First Saturday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Heart of Flesh
by Cynthia Tam
In the Advent season, we remember that Jesus came from Heaven to live on earth, and we anticipate his imminent return. But what we should also do is reflect on what Jesus’ coming has to do with our lives today. Do we know who Jesus is and what He is doing among us? How can we faithfully participate in His work on earth?
For those who have been a Christian for many years, the question of who Jesus is may seem obvious, but before we answer the question too quickly, let’s look at our reading from Mark 11:27-33. The religious leaders asked the question of Jesus’ authority, but Jesus refused to answer them directly. These leaders have seen or at least heard of Jesus’ teaching and His healing of many. The question they asked indicated a stubborn refusal to see Jesus as who He was—the Messiah they have been expecting. Deeply influenced by their culture and religious belief, even when Jesus healed a blind man (John 9), the religious leaders would not acknowledge that Jesus was from God. Jesus’ ministry to the people with various disabilities and his attention to sinners were radically counterculture. As such, the leaders could not acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, Lord and Saviour. It is easy to condemn the religious leaders for their blindness, but could we be similarly blind? Are there people that we don’t think should belong to Jesus, thus fail to acknowledge Jesus’s presence and work among them?
In the pandemic, God showed me the amazing things that He is doing in the lives of people with developmental disabilities. Some people with developmental disabilities are attending church, but sadly, it doesn’t mean that their gifts are recognized, and their faith nurtured. Nelson is a young man with autism. He has been attending a church with his family. But Nelson is not allowed to worship with the rest of the church in the sanctuary. Although Nelson is a young adult, he is assigned to a Sunday school class that is for people with all disabilities and ages, including several young children with disabilities.
With COVID-19, the church has moved online. For the very first time in his life, Nelson experienced what it was like to worship with his own family and the rest of the congregation. His mother, Mary, told me that Nelson had matured so much in his faith in these few months that it was beyond belief. We may not think that Nelson could understand the sermon, but in His wonderful way, God touched this young man’s heart as he joined his family in worship. Mary’s comment came as a response to my surprise at what Nelson said during an online family event. Nelson’s words of praise and his answers to questions were undeniable evidence of his growing relationship with God and his knowledge of Christ.
In an open letter to the church, Andrea Foster, who has two twin teenage girls with challenging and disabling conditions, asks the church not to forget them when we can return to congregating physically. The online church, as Nelson’s family has experienced, has an equalizing effect. Foster says, “For many of us, staying home, feeling locked down and living in a state of ambiguity is something we’re used to. However, we’ve never had a time when everyone else in the world felt a similar thing.”[1] Like Nelson’s family, Foster was thankful for how God has reached out to them and connected them with the church during this uncertain time of the pandemic. But already, they are thinking about what would happen when life is back to “normal” again? Will they be forgotten? Or will we allow the experience of isolation to shape our attentiveness to people marginalized by society and the church?
In this Advent season, let us be reminded that God, in Christ, has made us into a new creation, a people that have been given a new heart and a new spirit. My prayer for all of us is for the Spirit to anoint us afresh and remove the hearts of stone that are blind to God’s love for people rejected by society. Let us open our hearts to receive the Spirit’s gift of a clean heart, a heart of flesh that is filled with God’s tender love. As the Spirit points us to Jesus and directs us to the truth of Christ, we will no doubt be able to see Christ more clearly. As we meditate on the gospel’s account and meet Jesus in this Advent season, look attentively to how He touched many people with disabilities who were considered not touchable at the time. Consider prayerfully the examples Jesus has given us and allow Jesus’ love for the “untouchable” to overflow from our hearts of flesh to those He cares about, trusting that Jesus can indeed do miracles in their lives.
Jesus, our Messiah, is the ultimate righteousness. He is also the most faithful Servant of His Father. In His faithfulness, Jesus promises not to lose any sheep that the Father has given Him to the point of willingly laying down His life for them (John 10:15). Our faithfulness to the Lord is to cherish every life, remembering that every person, disabled or not, is loved by God. Our willingness to love people with disabilities and journey with them as we faithfully follow Jesus’s footsteps is our witness to God’s love for all peoples and nations.
The psalmist of Psalm 85 paints for us a beautiful picture of what happens when we turn from our folly and learn to be faithful. “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky” (vv.10-11).
Lord, may you grant us a clean heart, a heart of flesh that is filled with your love and mercy for others, and a heart that desires to meet your steadfast love with our faithfulness!
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One of the ways we have been connecting online since the pandemic pushed us online is through our Learning Centre, a weekly interactive Zoom call on a topic with a Canadian voice of wisdom. For the season of Advent, we will be featuring a few of our writers and making space to reflect together on the Advent Reader articles. Join us for the interactive sessions on Thursdays at 1:30 pm (Eastern time) or sign up and view the recordings of the sessions afterwards. SIGN UP for the Learning Centre Advent sessions.