This is really what I wanted to write yesterday but then got caught in the details of winding down my time in Prague. I’ll return to the library tomorrow morning, next, pack up the flat, and fly to Baltimore about cousin Susie on Wednesday morning. Home on Saturday evening!
So we are in the Middle of Jesus’ two ‘comings’. The first was 2000+ years ago and I love Christmas but if you follow this blog, you already know that. The second coming is unknown, except that, when I pass sometime in the future, Jesus would have come for me. I refer to ‘toward the end’ because I have lived a long and wonderful life already. I hope there is time for more. We have the announcement and foretelling of Jesus incarnation in Isaiah 40:1-11 and the event in Mark 1:1-8. We are in the category of the after. Jesus came and we have the benefit of the whole story except for the climax (read Revelation). God was preparing and began telling us His solution for our rebellion in Genesis. The big R is choosing other things/people over God. The incarnation lasted about 33 years. Sunday’s advent sermon, by Pastor Mike, was about hope. The people in Isaiah’s time had something to look forward to (hope) and we have more information today but hope again for the returning Messiah. They looked ahead and we look back at Christmas. John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, encountered Jesus from the womb. There is your proof that life begins early as Luke 1:41 reads, “that, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”. The connection I had never made is that when John baptized Jesus, he was, again, present and , “the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'” I’m not a theologian to say that John saw what Jesus experienced but he was there and Holy Spirit too. So advent is a time to prepare. Pastor’s summary was to: believe the good news, repent, and proclaim. Go tell it on the mountain or in Prague. Nativity hand crafted by the talented Nelleke, library staff. And a big shout out to Pastor Mike Weiglein of the International Church of Prague for the thought provoking teachings from the ever inspiring Word of God. What a fine church to return to someday?
