A Radical Advent- Week III

"Just a Taste" December 17, 2007 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Isaiah 35:5 Monday, December 17, 2007 Twice baked potatoes. Twice baked potatoes and beef roast and corn and buttered bread...but especially the twice baked potatoes. That's what I remember best about my grandmother's house. Even today when I eat twice baked potatoes I always compare them to how I remember them at Grandma's. And along with the taste comes a flood of memories of other things from those days. Do you have a food like that? One that causes you to remember other places and people? Something like that is happening in Mark chapter 7, when Jesus says to a deaf man "be opened," and suddenly the deaf man can hear. Jesus gives us just a taste of what Isaiah describes. Isaiah's prophecy is a picture of heaven. It describes the end of injustice in the world, deliverance from the diseases that plague us, abundant new life for God's creation, and a blessed washing from all the sin that has stained us. All this will be ours when Jesus comes again. But the fulfillment of that prophecy is still to come. In His suffering and death and resurrection, Jesus overcame sin and death for us. But that isn't the end. Not yet. The miracles Jesus performed were a taste of the healing we are waiting for, a healing of all creation. Ours is a Radical Advent because we're waiting the coming of a radical transformation. Just like the foods we enjoy because they remind us of so much more, our Advent and Christmas celebration are just a small taste of the gift that we are still eager to open. Savor it! Prayer: O Savior, lead us by Your Spirit to dwell in Your Word so that we may "taste and see" Your goodness, and eagerly await Your coming. Amen. -Written by Pastor Ken Klaus