I love the season
of Advent. Advent is not Christmas. Rather, Advent is a quiet four week period of
preparation for the coming of the Lord through personal reflection and prayer
leading to repentance. In truth,
repentance is part of the daily life of every believer. We believe that Jesus died and rose to save
us from our sin, from ourselves. In
response, as we believe in Jesus, a Christian disciple turns daily from their
sin and turns daily in faith toward God’s forgiving grace in Jesus.
It is important
to understand that distinction. Repentance
is not just turning from our sin and our weaknesses. True faith and repentance is turning toward
God in faith. True repentance shows itself
in humble lives that admit our failings, and in humble lives which trust in
Jesus.
With that in mind,
I want you to consider with me the words of the angel who spoke to Zechariah,
the father of John the Baptist, as Zechariah was serving in the temple. Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless, so
the promise of the angel of God struck deep at Zechariah’s heart. “13 But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid,
Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you are to give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you,
and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the
sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he
will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. 16 Many of the people of
Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the
Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the
wisdom of the righteous-- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’" (Luke 1:13-17) This prophecy is great and
wonderful news for Zechariah and Elizabeth.
This childless couple would have a son.
This prophecy is great news for Christians, John the Baptist, the son of
Zechariah and Elizabeth, would prepare the way for the promised Messiah and
Savior who would finally come.
But, do you see
the surprising phrase in verse 17 of this prophecy about the preparation work
of John the Baptist? “And he
will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-- to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord." Part of this repentance, part of this preparing
people for Jesus’ coming, part of this turning from sin toward God, is the
turning of “the hearts of fathers to their children.”
When you think of
family troubles, and think of who needs to turn to the other, do you think of
parents and fathers turning to their children, or do you think of children
turning in love and faith and honor toward their parents? I know that today I often see children who
turn from their parents’ faith and values.
It seems to me that it is often the children who need to turn to
parents. But, I also see wisdom in these
words from God’s messenger. Perhaps
before children will turn to parents, parents who are so distracted by the
busy-ness and worries of this life need first to turn to their children in faith,
in love and tenderness. What do you
think? Does this phrase, to turn
the hearts of the fathers to their children” surprise you? Do you see God’s
wisdom in this prophecy?
Families
are part of God’s plan for healthy lives for His people. It is God’s plan that, “ . . . a man will leave his father and
mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
(Genesis 2:24) Healthy families
are God’s plan according to Ephesians 6:1-4, 1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2
"Honor your father and mother"-- which may enjoy long life on the
earth.’ 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in
the training and instruction of the Lord.”
Did you hear in the words of Ephesians that both children AND
fathers, or parents, have responsibilities in a Christian family? And, children are
healthier when raised in stable homes of faith and love. One of the ways that John prepared the way
for the Lord was to call fathers toward their children. One of the ways that we can today prepare for
the coming of Jesus into our lives is by building faith and love in our own families.
This might seem a
surprising thought, but remember, when Jesus came into this world He was born
into a family. Mary was Jesus’ mother. Joseph was His earthly father. This family protected and nurtured our Savior
in His vulnerable early years. Jesus was
raised in a family of love and faith. And,
building and strengthening our families is one way for us to repent of our sin
and to turn toward God.
Kathy and I have
returned to Alaska to celebrate Christmas with our children and
grandchildren. I confess that it is
always difficult to leave. It is
difficult to leave Alaska for Florida, because our Alaska family would love for
us to stay. If is difficult to leave
Florida for Alaska, because my Florida family, my 3 brothers and sister and
their families, would like us to stay.
It is a blessing that we have families of faith and love in two
locations. But, there are ways that
Kathy and I could turn toward our children, toward our loved ones.
Family is a gift
of God and it is always worth the effort to grow faith and love in our homes. Such attention to growing faith and love in
our families is, perhaps surprisingly, an act of repentance, of turning from
ourselves towards God. How are you
building family ties this Advent, as you await the Christmas celebration of the
holy family?
A Child of God, Seeking
to Build Faith and Love in My Family, Preparing for the Holy Family!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Maintaining a home . . . As mentioned before, our place in Florida
sustained roof damage and interior water damage this past summer. The damage was discovered on September
14. Our insurance company denied our
claim, but we appealed to mediation. Repair
work finally started on November 29.
·
Here are some pictures of the interior repairs. https://photos.app.goo.gl/2PaDYhTgWPAamMc19
·
The Mediation took place on December 3. We did reach a compromise settlement. Sigh!
Thankfully that is over.
P.P.S.
Kathy and I tried to get the last bit of
sun in before returning to Florida. One
thing we did was go to Crescent Beach on Friday, December 3. https://photos.app.goo.gl/1PuacSQHvXrtd6zd6
P.P.P.S. I did get in a couple more fishing trips.
·
On Thursday, December 2, I went fishing by
myself at Lake Alto in Waldo, FL. No
fish, 1 bite, but nice to be out. https://photos.app.goo.gl/UCG9v4rV4UTpuVL98
·
On Saturday, December 4 I fished by myself on
the Suwannee River. I caught 1 bream
(sunfish), 2 ½ mudfish, and 1 bass. Here
are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/cYDhZSKwyJWcgY197
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at
the end of August 2019 from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran
Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously
entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired
many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued
writing. However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys
Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior
pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who
asked to receive it. (Though I am now serving again part-time at St. John
as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you
understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish
to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my
distribution list. My e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our
Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father,
Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus,
St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
cell phone -
907-841-4066
Home phone -
907-746-5131
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