The Monday After • Dec 1, 2025
Advent
Darren Carlson
In Advent, we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus once said,
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." —John 10:10
There is a common response I see in people here: we have this ability to constantly produce reasons to believe Jesus will give up on us. Maybe it's not one big moment, but given enough time, we assume Jesus will finally grow tired of us. But that is one thing Jesus will never do. He makes promises.
There is a difference between what the thief comes to do and what Jesus comes to do. He says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Earlier in the chapter, Jesus says that those who enter through the door "will go in and out and find pasture."
That doesn't mean a problem-free life. No, this kind of abundant life is better than those things—it is the abundance that comes from walking with the One whose love you know is better than life and stronger than death. It is the confidence that you belong to God. What does Psalm 23 then say?
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
He promises to guide you into his pathways of blessing, even when you're too dumb to figure out how to get there yourself.
This abundant life, then, is not a question of self-fulfillment but of true personal fulfillment, because of the great privilege of belonging to Jesus' flock. He is your shepherd who knows your name.
He knows his sheep, he loves them, and he cares for them. He is not like other religious gurus who only demand. At the heart of the Christian faith is this: to be known by God. Jesus knows the sheep. Sheep are slow. Sheep are helpless. Sheep are dependent. But sheep can know the shepherd.
And it's not just safety Jesus is offering. It's life. Overflowing life. Joyful life. We don't just want to survive; we want to thrive at every level of our humanity. Sheep don't want to stay in the pen. In fact, they will die if they stay in the safety of the fold. They need green pastures and still waters. They need abundance.
The psalmist says in Psalm 84:11: "No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." No good thing does he withhold. That means if he withholds it, it isn't good; and if he allows it, he plans to use it for good.
Surrender is freedom.
What if you went through life with that confidence?
Let me take a moment to honor a dear saint who died this week, a woman I loved very much: Maie Sullivan. She told me stories—many of them sheepishly—and I told her more than once, "Maie, you have no say in what I say at your funeral because you will not be there to argue with me."
Every once in a while, I see some fool on Twitter mocking Christians and demanding that they produce a miraculous healing. While I could give many examples, let me just tell you this one. Thirty years ago, Maie was in hospice with incurable pancreatic cancer. Her nurse was a member of our church.
And two weeks ago, that same nurse was again at her bedside—this time recalling Maie's healing 30 years earlier, as Maie was now dying.
It was a reminder to me of two things: first, everyone who is healed still dies. And second, only through death will final, complete healing come for those who are in Christ.
The best book I have ever read on Advent is Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge. It's a thick book that I dip in and out of every year at this time. If you want to grab a book that you can read over the years, this is a great choice.
Thanks for checking in.
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