The Waiting Is Nearly Over: The Final Sunday in Advent

Dear Friends and Family,

The wait is nearly over. Tomorrow evening we begin the celebration of the birth of Christ into this world. For the next twelve days we contemplate and give praise for the greatest gift and mystery, God become man.

To help usher in Christmastide, tonight a group of our (mostly) American friends will be attending a Christmas Eve (one day early) service at Southwell Minster.

Tonight we’ll sing carols (something I’ve tried to avoid to help add to my Christmas experience this year, and we’ll celebrate the coming King.

While Advent and Christmas are reminders of events that took place in the past, our participation in them is also to remind us that we still wait the return of our Saviour, Deifier, and King. I have been overawed this Advent thinking about the implications of waiting for the Saviour’s first coming. How long Israel had waited! Then, when their King comes they find out it isn’t to be just how they imagined it. Instead of being a solely political leader come to reunite Israel, they get a man who claims to be God, who turns all their notions on their heads and tells them he must die, resurrect, and return. May we not forget just who it is for whom we are still waiting.

What are your thoughts from Advent this year?

May the Lord, when he comes,
find us watching and waiting.

Yours,

David