The angel’s message again turns the story upside-down, or maybe upside-down and sideways, and prompts Joseph to live into the unexpected. Our text today reminds us that often dreams change things and set us off in a new direction, one in which even the most absurd news can in fact become our reality.
Susan Andrews offers that:
Dreams are the way God frees us and rebirths us and pushes us into new life. So it is with Joseph, confused and scared and wanting to do what is right. So it is with us, wondering what God can possibly be up to. God turns us all into dreamers – we who know that the past it gone and that the new has come, but have no idea how to survive in our deserts of unfulfilled dreams. (3)
Joseph’s story gives us permission to explore our dreams, understood not just as those that come to us in our sleeping hours, but also those that come to us when we are pondering or thinking about life as it is compared to how we wish it would be.
Have you ever been like Joseph, “chagrined but noble?” There’s an exasperation and sigh that comes along with such a description, frustrated or distressed by a particular situation. It’s that moment when you inhale, regroup and say “ok, now what?” and then try to figure out how to set off in a new direction faithfully. In many ways, it’s our daily path as people of faith, but as this text illustrates, sometimes we are put at critical junctures in our lives and in the world where we are called to be a part of big changes and transformation. And in rushes the angel. “Don’t be afraid,” the angel tells us, God has big plans in the works, and you are to be a part of them. God is coming in person to help us figure it out; our Immanuel is right by our side.
What dreams are the Spirit stirring in you? In this season of Advent, we might consider if there might be something God is preparing to give life to in our lives, even if that comes in unexpected ways and sets us on a totally new path. Joseph’s dream reminds us that anything is possible. Susan Andrews continues, saying:
Joseph is our guide [to Advent]. He invites us to a seasonal slumber party – daring us to share our dreams about new life, our dreams about what we need, our dreams about everything we have been too afraid to dream about. He shows us how to welcome incarnation – the radical intrusion of a flesh-and-blood God into the dreariness of our human condition – the full embodiment of God’s dream of shalom and compassion and justice and grace and wholeness and abundance. He shows us how to name our dream – to name our dream “Jesus, God with us” – a dream even more vivid in the sunshine than it is in the dark. (4)
Use today’s Scripture as an excuse to take a Christmas nap. Or, better, take some time to truly rest and reflect on the hopes and dreams of this time of year. Bring yourself back to the heart of the Christmas message and what God’s surprising news might mean for your own life. A savior is coming! The world is changing! With God among us as Immanuel, what dreams might spring forth and become reality? What new life might you be a part of birthing this year? The time has almost come, and we can rest assured that God has a place for us within God’s story; sweet dreams, dear children of God.
~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
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(1) “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” written by John Rox, recorded by Gayla Peevey, Columbia Records, 1953.
(2) Walter Brueggemann, “The Power of Dreams in the Bible,” Originally published in The Christian Century, June 28, 2005, pp. 28-31. Accessed online at http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3218 on 12/5/2016.
(3) Susan R. Andrews, “Pastoral Perspective: Matthew 1:18-25,” Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Volume 1, Chapters 1-13, Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013).
(4) Ibid.
December 10 – Colossians 3 : 12-14
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
I have never once gone on a date without actively spending some time thinking about what I was going to wear. The reason for this, I believe, is obvious: I never wanted to look like a schlub in front of my date. I always tried (though sometimes failed) to look my best whenever I took a girl out; no matter the destination. I wanted to show my date, and also the world, that she was important to me and that I was proud to be standing next to her.
Colossians is a letter from Paul to a new dating couple: God and the church in Colossae. He was explaining to the Colossians how God was ready for their date and Paul was there to be their fashion consultant. Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience make up the suit worthy of a night with God. Paul even goes a step further and tells them to remember their overcoat of love (it is winter after all) that really ties the whole outfit together and makes a statement.
Every year, during Advent, we are reminded of when our relationship with God was fresh, new and exciting. The beginning of the relationship was when all we wanted to do was impress one another and learn as much as we could about each other. Over time we can get complacent in a relationship and start taking each other for granted. We can have a tendency to forget what brought us together in the first place. God asks us to get dressed for our anniversary and revel in the love that we continue to have for each other.
God is at our front door dressed to the nines, it is time for us to get dressed and enjoy our date.
Written by Matt Milford
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
I am passionate about our youth program and helping them to grow in their faith and knowledge of God.
December 9 – John 13 : 34-35
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
“They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” by Peter Scholtes (1938–2009) comes to mind when I hear this scripture. The words remind us of the bonds that we have as a Christian. We work, walk, pray and celebrate together in one spirit. But how do we get there? Is it just random chance that we all gather in one place occasionally on any given Sunday? How do we as disciples of God show others our love?
Being part of a congregation sometimes isn’t easy. We forget that others may not see things as we do. We let the differences of our fellow man get in the way of the care and love that we have for them. We forget that we are ALL standing in the dark just as the shepherds did when Jesus was born. Watchful, anticipating danger, but not the angelic announcement of the arrival of the Messiah!
If you look around the sanctuary on Sunday, you will see in our congregation people from all different places in life. Not the geographical places, although that is also true, but the life situations that shape us as individuals. We gather in worship, Bible studies, youth and Sunday school not because it is mandated by the state or even because we all live in the same neighborhood. No, we gather as diverse individuals guided by God to be part of a community of love. We show those that are looking that God is with us by the love we have for others in our congregation. We use the differences of our talents to bring the shining light that accompanied the angels celebrating Jesus’ birth. The simple act of gathering as a congregation and spending time listening to scripture is pleasing to God. But the care, love and the forgiveness that we show one another is when, as I imagine, God looks at us nods, smiles and thinks “Ah, today they get it”.
Written by Pam Couture, who has served as elder, deacon and on many committees at Heritage.
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
“I am most passionate about Christian education and enjoy wondering with the 3yr old through kindergarteners every Sunday in Children’s Chapel.”
“Through It All” – December 8 – Romans 8 : 37-39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
March, 1954, my father died. I was eleven. This event marked a divide in my life that, in my unresolved grief, I have judged the before and after. Before I was content, knew little of life, valued the time I spent with a traveling father, remember sitting on his lap as he read the Sunday comic strips to my brother and me. As I look back on the before all was at peace with the world.
Of course, you might say! You were only eleven.
That doesn’t negate the bad that happened…My father’s first heart attack, moving four times, forging new friends with each move, fear of starting school, seeing our first dog killed as he ran in front of a bus. But the lasting memories aren’t those. The lasting memories seem more formative…Living next to my grandparents, my first-grade teacher, daddy bringing gifts at the return from each long trip.
Sometime after his death I read A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall. I, too, wanted to be like Peter Marshall. I wanted to serve the church, help others, understand the Gospel better, have what seemed a wonderful life of service.
A call? It took twenty years to answer. Twenty years marked an intense personal struggle. Twenty years marked intense questions of faith. Twenty years marked wandering away and back again. Twenty years marked indecision. Death scared me.
Now, at seventy-six I wish I could say all was well. I mean I am a minister of the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus Christ. After all, a minister is supposed to have answers. A minister is supposed to know God. A minister is supposed to have faith without questions. Isn’t he or she?
Twenty years marked just the beginning of questions, of realization that pet answers may not be true, of questions and questioning. Twenty years marked the beginning of the intense struggle any minister who is true with him or herself can testify, of wondering. Wondering marks beginning of feeling separated. Wondering, however, seems inevitable.
But twenty years also marked the beginning of Christ’s coming back again and again. Twenty years also marked renewed assurance over and over. Twenty years marked Christ coming again and again.
This season of Advent marks the celebrating of waiting for Christ to come. It is the time we need the assurance Romans speaks of, the waiting for the reality of being God’s own through Jesus Christ.
Advent marks the beginning of being called back again and again, the beginning of Christ coming over and over, the beginning of the realization that we are God’s even when we feel separated and lost. Advent marks the season of the assurance nothing can separate us “from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus or Lord.” Not doubt, wandering, questioning, the daily struggles of faith and life, different opinions and interpretations, worldly views, nor death. For Christ Jesus, our Lord, is coming. Again and again. We are renewed again and again.
Written by Rev. Cuyler V. Smith
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
The mission and outreach programs of the church that meet the New Testament imperative to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners,” etc.
December 7 – John 3 : 16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
One of the first Bible stories I learned as a young child is the story of Noah and his Ark. Who could forget such an angry God, such a blessed family, or such a legendary dove? The premise of the story is very simple; we all know it. God had become angry on account of the sins of man and regretted his creation of man. His solution was to cleanse the earth of all humans, with the exception of Noah’s family. The sins of man were too grievous to be rectified, so instead, God almost erased mankind, giving us a chance to start over, to do better. We got a second chance, barely. Fast forward a few thousand years, and mankind is once again sinful. History seems to have repeated itself. However, this time, God decides to do things a little differently. He decides to sacrifice his only Son rather than force mankind to start over again. Why? We discussed this question briefly in Sunday School a few weeks ago, but since that small conversation, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this obvious contradiction in God’s behavior. Why would He change completely and choose forgiveness (at the cost of his son) over justice when humans were the ones at fault? The only answer I can come up with is love: unconditional love for humans, for our potential, for our faults, for our insecurities, for our past, and for our future.
John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much, he gave us his only Son. His Son wasn’t sent to condemn us, but to save us. We can have eternal life through him. He is for us. His purpose is us. Jesus was sent to earth as a direct result of God’s love for mankind, despite our disobedience and sinfulness. While he was here, Jesus did a lot of amazing things, but the most important thing he did is unconditionally love people. No one was exempt from grace and redemption through Jesus Christ. He loves each and every one of us so much that he suffered excruciating pain, pain we can’t even imagine, to pay for our sins, our white lies, our road rage, our bad days. He died for our worst qualities. This leads me to ask myself, if Jesus died for the worst parts of me, why is it so difficult to try and follow in his footsteps sometimes? Why can’t I love others with even a fraction of the strength and dedication of Jesus’ love? Because I’m human. We all are. We’ll make mistakes (maybe even twice). We’ll do the wrong thing. We’ll sin. But this is what God sacrificed his only son for. This is what God loves us for, our humanity. No human will ever be perfect except the one who walked this earth so many years ago. And that’s okay because God loves us enough to take care of us anyway. A once-vengeful God (the one who scared four year old me with stories of justice and anger and destruction towards sinners) transformed into a forgiving and loving God who sacrificed his child for each of us specifically. He will never give up on us, and, if one thing’s for sure, he’ll never stop loving us. I pray that in this Advent season, God reminds us to love Him, love ourselves, and love each other. Unconditionally.
Written by Katerina Massengale
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
I’m passionate about is our youth group. I cherish having a loving, caring, and supportive group of people willing to help me grow as a person and as a child of God.
