Blog # 211 Advent -a
We find many promises made by God in the Bible . By faith we know the absolute trustworthiness of God and that every promise made by God will be fulfilled. God's promise to send a redeemer, a savior of all the world, has been fulfilled in Jesus.
Yet, since Jesus was is and will be the savior of all, the promise of God to send Jesus was made to all and will be fulfilled for all, personally and individually. In other words salvation is not something already done, in the past alone, but is now, and will be as long as history continues. It is something already fulfilled and not yet fulfilled completely.
In each of us who have believed and are Baptized the promise of salvation in Jesus has been fulfilled. Yet this afternoon and tomorrow if we are still on earth the promise will continue to be fulfilled anew. We are constantly being invited and called by God to be more aware of, to understand more fully, and to appreciate and experience more deeply the promise of salvation and its fulfillment in the world in general and in us personally.
To help us do this we have the Season of Advent as an annual current gift of God's redeeming love. We make an effort to taste the hunger of the Prophets of old as they lived and died trusting the promise of God to send a savior. We spend four weeks reflecting upon how the world and we would be without Jesus, and how it and we could be with and in Him. One of the problems is we are not in the habit of reflecting this way. There are many distractions in and around us. The religious questions are not a large part of our everyday agenda. The experience of faith might primarily have something to do with prayers of petition in time of need. Or the primary work of faith for some is the work of building the earth rather than building our personal relationship with God and through this relationship building God's work of justice and peace on earth.
Also there are so many distractions within and around us and so much pressure in the processs of trying to make a decent living it is hard to find time or form the habit of thinking of God beyond the token of one hour a week on Sunday. If we are serious about receiving and fulfilling God's promise of salvation in Jesus personally, we should be looking for and discovering reminders of that promise and insights into its meaning for us. I will share here a few of the opportunities I have found as I await the birth of the Lord to grow in my eagerness for His coming. Through them I see more frequently and clearly the connection between His birth and that portion of creation I know as my everyday experience of life. Perhaps they will be useful to you as an invitation to find similar reminders in your life.
A mail box has as its purpose to receive the mail. It is waiting until the mail comes to be its complete self. It is in an Advent mode. Some of the water coming from the local reservoir will cook my carrots. It is waiting for me to open the faucet and let it out, to let it serve me as it should. A door is waiting to be opened or closed. A taxi, a birthday cake, an expectant mother, a parking meter, a pencil, a saw hanging in the garage, all are waiting to be what they were made to be.
When I lie down to sleep at night the whole world is waiting for me to awake and appear in the morning. No one but God, Father Word and Holy Spirit and I may realize this, but it would be true if I rose with a prayer for all people in my heart each day and a will to serve the Lord as best I can in my small corner of creation. Dishes plates cups utensils and food wait each day for their fulfillment in us. The work to which each of us is uniquely called waits for us to come. More than waiting for Christmas, we see Christmas waiting for us, to welcome the Lord Jesus and join Him in His current joy. The hour of His birth has come, the simple chosen place is ready, in the manger of our hearts. Bethlehem belongs to us. We are saved! Come, Lord Jesus!
