I do not have to preach this Sunday! Our youth and children are performing their annual Christmas pageant so I do not have to preach which is fantastic and sad at the same time. I treasure the rare moments when someone else preaches or something like the pageant is going on so I do not have to worry about writing a sermon during the week. Plus, I think the congregation likes the break from hearing me ramble on and on about the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes we all need a time out from something we've been doing consistently for several months without pause. I am a little sad though.
I am sad because I had this wonderful theme running for advent entitled, An Unexpected Journey to the Manger. Each Sunday the theme of advent would carry us to the most unexpected place, the manger. There would fine hope, peace, joy, and love. It is of course heavily inspired by The Hobbit which I finally read the other day, well listened to. I am sad that I will miss out on continuing the series. It's a four part series with only three parts. What am I to do? What am I to do?
I know! I will write it on my blog, right here, right now and you can read it! You saw that coming didn't you? Eh...what can I say I am somewhat predictable. BOO! Bet you didn't expect that.
I have not really ever connected well with advent, it was not something I grew up knowing anything about because our church did not celebrate advent. In fact, around Christmas time, I do not recall anything related to advent or Christmas until Christmas Eve. I could very well be wrong, in fact I hope I am because my memory is not what it never was. Any place. Since I do not have any specific church related memories of advent, I could never connect to it when it started becoming a tradition in a couple of the churches I was on staff at. I enjoyed the season and the preparation but I did not get the joy I was hoping for. Christmas came and went and it was nice but it was never impactful. It was never meaningful.
Now that is not to say that I did not have meaningful Christmases outside of my church experience. In fact I had several meaningful Christmas gatherings with my family. I absolutely love being around family during Christmas, moreso than Thanksgiving (that's a whole other issue. Seriously, we get, what, two days to celebrate Thanksgiving and most of that time is spent cooking and watching football, which I like, but the holiday feels like a rest stop before the big holiday). I have very fond memories of Christmas trees, gifts (still have several that were given to me when I was a kid) but from a church related standpoint, I could never connect to the advent story.
That all changed when Lacy was pregnant and I learned Connor would be arriving around February 17th. For the first time ever during advent, I connected to the story. I found myself relating to Joseph and Mary. I connected to the four pieces of advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. I finally connected in a way that I could not connect before. I was able to relate to the story, to the expectant coming of a child, in every sense of the word because I was in the midst of expecting a child of my own and it has changed my view and appreciation for advent.
The words: hope, peace, joy, and love were no longer words. The prayers for hope, peace, joy, and love were no longer empty or vain prayers. They were real and I cannot express the joy that I experienced when I finally connected to them. What has connected you to the advent season? What draws you in during this season and compels you to want to be a better person? What about this time of year brings out the good in you?
Do you find joy during this season of waiting? Do you find the joy of waiting expectantly for this little Christ child to come? Are you finding joy in waiting for this Christ child to return?
Is your heart full of joy when you hear the words of Isaiah: "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 12:2-6)?
Do you rejoice when you hear the declaration of the Lord in Zephaniah: "The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more...At that time I will bring you home, at that time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord." (Zephaniah 3:15b, 20)?
If not, what is it that is preventing you from finding your role in this epic story God is writing?
The joy in these scriptures is not just in the promises but in the story God is writing. It is a story in which we are all being given a part and it is a story that can bring joy to a joyless world if we work to make it so. Let us sing with a grateful heart, "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel."
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