Pastor’s Corner – December 7, 2025
The Root of Jesse Shall Come Matthew 3:1-12
When I was child I remember Billy Graham landing on a helicopter, flying over a million people at his crusade in Seoul 1973 (his largest crusade ever, fact check). As a preacher’s kid, I imagined myself wanting to be like Billy who seemed to command a superpower to convert the world to follow Jesus!
Years later, following my father’s footstep to be a minister, I went to a seminary convinced that all my doubts concerning my faith would be more grounded with certainty and allow me to be able to preach with conviction to lead people to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Well, I was wrong. I was certified that I didn’t have the superpower like Billy. I came out more confused and perplexed, deconstructing everything I learned about my faith, the bible, church, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, theology and the world. Jesus was no longer that savior from the four spiritual laws of Campus Crusade for Christ that seem to be okay with cosmic child abuse (Jesus died for your sins to save you from God’s judgement to hell). If there is any “saving,” I’m now working on my own sanctification, justified by faith (reformed theology here) and my dream to be like Billy, meaningless.
Then I hear John the Baptist, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, making a crooked path straight, preparing the way of Christ’s coming. This feels very different. You can smell the difference of a man in the wilderness, a homeless man without proper address. No helicopter. No celebrity status. No crusade, just tragic death and utter defeat from all measure of what it means to be successful. In the words of Henri Nouwen, an invitation to “downward mobility.” This calling feels closer to what Jesus lived out in his calling, to love God with your heart, mind, strength and love your neighbor as yourself which ultimately led him to the cross. But beloved, the advent story doesn’t end here, the root of Jesse shall come!
This Second Advent Sunday, let us pray, praise and worship God together.
Pastor Dae