Welcome to Advent
This past Sunday marks the first week of Advent.
For those non-liturgical folks our there, Advent is the beginning of the Christian calendar, and it leads us to Christmas, which aside from shopping, gifts, movies and no work, is the time when we try to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Now Advent is much more than a celebration of December 25th. And It’s much more than a birthday celebration for baby Jesus.
It’s 2009, and we might just be a bit disconnected from the true Advent story, so let me remind you.
The Advent, the “arrival” of Jesus, is much more than a birthday, this is a long, and preciously awaited event. Since the time of the early prophets, the Israelites had been promised a savior; a new law was coming. So for almost two thousand years of wandering across the middle east, settling here and then moving there, for almost two thousand years of hopes being built up and then let down, for years of suffering and conquering and years of wondering whether or not their children would live good lives; these Israelite people heard the prophecy of a King, the God in flesh, who would come and restore.
The season of Advent, just as it was for the Israelites, is a season of waiting.
It’s a season of patience.
The birth of Christ didn’t just happen. It’s not a “big-bang of Jesus”. It was a long, and patiently waited for arrival.
So why did it matter that Jesus, the Christ was born? Why does Christmas matter? Why does the season of Advent matter?
Because this is the One we have been waiting for.
And as we wait, as the Israelites waited, as the Church in this season of Advent waits, we draw closer to the arrival of our Saviour. As we wait, we grow; in patience, in joy and in expectancy. So that when the arrival of our Christ does come, we celebrate with hearts that say “finally. this is what we’ve been waiting for”.
So may this beautifully worded translation of Romans 8:22-25 be our devotion for this Advent season.
” All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. ” - Romans 8:22-25; The Message
