Advent Dy 10: Spirit

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“We have the "spotless Lamb of God" bound up in a human body. This is the One who loved us so much that He was willing to reduce Himself to a human egg. The incarnation was not just about the epitome of love and grace, it was about the willingness of the Son to travel the journey of the human experience.”  ―Don Wilton, Totally Secure





“I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit…” 

We don’t usually think about the Holy Spirit at Advent.
Mary tends to be our central character, our focus image for pregnant waiting and anticipation.
But the Holy Spirit was very much at work,
bringing a new thing. A new life (a new kind of life) into the world.

The Colossians and Hebrews passages from yesterday speak of Christ being “the image of the invisible God” and “the exact imprint of God’s very being.” Something miraculous and mysterious happened when Jesus was knit together in Mary’s womb—and it happened because the same Spirit who carried God’s words to the Hebrew prophets, that same Holy Spirit carried the fullness of God’s Word and glory into the world.

The Spirit who told Israel (Ezekiel 36:26):

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

The same Spirit told the world (in actions):
“I will give you the Word made flesh. And I will work within you—opening your eyes so that you might see and know Him.”

As we contemplate and anticipate the Word made flesh (the spiritual idea and essence of God being actually born into our physical world), we must search our own hearts, too. What would happen if the Spirit who brought Christ into flesh (the Spirit of Resurrection)—what would happen if that came fully into us? What if the incarnation wasn’t a one-time event that stopped at the manger, but continues in the Church and in each of us—knitting the love of Christ into visibility to the world?



United Methodist Prayer for Communion:
God, pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here...
that we may be for the world the body of Christ, broken and redeemed.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other,
and one in ministry to all the world,
until Christ comes in final victory
and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
All glory and honor is yours now and forever.
Amen.
 
Tomorrow's Word: Light


(Francesca Battistelli's "Be Born in Me")

All this time we've waited for the promise
All this time You've waited for my arms
Did You wrap yourself inside the unexpected
So we might know that Love would go that far? 
Be born in me, be born in me
Trembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me...


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