Every year my mom sends me an Advent calendar. (And if she forgets, I remind her like I did Monday night on the phone.)
My favorite of these calendars wasn’t a calendar at all. It was a cabinet filled with many doors and behind each door was an ornament, one to hang on the tree each day until Christmas.
When I was a kid I loved Advent calendars. Popping open the little paper doors each morning to see what was on the other side, was a gift in and of itself. And if anyone other than Santa appeared behind that final door, I was horribly disappointed.
As an adult, I think the Advent calendar holds a different meaning. It still rekindles that childlike joy of Christmas anticipation, but, this year in particular, it will help me stay focused on each day leading to Christmas and not get lost, as it’s easy to do, in the shopping mania, the craziness that surrounds the holiday and has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.
It is as if we live in a world of two Christmases. And I want to celebrate the one that begins its story with a baby in a manger. And I admit it’s a story that sometimes I lose sight of in a crowd of competing messages.
Everything is a jumble, December days threaten to fly by, just nicking Christmas on their way to January.
I want things to slow down. I want to treasure each day, but I’m already caught up in the chaos.
But then in the midst of everything, a voice calls out.
A voice from the book of Romans. This past Sunday our second reading came from Romans 13:11-14. Paul seems almost surprisingly gentle when he writes: “You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.”
What beautiful words.
Yes, Paul is talking about Jesus’ return some time in our future, but his words also remind me of the promise and hope of Jesus’ birth.
Advent is not a race. Advent is the time given to us to wake. It is more than days marked on a calendar. Advent is the time to make ready. Advent is the time to rejoice at the good news. Advent is Christmas Eve every day. It is waiting. It is hope. It is longing. It is anticipation that explodes with joy with the birth of Jesus.
Wake up, Paul says.
Wake up.
Wake up.
Salvation is near.
