Tag Archives: Christmas

The Coming of Jesus into Our Midst

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This is the second week of Advent: a time to prepare ourselves for the Return of the King.  Are you ready?  A couple of years ago I came across this letter by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Enjoy!

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

When early Christianity spoke of the return of the Lord Jesus, they thought of a great day of judgment. Even though this thought may appear to us to be so unlike Christmas, it is original Christianity and to be taken extremely seriously. When we hear Jesus knocking, our conscience first of all pricks us: Are we rightly prepared? Is our heart capable of becoming God’s dwelling place? Thus Advent becomes a time of self-examination. “Put the desires of your heart in order, O human beings!” (Valentin Thilo), as the old song sings.

“Our whole life is an Advent, a time of waiting for the ultimate, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, when all people will be brothers and sisters.”

It is very remarkable that we face the thought that God is coming so calmly, whereas previously peoples trembled at the day of God, whereas the world fell into trembling when Jesus Christ walked over the earth. That is why we find it so strange when we see the marks of God in the world so often together with the marks of human suffering, with the marks of the cross on Golgotha.

We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for everyone who has a conscience.

Only when we have felt the terror of the matter, can we recognize the incomparable kindness. God comes into the very midst of evil and of death, and judges the evil in us and in the world. And by judging us, God cleanses and sanctifies us, comes to us with grace and love. God makes us happy as only children can be happy.

God wants to always be with us, wherever we may be – in our sin, in our suffering and death. We are no longer alone; God is with us. We are no longer homeless; a bit of the eternal home itself has moved unto us. Therefore we adults can rejoice deeply within our hearts under the Christmas tree, perhaps much more than the children are able. We know that God’s goodness will once again draw near. We think of all of God’s goodness that came our way last year and sense something of this marvelous home. Jesus comes in judgment and grace: “Behold I stand at the door!  Open wide the gates!” (Ps. 24:7)?

One day, at the last judgment, he will separate the sheep and the goats and will say to those on his right: “Come, you blessed?  I was hungry and you fed me?” (Matt. 25:34).  To the astonished question of when and where, he answered: “What you did to the least of these, you have done to me?” (Matt. 25:40).

With that we are faced with the shocking reality: Jesus stands at the door and knocks, in complete reality.  He asks you for help in the form of a beggar, in the form of a ruined human being in torn clothing.  He confronts you in every person that you meet.  Christ walks on the earth as your neighbor as long as there are people.  He walks on the earth as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you and makes his demands.  That is the greatest seriousness and the greatest blessedness of the Advent message.  Christ stands at the door.  He lives in the form of the person in our midst.  Will you keep the door locked or open it to him?

Christ is still knocking.  It is not yet Christmas.  But it is also not the great final Advent, the final coming of Christ.  Through all the Advents of our life that we celebrate goes the longing for the final Advent, where it says: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5).

Advent is a time of waiting.  Our whole life, however, is Advent – that is, a time of waiting for the ultimate, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, when all people are brothers and sisters and one rejoices in the words of the angels: “On earth peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.”  Learn to wait, because he has promised to come.  “I stand at the door?”  We however call to him: “Yes, come soon, Lord Jesus!”  Amen.

(Reprinted from Watch for the Light)

SDG

A Wake Up Call

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If your dentist is like mine, you usually receive a reminder in the mail just a week or so before your next scheduled visit.  I really appreciate the reminder, but it never comes soon enough.  Immediately following a visit to the dentist, I’m really good about flossing and rinsing on a regular basis.  When I get the card a week or two before the next appointment, I start rinsing and flossing with a renewed passion and commitment.  It’s those 6 to 12 months in between visits, however, that I really need to work on (please don’t tell my dentist). 

The postcard comes as a warning, too little too late.  I’ve been blessed so far with relatively healthy teeth (only a couple of cavities so far).  That’s not the problem.  For me the problem is the shame and guilt that comes with the visit, having to confess to the hygienist that I haven’t been flossing, rinsing, or brushing as thoroughly as I ought.  I go through the same cycle of emotions.  The postcard tells me to get my act together so I can avoid the critical reproach of my beloved dentist.

And that is what Advent is all about.

We struggle to manage the busyness of our lives.  Seasons come and go.  We plan for tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow.  Eventually we get lulled into a sense of complacency and comfort, never really thinking about the meaning behind what we’re doing.  Then Advent comes along.  In the middle of our Christmas preparations, the presents, the decorations, the family visits; Advent stands out like a postcard from heaven saying, “Get it together, Jesus is coming back.”

For the longest time I struggled with the fact that the recommended lectionary readings for the first Sunday of Advent every year are all about the Second Coming of Christ.  Jesus tells us that there will be signs and omens, persecutions and catastrophes, wars and rumors of wars; all of this would take place before the coming of the Son of Man.  I wondered how this was a Christmas message at all.  Now I realize that Advent is not a “countdown to Christmas,” and Christmas isn’t just about the birth of our Savior.  Advent is a blaring alarm, calling us out of the monotony of our spiritual lives, reminding us to keep watch and be ready.  Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Savior, of God dwelling with us; just as much as it is a reminder that if Christ came once to save us, He will return to bring us home.

Jesus is coming back, are you ready?  I don’t want to be caught unprepared, with a crushing sense of guilt and shame for having not lived up to His calling.  Advent reminds me to get back to the work at hand, to live for Him so that people will see that He lives in me.

Consider this Advent your wake up call.  Be ready, keep watch for you never know – our Lord is coming soon.  It might just be today! 

SDG