The Story of Advent
December 2, 2022
Advent Reflection
Frankly, I am not sure that I ever experienced an Advent season before we moved to University Baptist Church in 1990. I certainly had some Christmas ‘season’ experiences prior to that, but the emphasis on the Advent calendar and the season of anticipation were a new thing to me. I thank my family at UBC for both introducing me to this rich season and for keeping the fire alive all these years.
Most of my memories of Advent involve UBC and its special people. Hanging of the Green services, Youth Choir performances, Christmas Eve services, special music, Christmas parties, and of course, Barbara Ellen leading us in “Rudolph.”
But perhaps the most special times have been when people - early in our time in Shawnee - invited us to their homes to spend part of the Advent season with them, knowing we were alone in Shawnee and it was too far to travel to see family. Those are good memories, and the anticipation of experiencing the season with others’ families was great and the experiences were rich, meaningful, and memorable.
Advent is a season of anticipation. The Story of Advent should be a narrative, where characters enter and exit, events take place, and the unexpected happens. It is that season for me. I look forward to the planning and implementation of plans, but I anticipate the unexpected. It is the unexpected - think of the Christmas story in the New Testament - that keeps us coming back. If Christ had just appeared to us one day walking down the street it would have been less than the dramatic - and effective - coming to earth as a baby and becoming fully human. He did not have to do that - he chose it. That is something to anticipate.
- Jim Vernon