Advent: waiting and humility …
Waiting for the revelation of Christ into the world, waiting for the Message – the Word of God Incarnate.
Only the wise men, those who were expectant, vigilant, looking for the signs, were ready to move and be rightly positioned to greet His coming. It took investment of time and resources to find themselves on their knees in a lowly stable, having rejected the grandeur of the pomp and ceremony in the courts of the earthly king. Their gifts had been determined beforehand, gifts of the highest quality, given regardless of the surroundings.
The transition into the new season went unnoticed by all but the most humble. The humble were those who had the angel visitations: Mary, Joseph, the shepherds – even the wise men … not the proud, religious rulers who curried favours and compromised with those in power, and whose traditions and mindsets blocked them from seeing God even when He walked in their midst.
What are we waiting for? Can we recognise the birth of the new season in the humblest of circumstances? Is there room in our expectation to see God manifest in the smallest of new beginnings?
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!