THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
The first Sunday in Advent is generally considered to be a time when we consider the Return of Christ. While the Scriptures definitely do call us to consider Christ’s return, and to place our hope in his coming, how we answer this call can make a huge difference to how we live our lives. If we make the return of Christ the “real thing” after the “curtain raiser” of life here and now, we inevitably devalue this world and the lives we live in it. If we become obsessed with predicting the time and manner of Christ’s coming, we lose touch with the world we are called to serve now. And if we make too much of the future return of Christ, we may end up missing God’s coming to us in the midst of our daily routines now.
If we are to avoid these pitfalls, we will need to understand something that the Scriptures make clear. Firstly, we don’t just hope in Christ’s return. Rather, our hope is in the new world that Christ’s return offers – the new heaven and new earth that will be established, and the reign of God that will finally be completely manifest. Secondly, our hope is not just about some future event, but about a new way of seeing and living in the world now. This means that, rather than try to take the prophetic language of the biblical writers literally, we are to grasp the hope that is found in the meaning of Christ’s return, and then live from that hope now, in every detail and interaction of our lives.
This week we explore what it means to live in the hope of God’s new world in Christ.
To download this week’s reflections in PDF format, click here.
