From the Pastor’s Pen
“Besides this, you know what time it is… (Rom. 13: 11)
Just in Time!
The catalogs and brochures promoting Christmas cards and gifts began coming in the mail before Halloween. “What ever happened to celebrating Thanksgiving?” I wondered. Time passes so quickly. It seems all the holidays roll into one!
So, let’s thank God for Advent! The four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas give us a chance to reflect on our lives and prepare our hearts to welcome the Lord Jesus Christ. The season allows us to ponder the fact that Christ entered the human race to rescue us from sin and death. Because of Advent, there is time for the reality of God’s infinite love to sink in, to permeate our souls – even as we try to grasp it with our minds. We also remember Jesus’ promise to come again at the end of time to inaugurate God’s eternal reign “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). What a bright future we have through faith in Christ!
In Advent, we cleanse our hearts by first identifying any attitudes we have that prevent us from living the way God intended. Then we discard those attitudes. We clear out every vestige of greed or envy, every prideful thought, and every prejudice, hatred or grudge that blocks the path to true hope and joy. We do this simply by turning to Christ and confessing these things to him in prayer.
I don’t mind waiting for Jesus’ birthday. But my spirit longs for a Savior today, as I suspect yours does too. There is much darkness in this season! Dusk comes early and dawn comes late. We see a world in turmoil and people around us struggling with serious health issues or carrying heavy burdens of pain and loss.
The good news is that Christ is already here! He came to us in our baptisms. He comes to us in his Word and Sacraments, in the silence of solitary prayer, and in those moments when he comes through others to us, or through us to others. Those moments are referenced in the pages of this newsletter. Imagine: a single mother with several children receives gifts for each one and is overcome with gratitude; or a man returns to church after years of dissolute living and finds his family in Christ waiting with open arms!
The “Light of the World” arrives just in time – whenever we glimpse his presence! The Apostle Paul summarized this message well when he said, “Now (is) the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers” (Rom. 13: 11).
Open your eyes and prepare your heart to have a Christmas blessed by Christ!
In His Love,
Val