Dear Family at CCC,

     This Sunday we will have the privilege of partaking of the Lord’s Table. It will be especially encouraging for us to be invited to the Table after we hear God’s Word from Micah 2. In Micah 2 God speaks a sobering word of judgment against those who oppress the weak and the marginalized. A covetous desire for more and more material possessions, combined with a desire to keep them at almost any relational cost, easily clouds our view of God and leads to injustice against each other. Forgetting God’s generous provision for us, we too often fail to live generously for others.

     And yet Micah 2 also reminds us that God’s judgment is not the final word. It teaches us that God’s judgment is designed to preserve His people as we repentantly run to Him and as He faithfully leads us out of the captivity of our own self-centeredness. The Lord’s Table illustrates this truth in the greatest and highest way. Our heavenly Father did not spare His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all, so that in Him we may have life to the full. In Him we are set free of covetous hearts that only add to injustice. In Him we are set free to be generous to others.

In his commentary on how Micah 2 illustrates this truth, Gary Smith makes this helpful observation:

“Generous people take joy in helping others, so they think of the needs of others and not just their own. They recognize the generous way God has blessed them and want to respond in the same way to others. Community good is often more important than individual success, and security in the future is not a major obsession. They have learned the truth of Jesus’ statement that ‘a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’ (Luke 12:15).”

     As we enter this advent season, may the Lord’s Table help us to grow as people who regularly meditate on all the ways our faithful God has been generous to us! May the Spirit use these elements to help us to put aside the holiday burdens of covetousness and worry and anxiety so that we are better able to be generous to our friends, family, and neighbors. Ask the Spirit to use the Table to fix our gaze upon Jesus, who has given us Himself as our unshakeable, eternal, and highest treasure. 

In Christ,
Robby