Advent Day 8: Power

Power is an idol in our culture.

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The desire for power and control is inherently at odds with advent.

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Contrast Herod with Jesus.

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When Herod hears that a new king is born, he orders the slaughter of countless innocents.

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So that he can retain power.

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At seemingly any cost.

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But Jesus, as king, doesn’t seclude himself in a palace.

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He doesn’t grasp for power at the expense of others.

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But for love, gives power to others at the expense of himself.

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And this struggle plays out again and again all over the world, ask throughout history. In the government. In the church. In the home. In every space where geopolitics exists.

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Advent reminds us that we’re waiting for a better ruler. Waiting for someone to tell a better story. Waiting for someone who wields their power not to put themselves ahead, but to empower the powerless.

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And it warns us that anyone who hoards power for themselves will face a reckoning.

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Advent sets the stage for a story, for a cosmic reality even, where the last will be first and the first will be last.