“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” (Luke 1:46-47)
Take a moment and stop. Close the tab opened to Amazon. Put down the Walmart gift guide. Set aside the gift inventories and shopping lists, just for a moment. Ask yourself this question: What have I turned Christmas into?
It’s a tough question to answer, isn’t it? There is no intent to induce guilt here, just a sincere invitation to reflect and evaluate the status of things. Christmas, the season for giving, is right around the corner, but judging by the commercials and billboards and advertisements, one would think it’s a season for getting. On purpose or not, we have turned Christmas into that annual time to justify spending money we don’t have, eating food we don’t need, or lining our pockets with profits.
What if instead of a season for getting we treated Christmas as a season for receiving? What if instead of a season for getting stuffed we treated Christmas as a season for being filled? What would Christmas become then?
During the four weeks of Advent, we will ask these questions in light of the example we see in Mary, the mother of Jesus. We’ll see that when Christmas is about receiving and being filled that, by necessity, it becomes for the faithful a season of responding. Mary’s response to the news of the incarnation recorded in the Gospel of Luke is a model for what all responsive Christian faith should look like.
Perhaps this year Advent will allow us to not only evaluate what we have turned Christmas into, but also consider all that God desires Christmas to turn us into.
Series Playlist
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Measured Incredulity
Dec 2, 2018 • 34:04
Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Rather, it provides an opportunity to move beyond trusting yourself in order to obediently give all of your life to God. Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: The Magnificat Scripture: Luke 1:26-38
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Faith From the Heart
Dec 9, 2018 • 32:56
Through Mary’s example we are encouraged to both express our faith out of duty to God’s call but also find our delight in it. Speaker: Aaron Meservey Series: The Magnificat Scripture: Luke 1:46-47
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Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise
Dec 16, 2018 • 38:02
God takes notice of the lowly and invites them to become a part of his redemptive purposes for the world. How could their response be anything other than surprise and surrender Speaker: Sean Scribner Series: The Magnificat Scripture: Luke 1:46-55
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All of Me for You
Dec 23, 2018 • 42:35
Faced with the realities of her circumstances, Mary’s faith in a trustworthy God is expressed through wholehearted devotion. Speaker: Sean ScribnerSeries: The MagnificatScripture: Luke 1:46-55
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The Foolishness of Christmas
Dec 30, 2018 • 41:24
Speaker: Jeff WortmanSeries: The MagnificatScripture: I Corinthians 1:20-25
