What is the joy of waiting? We have all experienced how waiting and anticipation heightens the joy of consummation. The first example that comes to mind is the birth of a child. If babies came right after conception, the new life might bring more shock and fear than joy in the moment. Perhaps God’s gift to us is time — time to tell everyone our good news, time to paint a room and buy things, time to prepare ourselves for this new life. Instantaneous birth would rob us of the joy of waiting, but with nine months to prepare and imagine, the birthday comes as a glorious celebration!

As the Roman soldiers led Jesus to his crucifixion, he became too weary to carry his cross, so “they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross” (Matthew 27:32). The way the story reads, Simon of Cyrene was inconsequential, a mere bystander, a wrong-place-wrong-time casualty. I imagine that he was simply going about his business as usual – doing the day’s tasks, thinking of things that interest him, and talking to friends – when he stopped to see what all the commotion was about. And that, of course, is how he got dragged into the mess.

In Advent, we look back on the Word made flesh, the incarnation of Jesus. There are good, sentimental aspects to this season, but when we look at it through the lens of mission, we remember why Jesus came: To seek and save the lost, to reconcile people to God, to renew culture and bless the nations. And then He commissioned His disciples to continue the work, to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, primarily by planting new churches. This is our task until He comes again. We don’t normally think of church planting and Advent in the same category, but perhaps we should.

Come, Lord Jesus Come.
Come when you will.
We await your return.

Depending on your background, you may or may not have observed Advent before. I had never given it a thought until a few years ago. I entered into it experimentally … to see if it would really affect my mindset leading up to Christmas, or if it would  just be a religious ritual. It could be either, I suppose, depending on how you approach it.