An Orderly Account
This last Sunday marked the start of the Season of Advent where we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus' Birth and Incarnation. For the next while I'm going to work through the first two chapters of Luke's Gospel to explore his particular perspective on Jesus' coming into our world...
Luke was a Greek convert to Christianity. He was a doctor and accompanied Paul on some of his missionary journeys and also looked after him. His writings indicate that he was a learned and erudite. It seems he was a beloved and trusted figure in the early church. His writings reveal a sensitive man who emphasised prayer, valued the role of women in the church, saw that the gospel was Good News especially for the Gentiles, had empathy for the poor and downtrodden and loved to describe Jesus as the "Son of Man."
From the content of the Gospel, it is clear that Luke must have conducted interviews with "eyewitnesses and servants of the word" because he has perspectives and insights not present in the other gospels.
He addresses his gospel to Theophilus. The name means "God's friend" ("Theos" + "filos".) Some scholars suggest that "Theophilus" was merely a construct - Luke's way of saying that his Gospel and Acts were for all who loved God. Others suggest that Theophilus was Luke's patron (who had sponsored his studies and would now publish his writings) and that the meaning of his name is an "added bonus". I quite like the latter perspective...
It seems that Theophilus had heard the gospel, and maybe even was a recent convert. Luke wants to deepen Theophilus' faith and in doing so, I think he gives us a good tool for Advent: "it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. In this crazy Covid 2020 I think there is great value in preparing for Christmas in an orderly way: That we should re-visit the "old old story" with fresh eyes and allow the certainty of our faith to re-cement our souls.
May I suggest the following:
- Join me in our journey through Luke's Advent
- But also set aside time to think about how you will prepare your heart for advent in a thorough and orderly way. Write a letter to yourself or write down some thoughts in your journal. However you do it, make some decisons that lead to action and change.
- Be faithful in having a daily time of prayer, devotion and drawing close to God.
- Be faithful in Sunday Worship - attend physically if possible or online if your circumstances don't allow otherwise.
- Covid19 has disrupted many of our "traditions" as far as holidays and celebrations go... but maybe this could be a gift! We can re-invent, re-ground, re-purpose those traditions that may well have "wandered off the pathway" and we can come back to emphasising the things that really matter. To be radical is to "go back to the roots!"
| Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke1:1-4) |
