Reflection for Advent III
By the Rev’d. Allison K. Dean
(Read/listen to last week’s reflection here.)
Listen to this week’s reflection here.
The collect for the Third Sunday of Advent reads,
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
This collect is one of only a few which begins with a petition or plea, rather than an address to God: “Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us”.
In the context of the Advent focus on the second coming of Jesus, and our need for repentance in preparation for that day, this prayer is really an urgent call for help.
Just this week we heard from John the Baptist, “you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”. We’ve heard the message of the prophets. We want to be better, want to do better. We want more than we currently have. We desire a different kind of life. Our communities, our country, the world, all seem to be spinning out of control:
- A string of robberies in Eleuthera
- A woman beaten at the bus stop in Nassau
- Confusion in parliament
- The collapse of the German government
- Impeachment of the South Korean president
On and on it goes. What are we to do?
We have to do the only thing that makes sense when we finally realize that we are sorely hindered by our sins, that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: we call on God to stir up his power and come among us.
Of course, we should have been doing this all along, not waiting until we’re desperate. But sometimes it takes drastic situations to force us to get our priorities in order. Sometimes it is only in those bottom-of-the-barrel, back-against-the-wall moments that we really, truly, understand our need – the absolute necessity – for God’s bountiful grace and mercy [to] speedily help and deliver us.
The catechism (p. 409) defines grace as, “God’s favour towards us, unearned and undeserved; by grace God forgives our sins, enlightens our minds, stirs our hearts, and strengthens our wills.” That sounds like something we need, doesn’t it? We need our minds to have a fresh understanding of what we’re called to do, who we’re called to be. We need hearts that desire to be like Jesus, that want to be holy. We need strength to do what must be done, say what must be said. We need power to say no to temptation and to have the ability to resist evil in all its forms.
God is able to give us all of that, and so much more. We only have to ask for it, which is what this week’s collect does.
It’s not at all presumptuous to make such requests of God. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that because Jesus is our high priest we can approach the throne of God with boldness in order to find grace to help us when we need it. As we prepare to celebrate the nativity/birth of Jesus, an occasion on which God’s power was plainly shown, I invite all of us into a time of intentional prayer for God’s power to be stirred up once again. Pray that by his grace we may grow into the people he has called us to be, that his will may be done on earth, even as it is done in heaven.