Adventing We Will Go

Scripture      

 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.  The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!  (Luke 12:35-37 NLT)

 Adventing We Will Go

 I don’t think Adventing is a word (but my significant grammatical other says “If parenting is a word then…). The other morning, I was playing with its synonym –arriving. Declining verbs was a big part of my high school Latin debacle but, with what is left in my memory, I came up with arrived, has arrived and will arrive.

 I like the word “Adventing” because it feels like we are in motion, in action, to engage the story of Jesus’ arrival in past, present and future. We recount the stories of Mary, Joseph, Herod, shepherds, wise men and slaughtered innocents to connect with the painful mystery of God entering time in Jesus.

 We look around for signs of grace and hope in the world that remind us that God is with us both then and now. Advent allows us to engage the struggle with the God who comes to us while often seeming silent and inaccessible.

 While Jesus arrives in our lives today the most important part of the story is that he will arrive again – not in silence and humility but in reconciling power. Adventing means we work toward that reconciliation while watching for our lives to reflect that sense of anticipation.

 A Prayer for Today

Loving God, you entered time in Jesus – and you come to us today, revealing the Father’s love and infinite patience. As we Advent, grant us moments of inner stillness to see you at work in our lives, in our world and stimulate our sense of anticipation of your return   …. For Jesus’ sake