In John 5 v 36 Jesus explains why he has come to earth - he has a job to do: The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.
In other words, Jesus came not just so you can over stuff yourself with turkey, or open yet another pair of socks, not even so that people can sing carols about his coming. He came with a purpose, a man of actions which showed us the Father.
I went to church every Sunday for years. I even liked it, but it was just words. Then I began my nurses’ training and I met Sue – she radiated her faith and showed it in the way she conducted herself. She was a joy to be around. She never said ‘You must believe this or that,’ but there was something [about her]. Then she told us she had got a bus to take us all to hear Billy Graham – she had put her faith into action.
As we progress through this final week of Advent here is a prayer from the 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary,* and yet still so applicable today in the 21st:
O Lord our God, make us watchful and keep us faithful, as we await the coming of your son our Lord; that when he shall appear he may not find us sleeping in sin, but active in his service and joyful in his praise, for the glory of your holy name.
[*The so-called Gelasian Sacramentary (Latin: Sacramentarium Gelasianum) is a book of Christian liturgy, containing the priest's part in celebrating the Eucharist. It is the second oldest western liturgical book that has survived: only the Verona Sacramentary is older. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelasian_Sacramentary]
Reverend Margaret Watson (retired)
Former Salvation Army Officer
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