Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Jesus’ Second Coming, where some people disappear in the Rapture and others remain for the Great Tribulation, was a popular evangelical topic when I was a kid.

My 2025 Anglican church says little about Christ’s Second Coming. But in preparation for Christmas, four Advent Sundays focus on Jesus’ first coming. The prayer for one of the Sundays invites us to think about both events.

It says, 

   O Lord Jesus, who sent your messenger to prepare the way for your first coming,
      Grant that your ministers may prepare the way for your second coming [sic],
      by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. 

John the Baptist was the messenger of the first coming. He advised poor people to be generous, tax collectors to be honest, and soldiers to be content with their pay. 

According to the Anglican prayer, the Second Coming has many messengers–ministers or preachers who turn hearts of disobedience to the wisdom of the just.  

I understand hearts of disobedience, because I sure have one. But what’s the wisdom of the just?

Let’s look at the word wisdom. A great Danish grook says,
  Wisdom is the booby prize,
      given when we’ve been unwise. 

How many times have I earned that prize? Way too many! Sometimes it’s by surfing the fridge for sweets to soothe my restlessness. Sometimes I retreat inside myself instead of welcoming friends and family. Sometimes it’s expecting others to change, when it’s me who needs a new direction.  

Such are my foolish approaches to life. So what’s a wise approach? I could start by pointing to wisdom as a way to navigate life that respects God, others, and self.

When I put God’s name in that sentence, I describe not just wisdom, but wisdom of the just. Justice is about what’s right and wrong, and God judges that. 

The prophet Isaiah mentions a highway called holiness, where the pure in heart will walk (Isa 35:8). That’s the wisdom of the just. To abandon the low way of self-interest, and walk in the high way of holiness.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, as we come to the last Sunday before Christmas, we ask for the wisdom of the just. Turn our hearts from disobedience. Direct our gaze to you, not self. Prepare us for Christ’s Second Coming, when you will judge our wrongs and rights.  

Help us have wise and just relationships–eing kind to our partners, generous to the needy, patient with all. 

Help us avoid the foolishness of may words and little listening, of caring for the body but not the soul, of giving way to undisciplined thoughts and wayward actions. 

Give us the wisdom of the just, a wisdom to behave better, a wisdom to purify our hearts, a wisdom to look to you, not ourselves. 

As we celebrate Jesus bringing his light to earth, may we walk the highway that will leads us to shine like stars with him in heaven (Dan 12:3).   

Amen

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

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