Advent Devotional

Advent Devotional December 6, 2017

Scripture

2 Peter 3:1-10

1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you 2 that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles. 3 First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” 5 They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6 through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.

8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

Devotional

The Rev. Katie Crowe, Senior Pastor, Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church / Durham, N.C. / Christian Spirituality Focus

There are two ways in which we often speak about time. Chronos references linear, chronological time—human time as it were, marked by hours and minutes, days, weeks and years. Kairos, however, references the fullness of time. It is God’s time, in a sense, whose accounting exists in the realm of the eternal.

Grounding the reader in the ancient landscape of creation and the promise of Christ’s future return, the author of 2 Peter calls us to kairos living in a chronos- obsessed world. We are charged to set aside our impatience for the unfolding of all that is to come and instead be fully present, with “sincere intention,” to the gifts of today.

As we dip below the surface of the bustle of these days, we find all creation waiting with baited breath for the coming of the Lord. As we surrender the need to control where we are going in our lives and the speed with which we get there, we awaken to the art of living with sincere intention for Christ today. We become conditioned to the ambiguities of the kairos in a way that suspends us in a state of Advent expectancy, and we are baptized into a resistance movement against the tyranny of the chronos in our overbooked lives in a way that serves God’s redemptive purposes in the world in real time.

May God bless us with sincere intention each day of this Advent season as we wait with baited breath for Emmanuel.

Prayer

In the fullness of time, Lord Jesus, you became flesh and lived among us that we might be free from the fears of our timeworn lives. Grow our trust in you sufficient to stage a rebellion against hurry, that we might be fully present to the gift of these days. Amen.

Advent Devotional December 6, 2017

Scripture

2 Peter 3:1-10

1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you 2 that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles. 3 First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” 5 They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6 through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.

8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

Devotional

The Rev. Katie Crowe, Senior Pastor, Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church / Durham, N.C. / Christian Spirituality Focus

There are two ways in which we often speak about time. Chronos references linear, chronological time—human time as it were, marked by hours and minutes, days, weeks and years. Kairos, however, references the fullness of time. It is God’s time, in a sense, whose accounting exists in the realm of the eternal.

Grounding the reader in the ancient landscape of creation and the promise of Christ’s future return, the author of 2 Peter calls us to kairos living in a chronos- obsessed world. We are charged to set aside our impatience for the unfolding of all that is to come and instead be fully present, with “sincere intention,” to the gifts of today.

As we dip below the surface of the bustle of these days, we find all creation waiting with baited breath for the coming of the Lord. As we surrender the need to control where we are going in our lives and the speed with which we get there, we awaken to the art of living with sincere intention for Christ today. We become conditioned to the ambiguities of the kairos in a way that suspends us in a state of Advent expectancy, and we are baptized into a resistance movement against the tyranny of the chronos in our overbooked lives in a way that serves God’s redemptive purposes in the world in real time.

May God bless us with sincere intention each day of this Advent season as we wait with baited breath for Emmanuel.

Prayer

In the fullness of time, Lord Jesus, you became flesh and lived among us that we might be free from the fears of our timeworn lives. Grow our trust in you sufficient to stage a rebellion against hurry, that we might be fully present to the gift of these days. Amen.