Advent Study Guide: Week Three
The apostle Paul: welcomed at first as if he were an angel
MONDAY 12.16.24 Galatians 4:12-15, Hebrews 13:1-2
The apostle Paul’s letters contain many eye-catching personal notes, along with their deep spiritual insights. Today’s passage reflected the apostle’s pain and confusion as converts from his work in the Roman province of Galatia seemed to be turning against him because other teachers had denied his message. “Receiving someone as an angel of God showed enormous respect.” * He arrived in their cities as a stranger, yet his message quickly won their respect. Now that had changed.
- “So, [Paul] asks, what has gone wrong? What happened to that blessing, that wonderful state of opening their hearts and lives to the word and power of the gospel, and finding it transform them from within? At the time they would have done anything for him (to speak of ‘plucking out your eyes for someone’ was a regular way of saying ‘I would do anything for you’).” ** Ephesians 4:12-16 said we shouldn’t “be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes.” How can you be firm (yet not rigid) in your convictions?
- One reasonable guess among Bible students about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9) is that it might have been poor eyesight. Whether that is correct or not, what does the image of “if possible, you would have dug out your eyes and given them to me” tell you about the Galatian Christians’ respect for Paul? Have you ever felt that level of respect for anyone?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your servant Paul won great respect from those he won to faith in you, yet it proved somewhat fickle. Give me an abiding respect and caring for you above all, and for your servants who guide and bless me. Amen.
* NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (pp. 10272-10273). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
** Wright, N. T., Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (The New Testament for Everyone) (pp. 52-53). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition. Stars as one part of the heavenly host
Hospitality as one of God’s diverse gifts
TUESDAY 12.17.24 1 Peter 4:8-11
When we teach about “spiritual gifts” at here at St. Stephen (We do so through our GPS class. New ones will start in early 2025), one common idea we need to clear up is the perception that only a few unusually talented people have spiritual gifts. Peter’s letter (along with the apostle Paul’s writings) is clear, speaking of serving “according to the gift each person has received.” Significantly, “open your homes to each other” is one of “God’s diverse gifts” Peter explicitly listed. The ability to welcome others (like an angel of God?) is one of God’s great spiritual gifts to believers.
- Scholar N. T. Wright captured the central message of what Peter wrote: “God’s love can transform your life and that of those around you. That, after all, is what you are here for (1 Peter 4:8–11): there is plenty to occupy any Christian in reflecting God’s love to others, in using to his glory the gifts we have been given.” * How can focusing your time and energy on reflecting God’s love to others, using the gifts God has given to you to God’s glory, shape your life in positive ways?
- In verse 8, Peter quoted Proverbs 10:12 to introduce his words about God’s diverse gifts. The full text in Proverbs contrasted love with hate, which “stirs up conflict.” A welcoming life is not just surface politeness—it’s an expression of God’s love. A consistently welcoming spirit (for others, God’s messengers and, ultimately, God) grows from God’s love and makes forgiveness a basic life principle. In what ways has God’s love implanted forgiveness firmly in your heart and mind?
Prayer: Jesus, too often, this world emphasizes “getting even,” or “settling the score.” You didn’t live that way, and you are the model I choose to guide and shape my life. Teach me how to live a welcoming life. Amen.
* Wright, N. T., Early Christian Letters for Everyone
A welcoming spirit as part of a deeply committed life
WEDNESDAY 12.20.23 Hebrews 13:1-8
Too often, we read a verse like Hebrews 13:2 all by itself: “Isn’t that interesting—I might host an angel without knowing it.” The following verses expanded on the idea of an unrecognized messenger from God. Prisoners, a marriage partner, a business or job rival, a leader in the church or in the larger world—verse 1 suggested we should view all those (and more) as potential messengers to welcome, members of God’s large human and heavenly family.
- “Hospitality to strangers was a major value of the ancient world. This instruction reminds us of the angels who appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18.” * We’ll review Genesis 18 in tomorrow’s study. Today we speak more often of the “hospitality industry,” and may assume that restaurants and hotels relieve us of the need to care about strangers. In what ways, other than an overnight bed in your home, can you offer welcome and hospitality to strangers?
- Scholar William Barclay, an avid student of history, wrote: “Christians became so notorious for their help to those in jail that at the beginning of the fourth century the Emperor Licinius passed new legislation that ‘no one was to show kindness to sufferers in prison by supplying them with food and that no one was to show mercy to those starving in prison.’” * Would your commitment to welcoming others ever move opponents of your faith to try to pass a law to stop you?
Prayer: Welcoming Lord Jesus, you intentionally came to live as a human, not out of curiosity but because you wanted to do all you could to welcome me into your kingdom. Fill my heart with an equally intense desire to treat others as you did. Amen.
* Kenneth Schenk, study note on Hebrews 13:2 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 451 NT.
** William Barclay, The Letter to the Hebrews (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 193.
Hospitality opened the way for a priceless promise
THURSDAY 12.18.24 Genesis 18:1-10
In our worship series we’ve focused on how God calls not only heavenly messengers to do his work but also earthly ones. Another important theme found in this passage is the generous hospitality Abraham and Sarah showed these unexpected visitors. As we’ve seen during this series, these visitors did not wear haloes or flash their wings at Abraham. Verse two simply described their appearance as “three men.”
- “Genesis 18 begins by telling us God appeared to Abraham… it will be some time before Abraham realizes the identity of his mysterious visitors. When three humanlike figures show up at his encampment, there is nothing to suggest they are anything other than three men.” Why might God not demand attention by showing up with lightning, thunder, dazzling light? Might one reason, at least, have been to see if Abraham and Sarah’s welcome was not just for an ultimate “celebrity”?
- Who exactly did the elderly couple welcome? “As we might have guessed… the spokesman is the one among the three who is or who represents God…. On the other hand, the person who the storyteller has told us is God refers to God in the third person (‘Is anything too difficult for the LORD?’).” ** How did this reflection of the ambiguity of just who Abraham and Sarah’s visitors were emphasize their welcoming hospitality, rather than undercutting it?
Prayer: Creator God, you later told Moses, “You can’t see my face because no one can see me and live” (Exodus 33:18-20). During Advent, I look forward to honoring when you came with a human face. But I thank you that I can recognize your presence through love’s power even when I can’t see you. Amen.
* John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 17–50. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p. 18.
** Ibid., p. 19.
Yes—Jesus welcomed (and welcomes) sinners
FRIDAY 12.20.24 Mark 2:13-17, Luke 15:1-2
In Jesus’ day, there were no published tax rates and tax tables. Tax collectors operated more like extortionists, collecting all they could from helpless tradesmen and farmers. Much of the money they collected went to Israel’s Roman occupiers; the rest went into their pockets. Inviting a tax collector to join him was shocking, as was welcoming that person’s circle of friends. The Pharisees and legal experts grumbled—but Jesus went right on welcoming sinners who wanted to join his kingdom.
- “Those first-century Pharisees sure were narrow and blind, weren’t they?” Yes—but we may need to look in the mirror, too. Christian singer Todd Agnew’s song “My Jesus” included these challenging lines: “My Jesus would never be accepted in my church, ‘Cause the blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet.” * What comfortable customs, habits or assumptions about who is and isn’t welcome might Jesus challenge in your workplace, neighborhood or church today?
- What should life in God’s Kingdom look like? The Pharisees and legal experts thought God looked down on “those people” who didn’t act just right. They felt they were right in snubbing them, too. Jesus infuriated them by acting as though God loved and welcomed all people who valued his kingdom. Did your early experiences of God and “church” agree more with the Pharisees, or with Jesus? Are you secure with your church loving today’s “tax collectors and sinners” or not?
Prayer: Lord God, your love and care reaches to all people, and I’m grateful it’s touched my life. Thank you for Jesus, who expanded the borders of your Kingdom beyond all my human biases. Amen.
* Click here to hear Todd Agnew’s entire song with lyrics.
Welcoming Jesus opens the way to life
SATURDAY 12.21.24 John 1:11-14
You may have already heard the words of John at a candlelight Christmas Eve service (if not, we hope you will join us.) Great news: “The light came.” Tragic news: “his own people didn’t welcome him.” Hopeful news: “those who did welcome him, those who believed in his name, he authorized to become God’s children.” And then the truly breathtaking claim: “The Word became flesh.” Scholar N. T. Wright concisely expressed the point of that claim: “John knows perfectly well he’s making language go beyond what’s normally possible, but it’s Jesus that makes him do it; because verse 14 says that the Word became flesh–that is, became human, became one of us. He became, in fact, the human being we know as Jesus. That’s the theme of this gospel: if you want to know who the true God is, look long and hard at Jesus.” * And welcome him this Christmas, whether for the first or umpteenth time.
- Being born is the way each one of us begins our life in the world. John, taking his cue from Jesus (cf. John 3:3-8), said that the life Jesus brought is so qualitatively new that it’s like being born all over, this time as a child of God. When did your spiritual journey start? In what ways has trusting and following Jesus given you a whole new life? Were you a likely candidate to become a follower of Jesus, or were some people surprised when you welcomed him into your life? In the prologue to his gospel, John said, “The light came to his own people, and his own people didn’t welcome him”. When you have welcomed Jesus and the light he brings to your life, how have you seen God work in unexpected ways in you? In the lives of others you know?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for being born, for becoming flesh, so that you could give me theauthority and power to be born anew, as a child of God. Thank you for my new life. Amen.
* Wright, N.T., John for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-10 (The New Testament for Everyone) (p. 5). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.