SEASONS - THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The second Sunday of Advent is about preparing our hearts!  Are you prepared?

Joseph and Mary had to prepare as they were waiting for the birth of Jesus.  There are things to do if you are expecting a baby!  A crib must be made, some clothes must be ready and a special place for the baby must be carved out in your home.

 

Yet, there are nine months to prepare, so in the midst of all your preparations you may also find rest.  Rest and calm also prepare a home to receive a happy child.  Let us not forget them during Advent this year.  Then there is that constant waiting and watching, looking for every sign that things are going well with the little baby growing inside his Mother’s belly.   Waiting involves constant watching with anticipation for the baby to arrive.

Are you resting in the promises of God that Jesus will return?  Are you waiting and anticipating that day?  Have you prepared your heart to receive him?  

He is coming!  

The One who came as a Child will return as a King, are you ready?

Are you listening and watching every day?

Have you contemplated the hand of God in your life since last year when you lit the Advent Candles?  Have you suffered hardships, maybe an illness or disease?  Are you living in different circumstances, maybe another home?  Are you having to get used to a new place in life?  Have you had a relationship to go sour and haven’t been able to solve this?  Did God not carry you through to get you to where you are right now in spite of your circumstances?  God works all things together for good, maybe we can see these things as we look back at Advent.  Rest in the confidence that He is with you and has seen you through all of your trials and troubles.

And have you reflected on what will happen as you continue to move forward?  God has a plan just for you.  At Advent your eyes may be opened to see more of that plan.  Are you watching with open eyes?  Are you preparing for the future of God’s will for your life?  Advent reminds us that God is in control of our future and He has a perfect plan for us if we just wait until He reveals it.

 

Are you overcoming life’s bumps and bruises as you wait on The Christ Child to come?  Mary and Joseph had a long and bumpy journey to Bethlehem.  They overcame many obstacles along the way.  We must do the same in our daily lives.  Ask God to help you see the blessings in the bumps as you make your journey toward Christmas.   Be prepared to see God at work.  Make your heart ready! 

Are you truly prepared to receive a King?  Are you living with repentance and hope?  Have you put away your idols and devoted yourself to worshiping God and God alone?  Are you ready?  

We must be prepared.  

A King is coming !

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. (Malachi 3: 1-4)

The poem below tells us He will not wait and we must be ready to receive him.  It was like this the first time, and it will be the same the second time:

First Coming
Madeleine L’Engle

He did not wait till the world was ready,
'til men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait

'til hearts were pure. In joy he came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

(L'Engle, Madeleine. "First Coming." The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle. Colorado Springs, CO: Shaw, 2005. 242.)

So let us be prepared to rejoice as we journey on, and let us be doing the things that Jesus did and not wait until conditions are “just right.”  As John The Baptist so boldly proclaimed; we must be prepared!  We must keep moving toward the Mystery of the day that the Word is made flesh and the Maker of the Stars is born.  In our remembering of The Child we will know the way to the future.