Advent December 15th
In today’s Making Room I wrote about the importance of managing expectations and the issue of having an entitled mentality. I quoted Thomas a Kempis who said he only felt worthy of “sorrow and pain.” In short, he was not one who struggled with feeling entitled! In contrast today’s CSLI devotional focused on the “rejoice greatly” refrain from Messiah.
How do you think these themes are connected? I believe they are two sides of the same coin. When we are aware of our own sin, we are able to replace expectations with gratitude. Knowing how short you fall paradoxically results in an amazing capacity to “rejoice greatly.” Perhaps this is the most countercultural post of Advent, but is also one of the most important.
Pop psychology offers all manner of excuses: you were oppressed, your parents were awful, you didn’t get the right education, your behavior would be different if you lived in a more inclusive society. But the Bible tells you to own it. Yes, we are influenced by how we are nurtured, but you also have an inescapable sin nature. The great news is that a Baby was born two millennia ago who came to fix what was inescapable. He lived a perfect life, and He offers to present you to God with His robe of righteousness which He bought for you on the Cross. Baby Jesus was wrapped in cloths and placed in a wooden feeding trough. Thirty-three years later Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross, wrapped in cloths and laid in a borrowed tomb.1 But death could not hold Him there! There is nothing in the world more worthy of rejoicing greatly over than His victory over death!
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:5-6
Digging Deeper:
What makes you “rejoice greatly?”
What keeps you from rejoicing?
Where are expectations derailing your joy?
Where are you most prone to excuse away your own sin?
This is essentially a paraphrase of a tweet from David Cassidy (@DPCassidyTKC) on 12/15/23 at 7:28 AM. The last sentence of which was “Christmas and Good Friday are the morning and evening of the same day of redemption.” How can the beautifully poetic continuity of the Bible be explained other than divine inspiration?