other articles by Bishop Stuck

Dear Disciples of Christ,

During this Advent and Christmas season we celebrate the coming of God's Son into the world. One of our favorite Christmas hymns speaks of this great gift. In the third verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem we sing:

In this season we celebrate the gift that God gives for the sake of the world. God in Jesus enters us through Word and Sacrament not only for our sake, but also for the sake of the world. And as we receive this great gift, we ourselves become instruments of God's love in the world, for the sake of the world.

Recently I read an article by Eugene Peterson, a retired Presbyterian pastor, who shared what it meant to live the spiritual or contemplative life of a disciple. He defined this contemplative life of the disciple as "living the Christ life in the Christ way."
At one point in the article he says, "The contemplative life is not about us. It is about God. The great weakness of American spirituality is that it is all about us: fulfilling our potential, getting the blessings of God, expanding our influence, finding our gifts, getting a handle on principles by which we can get an edge over the competition. The more there is of us, the less there is of God."

I was struck by that last phrase, "the more there is of us, the less there is of God." Immediately I thought of the words of John the Baptist who said of his relationship with Jesus, the Messiah, "He must increase, but I must decrease." He said this because he knew that for the sake of the world, the Messiah must be the center of the drama of his life. Is there a better model of faith for our lives as disciples of Jesus? For the sake of the world, Jesus needs to be the center of the drama of our lives also. As he enters in through prayer, scripture reading and the sacrament we become less and he becomes more. When this happens we become instruments of God's love for the world.

The last verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem speaks the appropriate prayer for this season:

As God is with us, we will be God's people doing the will of God in the world. May we been given the faith to trust this great gift of God for our life together in the Church.

Your Servant in Christ,

Bishop Jim Stuck

(reprinted from the December, 2003 I-K Synod Lutheran Newspaper)