Advent

This small (maybe “tiny” is the appropriate adjective) corner of the blogosphere has been titled Reflections.  Typically when we think of reflecting, we think of taking time and energy to think about and process aspects of life and events within life that have passed.  Therefore, the term Reflections, we would reckon, carries with it the implication of time. We mark the passing of time with devices such as watches and clocks, essentials on our desks such as calendars and planners, and electronics in our hands such as a BlackBerry or other “smartphone.”  The passing of time and the reflection on time gone by is important enough to us in the Western World that we mark this passing every moment of every day.

Yet we are entering the time of year when the passing of time is, though it may be subconscious, pivotal.  We remember last year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations with our families.  This year may be the first year your family has had to gather since the passing of a beloved family member so the passing of time includes thoughts such as, “Last year was dad’s last Christmas with us.”  We think about all that has happened in the last year.  We express the joy, disgust, love, regret of the last twelve months during these days our society calls “The Holidays.”  In reality, the season we are coming to celebrate is a season not so much about yesterday as it is about tomorrow.  The season of Advent means much more than expressing the feelings of the last year, Advent means celebrating the God Who is beyond time; the God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 

Advent is hope.  Advent is peace.  Advent is joy.  Advent is love.  These four expressions of Christian worship come to life in a new and exciting way during the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day.  Advent means so much.  Advent means that we prepare our hearts and our homes for the arrival of God’s & Israel’s Messiah.  The Messiah is to come to establish God’s kingdom on Earth in order extinguish the gap between heaven and earth.  An arrival such as this is worthy of our preparation.  Our preparation for the arrival of God’s Messiah includes thinking about and meditating on the work of God in this world.  We should ask ourselves, both individually and corporately, “What has God done?  What is God doing?  What will God do?”  Advent, above all else, I believe, is about the ongoing story God’s activity in this world as made manifest in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

During the next four weeks, I will be posting Reflections (past, present, and future) on the story of hope, the presence of peace, the song of joy, and the life of love all found in Advent.  I invite you to embark on this journey with me by adding your own reflections.  My goal is for this to be a place of dialogue.

I pray that your Advent celebration is filled with all of the hope, peace, joy, and love that God has brought forth, and is still bringing forth to this moment, into this world through the person of Jesus Christ.  May your family experience the road to Bethlehem in a new and exciting way this Christmas.  May each of us encounter the God Who Is!

Soli Deo Gloria….
-ASR