Jude 1:17-25
17But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. 18 They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. 19 These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.
20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.
22 And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. 25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.
DEVOTIONAL
Advent keeps us mindful that we are a people of waiting. This season mirrors the time God’s people endured waiting for the promise of redemption and reconciliation to be fulfilled. We wait, but we do not wait passively. We live always as a people of purpose, and that purpose is expressed in our waiting as well. How do we wait purposefully?
Jude offers the way we are to act in this present moment. The last times began when Jesus ascended, and the Holy Spirit was given. So appropriately, these early Christians were reminded to live collectively in tune with one another and with God. Verses 20-21 remind them (and us) to build one another up in faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life.
Living in community takes a disciplined approach to life. We do not assume our own way or our own truth. Instead, we purpose to live together as a people of mutual compromise and truth. Our world does not really understand the importance of mutual compromise and truth. We are living in times in our nation when countless groups like to cast a vision for a “truthful” understanding of the phrase “We the People…” Yet in each interpretive rendering of what a faithful constitutional vision looks like, we see self-serving motivations rather than mutual compromise and truth. Perhaps Jude’s words to us this Advent ring with greater resonance.
We wait and yet we do not simply stare off longingly to the heavens. No! We take on the character of Christ, put on our work clothes, and get busy in the Kingdom. We bless and encourage, we pray and live continually in the Spirit, and we show mercy particularly to those who have lost sight of faith and need to be “snatched from the flames of judgement.” We live faithfully in the world, among people of the world, refusing to act as judge because we have been rescued and long to be instruments of rescue. We do all this looking to God who is able to keep us from falling away and who is purifying us as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
This is what it means to wait purposefully: encourage, pray, receive mercy, show mercy, and give glory to God. Amen.
Author: John Prichard
Other scriptures for today:
- Psalm 42
- Ezekiel 47:1-12
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