Ready, Steady, Go!!
Do the Christmas baking, pull the lights out of the garage; spend the necessary frustrating time untangling the mess that was caused from last year. Of course this year you will vow that you will wrap them up neatly and put them away properly this year (Hold on…didn’t you make that same vow late November last year?) Pull out the artificial tree that you have been using for twenty years, or go shopping with that perfect tree with the family. Experience that tree farm and the token reindeer (ever wonder where the reindeer spend the balance of the year?). Decorate the tree. Do you throw the tinsel on by handfuls or do you place it strand by strand? Apparently this gives some hint as to how your brain is “wired”. I take the middle of the road & place several strands at one time on the tree (although I do confess to an insane urge to defy convention, & be a handful thrower). Send out the Christmas cards, oops, I mean the Christmas emails; RSVP to Christmas party invitations; change the air fresheners in the house to a festive apple cinnamon blend. Carefully plan out the shopping campaign with all the deliberate intensity of a seasoned general planning a foray into enemy territory.
Did I miss anything? After all that is accomplished we sit back with a mug of hot apple cider and a seasonally shaped shortbread cookie, breathe a well deserved sigh and comment, “Now I’m ready for Christmas!”
If I sound sarcastic, I totally apologize!! I really do love all the decorations, seasonally shaped shortbread cookies, & apple cinnamon air fresheners. But my point is that if we get through our annual checklist, does that mean we’re ready for Christmas? What does being “ready” even mean?
If you have been at church the past couple of weeks, you will have observed the lighting of the Advent candle. Depending upon your religious upbringing you may not be aware of what the word Advent means, let alone what this season entails. For some reason unbeknownst to me, my public middle & high school offered Latin as an elective and I ended up conjugating verbs of this “dead” language for three years. So let me break down the word “advent”. It simply consists of two words, “ad”, to and “vent”, come. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God.
Now, if you were to look ahead at the coming month and see, instead of a seasonal checklist of to-dos, a time of preparation for the celebration of the incarnation…would your month look different? What measures would you feel urged to by the Spirit to undertake in your life that would prompt a much simpler and yet divine preparation for this season?
I would like you to imagine something for a moment. Imagine that all the decorations, all the lights, all the baking, all the parties, just ceased to be. As a believer should our anticipation and excitement be of any less intensity when all of the colourful wrapping is removed? Imagine that you were those shepherds on that starry night so long ago, Luke 2:9-14 (ESV) 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14(L) “Glory to God in the highest, (N) and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
So, just to reiterate what I said before: I heartedly do love all of the festive traditions that accompany the season, but I would like to suggest for you (and your family) that actively observing the season of Advent will serve to truly enrich your appreciation of the reason for the season. My wife and I were once part of a wedding party for some friends in which the bride was of Italian descent. I have never experienced another wedding like this! The preparation and excitement for the upcoming nuptials built up over the preceding months with an unbridled passion and anticipation. There was absolutely no mistaking in the community as to what the focus of the “season” was. My prayer for you is that these next few weeks, and not just that blessed day, are a time of anticipation, celebration and joy.
I would like to leave you with this Advent hymn from the 1700’s entitled, On Jordan’s Bank.
On Jordan’s bank, the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Awake, and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings of the King of kings!
Then cleansed be every breast from sin;
Make straight the way for God within;
Prepare we in our hearts a home
Where such a mighty Guest may come.
For Thou art our Salvation, Lord,
Our Refuge, and our great Reward.
Without Thy grace we waste away,
Like flowers that wither and decay.
To heal the sick stretch out Thine hand,
And bid the fallen sinner stand;
Shine forth, and let Thy light restore
Earth’s own true lovliness once more.
Stretch forth thine hand, to heal our sore,
And make us rise to fall no more;
Once more upon thy people shine,
And fill the world with love divine.
All praise, eternal Son, to Thee
Whose advent sets Thy people free,
Whom, with the Father, we adore,
And Holy Ghost, forevermore
#1 from Johnny Markin on December 09, 2009
Wonderful encouragement, Dan. We have also done the Advent candles at home this year, and it’s really helped us keep focus as a family.