Phil Inglis - December 20, 2020
Wiseman
This week I celebrated my birthday. My social media feeds were flooded with photos and reminiscences, kind words and messages. My calendar was filled with quality times with parents, kids and my beautiful wife. My worries and concerns were all taken care o,f as people cooked for me and served me in lots of different ways. On top of all of that, I received beautiful gifts that perfectly aligned with my hobbies and interests. I cannot begin to tell you how much I feel ‘loved’ this week! As an added blessing, in my spiritual life this week, I'm also focussed on God's love for me. This is not surprising because in this last week leading up to Christmas, the fourth week of Advent, we traditionally focus on God's love. Throughout history there have been questions and discussion about God. “Does God exist?” “What is God like?” “Is God interested in people?” “Is God interested in me?” The bible has lots of people’s reflections on these questions and the conclusion of these thousands of years of reflection is that God is real and God cares about people. For instance, in Isaiah we have a prophet repeating a message from God: “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed” (Isaiah 54:10). We celebrate the love of God in the birth of Jesus because Jesus was God’s gift to humanity. In his life and ministry Jesus flooded the world with words of encouragement and blessing, his presence continues to infuse the calendars of billions of people, and his death on a cross took care of the primary concern of humanity. As the gospel writer John said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There is so much to celebrate around the gift of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, that for thousands of years we have spent time with others, sung songs of blessing and encouragement and shared gifts to bring joy to one another. Join us as this Sunday as we consider this response through the lens of the three wise men who came to give gifts to Jesus in Bethlehem that first Christmas.
Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12
