What is Advent? Many would simply say that it is the season which leads to Christmas. That would be true. But what is the meaning of Advent?
As I grew up with a mother who taught us about Jesus, I looked forward to His coming. As a little child, when you hear that Jesus is coming, you start acting a little better. You begin doing those house chores. You begin getting your act together so that Jesus will come.
I learned after a couple of years, about age 4, that Jesus is ALWAYS with us but that if we act nice when Christmas is coming, maybe Jesus will let us have something special under the Christmas tree.
There were five of us children and during the month of December, we had a very clean house, we had awesome grades at school, and going to church was also a joy. We did everything that was asked of us because we wanted Jesus to come.
Now, more than six decades later, I’m still excited when I hear about Advent. It still means the same, “The Coming of Emmanuel”, but with a little deeper meaning and excitement. Think about it – Jesus IS Coming, but as an adult, as a child of the King, we have a deeper understanding and a greater excitement for this amazing GIFT.
I spent the first two weeks of December visiting The Holy Land. You could hardly keep my feet planted on the ground as the days came closer for my departure. I knew that my greatest Christmas gift would happen. I’ll tell you more about that later.
Let’s start at the season of Advent – the four weeks leading up to Christmas. The first Sunday is entitled Hope. As I think about that word, I want to ask you about your HOPE in Christ. You see, if we don’t live out our hope, how can we pass that hope on to someone else.
When you truly live your Hope, your joy for Jesus, those you meet will soon say, “I want what you have”. Your response will be something like, “It’s Jesus”, and yes, “You can have Him living in your heart too”. The easy way to explain this hope is Helping Other People Enter into a life with Jesus. Helping Other People see and know the importance of claiming Jesus as their Lord and Savior. HOPE is knowing without a doubt who Jesus is AND who we are because of the life HE led.
Jesus knew the outline of His life on earth. Jesus knew that one day He would take on death that we might have life, eternal life. Jesus knew that His coming meant new life for us.
So, when we come to the heart of Jesus and HE asks us “What do you want for Christmas”, I hope we can all respond “to have enough HOPE that we will be a witness to those HE puts in our daily paths.
Moving on to the second Sunday of Advent, we will talk about Peace. There are several ways to look at this word. Going along with HOPE and what it causes us to do, peace is also an action word. PEACE could be the term used to help others along their journey. Please Equip And Challenge Everyone. Thinking about Peace as a verb is a little different. Jesus is first asking, with a loving heart, to PLEASE equip everyone. He’s saying, I’ve given my peace to you and now I am saying “Please” love those around you, please be willing to walk in life with them, and please show them my love.
Sometimes if we would just give a listening ear, we might hear Jesus saying “PLEASE” and “Thank you” to us as we try living out His word.
How do we equip? Well think about it, how are you equipped? When you spend time with Jesus, when you study His word and allow yourself to be filled up, you are taking the steps to be equipped for whatever journey Jesus is calling you to.
The spoken ministry was not my choice, but it was God’s choice for me. Did I hear Him calling me to this kind of service? No! In fact, Jesse Hodge came to my office one Wednesday afternoon and told me that God was calling my name for ministry. Since speaking in public was not comfortable, I knew he, Jesse, was not listening for God’s voice.
I guess he was for you see, I have walked in this joy of ministry for some twenty-two years. And the peace that encamps me daily is a powerful thing. Does that mean that I don’t have problems, of course not. But what it means is that God, after calling me into ministry, promised to walk each step with me. The equipping continues as I have my daily devotionals, reading my Bible, and challenging others to do the same.
Yes, Challenge is for the letter “C” in peace. And we are to challenge those we love, those we want to spend eternity with, and even the stranger that God brings along our paths. Challenge is a hard task because we have to talk about Jesus, show Jesus in our daily walk, and share how HE lives in us. Challenge is to be so firm in our walk with God that when we invite others, their denial will not trip us up.
And of course, this challenge is not just for a few, it is for everyone. Jesus would want for no one to miss living eternity with Him. That simply means that we have to work together for the Kingdom of God. And unfortunately, it is not just during the Advent season. Jesus wants us to be a witness on a daily basis, 365 days out of the year. Jesus is saying today and all of the todays that we are blessed with, “Please Equip and Challenge Everyone.
If we do as we are asked to do, we (all of us) will experience the JOY of Christmas. We will tell the world Jesus Over Yourself. God has blessed us with many gifts to share along our life’s journey. In our living, HE has reminded us that we should always put Jesus first.
Jesus’ place of honor is above family, friends, strangers, and definitely self. When you awaken each day, do you say “Thank you Jesus for this new day”? When life is hard, go to Jesus. When you think you’ve lost your way, go to Jesus. When there’s reason to celebrate, go to Jesus. Jesus is always the number one person to whom we should give praise. But HE is also the One that we should run to when our days are not going the way we think they should go. During Advent season, we smile when we see the decorations. We smile when we finish our shopping. We smile and even strike up a conversation when standing in the lines at the stores. Jesus wants that same response – just a simple smile to Him because of Him. Jesus is the reason that we have JOY and He explains that when we take the focus off of ourselves looking to Him and others, our joy is real.
Have you ever caught yourself smiling for no reason? Have you ever sensed a strange joy around you? Have you ever just whispered the name of Jesus and immediately, you were at peace? Those blessings are there because Jesus recognize you. He recognizes your voice. And HE recognizes the Jesus joy in you.
Stay with me a bit longer as we come closer to the end of our Advent lesson. The fourth week is about love. There’s not much I can tell you about loving Jesus that you don’t already know. But when you love, you are letting others view your excitement about Jesus.
Just how might you do that and not get caught up in the “I’m so much better syndrome”? John 3:16 tells us about this kind of love. Remember, “God so loved the world that HE gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes will not perish but will have everlasting life”. Now that’s love – to give your life basically, so that others will live.
So if we let others view our excitement, if we let them see the same person that Jesus sees, eventually they will want what we have. These same people will start walking in that love walk with Jesus. These family members and friends will began starting their day focused on the same Jesus who came that first Christmas so long ago.
This is the same Jesus who visited that little girl in Pampa, TX when her mother told her if she was good and did all the things that had been asked of her that Jesus would come.
Let me tell you about that little girl. Jesus did come on that Christmas so long ago, and HE still shines His light in her life. As she grew deeper in love with a childlike understanding of the Advent season, Christmas became more real, more exciting, and more of a celebration.
The celebrating did not stop at the end of Advent, she began to understand that with the season of Advent, HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE, came a day that was like no other day. Christmas happened!
Christmas – or more of Christ – was the real gift. Yes, clothes were needed and appreciated. Toys to keep you busy enough to fill up the day called Christmas were great. Eating a meal with family and friends was also a highlight. But the gift of the baby Jesus made life real exciting.
On Christmas morning, before dashing for the tree to see what was under it, mom would tell us that Jesus was born on this day. As I grew more and more each year, this day became so much like the birthdays of family members in our home, we would get excited about the birthday of our King. His was more important because everyone around the world would put up decorations for His birthday. He was special and is still special today. He left a present, the present that meant we could and would have life.
Hmmm! Presents from Jesus? Do you recall your favorite Christmas gift, your best gift ever? In a materialistic world, we write a list to give our parents or friends about what we want for Christmas. We want more clothes. We want something to decorate the house. We want money to help for an even more expensive gift. We want, we want, we want.
But then Jesus gives us what we would never think to ask for. He gives us love. He gives us strength to withstand those attacks from the world. HE gives us more of Himself to help with the things HE wants us to do.
As a young child, He gave me the gift and joy of music. He knew that possibly the only way that I would stay on track in serving Him would be through the music that HE placed in my life.
At the age of three, I began singing in church for Christ. I’ve been enjoying this gift and sharing this gift for all of my life. I cry out to Jesus sometimes just to say thank you. I sing for Jesus and to Jesus in response to His presence and love for me. I can’t wait to sing, in response to His giving and for HIS birthday this year.
You know, when Advent is over, it’s the Birthday, the Birthday of our King. Is He on your wish list this year? Are you cleaning up and preparing for His coming? Let’s prepare together as a community and give a little HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE to those we meet this Advent season.
Merry Christmas!