The Forgotten Advent
Praise be Jesus Christ. Forever and ever.
My daughters posted a video of my grandchildren as they drove
through the Christmas lights in Crossett Ar. My one year old granddaughter
giggled and screamed in excitement. My two year old grandson had a look of awe.
Children look forward to Christmas; in their innocence the see the
wonder and awe of Christmas. Because of their innocence, they are ready for the
coming of the LORD; they don’t know a need for advent.
Sadly, it seems most people don’t know the need for advent. It is
not because of innocence.
Jesus said to his disciples “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”
Advent is the time we make our self-ready for the coming of the
Lord.
It is intended to be a time of preparation, emptiness, stillness, and
silence; a time to prepare. It is a time to make ready for the experience of
being redeemed, recreated, and reborn.
In our world, instead of being a time of stillness and silence, advent gets
busier, brighter, and louder. It becomes harder to focus on being watchful
and alert for the coming of our savior.
Instead with all our busyness, our hearts are harden to the ways of God. In the pollution of worldliness, we become unconscious of God and our own lives.
We forget, God is our Father; we are the clay and He is the
potter: we are all the work of His hands.
We lack reflection and gratitude for the grace God bestows on
us. Not realizing this grace, many people live with a smidgen of resentment against everything and everyone
and everything. Social media proves it.
All the noise of the world has made it difficult to be in the present moment. It is difficult to realize the riches of God’s grace. Instead, we focus on the distractions and worries the world throws at us. They consume us.
We take for granted what is precious.
This advent, with the world fighting
against us - forget those distractions.
Thank God for what enriches us; the love and friendships
that surround us and the gift of life itself. Remember, the grace God
bestowed in Christ Jesus. In him we are enriched in every way.
The world message is forget God’s grace. It is working as people forget the importance of advent. People do not believe they can be forgiven, redeemed, recreated, and reborn. It puts in the hearts of many resentment against everything and everyone.
That is why we need advent. In the noisiness of the world telling us: sin is OK; bad is OK; the self is more important than others. It is the message heard 24 hours a day, 365 days a week for years and years.
And, many have forgotten need and importance of having a time and place empty of all this noise; forgotten Advent.
A place without all that noise is what Advent is about. It is a
time to be filled with grace.
Maybe, we can be like children again full of laughter and awe at the coming of our Lord and savior. Maybe we should be like that all the time, for we do not know when the time will come.
Be good, be holy and preach the good news that is the coming of
Jesus Christ by the way you live your life and love one another.
Praise be Jesus Christ, for ever and ever. Amen.
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