December 2001

Are you ready for Christmas?

The question begs for an answer.

Some people are compulsive about being ready, aren’t they?
And, some people never seem to be ready.
As Christmas approaches, the question becomes more and more frequent –
and our response more and more frenetic.

People, get ready. . . the song goes.
It was heard as a voice in the wilderness.
Today, it comes to us again and again on TV, on the radio, in the newspaper and magazines, in the stores, everywhere.
Get ready!
Shop here!
Save today!
Buy now!
Try this!
Get that!
Mail early!
Sale! Sale! Sale!
Buy! Buy! Buy!

And, of course, we try to oblige, don’t we?

Still, the question hounds us: Are you ready?

It seems that the more we do, the more we buy, the more we try, the less ready we feel.

Today, in the cacophony of the commercial barrage, the voice of the wilderness is heard from your church. Its time to get ready.

Of course, what we are getting ready for is something quite different from what the world is getting ready for.

Oh, we are all getting ready for Christmas, but for us, Christmas is something different that it is for Boscof’s or Strawbridge’s.

As a voice in the wilderness, your church cries:
Remember the reason for the season.
We are getting ready for the way of the Lord.

Sunday, December 2, begins our season of Advent:
a time of getting ready for the coming of Christ –
the in-breaking of God upon our lives – Emmanuel!
We celebrate it at Christmas.
We call it incarnation.
It is, perhaps, the single most important event of our faith!
We need to get ready for it.

The truth of the matter is, that incarnation happens whether we are ready or not!
Whether we see or not,
whether we experience it or not,
whether we are part of it, or not,
depends upon how prepared we are.
It is up to us to sharpen our senses,
to hone our skills of discernment,
to focus the lens we see through,
in order to glimpse the divine in our midst.

This is what Advent is all about.

In the next few weeks we are going to be telling the stories of Advent:
the stories of Emmanuel,
the stories of John the Baptist,
the story of the Angel Gabriel,
the story of Mary the mother of Jesus,
the story of her cousin Elizabeth,
the story of Joseph,
the stories of the birth of Jesus,
the story of the shepherds,
the story of the wise men,
the story of old Simeon,
the story of old Anna.

These are stories you will hear no where else!

These are stories you need to hear, again and again.
These are the stories our children need to hear,
and our children’s children need to hear!

Make a real effort to be with us each Sunday this season.
And, especially, join us on Christmas Eve.
You will be mightily blessed.
And, you just might experience Emmanuel!

See you in church,