An Introduction to Advent

Week 1: The Journey Begins

Gabriel comes to Mary, who goes to her cousin Elizabeth. Even the unborn John the Baptist can’t stay still when he senses the presence of the also-in-utero Jesus. And we are all familiar with the journey Mary and Joseph take to Bethlehem. Indeed, Luke portrays all of Judaea as being in motion in response to Augustus Caesar’s demand that “all the world be registered.” We see angels coming to shepherds, and shepherds, in turn, going to Bethlehem to see the most important arrival of all. 

Week 2: Arrival

Briefly, the motion stops. Everyone has arrived at the place they are meant to be. They cram themselves into a tiny home to see a baby lying in a feeding trough as his mom and dad jostle for room with the animals. Welcome to our world, little one. 

His mother knows why he is here, or at least she thinks she does. He will bring down kings and raise up the poor. He will bring freedom to a people long oppressed. This manger, this cave—she knows he will not stay here. He will go out from this place and remake the world. But all the promises and memories Mary treasures up in her heart will not protect it from the pain that must come when her son’s true mission is revealed.

Eventually, the animals have their home to themselves again. Bethlehem returns to being a tiny village where nothing happens—for all the members of the Nativity scene have departed.

Week 3: Into the World

The going, the return to the world, is equally important. It is not enough to have come to Bethlehem and seen the child; the shepherds go out into the world and tell everyone what they have seen and heard. Mary and Joseph’s work is just beginning as they, too, go out from Bethlehem to raise this boy. And, of course, it’s not enough for God to come into this world; he comes to go—to serve his Father, even unto death on a cross.

Have you ever considered that during Advent, we all undertake the slow journey to Bethlehem? Days pass, Christmas comes closer. We approach the manger just as the shepherds did, coming to see the One who was promised, the God who became a man. We linger there to celebrate and give thanks, but we cannot stay. We must go back out into the world. What will we take with us? Will we share what we have seen?  

Join us as we journey to Bethlehem, rejoice at our Savior’s birth, and go out into the world, changed.