Advent and Christmas are more than preparing for the birth of the King of Kings. This season of preparation and celebrating the coming of Jesus, God-in-the-flesh is the Hope God’s people had been waiting for all their lives. The prophets spoke of One who was to come…and here He is. During Advent and Christmas, we are reminded that the One who came will come again. Are we ready to receive the King we have been waiting for, hoping for all of our lives?

For years and years, God’s people eagerly awaited and anticipated the coming of the Messiah. He came and dwelt among them. Many missed Him because He didn’t come the way they expected him to. This rings true today…many of us miss Christ because we aren’t open to the various forms in which He shows up on the scene.

This Christmas, are you prepared to receive a King born in the most humble of circumstances? Are you preparing yourself for His return?

While at Yorktown UMC, I was blessed to work with Reverend Dr. Donald Charles Lacy. He has written many books. Recently, he sent me a collection of his sermons from the B cycle of the lectionary, focusing on the Pauline passages. This evening, I came across a passage that got me thinking about whether or not we are truly yearning for the return of the King. Dr. Lacy writes,

The culmination of ages of yearning is now at hand. The great and often unfathomable streams of human experience and God’s omnipotence seem to come to a unique intersection in time and space. The forces and energies of all that “was, is, and shall be” have brought to humankind the gift above all gifts. The Word came and dwelt among us. Considering the day and time, eyewitnesses were many. Let there be no doubt the Savior is on the scene. He comes in flesh and blood. Institutions of that day and time would not be able to defeat him. His body, the church, in its broadest and most diverse forms would continue, victorious even against the gates of hell.