The Advent Highway

I'm Expecting

My use of this phrase might sound odd. Usually, it is reserved for the fairer sex to announce the anticipation of a new child. It can be made plural, as in “we are expecting” as well, with the same connotation. But for me, a male, to say “I’m Expecting”...you probably think I have lost my mind.

But expectation is the best way to think about the Advent season. Expectation (in the pregnant sense) entails a season of hope, anticipation and preparation. A body of emotions is wrapped up and fulfilled in a specific event. At that point, everything will render unimportant as the birth comes. The season of hope will be fulfilled in the joy that comes. The anticipation is finished and any anxiety or nervousness has past. The preparation is finished, because it has to be. The time has now come and “all hands on deck” is the order of the day.   

We are ready for the coming of the Son of God. We celebrate hope and the promises of God. We an- ticipate the season and the change it makes in our hearts. We have also prepared ourselves for it by recognizing both our own individual sin and the sins of humanity as a whole. The ancient liturgical prayer called the Rorate Coeli (based on Isaiah 45:8) expresses the hope, anticipation and expectation of the prophets and priests of the Old Testament and becomes part of our prayers;

We have gone astray; in the multitude of our sins we have been made unclean. Fallen, fallen, stricken as leaves of autumn. The storm wind carries us away, the tempest of our evil deeds. You have turned us from the face of your mercy, and our iniquity has crushed us like a potter's vessel. O Lord our God, look upon your people in their affliction; be mindful of your promises. Send us the lamb who will set up his dominion from the rock of the wilderness to Zion, enthroned on her mountain. There is no other whose power can break our chains and set us free.

 As somber as this might seem, as Christians we understand the hope and glory contained in the glorious thing called The Incarnation. Christ and his passion brings us to a new place. Isaiah 40:1-5 (NLT) gives words to that sense of expectation;

    “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over for all her sins.” Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!”

This is a highway of expectation. It is a highway that leads us home. Christ, in his life, death and resurrection leads us along the straight path into the loving arms of the Father. Advent is an active celebration of the church. Let us prayerfully go through the range of emotions which are part of expecting. On Christmas day, we can welcome our savior in the fullest way, because our hearts have hoped, anticipated and prepared for him to come!

Come Lord Jesus!

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This was my article in our Churches Advent Devotion. If you want to see the entire piece, cruise over to our Issuu page and read it.

Comments

[Jonathon Bevil]

It is nice to see that someone else agrees with me that you can use the expression "We're expecting." Missy just pointed and laughed at me when I used it.

I have started reading The Word Became Flesh by E. Stanley Jones and thought you would enjoy reading it. He points out the difference between the Word becoming word in all other religions and the Word becoming flesh in the Christian faith. I cannot tell you how expectant, hopeful, and full of joy I am becoming as we proceed through Advent. We are celebrating when God actually came down to us to be with us in the flesh and to dwell among us!

Come, Lord Jesus