Phillips Theological Seminary is once again providing this Advent Devotional for you and congregations. We continue to be blessed by the response to the booklet and the way that it is used. Many have shared that you use the booklet to assist with sermon preparation, in church small groups and Sunday school classes, as a daily congregation-wide devotion, and for personal and family devotion time. We have asked four writers to write on the theme for each week of Advent. We are so grateful for staff, scholars, and alumni that are willing to contribute to this devotional.
The writers are:
Week One, HOPE: the Rev. Dr. F. Douglas Powe Jr., President and Mouzon Biggs, Jr. Professor of Methodist Studies
Week Two, PEACE: the Rev. Mike Miller, Alum, Senior Minister at Marion Christian Church (Marion, Illinois)
Week Three, JOY: the Rev. Jenny Wynn, Director of Advancement
Week Four, LOVE: the Rev. Dr. Allie Utley, Assistant Professor of Liturgy and Practical Theology.
Our readers for this podcast are Ashely Gibson, Executive Assistant to the President and Board, and Matt Dean, Online Social Media Specialist. This year's cover graphic, The Path to Christmas, ws created by fourth grader Eden Berman.
We are grateful that you choose to join us in reflection and thoughtfulness by reading the Advent Devotional.
In Gratitude,
Assistant Vice President of Advancement
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Phillips Theological Seminary is once again providing this Advent Devotional for you and congregations. We continue to be blessed by the response to the booklet and the way that it is used. Many have shared that you use the booklet to assist with sermon preparation, in church small groups and Sunday school classes, as a daily congregation-wide devotion, and for personal and family devotion time. We have asked four writers to write on the theme for each week of Advent. We are so grateful for staff, scholars, and alumni that are willing to contribute to this devotional.
The writers are:
Week One, HOPE: the Rev. Dr. F. Douglas Powe Jr., President and Mouzon Biggs, Jr. Professor of Methodist Studies
Week Two, PEACE: the Rev. Mike Miller, Alum, Senior Minister at Marion Christian Church (Marion, Illinois)
Week Three, JOY: the Rev. Jenny Wynn, Director of Advancement
Week Four, LOVE: the Rev. Dr. Allie Utley, Assistant Professor of Liturgy and Practical Theology.
Our readers for this podcast are Ashely Gibson, Executive Assistant to the President and Board, and Matt Dean, Online Social Media Specialist. This year's cover graphic, The Path to Christmas, ws created by fourth grader Eden Berman.
We are grateful that you choose to join us in reflection and thoughtfulness by reading the Advent Devotional.
In Gratitude,
Assistant Vice President of Advancement
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Giving Birth in a World Out of Joint
Luke 2:1-8
We often celebrate Jesus’ birth in very individualistic and spiritual terms. Jesus has come to forgive my sins or be my friend or help me when things get tough.
Interestingly, these are not the emphases of these verses. Here the focus is on visions of a different world.
Jesus’ birth occurs in the context of an imperially exploitative act (2:1-3). Emperor Augustus orders a worldwide census. This counting of residents asserts power and political control to secure a world that benefits only elites at the expense of the rest. Emperors counted people in order to tax them. That was a means of transferring wealth and resources to elite control.
The reference to the census encapsulates the unjust Roman imperial world into which Jesus is born. Joseph and Mary are subjected to and cooperate with the Emperor Augustus’ decree.
While the census asserts the emperor’s control over people’s lives, something subversive happens in the midst. The divine purposes send Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, David’s city (2:4-6). Recall the angel’s words of 1:32-33 that Jesus will inherit David’s forever reign in the midst of Rome’s rule. According to Psalm 72, that reign is about justice for all, especially for the poor and needy. It resists oppressors, protects against those who use violence, and ensures peace and food security for all (Psalm 72).
That’s the gift of Christmas. It offers a vision of a different world, a transformed world of just living for all. The vision also functions as a summons to work for such a world.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.