BOWIE, MD (December 15, 2005) – Editor’s note: In preparation for the Christmas observance, Covenant Communications is sharing devotionals that originally appeared in local Covenant church newsletters and are being published here by permission. The following comes from Cheryl Nilson of Church of the Redeemer in Bowie.
By Cheryl Nilson
This year’s news reports on Black Friday made me think that Advent might be a little like people waiting outside in the cold and dark for a store to open – though nothing like a crowd stampeding in to grab the first bargains. Advent is a time of waiting and expectation, not a time of instant gratification, a time of gradually building hope rather than a time to pull out all the stops (that would be Christmas – or maybe even Easter).
The traditional church calendar places the beginning of the Christmas season on Christmas day, unlike the world of commerce, which places it somewhere before Halloween. Without getting too legalistic, there is much to be gained from a season of expectation, especially when those expectations are placed on something reliable, like the presence of God with us, Emmanuel.
The world is absolutely right that Christmas is a time of great joy; a time to celebrate with generosity, that joy is not the satisfaction of all our earthly desires. Even good and noble desires – like the longing for a whole and healthy family, for dependable and loving companionship, for peace and contentment – will not be perfectly fulfilled this Christmas, no matter how good we’ve been all year!
The holiday season may even make our longing and losses feel more acute. Marking this time as Advent and not yet Christmas reminds us that we are still in a time of waiting for God’s glorious fulfillment.
We light candles of hope in our homes and in our hearts because we know that what we hope for is on the way and until then, God gives us enough light and warmth for the waiting. No earthly life is so perfect that there is no room for God to speak to us through grief and unmet longings. Neither is any life so completely bereft of grace that God will not give us enough hope to sustain us (though some of us go through dark nights when we struggle to believe this is true).
Whether found in the dazzle of glittering Christmas trees or in the flame of a single beautiful taper in the darkness, light and life are God’s gifts to each of his children this season. These gifts also are offered to those who have yet to accept them. May his gifts warm your heart as you wait.
(Editor’s note: to read earlier Advent messages, please see:
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