My love of Advent was formed in the good-old-days of the old lectionary, the one the western church had used for about 1,000 years. The lessons were about Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem, Jesus talking about the end of the world, Jesus discussing the significance of John the Baptist, and finally John the Baptist talking about Jesus. All of this was preceded on the last Sunday of Trinity by the parable of the wise and foolish maidens. There was nothing in these lessons that even suggested the Child who would be born in Bethlehem.

Christmas comes with it’s story of the Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, visited by shepherds. How astonishing that this baby should be the same person as the one who John proclaimed, who entered Jerusalem in a parade, and who one day would return, descending in a cloud.

The message of Advent is the coming of the Lord, but the Lord comes in many different, amazing ways. Rather than being the countdown to Christmas, Advent should be the season of surprise. Each day we should be open to God’s surprises, to the marvelous ways that the Lord is made known to us. We encounter Christ in the Word read and preached. We encounter Christ in Sacraments. And we encounter Christ in the face of a child, in the shallow breath of a person dying, in a kindness done, in a suffering shared.

Pray as the church has done for centuries: “Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.” Then be ready for the surprises!

Read Romans 16:25-27 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne