Dear Family in Christ, 

 

For me, Advent is a time to spiritually prepare ourselves to celebrate and reflect upon God becoming one of us. It’s a time for reflection on God becoming a human being like you and me. I meditate on the life of Jesus in whom God experienced all the real aspects of living and dying. Jesus experienced love of family and friends. In the life of Jesus, God knows what it is like to laugh and to cry. Jesus experienced joy and sorrow and pain. In the life of Jesus, God experienced the bond of friendship and betrayal. In Jesus, God knows what it is like to be poor, to struggle, to be hungry, and to be homeless, and to rely upon the generosity of others, like when he and his disciples stayed at the home of his friend Lazarus and Lazarus’ two sisters.

 

Through the life of Jesus, God knows what it is truly like to be one of us. We can look upon the baby Jesus in his makeshift crib to see him, in our mind’s eye, loved by his mother and Joesph.  We look into his crib to ponder his full earthly life story of a child who grew into a strong young man of faith, thanks to parents who took him to the Nazareth synagogue and took him every year to celebrate the Jewish festival of Passover, like many of us at the behest of our parents who grew up going to church and Sunday school, which formed in Jesus and in us a lifelong habit of being a part of a faith community.

 

When the Archangel Gabriel approached Mary and foretold the birth of Jesus, the Archangel called him Emmanuel, God with us. When we reflect upon God becoming one of us, by faith, we are assured that God really and truly gets us, and that we are never alone. God is with us every step of our lives. As the Holy Spirit indwelled Jesus throughout his life, by faith, the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of Jesus, indwells us who believe in him. He journeys with us to strengthen us to face every twist and turn of our lives. He is with us in every moment, in every tear we shed, every joy we celebrate. God is with us, loving us with the understanding of a loving divine parent. 

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Advent is also a time to spiritually prepare ourselves to welcome Jesus’ ultimate return. In my own spiritual reflections, I ponder that when Jesus comes again in all his divine glory, he will make all things new. I imagine I’ll be there to see Jesus coming in the clouds, or I might die and then meet Jesus in the clouds (see 1 Thes. 4), and then together, as those who put their trust in God, we will all watch as Jesus descends to the earth. I liken our wait for Jesus’ ultimate return like Mary and Joesph waited for Jesus’ birth with a sense of joyful expectation and longing as they did the work of preparing for that great day.  That was how I felt in waiting for the birth of my own daughter. 

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So, for me, Advent provides a dual sense of anticipation. We long to celebrate Jesus’ first Advent in a spirit of great joy for the blessings his life and ministry brought us; and we also await Jesus’ coming again when all sin in the world and within us will end.  We will join all people throughout all of history who put their trust in God, like the criminal who died on the cross next to Jesus who looked upon Jesus dying on the cross and saw the Messiah, our great long-awaited King, and together we will be with Jesus in Paradise.

 

May your Advent & Christmas be for you seasons of great blessings. Amen. 

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Seeking to prayerfully lead the people of Parma Lutheran Church in Christ,

Pastor Jay