Wednesday, December 20, 2023 – Advent Four/Christmas
“In the same way,
let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your
heavenly Father.” (Matthew
5:16, New Living Translation)
I have been following Calvin
(Calvin and Hobbes) in the daily comic strip this week? He always faces quite
the moral dilemma before Christmas; whether to give into his naughty side or
struggle to maintain the good in hopes that Santa will reward him for his
efforts. Should he make a snowball and hit Suzie with it or resist the temptation?
Of course, it is never about doing good just for goodness’ sake but to reap
presents from Santa. Or as he puts it, “To evaluate my character, my immediate
pleasure is being pitted against my future greed.” While he is figuring all
this out, he has built a mountain of snowballs. “The day after Christmas is
going to be epic.”
“For if I know the law but
still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best
intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I
can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it;
I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they
are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets
the better of me every time.” (Romans 7: 17 - 20 The Message Bible)
Isn’t that the truth!
We all wish we had made better
decisions and wiser choices. If we could do some things over again, if we could
have eaten our words, if we might have acted less selfishly, if we had taken
more time, if we had shown more love and compassion, understanding and patience,
then there might have been better outcomes. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty; if
we only knew then what we know now, then we wouldn’t be in the predicament we
find ourselves in.
But here we are, sitting on a
pile of snowballs, getting ready to compound our mistakes. He or she who is without
sin, let them throw the first snowball.
“It happens so regularly that
it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I
truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me
joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect
it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end
of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real
question?” (Romans 7: 21 -24, TMB)
But it is almost Christmas. Let’s
think and therefore act on the good side. We celebrate the coming of one who
puts things right even if we can’t. “The answer, thank God, is that Jesus
Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of
contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am
pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.” (Romans 7:25, TMB)
We lay a lot on this babe’s shoulders:
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest
on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, NLT) Yet, Jesus of
Bethlehem is also the word made flesh. He is the embodiment of goodness, the
living example of what it means to love others unconditionally. Our own good works, done in Jesus’ name, help
make this broken world a better place for us and others.
So, melt your snowballs into watersheds
of human kindness and compassion. May
the days after Christmas indeed be epic for one and all, because we continue to
let our good deeds shine for all.
May you all have a very blessed
Christmas!
Dale
(There will be no blog next
week, so have a Happy New Year, too. God willing and the creek don’t rise, back
on January 3rd.)
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