We were doing Advent with Addy at breakfast this morning. The candle was lit and the Advent tree, which has a door for each day in Advent, was opened. Each day has a special note in it about whatever special thing is going on, which for this day was the Christmas Parade. It also has a piece of chocolate, but on this special day there were two and that brought a moment of sadness because my granddaughter Penelope, who was supposed to be with us, had had to cancel because she came down with the flu. We were already starting behind the baseline, it seemed. Until I asked the question about what we celebrated during Advent:
“So, Addy, why do we celebrate Advent?” Nothing. Me, trying to get something going, "Are we celebrating Santa Claus?” Addy emphatically denied that all this was about Santa, so I said, “What then?” She finally said, “Jesus being a baby.” I said, “What is so special about that—babies are born all the time.” She thought a minute and then said, “Well, it is that Jesus is all mixed up with God or something.” How do you explain the hypostatic union to a seven-year-old? After I composed myself, I just said, “Yes, Jesus, when he was born, was fully God and fully man." She seemed satisfied with that, and off we went into the Advent lesson.
So here we are, about to celebrate the second week of Advent; and in our text this week, we encounter a road trip from hell because Mary is over eight months along and is making a journey of over 90 miles, not in a car or even covered wagon. Can you imagine? I know how long it takes to cover 90 miles when your wife goes into labor—a little over an hour. When Teri went into labor with Jamie, we were in Greenville, Mississippi, and the doctor was in Jackson., Mississippi—90 miles. Yes, doing 90 with flashers on, it is a little over an hour. That was hard enough on Teri—imagine walking or riding on a donkey. Then there is a problem of lodging and delivery. I tell you, it was brutal.
The text intent is for us to see that. But also, something more is going on—seen from another light, it is absolutely beautiful. The very form of beauty, in fact. We will talk about all this on Sunday. I hope to see you there.
Oh, and pray for no rain this afternoon! We have set the table to invite the whole town to come feast with us in our parking lot tonight, before and during the Christmas Parade. It should be a spectacle—13 food trucks! It has to be a record for the town of Collierville. That much goodness in one place!
Blessings,
Jim