With the craziness of the last year Advent “snuck” up on on me and maybe you as well. Quarantine and distancing and masks seem to slow everything down while speeding things up too. We wait in anticipation for the coming of our King, Lord, and Savior and of course we wait for our “ceasars” to tell us what we can and can’t do for Christmas. Anyway I found this devotion by a then lowly seminarian named John Koopman. By now he is a Pastor somewhere trying like the rest of us to greet our coming Lord.
Once Thanksgiving hits, the holiday season is ushered in with the commercial rush of Black Friday. Suddenly our radios are filled with White Christmas, parking lots are filled with evergreen trees for you to choose from, and you might as well forget about that diet with the onslaught of sweets coming your way. However, Advent marks more than the coming of our favorite first-article addictions. Advent marks the triumphal entrance of our Lord: “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” This unassuming mode of transportation into Jerusalem parallels our King’s humble entrance into our flesh through Mary’s womb. Yet the purpose for which he came is not the least bit ordinary nor unassuming. For these joy-filled crowds with shouts of hosanna are echoed in our voices this day, begging the Lord to deliver us. However, just as quickly as we are distracted by the delicacies of Christmas, the crowds began crying out “crucify him!” This was the purpose for which our King came: to be crucified and to deliver us. The Lord delivered us not from Black Friday or those dreaded calories, but he has delivered us from the black grave. The Christ-child didn’t purchase your gifts on a 70% off sale by waiting in line for 13 hours, he paid for your gifts with his precious blood into which you are now baptized. Our King hung upon that Christmas tree to feed us the Christmas feast of his body and blood. You need not dream of a “white Christmas,” because your garments have really been washed white in your king’s blood. In Jesus name. Amen
