The season of Advent is only four weeks long and before you know it the celebration of the Christ Child on Christmas morning is just about here. Advent literally means the significant arrival of some person or event. Like so many seasons of the Church Year (and themes of Christianity itself) there are multiple layers of meanings being purposefully presented here. In this case, we are honoring a specific person from multiple viewpoints and considering countless events.
Advent is a time when we look back at Jesus’ first coming into the world, as an innocent baby born of the Virgin Mary. When the Holy Family somehow survived one of the most tumultuous birth stories and the harshest of circumstances.
Advent is also a time where we look ahead to Jesus returning into our physical world as the King of Endless Glory. We anticipate an arrival unlike any we have ever seen, where God through Christ will repair all that is wrong and bring to fulfillment the Eternal Kingdom.
Sandwiched between these two events are more advents that have happened and are happening all the time. Where faith in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit is bringing about glimpses of the Eternal Kingdom. Often, like Jesus’ birth story, these stories of good news are happening despite horrendous circumstances and calamities. Every minute of every day more advents are happening somewhere in the world. The work of Jesus is always taking place.
Advent, being centered on arrival, is also about welcoming Jesus fully into our lives—our hearts, minds, and actions. We need to welcome Jesus into our lives on a daily (and even multiple times a day) basis, and challenge ourselves to see how every aspect of our lives reflects the values he taught and lived.
And, like all arrivals, we are never fully ready for it. As much as we prepare, there are always things left undone and unfinished. As much as we mentally think things will happen a specific way, the actual event is never fully what we envisioned. This is a side effect of the Advent season, and one that we will find bleeds over into Epiphany, as well as the rest of the Temporal Cycle of the Church Calendar for that matter. (The Temporal Cycle is the the timeframe from Advent through the Day of Pentecost.)
There is always more work that could have been done. The good news though is coming into the world, ready or not. It has come, is coming in the future, and is coming at this very moment.
Relevant Reformation 