We’ve heard the expression, “he’s got something up his sleeve.” A magician stands before the crowd and to everyone’s amazement, he suddenly pulls out a dove from nowhere. We suspect that it was hidden “up his sleeve.”
Advent is here again. We read the same readings and go through the same routines that we did last year, the year before, and the year before that. We pull out Christmas decorations—same old artificial tree, same ornaments, same old wreath. Will this year will probably be a repeat of the ones we’ve done before?
What we don’t realize is that God has something up his sleeve that we know nothing about. He is not like last year or the year before; he is ever new. And he has gifts that are still in the process of being created for the first time. God is about ready to invade history again.
Today we hear the prophet Jeremiah tell the people that God has something up his sleeve (Jeremiah 23:5-8).
“Therefore, the days are coming, says the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought the children out of the land of Egypt;’ but rather, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north’—and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live in their own land.”
When Israel began to doubt, they reminded themselves that God is real—he brought the people out of the slavery of Egypt. He was a living God, who could do real-life things—even miraculous things—like what he did at the time of the Exodus. Jeremiah tells the people that he is a “now” God who is about to perform a new “Exodus.” This time he will intervene in their lives and release them from captivity in Babylon. They would be so excited about this new work of God that they would forget about the Egypt miracle and start talking about the Babylon miracle. God had something spectacular up his sleeve—a new moment of great deliverance. He is truly a living God, a God of the present.
We know about the Egypt miracle, the Babylon miracle, and the Bethlehem miracle—what about the “2018” miracle? God does not run out of ideas. He is ever aware of the needs of his children. What new miracle does God have up his sleeve this year? Will we notice it when it takes place?
God, like the magician, has the power to bring something out of nothing. He delights in bringing dead things to life. He delights in surprising his people with something new—something never seen before—the one thing they need more than anything else.
What is the now surprise God has for me? What deliverance do I need? What am I up against from which I cannot save myself? Where is the dark spot in my life where I need God to plant the light of his Son?
Let our hearts be open to a new creation that God is preparing for us. Let us not be so tied to our Advent and Christmas routines that we miss out on a new intervention of God in our personal histories. Let us believe that God sees us just as we are and wants to provide us with a new dose of his saving power.
Remember, God is creating something new for you.
“Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David” (Jeremiah 23:5).
