Seeing Christ in Humanity

Seeing Christ in Humanity

God, who birthed creation.

Maker of the stars and the depths of the seas,

the one who knows all, sees all, loves all

and holds all things together

in the palm of your hands.

The one who is with us.

Who created and made history,

on the day you came as Son into our story.

And you came fragile as a baby.

Mother Mary holding your tender body

surrounded by the stars that declared your glory.

Flipping the tables on our hypocrisies

You sat with tax collectors

and gave women back their dignity.

Children became worthy

and every stranger welcomed home as family.

In every encounter

You invited us to live differently.

And so we pray.

We come before you with all our unfinished stories

                and all our mistold histories.

We come trembling;

               from the unravelling of our abuse and misuse of these lands.

               We’ve forgotten that they are the creation of your hands.

We come lamenting;

                That the colours of our skin and the language of our mothers

                Has kept us from loving,

                has kept us from truly seeing each other.

We come repenting;

                that national borders have become tightfisted battlegrounds

                over who shall and who shall not be guests on these lands.

And we come weeping;

                Our bodies broken, beaten and discarded

               by the very ones we call family.

So show us again this day, to see Christ in humanity.

To see love, truth, and beauty as the way to live again.

Call us out of our darkness into the light of the new city.

Unshackle us from our empty striving 

that we may thrive again for the good that we were created to be. 

That we may be reconciled, redeemed and restored.

Fill our veins with the river of healing waters.

Guide our feet towards the path of Jesus 

So that in him we find our calling, our purpose, our story.

And as you hold us in the palm of your loving hand

Fill our hearts with the joy of Christ born this day. 

That we may always seek justice, love mercy and do good.

Amen.

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A visual reflection of Ellaina Welsman's Advent prayer is below.

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Ellaina Welsman is the Fundraising and Operations Manager at Common Grace. Ellaina has been passionate about justice from a young age, always seeking to make sense of Scripture through the lens of people who have experienced suffering, hardship and discrimination. She is attending New City Baptist Church on Awabakal Country (Newcastle) with her husband, and two young children. Ellaina is inspired and encouraged in her faith as she listens to the wisdom and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christians.

This devotional is the last in a series of daily reflections for Advent 2022. This year's series reflected on the hope and joy of the good breaking in with the birth of Christ. 

We pray this series has blessed you in this season of Advent.