As we prepare for Christmas, we will be sharing weekly devotions.
Luke 21:25-36
“Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)
Fear is a great motivator and a powerful drug. People can’t help but react to fear, and when we do, it’s difficult for us to escape its grasp. Bad news gets the highest ratings. Politicians focus on how terrible things will be if their opponents win. Humans seem to make decisions based less on how awful things actually are than how scary they could be.
Because fear appeals to our basest instincts, it’s not easy to let go of it. I can get stuck going down a worst-case-scenario rabbit hole with the best of them, even though I know that giving into fear leads me down a path that I know is not healthy. Fear isolates us from others and causes us to make judgments about people that may not be fair or right.
By the 21st chapter of Luke Jesus knows that his people are, or soon will be, afraid. He knows that such fear might cause them to do things that are neither advisable or life-giving. Their fear may lead them to made life worse for themselves and those around them.
When he then talks about all of the things that they will have to fear, he gives them another option: “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Jesus knows that, despite initial appearances on the cross, he will never leave them; he will always be pouring out his life and salvation for them; and when things seem to be at their worst, God’s saving mercy shows up in real and tangible ways.
In this season of Advent and in this season of life be reminded of Jesus’s constant coming into this world and into our lives. Remember that he is always near to us, no matter how fear may cloud our perception. Receive the gift of faith that shows us how God’s grace overcomes any evil thing. Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near!
Let us pray. Holy God, break through our clouds of fear and despair, that we may see Jesus and his salvation shining within and around us. When we are driven to isolate ourselves and each other from fear, come among us to lift up our heads and show us every good thing that you are doing; through Jesus our Savior and our Life. Amen.
The Rev. Kevin Shock
Assistant to the Bishop
Allegheny Synod—ELCA