Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
MONDAY, December 14
Matthew 24:15-31. So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel...flee to the mountains.
The "desolating sacrilege" spoken of in Daniel 12 was an idol set up in the Jerusalem temple in the second century B.C., desecrating the holy place. Like "apocalyptic" literature elsewhere in the Bible, both Daniel and this section of Matthew use symbolic language to refer to a time of open conflict between good and evil. As with the passage from two days ago, use these words as a lens through which to view current events and then ask how we should engage those events.
Where today do good and evil confront each other? What are today's false gods? Where does a "desolating sacrilege" invade sacred places? What do you do if your "desolating sacrilege" is another's "legitimate extension of Christian principles?" And is fleeing (to the mountains or to another church) always the best way to deal with it? These are thorny questions, but here are three hints at possible answers: First, don't get so caught up in the conflict that you lose sight of Jesus. Second, look for Jesus in places and among people where you least expect him. Third, focus more on the desolating sacrilege that tempts you than on the one that tempts somebody else.
PRAY for the Diocese of Winchester (Canterbury, England)
Ps 41, 52 * 44; Zechariah 1:7-17; Revelation 3:7-13
View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"Quoting from the song entitled While You Were Sleeping from the Casting Crowns Christmas CD "Peace on Earth":
United States of America, Looks like another silent night, As we're sung to sleep by philosophies, That save the trees and kill the children, And while we're lying in the dark, There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky, For the Bridegroom has returned, And has carried His bride away in the night, America, what will we miss while we are sleeping?.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
United States of America, Looks like another silent night, As we're sung to sleep by philosophies, That save the trees and kill the children, And while we're lying in the dark, There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky, For the Bridegroom has returned, And has carried His bride away in the night, America, what will we miss while we are sleeping?
A Meditation for Pentecost
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