Advent Daily Reflection 2020-12-14
2 Corinthians 4.3-6
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
“We do not proclaim ourselves.” That these words were written nearly 2000 years ago is quite amazing to me. St. Paul could have been writing this as a message to us today. Spending our time and energy proclaiming ourselves, instead of proclaiming and living out the love of God, is a highly popular and time-consuming activity for most of us in the age of social media, self-promotion, and personal brand-building. But St. Paul knew then, as we know now, that proclaiming ourselves isn’t the right path or the Christian way of living.
The Christian way of living, as we are reminded here, is to serve others. We are asked to make deep commitments to those around us and honor those commitments. We are asked to love everyone. Personally, I need this reminder from St. Paul now and always. That we should live in commitment and active love is difficult, because we are tired, distracted, selfish, human. But through the difficulty it is the right path for us to choose. And it happens to also be the only path that brings anyone profound and lasting joy.
Let’s not let the love of God be veiled to us, or allow our minds to be blinded by the god of this world. Let us not proclaim ourselves. Now, in this Advent season, the time of darkness and of anticipation, let’s take a chance to proclaim the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Now is the time for living in commitment and active love.