I've never really understood the concept of advent. To me, Christmas has always been a celebration, a birthday party for Jesus. I've always understood Christmas was much, much more than presents or food, but I sort of just considered it to be a birthday party for Jesus. It absolutely is a celebration, but I'm starting to see the other side of it too. I'm starting to understand the stillness and darkness of the advent time, the waiting period.
I like to read John Piper devotionals, because they make me feel like I'm really learning something, but they're short enough that I'm not biting off more than I can chew. (Because we all know how deep John Piper can be. Bless him, but often his messages are waaay over my head.) Anyway, here's a line from the December 1 devotional from his Solid Joys app. This devotional came from his message called "Prepare the Way of the Lord!"
I found an art piece by one of my favorite calligraphers, Lindsay Letters, that simply says, the weary world rejoices. and I haven't been able to stop thinking about that line. O Holy Night has always been my favorite Christmas song, although I never really knew why until I noticed this line.
So why are we celebrating Christmas? Cool, Jesus was born, but why is his birthday so special? Because this world was (and in many ways, still is) completely worn out. Now, lots of things make me tired, like when traffic is terrible, or when it's pouring rain and I have no umbrella, or when yet another person feels the need to share their opinion on the Duck Dynasty controversy. That's feeling tired. But weary is a whole other ballgame. It's a deep, aching, longing exhaustion. It's waiting or wishing for so long that you're not sure you can take another breath. Did you know that there was 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament? They waited four hundred years after all the prophecies for the promised Son to be born. Four hundred years. Our country hasn't even been around that long. Four hundred years takes "weary" to a whole new level.
This year, I'm looking at Christmas from an entirely new perspective. The world, full of sin and despair and anguish, waited for centuries for relief. For mercy. For grace. They waited centuries for a Savior. I imagine that with every passing day, the realization that they needed a Savior became greater and greater, heavier and heavier. In many ways, the same is true for us now. While we're spending year after year on Earth, which has so much beauty and hope and redemption but still has so much sin, Christmas can be an encouragement, a reminder of that night when, after centuries and centuries of waiting, Christ was born.
The weary world rejoices, indeed.
Merry Christmas.
I like to read John Piper devotionals, because they make me feel like I'm really learning something, but they're short enough that I'm not biting off more than I can chew. (Because we all know how deep John Piper can be. Bless him, but often his messages are waaay over my head.) Anyway, here's a line from the December 1 devotional from his Solid Joys app. This devotional came from his message called "Prepare the Way of the Lord!"
"Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight.
It will not have its intended effect until
we feel desperately the need for a Savior."
It will not have its intended effect until
we feel desperately the need for a Savior."
I found an art piece by one of my favorite calligraphers, Lindsay Letters, that simply says, the weary world rejoices. and I haven't been able to stop thinking about that line. O Holy Night has always been my favorite Christmas song, although I never really knew why until I noticed this line.
So why are we celebrating Christmas? Cool, Jesus was born, but why is his birthday so special? Because this world was (and in many ways, still is) completely worn out. Now, lots of things make me tired, like when traffic is terrible, or when it's pouring rain and I have no umbrella, or when yet another person feels the need to share their opinion on the Duck Dynasty controversy. That's feeling tired. But weary is a whole other ballgame. It's a deep, aching, longing exhaustion. It's waiting or wishing for so long that you're not sure you can take another breath. Did you know that there was 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament? They waited four hundred years after all the prophecies for the promised Son to be born. Four hundred years. Our country hasn't even been around that long. Four hundred years takes "weary" to a whole new level.
This year, I'm looking at Christmas from an entirely new perspective. The world, full of sin and despair and anguish, waited for centuries for relief. For mercy. For grace. They waited centuries for a Savior. I imagine that with every passing day, the realization that they needed a Savior became greater and greater, heavier and heavier. In many ways, the same is true for us now. While we're spending year after year on Earth, which has so much beauty and hope and redemption but still has so much sin, Christmas can be an encouragement, a reminder of that night when, after centuries and centuries of waiting, Christ was born.
The weary world rejoices, indeed.
Merry Christmas.