Welcome to our 2021 Advent Journey! This year we are making our way toward Christmas by exploring the four Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, but with a twist. This third week is not just about JOY but Joy(ful) Repentance, but before you jump in to today’s reflection, just take a moment, breathe slowly, and pray the following prayer as truthfully and earnestly as you can.
Lord,
source of all true joy,
You promised that at your appearing,
the pain of your absence will be replaced with joy,.
That when we see you again our hearts will rejoice,
and no one will be able to take away our joy.
And so we wait in hope.
Amen
Daily Scripture: Acts 19:11-20
Find the above scripture in your bible and read slowly – you might want to read it out loud. You can also find it here.
Reflection
Towards the end of Luke’s Gospel, the crucified but now risen Christ commissions his disciples to go and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations (24:47). When Paul came to the city of Ephesus, he stayed there for two years teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God, and we are told that God did extraordinary miracles through Paul. People were said to be ‘awestruck’, became ‘believers’, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised’ (19:17-18).
Note that in this passage there is both the negative and positive aspects of repentance on clear display. Positively, the people turn in faith to Jesus, and negatively, they confess their sins and turn away from their former occultic practices (19:18). As a public demonstration of their repentance they burned their books of magic at a cost of fifty thousand silver coins! This was costly repentance.
What might an equivalent story look like in our context?
Advent Quotes
”The scrolls in flames can be seen as “the books in which the spells were written down and thus kept ready for use.”Ephesus seems to have had a special relation to magical practices…These believers could have earned money by selling the scrolls but burned them. Before having turned into ashes, their value was calculated as “fifty thousand silver drachmas [or denarii],” [which equals] “a single worker’s wages for 137 years without a day off,” “in excess of 8,300 weeks of labor, or ”fifty thousand sheep, since “one drachma could buy one sheep.””
|Youngmo Ho and Hyung Dae Park
Advent Song: Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Satan, your kingdom must come down
Satan, your kingdom must come down
I heard the voice of Jesus say
Satan, your kingdom must come down
I’m gonna pray till they tear your kingdom down
Pray till they tear your kingdom down
I heard the voice of Jesus say
Satan, your kingdom must come down
Satan, your kingdom must come down
Satan, your kingdom must come down
I heard the voice of Jesus Christ
Satan, your kingdom must come down
| Spiritual
Closing Benediction
Be people of joy.
Let joy live in your heart and share the joy of Christ with all you meet.
Share joy by seeing the good in each other.
Share joy by remembering good times and hoping for good times to come.
Share joy by praying for our world.
In this Advent season, we need to see, feel, and share joy.
As you go out into the wonder of God’s creations,
share joy, peace, and hope with those you meet.
Amen.
| Liturgy Link
ZOOM REFLECTIONS
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As always, we would love to hear your thoughts and reflections and so please do leave a comment in the section at the bottom of this page. Much love to you all on this Advent journey!