2 Peter 1: 16-21 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved,[a] with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
An ongoing theme of Advent and Christmas is light, which is picked up in this letter with the image of the lamp shining in the dark place.
As I am working on my Christmas Eve sermon and thinking about how to make it appealing and inviting, I am reminded the gospel does not need a clever presentation -- what God has done by coming in Christ stands on its own. The question is not, "how to sell the story?" but "how do I stay out of the way of the story?"
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