Lift up your head
by Maria Rudolph
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28).
Read Luke 21:25–36
If you weren’t at our recent Convention of General Synod, I’ll describe what the view was like for the delegates. As we exited through the doors of the Concordia College gymnasium where Synod occurred, the large lawn of the oval stretched itself out before us, and the Adelaide Hills rose in the distance in all their picturesque glory. Big changes for our church happened at this Synod, and emotions and anxieties ran high. Yet each time I stepped through those large doors, I had Psalm 121:1,2 ringing in my ears: ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.’
Today is the first day of Advent – the very first Sunday of a brand-new church year. If your church or home has an Advent wreath, the first candle will be lit today. Advent is not just a countdown to Christmas, when we celebrate the coming of the Christ-child at Bethlehem. It is also a reflection on the second and final coming of Jesus. The Book of Revelation has much to say about that time, and Jesus foretold some things about how this incredible event will unfold. It sounds monumental and quite terrifying, actually! So, should we be worried? Not at all. Jesus asks us to stand up and lift our heads when these things begin to happen.
Just a few chapters earlier in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of two men coming to pray at the temple. One was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. ‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”’ (Luke 18:13). The tax collector understood – much better than the Pharisee – that he could not stand upright before God in his own merit. He begged God for mercy. Similarly, we all join Martin Luther in praying: ‘We are all beggars, Amen.’ Because of Jesus’ righteousness, despite our mess and brokenness, we can lift our eyes to the hills, stand up with heads lifted high, and face the one from whom our help comes.
As we and our church step into a new church year, we steadfastly hold to Jesus’ words, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’ (Luke 21:33). Amid our brokenness and anxiety and occasional turmoil in our church, society and world, the Light of the World ignites the Advent candle, gently reminding us to lift up our heads, for his sake.
‘Come, Lord Jesus, come into this weary world. O, how we long for you to come, Lord, come.’ We pray for your mercy and grace over ourselves, our families, our church and our community. Lift up our eyes when they are cast down, and help us refocus on you, our ever-present help in trouble. Amen.
Maria is overjoyed to be a candidate for ordination as a pastor of the LCANZ while serving the St Johns Perth congregation and supporting the ministry of her pastor husband, Michael, at Concordia Duncraig congregation in Western Australia. They are parents to three children who are busy with primary and secondary schooling. Maria also serves the church as a member of the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
