Advent 2: Preparation

This past Sunday was the second Sunday in Advent. It was also the middle of an ice storm in the Dallas area. Our church–alongside many churches in our city–cancelled all morning services. I wrote this piece which would have been distributed to everyone who came, continuing to explore what Advent is. It’s the second of four pieces that I’ve written that seeks to answer the question, What is Advent? (You can read last week’s introductory piece here.)

The word “Advent” literally means “coming.”  We’re looking forward to the coming of the Child who will be born, the One who has been promised. There is an inclination when we use the word “waiting” to think we are sitting passively, maybe thinking, maybe just biding our time. But Advent waiting—waiting for the Coming One—is anything but passive. Advent waiting is preparation.

When we talk about preparing for the Coming One, we don’t mean making sure the milk and cookies are out or being sure our decorations are all in place. Advent waiting is about self-preparation. We make ourselves ready to receive the One who is to come.

And really, that is the journey we find ourselves on year-round. Are we becoming ones who can receive this King? Are we people who celebrate the subversive, upside-down kingdom that is announced to shepherds instead of kings? Is the Jesus Way our way, or do we more readily follow the way of Herod or the Pharisees?

With the coming of Jesus, God invaded the world: not with an army to establish his reign, but with a helpless peasant family who, at the whim of an emperor thousands of miles away, are forced to take a trip and fulfill scripture. The story of the coming of Jesus is one that subverts our expectations, that surprises us if we’ll let it.

Part of our task in Advent is to prepare ourselves to receive this King, this Coming One who, in the words of his mother, “pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed” (Luke 2.52-53). Let us reorient ourselves to this startling and alternative kingdom.