Growing up, Little House on the Prairiewas my absolute favorite TV show. Maybe because I was the same age as “Half-Pint” did it cause me to connect with episode after episode, season after season. I trembled when Laura was in trouble, cried when she struggled, cheered when she stood up for what was right, celebrated the joys of her life. I remember many episodes, but one that has lingered was one about a huge blizzard that threatened the Ingles family very lives. Blinding snow came down so fast and furiously that one could easily become lost outside just feet from the front door. (Even now my heart is starting to race as I am recalling the scene.) With wisdom and foresight, Pa had tied a rope from the house to the barn. This rope literally served as their life-line, a guide so that they could tend to the daily chores of caring for their farm animals. Without the rope, a person could easily lose her way and get lost in the chaos of the swirling snow.
In many ways, Advent is like this rope. It connects us now to the season of Christmas. Without it, we could easily lose our way and think that Christmas is about consumerism and candy, glitter and glad tidings. Bombarded by Christmas music and sale ads, we can easily become lost and confused. But with wisdom and foresight, the Church gives us Advent, a path that helps us tune our hearts to the coming of Christ. We hear that Christ’s coming is cosmic in nature, that Christ comes to bring wholeness where there is brokenness, light where there is darkness, peace where there is violence, justice where there is oppression. We tighten our grip on the rope when we recognize our own personal brokenness, when we see that our self-righteousness makes us think we are better and know best, when we admit our own desire to have more, despite creations’ groaning at its forced sacrifice. Advent is our guide to the one who brings healing, and hope, and wholeness.
I hope you will seize the opportunities at Bethlehem that will prepare us for the coming of Christ this Advent. Advent is counter-cultural, stripped of sentimentality and free of sugar coating. There are no crackling fires in the fireplace here, but instead tiny, pathetic candles that point our souls to the Light of the World. By gathering together, opening our hearts both to the stranger and the One who knows us better than we know ourselves, hearing the Word of God through scripture and song, and feasting at Jesus’ table, we can find our way through the chaos of the season, and arrive on our knees beside the Gift, the One who loves us more than anything.
Pastor Cheryl
Bethlehem Church welcomes