December 1, 2024
By now, most of us have eaten our fill of Thanksgiving Day turkey and we have shopped until we dropped on Black Friday. Now it’s here. It is that time of the year. No, not THAT time of year. It’s not Christmas...yet, although the time of year to which I am referring culminates with Christmas. What time of year is it? Drum roll please, it is time for Advent. Before you drop the drum, roll your eyes and go on about your day, just give me a couple of minutes of your time. The word advent means arrival and it generally refers to the arrival of Jesus on Christmas morning. For those of us who belong to faith traditions who don’t strictly follow a religious or liturgical calendar, advent may simply be a word we hear this time of year, but may I suggest that by flying right past advent and zeroing in on Christmas day with all its festivity, fun and frolic we just may have missed a blessing and the main point. On the liturgical calendar, advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and lasts until Christmas eve. This year, 2024, Advent begins on Sunday December 1 and ends Tuesday December 24. For those faith traditions that follow the liturgical calendar, on each Sunday of Advent, a purple candle is lit. These four candles represent hope, peace, joy and love. On the fourth Sunday of Advent a second candle is lit. This is a white candle representing the purity of Jesus Christ. If you notice, all of these candles, representing different aspects of the Christ, involve anticipation of what Messiah is going to bring to a fallen world. As we all know, since the fall of Adam and Eve, mankind along with the rest of creation has lived in a world that has been tainted and cursed by sin. We have been separated from a Holy God and as my dad used to say, we were in a heap of trouble. God made us a promise in Genesis 3:15. He promised us a Redeemer. One who would set things right and restore all things. The Old Testament looked toward that Redeemer with anticipation. Messiah is coming. The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Can you feel the anticipation? THAT is what the celebration of Advent is all about. God’s Redeemer is coming and with Him comes hope, peace, joy, love, healing and purity. Creation’s Redeemer did come and offer a perfect sacrifice to deliver God’s creation freedom from sin, Satan, and death. Messiah did all this with His first advent, but Messiah’s work isn’t finished. He is coming again. With His first advent or coming Jesus came as a suffering servant. He came as a sacrifice for all mankind. With His second advent, Jesus is coming to take over. He is coming back not as a suffering Savior, but as conquering King. At that time, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. I wish all of you a Happy Advent season. May you rest in blessed anticipation of the coming Messiah. I also pray that we are ready for His second Advent. If we are, I pray that we would live with that same anticipation for His second coming that those living before the birth of Jesus had for His first advent.
Be blessed and then, go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy
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