{"id":8468,"date":"2003-12-15T22:49:17","date_gmt":"2003-12-16T03:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8468"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:28:11","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:28:11","slug":"3401","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2003\/12\/15\/3401\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent Devotion: The Return of the King"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (December 15, 2003)\u00a0 – Covenant Communications has been posting\u00a0 Advent devotionals from more than 250 church newsletters. This one is\u00a0 written by Timothy Johnson, pastor at Church of the Redeemer in Bowie,\u00a0 Maryland.<\/em><\/p>\n

The church sign of one of our neighboring churches caught my attention\u00a0 the other evening. It read: “Greatly Anticipating the Return of the\u00a0 King.” During any previous years of Advent this would simply have read\u00a0 as a statement of faith for Christians – that we ARE in fact eagerly\u00a0 anticipating Jesus’ return.<\/p>\n
This December, however, there is a clear double meaning to the sign. The\u00a0 third part of the very popular movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The\u00a0 Lord of the Rings<\/em> trilogy (The Return of the King<\/em>) is hitting\u00a0 the theaters this month. The sign and the double meaning behind it have\u00a0 gotten me thinking about how much we like things packaged and contained,\u00a0 as in the span of a two-to-three-hour movie. Even when movies are\u00a0 trilogies and the story line extends forward and back beyond the length\u00a0 of the movie we watch, there is a certain appeal to established\u00a0 beginnings and endings. It’s helpful to know where this part of the\u00a0 story we’re seeing fits into the broader picture. Therefore, there is a\u00a0 huge difference in grasping what is going on in a movie like The\u00a0 Return of the King<\/em> if one has seen the two movies leading up to it,\u00a0 compared to just seeing part three all by itself.<\/p>\n
However, “The Return of the King” referenced on the church’s sign is not\u00a0 about a movie. It’s about a reality. It’s about a promise: our king WILL\u00a0 come, someday, one day, perhaps today. And neither His story nor His\u00a0 presence can be contained in a neat and “graspable” package, even if it\u00a0 is a highly symbolic movie based on a profound trilogy. Our king spills\u00a0 out beyond the packaging into which we try to contain Him. He breaks\u00a0 through barriers, He removes dividing walls, He cuts through joints and\u00a0 marrow and moves into the depths of people’s hearts. He recreates old\u00a0 life into new life and rewrites the script we had settled for. He spills\u00a0 out across the breadth of life in ways that are unpredictable and full\u00a0 of raw beauty.<\/p>\n
Sweetly styled images of a chubby baby Jesus – come to bring peace and\u00a0 happiness to humankind – are inadequate. The salvation that He brings is\u00a0 not a nice add-on that will smooth out one’s life – it is\u00a0 revolutionizing. It is a top-to-bottom stripping away of the old and an\u00a0 infusing of the new. It is our king who brings death to our old selves\u00a0 and gives birth to our new selves. Not something that can be contained.\u00a0 Not neatly packaged. And not to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n
One of my favorite Christmas hymns is Christina Rosetti’s “In the Bleak\u00a0 Midwinter.” For years I have loved the haunting melody of this hymn and\u00a0 its driving force: giving all of what one has to Jesus Christ. However,\u00a0 I have lately become captivated by the first phrase of the second\u00a0 stanza: “Our God, heav’n cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heav’n\u00a0 and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.”<\/em> The biblical\u00a0 reference behind this is from King Solomon’s prayer of dedication upon\u00a0 completing the temple in Jerusalem. He asked God in prayer (2 Chronicles\u00a0 6:18): “But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens,\u00a0 even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple\u00a0 I have built!”<\/em><\/p>\n
As you proceed through Advent, ask God to push through whatever\u00a0 containers or packaging that you have tried to place upon Him. Invite\u00a0 Him to expand, excite and infuse your awareness of what it is to live in\u00a0 the daily presence of the real king “who was and is and who is to come.<\/p>\n
To read devotionals posted earlier, visit the following:<\/p>\n