Dear Edwards Church Community,
Advent has been one of my favorite times of the year for as long as I can recall.
How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
These lyrics from “O Little Town of Bethlehem” remind me why the Christian liturgical year starts on the first Sunday of Advent, weeks before Christmas. We might otherwise be drawn to start the liturgical year on Christmas day itself – a day full of festivity and, after all, a new birth implies a new beginning – but the liturgical year lays out for us a recurring set of mile markers, reminders that give us a way to re-experience the full range of the stories in the Bible and invite them to work on us and in us through all of the rituals and customs of the church year.
In the annual cycle we start by celebrating the incarnation: the quietly startling fact that God loves the world so much she is willing to take human form, enter life as we know it, and share our common lot. And all of this is made real in very humble circumstances, even if announced by a host of angels.
No one may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.
The Christian liturgical year starts weeks before the actual Christmas day because we need time to prepare. Forget shopping for presents. Forget stringing the lights outside or even buying a tree. We need time to prepare ourselves.
Acknowledging that we live in a world of sin is counter-cultural. Perhaps we can acknowledge that sin is present in corrupt practices in business or politics, or in drug deals across the street in Pulaski Park, or relationship betrayals, or any other easy target. What if we reframed the question by considering sin to be anything that separates us from God, anything that inhibits us from more fully realizing in our lives the best person we are called to be and the co-creating the best world for all. In short, what if we saw sin as not letting God as fully into our lives as we would anyone we love?
In the full Christmas story, including the pre-birth narratives, one can trace a tension between a tendency to recognize (or not) and accept (or not) the presence and action of God in life as we know it. Sometimes characters struggle to recognize and accept, but once given assurance they then embrace the news. Consider Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds and how they interact with angels, those messengers from God. But sometimes there is simply no room at the inn, and God gets shut out.
We have the capacity, and can cultivate, deepen, and grow the capacity, to recognize and collaborate with the presence and action of God in our lives and the world. This is the full promise and potential of Emmanuel, “God with us,” the incarnation. God has made the first move. Now a lot is up to us. Be brave and open the door wide.
Wishing you a Christmas overflowing with blessings given and received. May the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love of Christmas be yours all through the coming year.
Michael
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