The thrill of advent !
“Life in a prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The three of us lit the first Advent candle at church on Sunday and James read aloud: “Today we light the hope candle, holding fast to the promise of God breaking into the world. We prepare for the glorious impossible of Emmanuel—’God with us.’”
“Glorious impossible” … Not many words sound sweeter !!!
My idea of Advent at age eight was taking turns fighting with (brother) James and Kathleen over filling in the Advent calendar. Now I get the irresistible itch when I see festive high-end window displays from the street. The thingssss! Santa has been at SouthPark since early November! Farmer’s market has the best (and most expensive) garland and wreaths so gotta shop there. Cursory inventory of my Christmas china tells me I need more. “True meaning of the season” takes a backseat in all of these scenarios despite none being out of line at face value.
My two cents that you didn’t ask for is “true meaning of the season” is played out. We hear the words, but it doesn’t jolt us out of our routine all that much, and culturally “true meaning” could infer many things— plenty of which are good, but not ultimate.
ADVENT, though, is not played out.
Celebrating Advent not only makes Christmas Day more jubilant, but it adds a stillness and an awe to my December, a welcomed defense against the asking-for-things, shopping, parties, traveling, expectations, etc. I’ve found the more I celebrate it, the more I crave what comes with it. Small things throughout our day that prompt us to pause and BE STILL AND BASK out of wonder in His love for us immediately usher in peace. Our next-door neighbor has a life-size nativity scene in his front yard and James loves walking over there. It’s such a slight thing, but it brings me gratitude-to-the-brim to see his fat, little sticky fingers pointing to the manger when I ask him where baby Jesus is. It’s also a game for him to swipe the delicate pieces of our own nativity scene inside, in order to throw them. Win some, lose some, ya know !!!
From a fiction book I just finished reading: “Like the figures in the manger scene, Jesus didn’t need to be kept at a distance, but enjoyed and loved.”
Other ways I can position my heart to long for His coming:
seek out Advent daily devotional… bought this one for us and loving it, also eyeing this one
read Luke chapters 1 and 2 as a family
watch Christmas movies with truer meaning… Joyeux Noel, about WWI, is uplifting and The Bells of St. Mary’s is a black and white feel-good
live out Acts 20:35: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
>>> I’ve always put deliberate thought into my combined December birthday/Christmas one-shot-a-year-at-this-thing wish-list. But truly, it feels silly to ask for expensive things when you reflect on the essence of Christ. It is not more crystal or a vintage coat, Anna. Of course there’s nothing wrong with having wants and my mom will definitely ask for some ideas to work with and it’s not like I’ll have to humbly rack my brain to come up with something… my siblings reading this are laughing at the thought of such a notion……… but how can I consistently align my focus to what Jesus is specifically beckoning me to this season
be intentional about scheduling time to serve the less fortunate !!!
serve those right in front of me. my family, friends, neighbors, sitters, strangers, whomever God puts in my path that day (this requires having my eyes OPEN and slowwwwing down) Lord, make me watchful in humility and availability
make room in my heart for Him to change me … “make no mistake, He will bring the high places low. He will humble you and dismantle your ego. He’ll transform you into someone you never dreamed you could be. But the road won’t be easy; you won’t feel prepared for such a journey. But Jesus will prepare you for all He has for you.” Hits home!
listen and re-listen to this podcast episode (couple other good ones here & here)
know I will fail at all of the above a time or many and instead of admonishing myself, thanking Jesus that He is who He says He is, so I can reset and try again with His grace
The Thrill of Advent, or in other words, keeping the main thing the main thing, is so worth going against the grain for here and there.
And the main thing:
“At Christmastime you ought to ask if peace with God is the wonder of your life. You ought to think about it all the time. The real secret to receiving this peace with God is you’ve got to admit you’re at war. Paul says in Romans 8:7 the natural condition of your heart is enmity against God… it will not submit to God; indeed it cannot. What a radical statement. It is saying your most primary natural condition toward God isn’t one of ignorance so that your main need is education, or even indifference so that your main need is motivation. But the natural condition of your heart is hostility against God so that your main need is reconciliation, and we already have it! Jesus Christ took our punishment and penalty. When we freely receive Jesus, we receive His record and become without spot or blemish and are utterly blameless to God. What reconciliation! ‘The Word became flesh’ (John 1:14) defines Christmas. Christ unfathomably and electively became human after experiencing perfect, face-to-face fellowship with the Father, just so that He might have the ‘joy set before him.’ (Hebrews 12:2). That joy is us!
“And angels, who we hear about all the time at Christmas, never tire of reflecting on, studying, looking at, rejoicing over the Gospel. There is nothing deeper. The Gospel is the wonder of their lives. ‘Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.’ Your problems in life come because you have gotten over your peace with God. The reason you’re having trouble forgiving somebody is because you got over it. You’re worried because you got over it. Don’t get over it! Make us as beautiful and radiant as angels, O Lord.” - Tim Keller
From Lou Lou’s desk:
Here’s clingin’ to the glorious impossible this month.
-AA
P.S. The prison quote by Bonhoeffer at the top… movie about him out in theatres now, worth seeing 💙