Matthew 3:9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
If you watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for the 400th time this year you may remember Charlie Brown’s little sister Sally whose claim to fame, or so she thinks, is her naturally curly hair. All the Peanuts characters are so great because they embody characteristics common to each of us. Sally’s is the way she takes one feature she possesses and clings to it as a way of feeling, at least in this one way, superior to others. We do it all the time in our world from early childhood on, whether it is physical (Being thin, strong, tall, not grey, not bald), social (how much I make, how nice my house is, how popular I am, how much I don’t care that I’m not popular), or intellectual (my grades, my SATs, how dumb those other people are). The above is John the Baptist’s message for his generation as he implored them to prepare for the immanent coming of the Messiah. They were counting on their heritage as pure blood Jews to give them a leg up on things. John said that lineage didn’t matter to God. What do you rely on to make you feel like you are “good enough” or at least better than some others? What is your naturally curly hair? How important is it really in God’s hierarchy? What might you need to lay down this Advent to place your heart more completely before God?
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 