The Weight of Glory

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, December 24th, 2023:
Fourth Sunday of Advent

---

Romans
16.25-27 

​Brothers and sisters: To the One who is able to strengthen you according to my Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith — to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

We’ve made it through Advent. By the time you hear this letter from Paul to the Romans proclaimed from the front of the church, you will be in the final hours of waiting. Unlike most other years, this year Christmas Eve falls on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. A stark reminder of how fleeting and yet endless time is. The waiting felt interminable, yet the final week of Advent comes and goes in 24 hours.

The earthly life of Christ is like that too – a finite, known number of years. Such a short time, especially when compared to the biblical patriarch Methuselah, who lived to 969 according to Genesis 5:27 – nearly 30 times longer than Jesus did in His earthly ministry. The gap between the last Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve this year is a blink of an eye, and yet still full of meaning.

But those 33 years were infused with tremendous purpose. Every moment of His earthly life was heavily laden with meaning. Human flesh, incomprehensibly full of God, containing in every cell the weight of glory. That same fullness of God and His glory in the womb, in the manger, on the cross and every moment in between. Jesus’ very presence preached from the womb. There was no time to waste. Time was short and there was so much to be accomplished. 

As I stumble into middle age, I sometimes wonder at how adept I have been at putting off the work of God. I need to wait until the kids are bigger to focus on my relationship with God. I need to wait until my career is more settled to focus more on my prayer life. I need to wait until I’m retired to get back into ministry. The way I’m going, I will need to live as long as Methuselah to get to the work and mission God has set before me.

Jesus’ 33 years are a stark reminder that no one is promised old age. No one is promised time to wander before they reach their destination. Jesus is coming. Not just for the world, but for me as an individual. He knows the number of my days. His Spirit is working on me constantly, reminding me to not take my life for granted. 

Even if I live 107 years, I can’t keep putting off being for God. I want, as Jesus did, to use every day given to me to participate in God’s plan for me and for the world. I have no time to waste. From womb to grave, there is still so much to be accomplished.




Stéphanie Potter​

---