Advent -- the arrival of something important or awaited for. What does it mean for us today? Does it mean waiting for Jesus as an infant in swaddling clothes or waiting for him coming down riding in the clouds in triumphal return to restore everything to God’s original intention?
The theme of readings and teachings during Advent is preparation for the Second Coming while commemorating the First Coming of Christ at Christmas. I believe that in today’s society we have become numb to the meaning of Advent. We start seeing Christmas items in stores even before Halloween. The reality of this Holy Day (not holiday) is that Christ has already come once in the form of an infant. Advent calls us not to look at the Christ child but to look past that event and prepare ourselves for the Second Coming. Jesus warns us in stirring fashion about what it will be like on his return. From the gospel of Luke 17: 28-30, here is Jesus’ version: “Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them -- it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.” This doesn’t sound like any Christmas scene we have ever imagined. It sounds more like a Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger character than the baby Jesus lying in a manger while the cattle are lowing. What does this passage say to those of us who are living in the “already but not yet”? What does that mean? It means we know “already” the reality of Christ and his promises but we have “not yet” realized them fully until Christ’s Second Coming.
How many of us have seen the movie Talladega Nights? I believe we can learn a lesson from this movie by examining the mentality of the main character in the movie. Unfortunately, sometimes his actions don’t fall too far from our own. We have allowed our own priorities to be dictated by pressures from the media and society at large. The main character is the self-absorbed, boorish Ricky Bobby, who likes to pray to "the baby Jesus." This irreverent scene from the movie should be a wake-up call to all of us who call ourselves Christians. It may seem funny and cute, but I think it cuts to the quick about the ways in which we allow Jesus to be prevalent and relevant in our daily lives. It should cause us to think about who Christ really is to us. What kind of Jesus do we pray to? Do we only want the prosperity of Jesus to bless our worldly values, pursuits and lifestyles? Or do we, like Ricky, really prefer the baby Jesus because He makes no demands upon us?
We seem to treat the infant Jesus as if he’s just another baby full of hope and promise. The real baby Jesus has grown up and was crucified and has been raised. I know this may seem like a bah humbug attitude, but I believe it to be more a reality check on our priorities and values concerning who Christ is in our lives. A reality check during this Advent season that seeks to call our attention away from the bright lights and pretty wrapping paper to focus on the incarnation of Christ, God born in human form as the sole object of our attention. This season momentarily draws us to the manger, but in an instant comes under the shadow of the cross, revealing the greatest expression of love ever given to all of humankind.
My hope and prayer for this Advent season is that during all of our eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, we would take a few moments and consider the wonderful blessings we have been given and share those blessings with those who are less fortunate than us but no lesser children of God than you and me. We should focus on thanking God for the gift of the baby Jesus some two thousand years ago and reflect on our “already but not yet” condition in which we live Jesus calls out to us to live out the Gospel by telling the Good News of God’s love for everyone. Blessings to all as we wait triumphantly for Jesus’ return, and as we celebrate God’s opening salvo, the First Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a manger in Bethlehem.
Advent & Christmas Blessings,
Vicar Paul
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