Weekly Devotion

Sometimes the Christmas season brings despair and loneliness instead of the happiness that is expected of the holiday. There’s a lot of pressure to be happy, to be dazzled, and to act like everything is great — even when it’s not. I’ve heard people tell me that Christmas can bring out the worst in people. We have ourselves to blame for this, it’s not a spiritual problem, it’s a societal problem. While the notion that there are more suicides during the holiday season is scary, according to the CDC, it’s a myth.

This Sunday marks the second Sunday of Advent, a season of preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. Advent, from the Latin word Adventus, means “coming”. Many churches recognize Advent as the 4 Sundays leading to Christmas. They use this as a period of preparation not only for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ but also as a time of preparation for His Second Coming.

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous poem, “In Memoriam,” affirmed that “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” It also reflected his journey of faith after the death of close friend Arthur Hallam. Despite the tragic sorrow dragging him down, the experience challenged him, and ultimately Tennyson became an even stronger Christian believer adopting the faith that someday he would be reunited with his friend.

This got me thinking. It’s funny that people who don’t run assume that running is easy for daily runners. I next concluded that the same principle can apply to people who face daily struggles. While some folks display scars on their sleeves, where we know every bump in the road they’ve faced, other folks have such mature, deep faith that their joy in God shines brighter than the darkness of their valleys.

It’s so important to be “fed” by our church leaders. If we’re not, we might look in the wrong places. “Our Pastor portrayed downtrodden people in such a negative light, (P) exclaimed. “There was someone laying on the ground outside the church and he had no compassion for him.” We talked about the Samaritan in the Bible. The Pastor’s teaching didn’t reflect what I knew from my Bible reading. It didn’t reflect the Jesus I was getting to know.”

Life can be so hard, so tragic, even when we’re not enduring the unimaginable loss of a child. I know of several family and friends who are staring at cancer diagnoses, family cases of dementia, heart disease, suicide, and debilitating kidney stones. One knock that Christians took from the likes of Karl Marx was that we mask the pain of life with future promises of a perfect after life. “The opiate of the masses,” Marx wrote.

My favorite movies involve stories when the protagonist pays the ultimate price at the end. From a purely entertainment perspective, it’s so gratifying watching the bad guy suffer for his crimes. Rambo, Walking Tall, Jason Bourne, Lethal Weapon, and Taken are all thrilling fictional examples of justified revenge. But watching something play out on TV doesn’t involve God’s righteousness involvement. When it comes to real life, the rules aren’t the same.

An inquisitive Pharisee leader named Nicodemus snuck out at night to seek counsel from Jesus. He was a pedigree among the respected Pharisees. This highly regarded group knew Jewish Law and the Old Testament better than anyone. Why would Nicodemus use the cover of the night to learn from Jesus? Because there was a wave of skepticism towards Jesus and His “way” of followers. Nicodemus undoubtedly worked hard to attain his high status among the Pharisees, but if he was seen with Jesus, it could threaten his position.

The word Gospel comes from a Greek term, ueangelion which means “good news.” What good news? The good news highlighted in the Old Testament and saturating the New Testament is the announcement that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, has saved us through His life, death, and resurrection.

There is so much to learn from life experiences and people, if you’re willing to stop and listen. Our youth Pastor (D) spent some time the other day sharing his story with me. (D)’s warm and approachable personality is not overshadowed by the eloquence of his words. On the contrary, his articulation of his faith completes the picture of who he is. (D) talks the talk while walking the walk.