We have gone through all the Sundays after Pentecost and now we embark upon the season of our preparation. Christ the King Sunday...then Thanksgiving, followed by the 1st Sunday in Advent and culminating on Christmas and the celebration of His birth. It is a time of expecataion...a time of preparation..a time of getting things in order and place for the High and Holy time of Christmas and the Incarnation of Christ. It is a time that I am convinced we need to work at and if we really want to appreciate the coming days of the Church Year we need to be involved in them in significant and special ways.
Christ the King Sunday as we start out by remembering that He really is the King. Even though His birth is in the stable at Bethlehem His announcement preceeds His birth..." Mary, you will be pregnant by the Holy Spirit and the Child you bear with be the Son of God." He leaves Heaven to come to earth just like we did and though He is born of a virgin He is holy and righteous, the King of Kings, and we need to start our time of preparation with that fact deeply imbedded in our mind and soul. We are getting ready.. we are now beginning to roll out the red carpet of our faith to welcome Him and to honor Him in all the days that now unfold in the church year.
Then Thanksgiving. A time of preparation to say the least.. We have to make sure everything is just right for a special day in all of our lives. Families are united again--the meal is prepared--the best tableservice is used and we may even go so far as to buy a new tablecloth for the event. We sit down to tables that overflow with the bounty of God's blessings and we once again pause long enough to see that we have been blessed and to give Him thanks for all of it. We may even go so far as to remember those who do not share the many blessings we have and may even reach out to them to give them part of our blessings to enrich their lives and a time of gratitude for them and for us. We will become thankful as a people and a nation, even in the midst of some difficult and uncertain times, for the bounty is there and the blessings are a reality and we need to pause and give thanks for all He has shared with us.
Next is Advent... a time of preparation for our response to His coming into our world. A time to look forward to His coming at Christmas and His coming in the Second Advent when He will return to earth. It is a time of joy and wonder as we see the working of God in the midst of mankind and draw closer and closer to the stable that holds this wondrous event in the form of a baby named Jesus. Every Sunday in Advent is special for what it signifies and for what it reminds us about the Christ we are looking for. He draws close to us and we come to worship Him in our preparation and in our response to the wonderous gift God gives to each of us. Advent means to come, like we sing at Christmas time, O Come O Come Immanuel... and He does in the joy and wonder of the manger. Four candles are lit, one each Sunday, to signify our movement towards that special time and special day called Christmas. Advent prepares us to honor Him and without it our response is in complete and without true input and gratitude. I have always felt that the more I can do in Advent to prepare for His coming, the more I appreciate it when it arrives on Christmas.
Anticipation...expectance..wonder..awe and gratitude, all in Advent and then Christmas comes!
Christmas, when we see all that God has in store for us. We need to let it all soak in someplace along the way. In all the things we have done to get ready, it now arrives. The long wait for the Messiah... the promise of God that He will do something new and great...the cry of a baby in the stable and the shepherds who see the light and come to know the Light of the World. It is all there in the wonder and awe of Christmas and it seems that the more I participate in it, the more I look forward to it...the more I appreciate the Gift that I find in that special time and place in the work of God. We lose sight of what is ours when we get all caught up in the "commerical part of Christmas" as we worry about the gifts we will give and lose sight of the greatest one that we receive. We need to prepare for Christmas more than in shopping and gift giving.. We need to get ready to see Him and welcome Him into our midst on Christmas eve. To ask Him to abide with us for the rest of the year as well, for He never leaves, we just celebrate His coming over again.
Get ready! Prepare the way! Open the doors and come to join Him! Take advantage of everything you can do to capture the wonder and the awesome working of God in this season of preparation. From the blessings on your table to the joy of the stable.....From the angels in the sky to the quiet moments of serene contemplation. From the beauty of promise to the reality of love. The more you prepare for it, the more you will find.... HAPPY PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOY OF THE SEASON OF WONDER AND BLESSINGS