Thoughts of Advent

Advent

As one of my friends Kate has stated; please forgive my “straight-up” thoughts…I am typing as I think…o gosh…that could be dangerous! PS…Kate has a great blog!!! Check it out. www.thenewsearchengine.blogspot.com J

Last year I was introduced to something that I never was introduced to growing up. It was the Advent Season. Good Ol’ First Baptist in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I didn’t really get it, but I enjoyed it. I like most things that involve tradition. If any of you are not sure exactly what it is “google” it! You may have seen churches light candles representing “hope” “joy” “peace” etc. This is commonly done for Christmas and Easter.

So as this Christmas Season was approaching I wanted to “experience” the birth of Christ in a new light, so I started to research the history of Advent (“the coming of the Savior”) and why some churches “celebrated” it. I also found some liturgies to read throughout the season! Man…I have been blown away!!

Entering this Christmas Season, taking part in the Advent season, has changed my view on the necessity of Christ. Through these readings I understand the first coming of Christ in such a deeper way. As I read through the Old Testament I realize we as Christians come from such a linage of pilgrimage…it is important to value and understand that as we celebrate the birth of Christ each year.

God reveals himself through Christ. So I think that although the Christmas season has so much to do with Christ (and understanding the necessity of Christ)…it is also a time where our relationships with God can be enriched through understanding the history of the Israelites, understanding the actual/real need of why God sent His son to the Earth and then looking at the life of Christ to see how He points to God.

The story doesn’t start on a star lit night…the story starts “In the beginning…” God created this masterpiece that eventually needed redemption. So throughout the entire Old Testament you see the lives of the Israelites being built up to a specific moment in time…the birth of their Savior. Consistently Yahweh makes it plain to them that He is committed to redeeming His creation. He wanted to present to His people a love that fulfills all the laws. He wanted to send a living dwelling place for His people. He wanted to create a way for peace and prosperity in Jerusalem. God revealed through the Old Testament prophets that he wanted to send a righteous judge that would bring forth flourishing life, damnation for the wicked and a means for those to know God more intimately. So these Israelites were waiting in expectation for the day a “savior” would be born.

What does this mean for us December 25, 2006? We are to wait in the same expectation of the Israelites…I think. Christ is coming again. This time it will not be a baby in a cave…nevertheless, just as glorious! All over the New Testament we are called to be ready, be on the look out, and serve as a part of the body. Just as Christ coming the first time was access to God for the Israelites…that is applicable for us as well. When Christ comes the second time it is the ultimate access to God (that makes me excited). We are to wait in expectation for that same “savior” the Israelites were waiting for.

As I think about how these Israelites heard of Christ coming it really does break my heart to think that when Christ did actually come, specifically during his “ministry years,” He was completely denied, hated, doubted, mocked… The Israelites had been told, it was in their scriptures….that was what a lot of their life was focused towards…and yet, He was denied…. There is a parallel for us today. We read about the second coming of Christ. We hear about it everywhere; and if not heard everywhere….we should make it our mission to be heard everywhere!!! If you think about it….Christ is coming for the second time for just the same reasons He was sent the first time…REDEMPTION. We have prophesies just like they had prophesies. I almost feel like I am in a story!!!

It makes me have so many questions…there are so many mysteries! Why did God send his son as a baby? What happened in the “in between” years? Where there people who followed Jesus’ life as he grew up? It amazes me how scared Herod was of a baby. During Christ’s second coming will people who study the bible, theology professors, townsmen, students also deny that it is the actual Christ is here?

To close I hope in this holy season that the long ago miracle will live anew in your heart! Taking time this year to focus on the history of why Christ was brought into this world has really made me appreciate December 25^th in a new way! It is funny because I am exciting about the actual Christmas day…like something exciting is going to happen! Obviously Christ was born a long time ago…and December 25 should be lived just like every other day…with the expectation of Christ our Savior to come so that God may carry out the rest of his plan of redemption.

Here is an Advent Prayer I have found to stir in me this past month.

“Come long-expected Jesus. Excite in us a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours. Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord who enlists me in God’s own work for justice. Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a hunger for peace; peace in the world, peace in my home, peace in myself. Come, long expected Jesus. Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father’s joy. I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love. Come, long expected Jesus. Excite in me the joy and love and peace it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord. Raise in me, too, sober reverence for the God who acted there, hearty gratitude for the life begun there, and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, whose advent I hail. Amen.”