Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
The Advance of the Gospel
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Philippians 1:3–14 (ESV)
Abba,
Mystery is not JUST not knowing something.
Mystery is found in those things closest to us. In fact, as Bonhoeffer observes, the closer a thing, or person, is to us, the more mystery we find.
This is especially true in love.
Love, defined as “Unselfishly choosing for another’s highest good” is saturated with mystery.
The closer we are to one, the more we are known, the more mystery we see when that person “unselfishly chooses” for my highest good. Truth is, I am terrible person the flesh. Sin and the curse, my fallenness and brokenness make it so. Therefore, for another to unselfishly choose for my highest good, AFTER seeing the full depths of my selfishness and pride, yes, indeed this mystery is profound.
Why grace and love persist in the face of such selfish, prideful extravagance is simply a mystery.
Grace IS a mystery. Why can grace exist when evil is so proliferate? Why would any choose to unselfishly put another before themselves, especially when it will involve hurt, betrayal, grief, and pain? Why would any choose to love and serve me when the depth of my own tendency towards self is exposed?
Indeed, the more we uncover, the more mystery there is and the more profound it becomes.
This mystery is made all the greater when the chasm between me and that other person is greater. For instance, the greatness of Your holiness, Abba, and Your perfection makes Your love for me so much more of a mystery. You are FAR more grand than me. You are FAR more righteous and good. And yet, Your love for me is ever more evident and abundant. The mystery is MORE profound because of how wide the distance is between You and me.
Truth is, the more intimately known we are by others, the more profound the mystery when love is extended and given. The more one unselfishly chooses in the face of the other’s sinfulness, the more mysterious it becomes.
The fact that anyone, after knowing me, decides to remain near to me…well, that is the mystery indeed. A mystery profound and rich.
THIS is the wonder then of what we celebrate at Christmas. The embodiment of love coming down and being extended to undeserving creatures, created by You and for You but rejecting You. The mystery is not that we fail to see and know grace. The mystery is our failure to understand it to its fullest extent. The more we know You, the more we stand in awe of the mystery that is You and the more we drawn to delight in it, immersing ourselves in it.
This advent season, reawaken our love for mystery and satisfy us with the profound mystery that You are for us.
A Singular Passion 