Romans 15:4-13
4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[a] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”[b]
10 Again, it says,
“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”[c]
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”[d]
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”[e]
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
DEVOTIONAL
Old stories carry the power to attract, to invite, and to open a window into another place and time. I am always amazed to see old stories reworked into new movies and I find myself wondering how or why they decided to pull that off. One example is Oh Brother Where Art Thou. Set in depression era America, it tells the story of a man on an epic journey to get home to his wife and children. On the way with Everett, we learn about courage, loyalty, and love in this epic journey.
However, when we examine the parts of the movie we find that this is just a retelling of Homer’s story of the Odyssey, one of the oldest surviving works of literature in the world. It still has the ability to capture our imagination and lift us beyond our current horizons.
Paul looks out over his great tradition of the story of God in Hebrew scripture and lets us know while these stories tell the story of the way in which God has worked in history with the redemption of the Israelite people, this story is also a word to us. Israel’s story is also our story. When we listen to the great themes we find that we are created in the image of God, we find ourselves trapped and enslaved in situations not entirely of our own doing, but we are caught up all the same. And deliverance comes to us in unexpected, grace-filled ways.
This drives us to an awareness of hope. Not a hope in our ability to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, or a hope in our ability to overcome challenges and difficulties. But our hope is in the God who meets us right where we are in Jesus.
This advent we find ourselves once again caught up in the unexpected announcements we read in Isaiah, the Psalms, and the writings we know as Gospels. Yes we live in dangerous and divisive days. Yes there are powers seeking to enslave and entrap us in ways that separate us from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yes there are announcements in the news that concern us. But right here where we live in this world God has made, God is breaking into our world with a word of hope, a reminder that we are invited to live into the story of God.
Author: Thomas King
Other Scriptures for today:
- Isaiah 11:1-10
- Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
- Matthew 3:1-12
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