Today is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent means "arrival'', and we begin the season of waiting, leading up to Christmas when we celebrate the arrival of Christ into our world.
As has been my family tradition for generations, today I lit the first Advent candle to mark the beginning of this season. I love doing this every year! I love this annual rhythm which has been part of my life whether I have lived in Sweden, Vienna, Turkey or Northern Ireland. The steady, comforting familiarity of it brings peace and calm to my heart, as I start a period of reflecting more intentionally on what the coming of Jesus into our world means.
The past year for me has felt like one of the hardest. Sometimes the extent of my faith has amounted to just holding on, by my fingertips, to the very core basics of it. Some of the things we do and say as church haven't felt very relevant in the place where I have found myself. But Jesus has been present. Always so present, no matter how hopeless things felt and how weak I felt.
I feel like I have gained a new perspective on who Jesus is in the last few months, as I have spent hours listening to the Gospels on audio during my 30 mile commute to work. Just listening to the stories about him hour after hour has helped me (I imagine) see him the way the people around him must have seen and experienced him when he was walking the earth. I've been struck in a new way by how completely radical and counter cultural he was. Shockingly so! He spoke to women with respect and dignity. He said that in order to be great you have to be a servant. He said that those who want to be first will in fact be last. He raged against the greedy and the hypocrites and judged them harshly. But also I have been overwhelmed by his compassion... he saw and cared for those who were despised by society. He said: "come to me you who are tired and weary, and I will give you rest". (This invitation made me cry with relief and gratitude.) If Jesus was only a man, a guru, on this earth I know I would give my life to follow him!! But I believe with my whole heart that this man whose birth we celebrate at Christmas was more - he was God incarnate. God made flesh. He broke into history 2000 years ago and this began a movement of Jesus followers that continues to this day. He is still changing lives, mindsets and whole communities such as I have seen in India. He shows us a different way. A way of peace, not war. Contentment, not greed. Love, not hatred. Giving, not taking. Justice, not oppression. Security, not fear.
... How the world needs him this Advent season and always!
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