Day 281: The Daily Visitation of God

DAY 281

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Forty-one    Sunday 20 December 2020

ADVENT IV

The Daily Visitation of God

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. - The Book of Common Prayer: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Fast forward from Advent – Jesus is approaching Jerusalem and as he sees it growing large in his eyesight “he beheld the city, and wept over it, …” After prophesying the downfall of the city, he tells them why this will happen: “because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke 19:44. The prayer for this day reflects, as does all The Book of Common Prayer, the King James Version.    

Visitation – the Greek is ‘episkopos,’ the prepositional prefix ‘epi’ meaning ‘over’ and the verb ‘skopos’ meaning ‘to see,’ from which we get our English word overseer, or translated as bishop in the denomination that takes its name from this word, the Episcopal Church. 

This visitation is disguised as a fetus in a womb, ‘veiled in flesh,’ and it is from that starting point the God of the universe has expanded His heavenly visitation over all the earth, great sovereign movements of the Holy Spirit, ‘visitations’ making Jesus real and sweeping millions into the kingdom of God beginning on the Day of Pentecost with 3,000 saved. Sometimes called revivals, our own American history has seen two great moves of the Holy Spirit in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, ‘Great Awakenings’ with the Pentecostal revival beginning early in the 20^th century marking the beginning of a movement of the Holy Spirit at the forefront of conversions to Christ in the world today. Whether in a nation-sweeping way or to one individual alone, God continues to extend times of visitation.

Reflective question: Are you open to a visitation of God in your life? Talk to him about it.

Reflective Scripture: Joel 2:28/Acts 2:17 – “’I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh...’”

Reflective hymn:

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” – Charles Wesley (1707-1788)  

Christ by highest heav’n adored, Christ the everlasting Lord!

Late in time behold Him come, offspring of a Virgin’s womb;

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate Deity.

Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Hark! The herald angels sing: “Glory to the newborn King!”