"What do you want from Christmas?"
An important part of Advent is in the preparation for Christmas that involves striving to get clear in our minds what we are expecting. Whatever Christmas becomes it will achieve something important for us if we are clear about what we are hoping it can be.
The Matthew 24 text has us thinking about the coming of the Christ and the time when God's Reign happens. It is coming at a time when we least expect it. It will come as a surprise. We never know when it might happen.
The Isaiah 11 text picks up what is going on in Israel at a very dark time in their history and the prophet encourages them to think about a time when the lion will lie down with the lamb and the child will play over the hole of a snake. It is a time of peace and union. It is a time when all the hopes we have are realized. It is a time of goodness and joy.
The two aspects of our Advent thinking takes us into thinking about the coming of the unexpected and the importance of being vigilant and prepared and the arriving of the best we can hope for and we will need to be open to it when it happens.
What will it mean to be prepared and what will it mean for us to be vigilant?
How are you preparing for Christmas and how are you using this season that begins Sunday to make Christmas hold the meaning it is capable of holding?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the 'comments' box below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment