Advent Devotional Dec 16
Week Three:
Creating Shalom means Sounding Joy
Friday, December 16, 2022
“A New Christmas Carol” – Read 2 Corinthians 5:17
“So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (NRSV)
Charles Dickens wrote the amazing story “A Christmas Carol.” I have watched the movie version for far too many years to count. It’s one of my favorites. In Dickens's work, we read of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly, selfish man who lives only for himself and his work. It does not matter what movie version we see because Ebenezer always comes off as a miserable person: mean, greedy, abrasive, and very lonely. There are circumstances as to why he feels that way.
Ebenezer finds himself in a very uncomfortable position: he is visited by his deceased partner and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. During this encounter, he wrestles with how the past and present appear to define his future. At this point, I would have inserted this phrase, “Ebenezer, our past helps to shape and form us, but it does not have to define us.” It’s something I say quite often to myself and to others.
The truth is, we all have a past that we deal with. For some, it’s a difficult past; for others, the past might have been easier. But again, at some point, there will be a time of reflection and decision. Will I let my past define my future and who God has called me to be? Or, more simply: will I let my past define me?
I can assure you that God desires “new life” for each of us. I’ve always been moved by the spiritual essence of God at work in Ebenezer’s life. We find a time of reflection where Ebenezer is given the gift of looking back and seeing who he was. There is, in religious terms, a time of repentance when Ebenezer doesn’t like what he has seen. But then we witness “transformation.” I never tire of this part of the story. To watch Ebenezer experience the joy of new life and a future filled with hope and love inevitability brings me to tears.
Lord, may this season of Advent be for us a time of reflection, preparing us to receive once again the gift of Christ, who came so we might experience abundant life. Let this be our new Christmas carol: “So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Amen.
Rev. Linda Harker, Retired Elder
Online Campus Pastor, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Oklahoma City, OK
“A New Christmas Carol” – Read 2 Corinthians 5:17
“So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (NRSV)
Charles Dickens wrote the amazing story “A Christmas Carol.” I have watched the movie version for far too many years to count. It’s one of my favorites. In Dickens's work, we read of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly, selfish man who lives only for himself and his work. It does not matter what movie version we see because Ebenezer always comes off as a miserable person: mean, greedy, abrasive, and very lonely. There are circumstances as to why he feels that way.
Ebenezer finds himself in a very uncomfortable position: he is visited by his deceased partner and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. During this encounter, he wrestles with how the past and present appear to define his future. At this point, I would have inserted this phrase, “Ebenezer, our past helps to shape and form us, but it does not have to define us.” It’s something I say quite often to myself and to others.
The truth is, we all have a past that we deal with. For some, it’s a difficult past; for others, the past might have been easier. But again, at some point, there will be a time of reflection and decision. Will I let my past define my future and who God has called me to be? Or, more simply: will I let my past define me?
I can assure you that God desires “new life” for each of us. I’ve always been moved by the spiritual essence of God at work in Ebenezer’s life. We find a time of reflection where Ebenezer is given the gift of looking back and seeing who he was. There is, in religious terms, a time of repentance when Ebenezer doesn’t like what he has seen. But then we witness “transformation.” I never tire of this part of the story. To watch Ebenezer experience the joy of new life and a future filled with hope and love inevitability brings me to tears.
Lord, may this season of Advent be for us a time of reflection, preparing us to receive once again the gift of Christ, who came so we might experience abundant life. Let this be our new Christmas carol: “So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Amen.
Rev. Linda Harker, Retired Elder
Online Campus Pastor, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Oklahoma City, OK
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