Christmas: December 3

Old Testament Lesson

1 Kings 19: 1-9

I love Elijah. He is my favorite person (besides Jesus) in all the Bible. Why do I like him? I relate to him better than any one in the Bible. He will do something great for God, and then he will run like a scared dog. He will be afraid. He will be worried, he will fall. Yet, God uses him. God uses him in some might ways, in spite of his failings. In the text for today, he runs because Jezebel has just threatened his life. In passage before this, he faces down hundreds of false prophets by himself, and through the power of God, he wins. 1 against 400, and through God he wins. How awesome is that? And now, one person says, I’ll kill you, and he runs. He goes from totally trusting in God to in a matter of minutes doubting and running. How many of us have moments of great confidence in God, moments where we see God so clearly, moments where God uses us in amazing ways, and then 2 seconds later we doubt and we run. That is what Elijah would do. And God used him. God spoke to him. He was among the greatest of the prophets. God’s grace was stronger than his weakness. So is it for us today. God’s grace is stronger than your weakness, you frailty, and even your sin. If you will just give Him control and let Him use you. His grace can do amazing things.

New Testament Lesson

Ephesians 4: 1-16

For Paul, we matter, we are important, we have gifts and graces. But the most important thing that these gifts and grace are for is for the building up of the body of Christ. He tells us to be humble and bear one another in peace. We are to as the body of Christ give strength to each other, but so often we do not. I’ve heard it put this way; the Christian army is the only army that shoots its wounded. Do we bind of each other’s wounds, or do we judge and look down on each other?

In the text it says that God has given us each grace and gifts. We don’t all have the same gifts or the same calling. Being a preacher is not the only way to serve God. I think in many ways, lay folk have more impact than we preachers do, because you are such an example in your workplace, or you can be, if you will allow God to work through you. What gifts has He given you? What ability has He given you? What calling has He given you? For, He has given you and everyone a calling and gifts. Are you using yours today?

Gospel Lesson

John 6: 1-14

Two things stuck out to me in this text. First, the people only followed because Jesus was doing miracles. They didn’t follow out of love or devotion; they followed because He was doing cool things. Why do we follow? Do we follow out of devotion, or do we follow because if we think if we are good enough, God will do what we want Him to? If I just pray, then God will “grant my wish.” The crowd followed because he was doing miracles. The disciples followed because they loved him. There were always two groups that followed Jesus, the crowds and the disciples. Which group are we in today? Do we follow for miracles, or do we follow because we love him.

The second thing that stuck out to me was Andrew speaking up. This was a huge crowd, and they had no way to feed them. It would take 8 months pay to feed them all. But, Andrew said, I’ve got a little bit, will that help? He didn’t offer enough to solve the problem, he offered enough to help. But, he offered it to Jesus. He was faithful. All Jesus asks of you and me is that we be faithful. We can’t solve all the world’s problems. All we can do is offer what we have. And then Jesus will bless it and do great things. Andrew offered some loaves and fish and Jesus feed a huge crowd. Will you offer to Him what you have today? If you do, if you offer him all that you are, no matter how little you may think that is, He will do great things.