Someone said, I can’t believe it is almost Christmas again! I can’t believe it either. It seems to come quicker and quicker each year. I started thinking about the first Advent, the first year Christ was born into the world. I was thinking for them it could not have come quick enough. Today the world is such a dark place it seems, but back then I just can’t imagine how dark it must have been without Christ in the world. Fleming Rutledge always says, Advent begins in the dark. It really did. We just have gotten immune to the light that came into the world when Jesus was born. So many times we take it for granted I think. Yes, it is true there is much darkness, evil, violence, and fear. There is much injustice and hatred, but on the flip side, there is light, light that was not here until Christ was born. Every Sunday morning, people all over the world go to church to worship God together. Every second of every day, someone is on their knees praying. People are helping strangers. Salvation Army volunteers stand out in the cold every year ringing the bell for others. It has been estimated that the church in America sends over 50 million in aid to Africa each year. Perfect strangers sign up to be kidney donors. Young couples adopt troubled youth. Not everyone, but everywhere you look, there are people literally laying down their lives for others. Yes, the world is a dark place but just around the corner somewhere there is light. And that is what we celebrate during Advent. We look long and hard at the darkness with our eyes wide open, and at the same time, we celebrate the fact that The Light, the Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world. So today, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you”. Isaiah 60:1
Leave a Reply