Advent is a time of waiting with hope,
for something wonderful. Think of a time when you were waiting for
someone to arrive home, someone dear to you. They have been away for
a long time. There is the feeling of anticipation, longing and
excitement, just like you see in the arrivals hall of an airport. You
are looking at each person as they appear, waiting for your loved
one. That is what Advent is meant to be; a time of hopeful waiting.
The first candle we light, symbolizes hope. The hope of knowing
something wonderful is going to happen. Your long-absent
son/daughter, husband or wife, is about to come through the door and
you can’t wait to see them.
What exactly are we waiting for
that is so hopeful? Generally, we focus on the birth of Christ and
that certainly is a big part of it, but it is just one part of it.
Christmas and Easter are two halves of the same thing and they cannot
be separated. What we are waiting for is a whole package that
consists of God coming among us, into the messiness of our world, to
share in our human nature, to suffer with us and to re-open the
possibility of eternal life, through his death and resurrection. Just
the last part of that alone, is mind-blowing. Without this whole
event we could not have happiness when we die. That is why Advent is
such a hopeful time, because we are waiting for this whole event to
begin, the event that finishes in eternal happiness.
The world that Jesus came into, was
very similar to ours. He was born to a couple who were away from
home, because of a census. He was born into a country which was
occupied by a foreign power and who were known for being particularly
brutal. The Romans regularly crucified many people just to show who
was in charge. Can you imagine living in the fear of those kind of
soldiers. Right after his birth, they had to flee to Egypt because of
a death threat. They became refugees fleeing from violence, just like
we are seeing in so many countries at this time. His world was full
of religious hypocrisy, just like ours and yet he wasn’t afraid to
come into this world. All of that is showing us that God is with us
in the chaos of our world.
Many Christians have a misunderstanding
of what our faith is about. I regularly hear people in confession and
outside of confession, express their fear of the sins of their past.
Maybe they won’t be able to go to heaven when they die. Maybe they
won’t be good enough. We joke about it all the time, saying that
when we arrive at the pearly gates Peter will look over our life, to
see if we are good enough. That is the complete opposite of the
teaching of Christianity. What our faith teaches us is that we are
not good enough for heaven by our own strength. We can never
be good enough for God, by our own strength. But the whole
point of our faith is that because of the death and resurrection of
Jesus, that has now been made possible for us. God now offers us
forgiveness and eternal life if we choose to accept it. God has
already done for us what we cannot do ourselves and that is why the
message of Christianity is so amazing. Christmas is the beginning of
that whole event; Christ taking on human flesh, living among us in
our chaotic world and ultimately allowing himself to be sacrificed
for us. Eternal life now awaits us. All we have to do is say ask
God’s mercy for our sins and say, ‘Yes, I believe and I accept
all that God is offering me.’ Knowing this we need never live in
fear of our past mistakes again. What God has done for us is what
will bring us eternal happiness. That is why Advent is such a hopeful
time.
The
Angel said to the shepherds: do not be afraid.
I
bring you news of great joy.
Today
in the town of David
a
Saviour has been born for you;
He
is Christ the Lord.
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