Tag Archives: Advent

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“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
(Habakkuk 2:20)

It’s about this time of the Christmas Season when I’ve had about enough.

I know, it’s only started.  Keep in mind, though, I’ve been working on the Christmas Services since September.  We put our tree up at Thanksgiving this year, but for whatever reason, Christ the King Sunday came after Thanksgiving, not before, and now Advent has only just begun and the tree has been out for two weeks.

Then consider the fact that it’s not enough to have Black Friday shopping and Cyber Monday.  Now we’ve got “Doorbusters” on Thanksgiving Day, weeklong advertising leading up to it, and the Christmas music pumped through the shopping centers long before the turkey ever gets cooked – it’s a bit of a Christmas overload.

Call me a Scrooge, if you must, but I’m tired of it.  And I’m really not a Scrooge at all. **Let me shamelessly plug the Cherokee Community Theater one more time in our production of A Christmas Carol the Musical…  Seats are still available, and we have five shows this weekend.  Visit www.cherokeect.org for more details.**  As I was saying, I’m not really a Scrooge.  I do love Christmas.  The music, the message, the decorations, the general good spirit that people have during the season.  What really turns me off to it all, however, is the busyness.

There’s the noise, the lights, the decorations that often times turn to clutter, the general mayhem and madness that we call Christmas.  Then add to that the programs, activities, concerts, etc. that we have to throw in, and Christmas flies right by and you never even notice.  Maybe that’s the point.

We have a general rule in our house that goes something like this: NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY.  Every parent knows the significance of this rule, and how difficult it is to enforce it especially when there are older children in the home.  But a baby resting (and not crying) is a beautiful thing to sleep deprived parents.

So then, what would Mary and Joseph think of the way we celebrate the birth of the Christ-child?  Would they usher us out of the stable saying, “Shh!  The baby’s sleeping.  Take your plastic Rudolf and Perry Como’s Christmas elsewhere.”

One of the ancient carols of the church says,

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in his hand
Christ our God to earth descended, our full homage to demand.

Friends, let me ask you this: When was your last quiet moment this Advent Season?  If you can’t remember, then it’s been too long.  Are you so busy with all the busy-ness of the season that you have forgotten why He came?  He came to bring peace to our hearts, to quiet our souls – but we drown out the silence with noise, noise, noise.  Take a moment right now – stop what you are doing – stop reading this – and quiet yourself before the Lord.

SDG

Prepare ye the way of the Lord…

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“He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord…’”
(John 1:23 ESV)

Advent is upon us once again, for better or worse.  This is, I admit, my favorite time of year; but it seems to get harder and harder to enjoy.

Have you noticed the advertising on TV lately: “Now is the time to buy this new car…”  “The perfect gift for the guy who has everything…”  “Don’t miss our holiday sale…”  “Doors open at 4 a.m. …”  One would think that Advent is nothing more than a marketing season, one last ditch effort to boost the profits for retailers.  I’m all for a strong and robust economy, but is this really what Advent is all about – a reminder that we only have so many shopping days left until Christmas?

Here in the Church Advent is our countdown to Christmas.  We light candles each week signifying the coming of the light of Christ.  We decorate the church with greens and purples, with nativities and chrismons; we sing the classic carols that draw us into the “Christmas Spirit.”  Advent is our time to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ, the mystery of His incarnation, and God’s gracious gift of our Savior.  But, I ask again, is this really what Advent is all about?

Advent means “coming”, and as such it is appropriate that we use this time to celebrate the coming of the Christ child; but there is more to Advent, there is more to our faith than the birth of a child.  Our Lord promised His disciples, promised us, that He would come again to take us to be with Him.  Many Christians don’t talk about this promise openly because it has been the source of so much speculation and fantasy that we really don’t know what we believe. 

The Bible teaches that Jesus will come again, in a very personal and powerful way.  His coming will not be missed, as He will be joined by clouds of glory and a heavenly fanfare (1 Thess 4:13-5:11).  At His coming, the faithful in Christ will experience a rapture – we will be taken up in the air to meet Christ as He comes.  We will not be whisked away in secret, but will meet Christ in the air as He returns and take part in His triumphal return.

Advent is our time to focus on the return of Christ.  As Christians, we should always be vigilant in our watching and waiting for Christ’s coming.  Though we do not know when this will be, we are to be prepared.  May your Advent prepare you for the celebration of the birth of our Savior, and may you also be filled with anticipation and expectation of His return.

SDG