In Grateful Anticipation of His Birth

The season of Advent is upon us.

During this season, when I was a child, going to church each week to see the candles lit on the Advent wreath would remind me that Christmas was one week closer. Every week was one more week of grateful anticipation ...honestly, knowing the presents were coming was wonderful...but the beauty and majesty of Christmas carols, Christmas Eve services with the celebration and candles, spending time with family and friends, baking cookies with my mom, buying presents that my loved ones could open on Christmas morning and seeing if they would like what I got them...all of these things made the season more joyful for me. The older I grew, the more precious the latter things became and the less important that material gifts on Christmas Day really mattered.

A few years ago, I had spent a week at a Bible study and when I got back, my perspective on Christmas had changed once again. I had always anticipated Christmas with the same joy we anticipate the birth of any newborn child...except this was Jesus, the special child who was born to be a Savior and King. I came upon Advent with a more bittersweet feeling for the first time. It actually felt more heartbreaking to me to know that there was once a mother who bore a child who would someday give his life for me and for all the things I do wrong.

There was a donkey who carried Mary to Bethlehem. There was a donkey who carried Jesus on Palm Sunday. Like Lent, the season of Advent is a time of preparation. It is a time of self sacrifice for people we love and for strangers. During Lent, a common 'sacrifice' is to fast from something we enjoy. I don't normally think of Advent as a 'sacrificial' time, but in the last few years, it has more of that feeling to me. Not that I resent the sacrifice, but isn't that the point? Should we regret any sacrifice we make? Should we be at all proud of ourselves for sharing what first has been given to us?

Oftentimes this time of year is the time that we do more for the poor than any other time of year. This time of year, we are more willing to dig a little bit deeper for the people around us. There are canned food drives, Grocery stores have gift boxes to purchase for food banks, there are toy drives and fundraisers, all because the world knows that during this time of year, we are more willing to make that sacrifice. This is known as the 'Season of Giving'. Wouldn't it be wonderful if that season of giving wasn't so special, because we were all giving so much all year long?

Mark 9:37

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Matthew 25:31-46

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

We went and saw "The Nativity Story" at the theater this weekend. I was touched when Joseph was concerned that Mary should have enough to eat during the journey to Bethlehem, he then hid what little food was left and gave it to the donkey to carry Mary. Do we often think of the sacrifices that Joseph and Mary must have made on the journey? I was touched at the sacrifices that both Joseph and Mary must have had to accept. Joseph and Mary both accepting God's will that Mary should bear a child...a child that Joseph accepted as his own and raised. One of the points made in the movie is that in their village, everyone had to know that Mary was pregnant before they officially married. It was suggested that since they were betrothed, by Joseph accepting the baby in Mary's womb he would be scorned as someone who anticipated his wedding vows. He would go from being a man respected, to a man shunned by some of his friends for his behavior...or at least, for what they perceived as his behavior. Mary experienced the same thing, an unmarried pregnant girl...she might have faced being stoned to death. How quick are we to judge by appearances even now? Who is it that we judge based upon what a situation appears to be rather than trusting God? We judge others based upon what we 'think' is going on and if they don't deny it, how often do we jump to conclusions and react rather than patiently waiting upon God to see what he does with a circumstance?

In grateful anticipation of Christ's birth, I hope and pray that I can be a better representative of Christ in the coming year. I pray that we might be one body representing him with our gifts and not trying to tear down one another, but instead that I might build you up as you all so often build me up. I pray that I am better able to represent Christ through my deeds as well as my words. I pray for peace and hope that in some small way, I can do whatever I might be called to that would help bring peace and that if we all were to do our small parts, the world would be at peace for the sake of the Prince of Peace. I pray that instead of getting in his way so much, I will step out of the way and let his light shine.

God bless you all. Merry Christmas.