| December 4, 2020 |
While We Wait.....Abiding in Advent and Anticipating Christmas |
Grace and Peace!
In the scriptures and hymns at the start of this Advent season, we hear a plea, both for help and hope. The first verse of Isaiah chapter 64, opens with a request for God’s presence to come and shake up the world so that “nations might tremble.” Advent is a season observed in our Christian liturgical year as a time of anticipation, waiting and celebration observing the birth of Christ. “Advent’ in Latin means “arrival” or “coming.” During Advent we anticipate the second coming of Christ’s return when the dead in Christ shall rise and the justice of God in Christ Jesus will be revealed anew. Throughout Advent, we are reminded that Christ is our saving help and our renewed hope.
While we are waiting on the Advent of Christ to be revealed again and while we are living through this Advent liturgical season, we must endeavor to be intentional in how we wait. Advent offers us the opportunity to hope again while looking with anticipation for signs and symbols for the second coming of Jesus Christ --who will come again to heal and transform the realities in our living.
As we reflect back on all that has transpired throughout 2020, including the COVID-19 Pandemic, the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, the saints who have transitioned, we may be inclined to say that we are in need of Advent now.
This Advent season, it is my greatest wish for you that our God, “the God of hope,” will “fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NRSV). So too, may you encounter Christ afresh this Advent season and may the peace of Christ, the joy we find in Christ and the love extended to us by Christ, be the gifts we give each other as we pursue justice, embody kindness and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). And may Christmas morning remind us of God’s perfect gift given to us, the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.
I look forward to journeying with all of you throughout this Advent season as we bear witness to the gift of salvation given us through Christ our Lord!
Have a blessed Advent season, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Peace and blessings!
Rev. Perzavia T. Praylow, PhD., Pastor
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