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Daily Advent Meditation
By Ron White
Revelation 3: 1 - 6
'And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:'
'I know your works; you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is at the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Yet you have still a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before God and before the angels. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.' (New Revised Standard Version)
The Advent season is about new beginnings...about one new beginning that completely transforms life. The story of the birth of Christ has given tremendous hope to those who have become intimately familiar with it over the last two millennia. Their hope has transformed the way that much of the world conducts their both daily life and business. A writer once wrote that "Hope is the basic ingredient in motivating ourselves and others."
For some, the story doesn't do what it has done for so many. One thing that two thousand years of elapsed time has produced is a critical rereading of the narrative. Whether for better understanding of the Christian imperative or factual deconstruction of the details of the narrative, critical re-readings and the subsequent commentaries have produced a doubt about the veracity of not only the advent story, but of the details in the entire Bible. As the Jesus Seminar (a group of Biblical scholars who study the historicity of Jesus) has so aptly illustrated, the Bible is only peripherally a historical document and is far more a collection of philosophical truths.
Do you ever wonder what the white robe will look like, the one this passage says you'll be clothed in when you have conquered this world? That isn't at the top of the list for most people who embrace the hope of entering the Kingdom of God. What about the Book of Life with your name written in it? Is it literally written on pages, whether papyrus or paper? Again, that isn't at the top of most folks' concerns. For me, the hope that the advent story gives and how I choose to live my life today are the pursuits in which I immerse myself. Truth for me is all about what I believe God has in store for me today and forevermore, whether I grasp the "factual" details or not. Can you embrace your hope without all the window dressing? As we enter this worshipful season, let the hope of Advent flood your senses and your consciousness. We have a salvation which, one day, can lead all of humanity out of the hopelessness of this world and into the brilliant light of hope which this Advent Season promises.
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