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As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

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This series of Advent Devotions runs with the title \u201cImmanuel, God with Us,\u201d because at Christmas we remember that God came and took on our flesh to walk in our world, our space, in the history of our time.\xa0 We also look forward to the day he will come again to dwell with us face to face, on the day he makes all things new and sets all things right.\xa0 That is the one hope to which we have been called.\xa0 And we wait for it eagerly, especially these days.

In between those two comings though\u2014the Christmas Day of Christ\u2019s first coming and the future Advent Day of his coming again\u2014we still have a life to live.\xa0 A race to run.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

And just as Jesus took on human body as he was born a baby in Bethlehem, and just as he\u2019ll return in his resurrection body someday, so his body is still present and at work in this world in between.\xa0 But in a different sense.

The body of Christ in this world right now, between those two comings\u2014is us.\xa0 The church.\xa0 We are the body of Christ.\xa0 The body filled with His Spirit to accomplish His kingdom purposes in this world and in our lives until, as Paul will later write in this chapter, \u201cuntil we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.\u201d

So the body of Christ that is with and in this world right now, is us.\xa0 We are that body.\xa0 That tangible representation in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ.\xa0 We are the message of the Gospel, in flesh.\xa0 The ambassadors of reconciliation who bring words of confession and forgiveness in the name of Jesus.\xa0 The Spirit within us makes it so.\xa0

And lest we think this is all just a nice bit of fantasy or merely some illustration\u2014remember the very first words that Paul speaks in this chapter.

\u201cAs a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.\u201d\xa0 Paul had no illusions.\xa0 He was in chains.\xa0 In lockdown, as we are today.\xa0 Of course, Paul\u2019s personal situation was a lot worse than ours.\xa0 But even in our situation, we can appreciate the urgency of his plea.\xa0 This isn\u2019t fun and games, it\u2019s not playing around and dreaming.\xa0 This is dead serious.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

In the days when you can\u2019t attend church anymore because you\u2019re locked down: you\u2019ve got to live this gospel message where you are, being completely humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love\u2014especially those you\u2019re locked down with.\xa0 Or those in the government who have put you there.\xa0 Or those neighbours who you do still see.\xa0

It\u2019s an easy time to drift away, to fracture off, to split apart because of the intense pressures we face outside and in: but take heart!\xa0 We have been united to this body of Christ\u2014a union the Spirit brings and keeps and enables us to keep.\xa0 We follow One Lord who still sets before us the one hope, that when he comes again\u2014every bit of sin and evil will be set aside, every sorrow healed, every tear dried.\xa0

So stand firm, together with your brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.\xa0 And continue to be that body in this world, even in a time of pandemic lockdown, even on the darkest day of the year\u2014praying and living the prayer: \u201cyour will, O Father, be done. On earth as it is in heaven.\u201d\xa0 \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0

On my ornament today, I\u2019m going to try to draw some depiction of the body of Christ, the church in the world.\xa0 Not the building mind you, but the people.\xa0 I\u2019ll write the words: \u201cbe the body.\u201d

And for an action, is there one concrete way that you can bear with someone else in love? Perhaps it\u2019s someone that annoys you or that you\u2019re in a fight with.\xa0 Show love to them today.

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